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Monday, December 10, 2012

Movies of the Year?

AFI put out there list of top movies and TV shows.  I have not seen most of them (partly because I cannot see movies that are not released), but not a huge fan of the list.  We did not see as many movies as usual because of the demise of Blockbuster (zip.ca works ok but hard to see recent stuff), netflix Canada's selection sucks); great TV so going out is less attractive (AMC/HBO lead to year around Sunday nights at home); and watching old series and movies on DVD (my daughter keeps insisting I watch Buffy rather than catch up on the stuff we have DVR'ed).

So, anyway, the list AFI has is:


Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Dark Knight Rises
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty



I have seen Argo and Dark Knight Rises.  Argo was a very, very good film.  DKR?  Not so much.  The plot was stupid, chock full of holes.  The characters had very little depth or coherence.  The only positive part of the movie (other than being able to make fun of Bane's voice) was Anne Hathaway as Selena Kyle/Catlady.  Otherwise, bleh. 

What would be my top ten movies--ones that I have seen?
Avengers--one of the best comic book movies. Nice blend of humor and action. Best Hulk yet, good Captain America stuff, heaps of material for blogging (here and here)
Ted--Perhaps uneven but caused some of the most intense intenstinal pain for making me laugh really hard.
Wreck It Ralph--Pixar-esque.  Fun, nostalgic, but not as good as the best Pixar stuff.
Argo--Interesting combo of politics, bad clothing and less than optimal haircuts.
21 Jump Street--surprisingly funny.
Looper--a time travel movie that takes serious time travel.  Plus a great Bruce Willis imitation.
The Campaign--fun satire of our political system. 
Cabin in the Woods--Not a perfect movie, but a wonderful take on the old cabin in the woods horror movie.
Goon--in a winter without hockey, this is a very entertaining hockey movie.

Movies that were good but not great:
Hunger Games--entertaining but the book was better.
Brave--not up to Pixar standards but still good.
Chronicle--best of the found footage movies.  Hey, what if we had superpowers and we were teenagers?  We would do stupid things....

Biggest disappointments:
Prometheus--ug.
Dark Knight Rises
Skyfall--not bad, just not good.

Movies I wish I had seen:
Red Tails--might not be great but I wish I had seen it.
Moonrise Kingdom--people say nice things.

Movies that were just as mediocre as I was expecting:
Acts of Valor--awful acting, but interesting action.
American Reunion--the fourth movie of silly series.  For the completion fixation.
Bourne Legacy--Renner was good, but movie was unnecessary.
Rock of Ages (truly an airplane movie)--for those who remember the songs.

Movies that were better than expected but not terrific:
Snow White and the Huntsman (of course, whole new meaning once you realize that Kristen Stewart slept with the director despite his wife playing her mother [I think])
Five Year Engagement--best ice-scraping scene.
Spider-man--heaps of fun with great chemistry between the leads, but entirely unnecessary.







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