We’re past the quarter mark for the year and about to head into “The Summer Movie Season” where everything is exploding, animated, or includes dick jokes, but (let’s be honest) since we never really leave that season anymore and Hollywood makes blockbusters (or big flops like John Carter) year-round, we can’t just ignore the late Winter/Early Spring period anymore. What used to be the graveyard shift where Hollywood dumped movies that couldn’t be a hit during more competitive times of the year (looking at you Underworld franchise), has now grown into a respectable place to launch a movie. In fact, all three of the top films on this list were in theaters by the first weekend in February, which is radically different than years past. So, without further ado…
Disqualified: Rampart. This movie about a dirty cop (Woody Harrelson) on the downward spiral in L.A. is hypnotic, toxic, and the best portrayal ever of what corruption looks like from the inside out. And yet it technically came out in 2011 to qualify it for awards, so it can’t count as a 2012 movie. Yet since no one really saw it in 2011, they should now.
Best Failure(s): Detachment and Casa Di Ma Padre. These two movies don’t work, and yet I would recommend them before any other movies that do work. There’s something about a noble failure like Detachment–which fully explores the grind of modern education, yet gets lost in tricked-up, MTV-style flash and unnecessary subplots–that makes me wish it were just a little better to include on this list. And you have to give props to Will Ferrell’s Casa Di Ma Padre for its brazen courage to do something radically different. [I could not imagine Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, or even Jim Carrey taking such a risk.] Kudos, and better luck next time.
Best Mega-Hit: I liked The Hunger Games a lot, but that movie doesn’t really need me to tell you to go see it. I didn’t include it because I want people to see other movies that maybe didn’t get the same level of attention (although some on this list were big hits in their own right). Still, you should also see The Hunger Games if you’re one of the five people who has not already done so.
Most Under-appreciated: Silent House. This movie received more bad reviews than good ones on Rotten Tomatoes and a straight F when audiences rated it (but in fairness, audiences have horrible tastes that usually gravitate towards one extreme or another). Yet it deserves so much better. Elizabeth Olsen is a born-scream star (all expressive eyes, and quivering lips) and the deceptively simple movie—-which has her trapped in a house while an invader stalks her—-knows how to build suspense in a way most horror films can’t dream of. [I especially loved the inventive use of a Polaroid camera towards the end.]
And now the five best…
5. The Lorax…This is hands down the best adaptation of a Dr. Suess book, but since most of his adaptations (especially the live action ones) are awful, that’s not saying much. What I will say is that this film does a terrific job of raising young kid’s awareness of the environment, and even if the film is a little busy, its virtues are more than its faults.
4. Jeff Who Lives at Home…One of those independent films that almost nobody watches and no one will remember in five years, but that’s a real shame. This fine film (with career-best performances from Jason Siegel, Ed Helms, and Judy Greer) starts off with a stoner (Siegel, who else?) believing the universe is trying to tell him something, and then gets proven right. I love small movies that start off slight but end in big payoffs, and it’s not an insult to call this the most accessible independent movie of the year. If this movie were drawing bigger crowds, I think they’d really go for it.
3. Chronicle…An unexpected monster hit, but a deserving one. This film about three ordinary teenagers who get super-powers (and just writing that makes it sound so much more generic than it is) is the freshest, most exciting superhero film since The Dark Knight, and a real testament to what the genre can do when its stripped down to the basics. I love the inventive camera work (cutting to the security camera footage of a bank when they crash through a bank’s roof) but it’s Dane Dehaan’s performance as the very troubled, picked-on Andrew that gives this movie its soulful, dangerous kick.
2. The Grey…Another thriller that did decent box office, but audiences weren’t as kind to this film, mostly because they hated the ambiguous ending. Don’t listen to them, the ending works on every level (even if you’ll wish it had more action…at first), and the Alaskan scenery is worth watching by itself. What got me about this film—-as with most films mentioned here—-is how different it was from what I expected. I went in expecting a somewhat stupid movie where Liam Neeson wrestles with wolves and got a very sharp, soulful drama.
1. Miss Bala…This is a little ambiguous since you could make a case this movie opened in 2011, but I chose to count this Mexican film (Mexico’s entry for Best Foreign Film) as a 2012 movie. Like most on this list, it starts off as the deceptively simple tale of a wannabe beauty queen hoping to enter the Miss Bala pageant before getting swept up as a pawn for a drug cartel and ends with a gut punch. The best film ever about Mexico’s flared-up drug wars and the only one to fully capture the chaos, confusion, and constantly shifting loyalties of the participants. A knock-out, don’t miss it.
Okay I will go see Hunger Games. Adding all others to my watch list.
Loved the Lorax. We should all wake up before it is tooooooo late.