The Best Films of 2012

Here we are yet again. Another year, another list. I'm pretty happy with the way that 2012 shaped up. I think that overall we saw several great films, and it was the return of the adult drama. For the first time in years, several films that didn't star robots made over a hundred million dollars at the box office. This should hopefully spell at least a couple of years where the story matters more than the toys. That's naive of course, but one can hope. And now, the Best Films of 2012.





Zero Dark Thirty
I am a sucker for a great procedural. Give me hours of people sitting in dark rooms pouring over old newspapers and audio tapes and I'm in heaven. I love watching smart characters figure out the answer to the mystery, and the chase to find out where the killer is before he can strike again. This is that movie and so much more. Zero Dark Thirty, the drama about the intelligence mission that located and ultimately killed Osama Bin Laden, is the best example of this genre since David Fincher's Zodiac. But unlike that film, here we get an unbelievably satisfying ending. Jessica Chastain gives the performance of her career as Maya, a women hellbent on finding Osama Bin Laden, and refusing to take no for an answer. The film chronicles ten years of false leads, red tape, and the terrorist attacks that set the mission back again and again. It is exhausting as you watch her struggle to find the answers, and then find people to believe her. I would have been happy if that's all this was. But then it becomes so much more. The final 40 minutes is an almost real time reenactment of the raid on Bin Laden's compound, and it's the most tense piece of filmmaking of the year. Kathryn Bigelow directs this film with such precision and confidence that it's almost as though you can see her projected through Maya. It's incredibly refreshing to see filmmaking so focused and determined to tell this story as clearly and undramatic as possible. There's none of those horrible war movie cliches here. Just cold, hard revenge. Zero Dark Thirty is a great example of the perfect marriage between excellence in the art of film and the art of entertainment. It is also the best film of the year.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The film that I have shown to more people this year than any, Perks is a coming of age drama set in the early 90s, and it is the perfect example of a movie that just gets me. I can't remember the last time that a screenplay felt so honest, funny and heartfelt. The plot of the film is simple, it follows a shy kid as he chronicles his freshman year of high school, and the friends that he meets along the way. But as with every great story, the devil is in the details. This is a movie about moments. Moments that made me genuinely smile and think back to when I was a kid and how completely this film rang true. These aren't characters who are cool or trying not to be cool, they simply are high schoolers. With all the charm and flaws that go along with it. It is the most personal film on this list for me, the one that resonated with me on so many levels.

The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan's conclusion to his wonderful Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises is not a film that one can simply watch on its own, but must be viewed as the final chapter of a story that's been setup since Batman Begins. I've seen this film now about ten times, and I find that every time not only do I get swept away by the fun of it all, but I marvel at how well constructed this trilogy really is, and that Nolan has given this Batman fan the definitive portrayal of this character on film. No, this is not a perfect film, and the trilogy isn't either. But when it comes to big summer movies, none was better this year at giving the audience a thrill while also allowing their brains to work right along side.

The Cabin in the Woods
A horror film that is a comedy about horror films while also being a horror film. I know, confusing. But trust me, it's one fun ride. Written by Joss Whedon and written and directed by Drew Goddard, “Cabin” revolves around a group of college kids who take a weekend trip to, you guessed it, The Cabin in the Woods. But nothing is as it seems, and that is evident from the first seen that takes place in what looks like a laboratory where Bradley Cooper and Richard Jenkins discuss the annoyances of baby proofing a kitchen. It is the weirdest movie of the year, but one that keeps you on your toes. The script to ingenious, but never feels full of itself, always poking fun at the slasher horror cliches, but still being an excellent addition to the genre. The final 25 minutes of this film is probably the most fun I had in a movie theater last year, and was the perfect example of a movie paying off every plant and culminating in a cornucopia of awesome.

Skyfall
The fact that a James Bond movie is in my top ten at all surprises no one more than me. I've never been a fan of this series, mostly due to its tongue in cheek nature. It never kept my interest past a fleeting viewing. But this one is different. Director Sam Mendes strips away all of the cliches that we've come to expect from this series, and gives us a vulnerable Bond, one who must face his past. Judi Dench is given so much to work with here as M, and her performance is second to none. Javier Bardem's villain is so creepy and menacing, it finally feels like a real threat. This is the kind of big budget action filmmaking that I would like to see more of. Making us care about the people firing the guns makes the gun battle so much more exciting.

Pitch Perfect
The best comedy of the year is about an acapella girl group. If this were any other movie, I would see that as more of a comment on the state of comedy, but this movie delivers from start to finish. 30 Rock writer Kay Cannon and Avenue Q Director Jason Moore have crafted a witty and fun competition comedy that kept me laughing the entire way through. The casting is absolutely perfect, especially Rebel Wilson who cements herself as one of the funniest actresses working today. Also of note are John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks playing “Best in Show” type commentators. Every one of their lines lands perfectly, and adds to this very clever comedy.

How to Survive a Plague
A documentary about the AIDS crisis that is thrilling, funny and NOT depressing? Somehow this film is just that. How to Survive a Plague documents the creation of activist group ACT UP that in the 1980s forced the government to take action against the AIDS crisis and begin releasing drugs to the masses. The film wisely sidesteps the devastation of AIDS and focuses on the group of people that saw their lives in jeopardy and weren't going to take it sitting down. It is a mixture of interviews and archival footage, some of which is really incredible. The documentarians were able to capture some of the most heated and intense moments of the protests and it really is a compelling piece of cinema. The film itself is also structured like a thriller, where you are unsure who survived and who didn't, which adds a level of urgency to an already intense documentary. It is available on Netflix and I strongly urge you to look past the subject matter and enjoy an example of fantastic documentary filmmaking.

Bernie
Bernie is the kind of dark comedy that I fall head over heels for. It is a Christopher Guest mockumentary wrapped in a true crime drama. The film centers around Bernie, played by Jack Black, who works at a funeral home in a small Texas town. He befriends the mean old women in the town, played by Shirley McClaine, and over the course of the film we see their relationship unravel and have grave results. I feel comfortable spoiling that since not only is this based on a true story, but it is not nearly where the enjoyment of this film lies. The film is a mixture of testimonials from the towns people who lived through this experience, as well as reenactments of the events. The folks in this movie are so genuinely hilarious, and their comments in the later half of the film are so brilliant, it's shocking to find that they are almost all non-actors. The film is written and directed by Richard Linklater who has been a prolific filmmaker from Austin for some time now, always dabbling in different genres and trying his hand at all sorts of stories. For me, this is his best film since 2003's “School of Rock.”

Compliance
Every year I like to put a film on my list that is for the varsity level film goer .The person who thinks they've seen it all, and can sit through anything. Compliance is the kind of film that if it wasn't based on true events, you would turn off in ten minutes. It just would require such a suspension of disbelief that any self respecting person would roll their eyes at. But the fact that the movie is very closely based on a true story makes you never want to turn away in fear that you will miss the next crazy revelation. The film centers on a manager of a fast food restaurant who gets a call from someone claiming to be a police officer, and tells her that one of her employees is being accused of stealing money. The officer then asks the manager to do a series of increasingly unbelievable things to prove the employee's guilt. The film is an excellent case study in how people respond to authority, and what lengths someone will go to if they believe it is what society has told them is right. Writer/Director Craig Zobel shows an incredible amount of restraint in his directing by never going for the gratuitous moments, and instead opting for a feeling of unease. The performance that Ann Dowd gives as the manager is one of the best of the year. The range of emotions that she goes through here is at times terrifying and at the same time elicits such empathy from the audience, it is a real shame she was not nominated for an Oscar. It is not an easy film to watch, but I guarantee you will have one hell of a wonderful debate afterwards.

Argo
With every film he has made, Ben Affleck has shown that he is becoming not only a more competent director, but one of the best of his generation. That was never more true than with Argo. The film, an adaptation of a declassified CIA mission from 1980 to rescue Canadian hostages from Iran, is classic Hollywood filmmaking. It is at times incredibly tense, and then in the next scene laugh out loud funny, and after that, it becomes a well written procedural. The final few moments of this film are the testament to its greatness. Even though this is based on a well known event, and we are pretty sure we know the outcome, Affleck creates a sequence filled with so much tension, you are suddenly on the edge of your seat. This is the kind of popcorn cinema that was made 20 years ago, and now we consider high art. While that speaks more to the state of studio filmmaking, it is nice to see a well made and intelligent film for adults that is a great time at the movies.


And of course what Best of List would be complete with out a Worst of List? This year, it was simple. One movie was far away the worst of the year.



Ted
I don't think I've ever seen another film completely devoid of laughs that is selling itself as a comedy. It's as if Seth McFarlane seems to think that the joke is that we all happen to consume some of the same pop culture, so if you call it out, we'll just laugh at the familiarity of it all. It's tired and dull. And it was insulting to my intelligence. I love movies that push the boundaries of good taste. That's where some of the best comedy originates. But it's not funny to just have a bear smoke pot and talk about how awesome the Flash Gordon movie was. It wasn't awesome and neither is this.