Terry's Top Ten Films of 2012

It always takes me a little longer to get my top 10 list of the year out than my two companions.  This is mainly because I have more trouble finding time to view the top films of the year before the come out on DVD.  Eventually I see them all and am able to put out a strong top films of the year.  This last year was one of those years where I think the Academy got it pretty right with who they honored at the Oscars.  This not only makes for a much more enjoyable Oscars ceremony, but also gives me increased faith in the awards systems.  Eight of the Best Picture nominees can be found in my top ten.  The one that is not I have yet to view (Beasts of the Southern Wild) but I feel confident enough in the ten that I have to go with it without viewing this one yet (Update: I saw Beasts and it did not crack the list).  So far, I have given out nine 4 star ratings for 2012 which is my lowest total since 2009 when there were eight 4 stars.  However, with that said, I believe this was a good year for movies because of the quality of the these ten movies at the top.  With all that said, here is the list.

Honorable Mention

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Haywire

Skyfall

This Is 40

10.  Amour (Dir. by Michael Haneke)

Let me start by saying this type of film is not my cup of tea.  I am usually not a fan of quiet subtle character studies.  I usually differ to Todd or Zach to discuss the greatness of this genre.  However, Haneke's latest achievement about an elderly couple dealing with the trials and struggles of the twilight years impressed me so much I had to put it on my list.  I still didn't necessarily "like" this movie in the traditional sense of the word, but I was fascinated by it and by the beauty of its subtlety.  The screenplay is brilliant because of everything it doesn't say.  There isn't much plot in the story, but most of the events that advance the plot are not seen or heard.  The film is not about what is happening, but about how people react to and cope with those events.  The beauty is in the non-verbals which led to two amazing performances from the Oscar-nominated Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant.  If nothing else, this film shows the incredible artistry of a unique filmmaker.

9.  The Avengers (Dir. by Joss Whedon)

This is probably the closest thing to a polar opposite that you could find to the last film on the list.  However, I would be lying if I didn't say the superhero mega-movie event wasn't one of the most enjoyable movie-going experiences of the year.  Individually, some characters made decent films (Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger) and some didn't (Thor) but together they made an explosive team that saved the world.  I could watch this movie over and over and over again.

8.  Lincoln (Dir. by Steven Spielberg)

I love a good historical drama.  When you add to that one of the better directors of the last 30 years, one of the best actors of the last 25 years, and one of the most beloved characters in American history, you are bound to have a masterpiece.  That is exactly what this combination brought.  Daniel Day-Lewis once again gave a career-defining performance (I believe this makes 5 career-defining performances for him) as he became the embodiment of the character instead of simply playing him.  Add to that some of the best supporting performances of the year from one of the most impressive casts of the year, and you really can't find anything to complain about.

7.  Les Miserables (Dir. by Tom Hooper)

When I heard they were making a movie version of my favorite musical of all time, my only reaction was, "Don't screw it up."  What I realized after watching the film was you really can't screw it up.  It was not a perfect movie.  I had some issues with some of the casting decisions and some of the performances, however when it came down to it the story is so good and the music tells the story so well that less than perfect still produced a masterpiece.  I give Tom Hooper a lot of credit for this because he realized the best way to bring this musical to the screen is to not mess with what made it a great musical, and that is the music.  By keeping the singing throughout and allowing the actors bring their characters to life through song, it gave the film the emotion and epic scale that makes the musical so beloved.

6.  Looper (Dir. by Rian Johnson)

This was one of the best kept secrets of last year.  However, by the time saw this movie, I had heard from everyone that had seen it that it was the most underrated film of the year.  So the hype had definitely built up.  With that said, it lived up to all the hype.  What a unique and original movie!  As all great sci-fi films do, it establishes its reality quite well, but what makes this one stand out is the reality we are forced to live in for two hours.  The unique and fascinating premise is so thought-provoking in itself that when the plot starts taking its twists and turns, you are hooked and on the edge of your seat for the duration.  Looper redefined time travel movies in a way District 9 a few years ago redefined alien movies.

5.  Django Unchained (Dir. by Quentin Tarantino)

It seems that no matter when Tarantino makes a film, it ends up on my top films of the year no matter how ridiculous the film is.  Django is a perfect example.  If you were to hear about a film with this premise, you would think it was a joke.  A slave right before the Civil War is freed to work with a bounty hunter to hunt down and kill slave owners.  What a terrible sounding, offensive movie!  This film should never be made!  Then you're told that Quentin Tarantino is making it.  All of a sudden it becomes one of the movie events of the year and a soon-to-be masterpiece.  It almost seems like Tarantino wants to see how far he can push it before he gets run out of Hollywood.  This will never happen though.  First, Tarantino would run away from Hollywood before he would be considered a part of it.  Second, he makes films in a way no one else does.  His screenplays and dialogue are so unique and his plot lines are so original, he has practically created a genre of his own.  Because of that, every time we see Tarantino work we see something we have never seen before.  This is what makes films like Django so great.  I'm sure if we saw films like these everyday then Tarantino wouldn't wow us so much.  But we don't, so they do.

4.  Zero Dark Thirty (Dir. by Kathryn Bigelow)

It is rare that such a moment of recent history is brought to the screen so quickly and so effectively.  Kathryn Bigelow has built a reputation for herself that I don't think anyone else should ever make a film about the Middle East besides her.  I really don't like a lot of the movies that are coming out about the wars in the Middle East, but Bigelow has now succeeded in making two masterpieces on the subject.  This film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is so honest and suspenseful that it draws you in from the very first scene.  The last half hour of the movie is one of the greatest war sequences I have ever seen.  It is definitely a film that takes you for a ride.

3.  Life of Pi (Dir. by Ang Lee)

This film surprised me more than any other this year.  I knew nothing about it going in except there was a boy, a boat, and a tiger.  I also knew that it was getting more recognition than I looked like it should by the awards season.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Yes, it is a story about a boy, a boat, and a tiger, but it is so much more than that.  It is a story about faith, survival, and imagination.  And when you put an imaginative story like this into the creative hands of Ang Lee, you are bound to have one of the greatest movie experiences you can find.  I loved everything about this movie.  The story is incredible, which you almost forget about because the film is so beautiful to watch which is a given when Ang Lee is at the helm.  On top of all this, the film ends in a way that keeps you thinking for days.  It is one of those films where you need to have a discussion with someone to debrief after you are done watching it.  This is a film I will never get tired of talking about.

2.  Silver Linings Playbook (Dir. by David O. Russell)

Out of all the films on this list, this is the most human story with the characters you relate to the most with the best overall acting job of the year.  This film about a bipolar finding his way to be normal in the world is quirky, heartbreaking, funny, serious.  In short, it is life.  Few films capture life in all its dynamics like this does.  In a lot of ways (and my counterparts will hate me for this), it is a lot like Sideways in this way.  There is a real life story told with flawed, complete characters in a way real life actually is.  However, Silver Linings would have been nothing if not for its stellar cast.  Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence show they can do a lot more than what the general public recognize them for, and when you can round out your cast with a living legend you have a perfect cast.  I know some of you were thinking the living legend was Chris Tucker, but it's not.  It was Robert De Niro.

1.  Argo (Dir. by Ben Affleck)

If any of you have read any of my other posts or know what my favorite movies are, you will know that my all-time favorite type of movie is a 20th Century American History film.  Whether it's Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, or Frost/Nixon, there is something about this time period that appeals to me.  Argo is the latest film I can add to this list.  Ben Affleck is quickly becoming one of the best directors we have with this film being his masterpiece about the rescue mission of the Americans who escaped before the hostages were taken in Iran.  This movie feels like an instant classic, and instantly became one of my favorite movies of the last number of years.  I really don't know how to describe it other than: awesome.

Oscar Recap: Winners/Losers, Stats, and more

It was a terrific and memorable Oscar ceremony. For the first time in years, almost everything that happened was acceptable. There weren't any real downright shockers, but the surprises were cool and interesting. This is as good as it gets for Oscar telecasts. I am not as good at this as Zach, but check out my thoughts below:

Seth MacFarlane

Reviews of the ceremony, whether justifiably or not, will always start and end with the host. Seth MacFarlane was hilarious. He got the humor of the Oscars to be a bit more lively and hip, but he wasn't disrespectful. He pulled in the younger demographic with his Family Guy-type humor, but it was tame enough to stay classy enough for the event. He took a few cheap shots at easy targets like Mel Gibson and Chris Brown, but they worked. From his opening line about making Tommy Lee Jones laugh to the final number with Kristin Chenowith, MacFarlane got it right.

His opening monologue with William Shatner was funny throughout, but it took forever. It was almost like a sitcom episode. His skits about The Flying Nun and Flight were ok, but they were odd and really made the thing go a bit overboard. I loved his subtle Good Will Hunting reference (“It's not your fault.”) after telling Ben Affleck that the Academy knows they screwed up. Later, however, he apparently pissed off Affleck with something he said, either the Kardashian bit or the “getting inside Lincoln's head” bit, but either way, he was not pleased and had a very awkward moment telling him off, almost in a Sean Penn-highly-uncomfortable type of way. Almost every joke he gave worked, and the ones that didn't, he acted like a pro and deflected the negative energy. He was the best host in years.

Oscar Stats

1. Daniel Day-Lewis became the first 3-time Best Actor winner. He is only the 6^th ever to win 3 acting Oscars of any kind. All 3 came within an 11 film span.

2. Ang Lee became the third Director ever and the first since 1956 to win 2 Best Director awards without having either win Best Picture. He previously won for Brokeback Mountain (and should have won for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

3. Christoph Waltz becomes only the third actor in the last 30 years to win Oscars in his first 2 tries. The previous ones were Sally Field in 1979/1984 and Kevin Spacey in 1995/1999.

4. George Clooney became the second person ever to have nominations in 6 different categories. Walt Disney was the other.

5. Life of Pi won Best Visual Effects, extending the streak of Best Picture nominees in the category. The last time a Best Picture nominee lost to a non-BP nominee was 1970.

6. There was a tie in the Sound Editing category, the 6^th in Academy history and the first since Live Action short split in 1995.

7. Jennifer Lawrence (22) became the second youngest Best Actress winner ever, only being topped by Marlee Matlin (21).

8. Argo became the first Best Picture winner since Driving Miss Daisy in 1989 to not be nominated for Best Director.

9. Argo became the 2^nd film in the last 36 years to win Best Picture with only 3 wins. Crash was the other, also presented by Jack Nicholson.

10. Silver Linings Playbook was the first film in 8 years to be nominated for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. Million Dollar Baby was the last to do so.

Oscar Speeches

There is always a lot of talk about the Oscar speeches. Who gave the best, most emotional, most genuine, most boring, longest, etc. Here are my rankings of my top 5 of the ceremony:

5. Ben Affleck, Grant Heslov, George Clooney – Best Picture – Argo. Affleck continued his trend of speaking almost incomprehensibly fast, appearing nervous and just astonished that he has come so far since he was last invited 15 years ago.

4. Claudio Miranda – Best Cinematography – Life of Pi. You could tell that Miranda was just so touched and overjoyed that his work he loved so much was singled out, almost to the point of not being able to express it in words.

3. Daniel Day-Lewis – Best Actor – Lincoln. Day-Lewis was funny, charming, and his bit about his wife living with all those different crazy men was beautifully delivered.

2. Christoph Waltz – Best Supporting Actor – Django Unchained. Waltz was so overwhelmed with receiving the award and basically gave all of the love to Tarantino. As Zach pointed out, he really is Tarantino's Dianne Wiest.

1. Chris Terrio – Best Adapted Screenplay – Argo. Terio's speech was frenetic, brilliantly-delivered, and emotional, just like his film. He was so moved and gave Affleck the props for helping him achieve the same heights that Affleck did with his first script.

One of the weakest speeches probably belonged to Tarantino, which you could see by Jamie Foxx's reactions that he almost sounded like a complete dick during it until he brought it back. He cut off the band to finish up his wayward speech. He is awesome anyway. Brave's winners were also a bit off during its award. Not all that many of them were bad, though. There are usually a handful that are horrible or just way too long. They did well this year.

Winners and Losers

Ok, so here is my “Sportsnation”-style winners and losers rundown. Check it out:

Winner: Quentin Tarantino. He has his first award in 18 years, officially showing that the Academy will recognize him no matter how indulgent the material.

Loser: Stage ushers. The biggest moment of the night when the star Best Actress winner Jennifer Lawrence goes up to accept her trophy, there is no one to help her up the stage? She fell flat on her face, if you didn't know already. Good thing she is so quick n her feet and a goofball or else that could have been a devastating moment.  

Loser: Chasing Ice and “Pi's Lullaby”. I am not sure why the other three songs got a live performance and these didn't. A little distasteful. That would have been a cool excuse to invite Scarlett Johansson to the ceremony as well, if appearing with the rest of The Avengers cast wasn't enough of a reason. 

Winner: Ben Affleck. Not being nominated for Best Director and everyone knowing what a joke that is, he is on a path to become the next in the line of great directors without an Oscar and getting that important “overdue” label. His Best Picture speech was great and essentially what he would have said for Best Director.

Winner: Jaws theme. Great choice by the Academy to not just have the normal orchestra music to cut the long speeches off.

Winner: Singers who were popular in the '60s. Shirley Bassey (“Goldfinger”) and Barbara Streisand (“The Way We Were”) both got standing ovations for their performances of their songs from 40-50 years ago.

Loser: Harvey Weinstein. He wasn't able to buy Best Picture this time, and his two main contenders (Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook) only won a total of 3 awards.

Loser: Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar clip. Despite being perhaps the best scene of the year, Phoenix appears in the audience shaking his head, showing again his displeasure for the whole process.

Winner: Ties. The first tie in 18 years gave a cool and rare twist to the ceremony.

Winner: Jack Nicholson's house. Ted and Marky Mark revealed the massive Hollywood orgy's secret location during their presenting of the Sound categories.

Winner: Neighbors. Tarantino accepted his reward by letting everyone know that his presenter Charlize Theron was his neighbor, and how cool that is that he gets it from her. Oh, and thank you Mr. Hoffman.

Winner: Possibility of Day-Lewis and Streep as costars. DDL's speech was awesome with his bit about Streep. They clearly have a lot of mutual respect. They need to join forces at some point.

Loser: The audience. They were totally awkward when they clapped during Kidman's presentation of 3 of the Best Picture nominees and not clapping during DDL's announcing of Kushner, Spielberg, and Honest Abe.

Winner: Chicago, apparently. There was a long love-fest with the Oscar darling from 10 years ago, including their whole principal cast giving out the music awards. 

Losing: Tipping your hand. The last two major Oscar musical Best Supporting Actress winners performed, followed by Hathaway performing. Then they gave her the Oscar. “Skyfall” is performed alone just before it receives the Best Original Song Oscar.

Winner: Star Trek. The appearance of William Shatner and some other talk of the franchise throughout the ceremony helps this year's release into the Star Trek canon.

Winner: Kilts. Screw typical American formal wear, I am wearing my kilt when I am accepting my Oscar!

Loser: The Avengers. The blockbuster smash lost Best Visual Effects and their presenting was stupid if it was staged and just distasteful if it wasn't.

Winner: Appearing to be stoned. Renee Zellweger and Kristen Stewart. Go watch it back if you don't believe me.

Winner: Best Picture format. The new format finally worked. If there had been the 5 BP nominees, then Argo would probably not have gotten nominated. They were able to get at least this category right, even though they screwed up the other big one.

Loser: Foreign Films' chances of winning big. Amour appeared to be more Diving Bell than Talk to Her at this ceremony. Note: If it is nominated for Foreign Language Film, it will not contend in the major categories anymore.

Winner: John Lasseter. Pixar takes Animated Feature in an upset, and the Paperman director thanks him in his speech.

Winner: Silent movies (again). Paperman taking Animated short proves that the Academy is still longing to live in the past.

Loser: Beasts of the Southern Wild. It was the only one of the 9 Best Picture nominee to get shut out.

Winner: CGI. Cinematography and Visual Effects have gone to the same major CGI film each of the last 4 years.

Loser: The novelty of seeing Kate Winslet's boobs. MacFarlane's ode to toplessness on screen pointed out how often our favorite nude star shows us her...assets.

Winner and Loser: Michelle Obama. Announcing Best Picture was a cool twist. However, whatever she was saying was so damn boring and longwinded that no one remembers it.

Winner: The Coppolas. Roman Coppola was another Coppola nominated, which was pointed out by MacFarlane in a funny bit about their family dynamics.

Winner: The Oscars. The show was a much better production than in past years. They may have found their host of the future, one who is even a nominee now. They didn't let the beginning drag only to rush the most important awards, at least not as much as usual. It was a great show, one of the best I have seen.

Thoughts on the ceremony? The winners? The snubs? MacFarlane? How did you do on the Oscar Challenge? Let me know!