I remember being thrilled for 2012 before it began when hearing that we’d get films from Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow and a plethora of other award-worthy filmmakers. It was also the year we would finally see the Avengers on the big screen together in one gigantic film. We also saw the launch of the next big YA franchise post- “Harry Potter”, aka “The Hunger Games”, the epic return to Middle Earth with the beginning of “The Hobbit” and the first (of two) rebooted “Spider-Man” films. The hype was high going in 2012 and when it closed its doors, there was a lot of satisfaction riding through my body. Let’s continue my throwback lists and talk about my favorite films of 2012!
Honorable Mentions:
1. “The Avengers”
2. “Zero Dark Thirty”
3. “Ted”
4. “End of Watch”
5. “Skyfall”
6. “Les Misérables”
7. “Lincoln”
8. “Magic Mike”
9. “Looper”
10.“Seven Psychopaths”
10. “Flight”
Image via Paramount Pictures
It had been twelve years since Robert Zemeckis helmed a live action-feature, after making three animated pictures and “Flight” was the perfect comeback for the Oscar-winning filmmaker. Denzel Washington, who received an Oscar nomination for this role, stars as an airline pilot struggling with addiction and gives his most heartbreaking performance to date. His character Whip Whitaker is looked as a hero to most, but something is leading him to be looked at in a different light. It is difficult to depict addiction on the big screen, but Washington does it flawlessly and John Gatins’ Oscar-nominated screenplay adds to that. This is an underrated film in Zemeckis’ catalog and one that was definitely out of left field for him.
9. “21 Jump Street”
image via Sony Pictures
No one would have ever expected a duo like Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum to work so meticulously like it did in “21 Jump Street,” which was based on the popular Johnny Depp-starring television series from the 1980s. Two cops (Hill and Tatum) are assigned to go undercover as high school students to stop a dangerous drug from getting around and leading to young kids dying. Filled with meta humor throughout, this was one of the decade’s best comedies and it showed how versatile directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller are, as they had helmed “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” prior and followed this with “The Lego Movie” a few years later. Ice Cube stole the film for me, but it was the chemistry between Hill and Tatum that made this and its sequel “22 Jump Street” so special for me. I go into a comedy to laugh my butt off and I can’t express how much that happened during “21 Jump Street.”
8. “Life of Pi”
image via 20th Century Fox
Ang Lee already had my respect prior to “Life of Pi,” as he had helmed two masterpieces in different genres: the martial arts epic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the luscious romance “Brokeback Mountain.” There was nothing like “Life of Pi” prior to it being made, but it continued the trend of Oscar-winning filmmakers tackling the 3D-filmmaking technique after Martin Scorsese had done it for “Hugo.” This is a simple story - a young Indian boy gets stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. Having some of the best visuals ever created, Lee and screenwriter David Magee created an engaging survival taste involving the most unlikely friendship since Tom Hanks and Wilson the volleyball in “Cast Away.”
7. “Argo”
image via Warner Bros. Pictures
The Oscar winner for Best Picture was star Ben Affleck’s third directorial effort and continued the trend of Ben Affleck having some talent, especially behind the camera. “Argo” is set in 1979 during the Iran hostage crisis, as a CIA agent (played by Affleck) leads the rescue of U.S. diplomats under the guise of filming a movie. That is a clever premise, alone, and Affleck’s director streak was successful prior to “Argo” and it’s his best to date. The screenplay is filled with thrills and laughs throughout and for it being a true story - the insanity is very high. This also sparked a lot of disappointment with people as Affleck didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for Best Director, despite his wins prior to the ceremony.
6. “Moonrise Kingdom”
image via Focus Features
There is not a filmmaker like Wes Anderson and his seventh feature is my personal favorite of his catalog. “Moonrise Kingdom” follows two adolescent lovers in the 1960s that flee from their homes and thus creating a search party to find them. Anderson, along with co-writer Roman Coppola, capture true love at a young age beautifully and newcomers Jared Gilman and Kaya Hayward shine in their respective roles. The rest of the cast is remarkable too, with Edward Norton and Bill Murray being the film’s stand-outs and Anderson giving his finest cinematography to date. Young love can be very sappy in any form of media, but “Moonrise Kingdom” avoids the sappiness and adds a lot of realism to the romance.
5. “The Dark Knight Rises”
image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to the superhero trilogy was epic in the best of ways. Set eight years after “The Dark Knight”, Batman comes out of exile after a new terror in Tom Hardy’s Bane takes on Gotham City. Nolan mirrors some of the elements of “Batman Begins” here, as “The Dark Knight Rises” has quite a lot of Bruce Wayne, instead of Batman, which definitely added to a more grounded story compared to the previous installment of the trilogy. It was also difficult to follow the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as The Joker, but Hardy was haunting as the overly-muscular masked individual. This was one of the best film conclusions ever and for people who call it overrated and not exciting, then you’re stupid.
4. “Wreck-It Ralph”
image via Disney
Disney is generally on their A-game with their animated works, but “Wreck-It Ralph” is one of their best of the decade. The titular character, voiced by John C. Reilly, is the villain of a popular arcade game that wants to go from bad guy to hero. There are a lot of game references thrown throughout the film, but they work on their own merit as it doesn’t distract the viewers from the incredible story. Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer round out the brilliant cast and the eye-candy in “Wreck-It Ralph” is visually appealing. I was baffled that The Academy gave “Brave” the Best Animated Feature award instead of this, but in my heart - this was 2012’s Best Animated Feature.
3. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
image via Summit Entertainment
It isn’t a rare instance where an author pens the screenplay for the adaptation of their novel, but the opposite can be said about when an author directs said adaptation. Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was already a fantastic novel, but I can say this is one of the few instances where the film is better. Logan Lerman stars, in his breakthrough performance, as a shy high school freshman, who begins a remarkable friendship with two siblings, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller. There is a lot of charm and sincerity thrown throughout the coming-of-age story, but the film does take a few halts to show the realism of outcasted students. I remember crying my eyes out to a sequence involving Lerman’s character walking around his house after someone important leaves him and saying “This is Oscar-worthy material”, but the film was snubbed from countless awards circuits. It is a true shame.
2. “Silver Linings Playbook”
image via The Weinstein Company
David O. Russell’s follow-up to the boxing drama “The Fighter” was a romantic dramedy surrounding two troubled individuals starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, in an Oscar-winning performance, and is quite possibly Russell’s best work to date. Cooper and Lawrence are phenomenal together and they showed some of the best chemistry in quite a while for a romance story. Robert De Niro also showcases some of his best work as Cooper’s Philadelphia Eagles-obsessive father. While the portrayal of bipolar disorder may throw some people off, I thought Cooper did it a mature matter that wasn’t trying to go in the fake portrayal-phase. This film made me laugh, it made me cry, the dialogue is absolute perfection. I love “Silver Linings Playbook” so much that it never gets old.
1. “Django Unchained”
image via The Weinstein Company
You can never go wrong with a Quentin Tarantino flick and his films get crazier film-after-film, with the Western “Django Unchained” possibly being his wildest to date. Jamie Foxx stars as the titular freed slave who teams with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz, in his second Oscar winning performance) to save his wife (Kerry Washington) from a brutal plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). If you know Tarantino, you know what you are going to get with a film like “Django Unchained” including a ton of violence, brilliant dialogue, amazing characterization and an utter blast from start-to-finish. I was blown away by the story arcs in this film and I also had a bigger attachment to Tarantino’s seventh feature than I did with any other film from 2012. This may be close to three hours, like “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Les Misérables”, but Tarantino is a king at what he does and I was engaged for the entirety of the film. I just love having fun, is that so bad?
