2012

So I kinda sorta lost track of this blog last year and most of this year.  I would write most of my entries while at work.  As a receptionist, you have a lot of free time on your hands.  One job I had wouldn't allow access to blog website, so I stopped.  I really hate that I didn't keep up with it for a little over a year now, but I'm back.  Let's see where it takes us.

I left off in June of 2012.  A lot happened after that in the world of film.  Let's start with my favorites:

1.  Argo (10/10)
2.  Skyfall (10/10)
3.  The Impossible (10/10)
4.  The Sessions (10/10)

Then there's the middle group.  Movies I liked, just not as much:

1.  Silver Linings Playbook (8/10)
2.  Anna Karenina (9/10)
3.  Perks of Being a Wallflower (9/10)
4.  Brave (8/10)

And I hate it when movies don't quite live up to my expectations:

1.  Lincoln (7/10)
2.  Zero Dark Thirty (7/10)

There are the ones I was indifferent toward:

1.  The Avengers (6/10)
2.  Trouble With the Curve (6/10)

And some that were just fun:

1.  Pitch Perfect (7/10)
2.  Hope Springs (8/10)
3.  The Amazing Spiderman (8/10)

Then there was Amour.  I actually didn't really like it at all.  So much darker than what I like to watch.  I don't mind serious films if there is some uplifting little piece of it to hold onto.  Not my type of film, but many people loved it.

I don't feel the need to dwell on any of the categories but the first one.  So here we go.

I loved Argo.  I looooooooved Argo.  I've loved Ben Affleck as a director ever since Gone Baby Gone.  One of my favorite movies of the past decade.  The Town was good, but definitely my least favorite of his three films.  Argo is completely different.  It's a historical drama/suspense film that played right into my wheelhouse.  I found it completely engrossing.  I have a huge love of American history, and this explored a time period I'm more unfamiliar with than others.  I'm not used to my favorite film of the year being recognized by the Academy, but it was.  A pleasant surprise, and in my opinion, well deserved.

Skyfall reminded me why I loved Casino Royale so much.  The second Bond film with Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace, didn't do it for me.  I was skeptical about this one, but was beyond delighted in the outcome.  Great, great action movie.  And it has a little more.  A little more humor.  A little more humanity.  A little more refinement.  All around, a new favorite.

The Impossible was one I wasn't expecting to love so much.  I went to the theater to see Zero Dark Thirty, which was sold out.  I bought a ticket for the next day and went to see The Impossible instead, which played at roughly the same time.  It was difficult to watch, but I'm so glad I saw it.  It was an incredible story about a family vacationing in Indonesia when the tsunami hit on December 26th, 2004.  Naomi Watts as the mother was a force to be reckoned with.  She was my pick to win the Best Actress prize, but the movie wasn't widely seen.  The boys who played her three sons were miraculous.  I don't remember ever seeing such performances from young boys.  I highly recommend this film if you haven't seen it.

The Sessions was my favorite from Sunday.  John Hawkes is my favorite actor right now, this movie is the reason why.  He can do anything and be anybody.  He was completely overlooked come awards season, but I still think he was the best of the year.  I'll watch anything with him in it.  And Helen Hunt was fantastic.  You don't get great roles for women over 40 years old very often, and this one is one of the best in recent memory.

As for some of the others, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed Anna Karenina.  Joe Wright is one of my favorite working directors and he did something really special and different with the classic story.  And Brave, while not being the best Pixar has ever done, was a really great movie for young girls.  And older girls like me.

I didn't have as many FAVORITE films this year as I have in years past, but the ones I loved, I really loved.  Please check them out if you haven't already.