Griff’s Top Ten of 2012
10. Safety Not Guaranteed – An impressive little independent film that satisfies with a quirky, refreshingly original story line and some great performances by the leads.
9. End of Watch – One of the best gritty cop dramas I have seen since Training Day.
8. Headhunters – I know you don’t want to read subtitles but trust me when I tell you to suck it up and give this one a try. You will not regret it.
7. The Raid: Redemption – Plain and simple The Raid kicked ass.
6. The Avengers – This movie is what summer blockbusters are all about. One of the best times I had in the theater this year.
5. Skyfall – I know I will catch heat for this one but Craig may be the best Bond ever.
4. Silver Linings Playbook – This one had some great performances including some of the best work I have seen from De Niro in a long time. Couple that with a perfect blend of drama and laughs and you end up with the best romantic drama/comedy of the year.
3. Argo – Affleck is really coming into his own as a Director and this is his best most competent work to date. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
2. Django Unchained – Yet another classic from Tarantino. Lots of action and great story make this one a must see.
1. Moonrise Kingdom – I don’t know if I enjoyed any other movie this year as much as Moonrise. It was a joy to watch from start to finish and Anderson’s best film since The Life Aquatic.
To be fair, I missed a few movies that may have been able to make the list. I still haven’t seen:
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
The Sessions
Beast of the Southern Wild
Some honorable mentions from me as well:
The Hobbit – It was tough for me to exclude this one but I couldn’t bump anyone else from the list. It would be #11 for me for sure.
Chronicle – I know Adam didn’t like this one but I thought it was well done. Could have done without the shaky cam though.
The Dark Knight Rises – Cliche plot lines and some unexplainable holes left this one off the list for me.
The Hunger Games – A decent movie by all accounts with a strong performance by Lawrence but her work in Silver Linings Playbook blew this one out of the water.
Looper – A nice entry into the Sci-Fi/Action genre but I had to knock it down a bit for all the plot holes.
Five that failed - My biggest disappoints: Here are a few of the movies that I was looking forward too and was let down…
Prometheus – Fuck You Lindelof.
Dark Shadows – Just a mess of a movie.
Total Recall – Should never have been recalled
Savages - I was really pumped up for this one and it really let me down. The double ending sucked real bad.
This is 40 - I was looking forward to this one as well since I just hit the magic age this year myself. It had just the right balance of too much drama and not enough comedy to make it suck.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh. My.
IT’S BEEN SO LONG!!!! I’M SO SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!! *Grovelgrovelgrovel*
Lolol. Now that I feel like I’ve made a good enough attempt to redeem myself, I must say, I’ve yet to see some of what’s on your list, but I’m definitely interested in catching up on a handful of them. I’m not really in agreement about Silver Linings, but I definitely agree with your thoughts on Looper, Dark Shadows, and Total Recall.
Also, as you know I probably will never ever watch it, but LOL to what you said after Prometheus. It’s a shame I don’t get the reference, but I can only imagine. Still hilarious.
Thanks Rae, glad to see you back! Sorry you didn’t enjoy silver linings but I thought it was very well acted with a great supporting cast. One of the best things I have seen DeNiro do in years!
Hell yes to Headhunters. Seriously fantastic film. Have you seen Jackpot yet? Was also released last year, but didn’t get a huge release at all. Looks to be another good one.
Hey Jaina, Thanks for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed Headhunters! I haven’t seen Jackpot yet but I just watched the trailer. It looks pretty interesting. I will have to add it to my list.
Thank you for thinking of This is 40 the same way I did. All I’ve heard from people is that it was so great and blah blah blah. It was BORING and felt like it was 40 years long. So disappointed. I also share your sentiments in regards to Prometheus. GRRRRRR!
Hey Tracy thanks for the comment! Yeah, I was really let down by this is 40. Like I said I hit 40 myself this year so I looking forward to it. Just not enough laughs with too much melodrama followed by some really awkward ill conceived scenes. What was that scene where she confronted her employee about stealing supposed to be about? Talking in a devil voice? Just foolish.
Hey Tracy thanks for the comment! Yeah, I was really let down by this is 40. Like I said I hit 40 myself this year so I looking forward to it. Just not enough laughs with too much melodrama followed by some really awkward ill conceived scenes. What was that scene where she confronted her employee about stealing supposed to be about? Talking in a devil voice? Just foolish.
Great List. I have yet to catch a few of these. You may be right about Daniel Craig too. Thanks!
Hey Victor thanks for the comment! Glad you agree about Craig. He has breathed new life into the character. I can’t wait for the next one.
I think you select films I have not seen on purpose.
Or you need to get out of the cinema prison you have yourself locked in and expand your horizons.
Looks like I have some work to do. The only film that I actually saw from your list was Moonrise Kingdom and like you, no complaints here. A refreshing change of pace is always welcome from Wes Anderson. Looking forward to his next one.
You got to get on that shit man!
Great list. I’ve seen some, but I haven’t seen a lot of these movies. I have to agree with you on Savages as being a disappointment. I was expecting….better. I can’t even put my finger on why it was so bad. Maybe the excursion of the plot.
Thanks Jen. Yeah Savages was a big disappointment for me. I think part of the problem was that Del Toro and Hayek acted circles around the lead characters and left them looking flat and one dimensional.
This list just highlights how much of 2012′s releases I let pass me by. However, of the films I saw, I agree with your first choice. We will have to agree to disagree over Prometheus though!
Great list you have here! I have 5 of your top ten in my top ten and even more in my top 20. If you or any of your readers would like to comment and share their favorites with me I would appreciate it. You can check out my top 20 movies of 2012 here:
http://mummblesrantings.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-movies-of-2012.html
I don’t know if there’s a better picture of Aubrey Plaza. Something about those glasses… Ahem.
Good stuff on this list, Griff. Finally saw Django over the weekend and it may very well be my new favorite of the year. Glad to see it ranked so high.