Top 10 Films of 2012

So it's New Year's Eve and that time of the year that we look back on the previous year and sum up what we thought.  If your a film geek like me that will inevitably lead to thinking back over the year's films to work out which make the grade when formulating the best of the year.  For me the year's best films are a varied bag as is usually the case with my eclectic taste.  There are films I have yet to see like Rust and Bone, The Master that I am sure would have made the list but unfortunately I have yet to see.  There are also many films that have yet to be released in the UK like Zero, Dark Thirty and Django Unchained that I am sure will make the 2013 list.  The films on this list are based on UK release dates so some such as The Muppets was released in the US in 2011 but not here in the UK till February and so for me is a 2012 release.  So that's enough rambling from me and without further ado here is my top 10 of 2012.

Pitch Perfect is a musical-comedy about a college accapella group called the Bellas as they work to win Nationals.  The film has a large ensemble cast led by the brilliant Anna Kendrick who plays Beca forced to attend college by her father who is a Philosophy professor at the same University.  All Beca wants to do is to move to LA to make music so her father makes a deal with her if she spends a year in college and joins at least one extra curricular activity he will pay for her to go to LA if she still wants to go.  Beca ends up joining the Bellas and shaking things up which does not sit well with the leader Aubrey (Anna Camp) who wants to do the same old tired routine.  In Aubrey's defense she has to rescue the group from her projectile vomiting episode at last years nationals.  Another new recruits to the group are Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) a girl who calls herself Fat Amy so bitches don't do it behind her back who has many comedic albeit silly moments.  The love interest for Beca is in the form of Jesse (Skylar Astin) who is a member of the accapella group the Trebelmakers the arch rivals of the Bellas which is why there is a rule for new recruits not to hook up with any Trebelmakers.  Jesse has a passion for movie music and in particular The Breakfast Club ending song Don't You (Forget About Me).  This leads to the inevitable inclusion of the song in the Bellas performance at Nationals culminating in a cheesy fist pump into the air which obviously I loved.  This film may be cliched, flawed and nothing new but I loved it.  

I defy anyone to watch The Muppets without a smile on their face.  Sometimes you just want to relax and chill out to a film and The Muppets would be the perfect choice as it is sweet, fun and enjoyable.  The film focuses on Walter and Gary (Jason Segel) the biggest fans of the Muppets who along with Gary's girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) help Kermit reunite the Muppets in order to save their theatre.  They have to raise $10 million from an oil tycoon who wants to demolish it.  The way they do this is with a telethon which includes the inevitable cameo of celebrity after celebrity.  The one that sealed the deal for me was Jim Parsons as the human version of Walter in the song Am I a Man or a Muppet which cracked me up as I am a big fan of The Big Bang Theory.  I never really watched The Muppets growing up and so I came to this film with fresh eyes.  From the opening credits I had a smile on my face and there it remained even on the car ride home from the cinema.  It does help that I am a fan of both Jason Segel and Amy Adams and they excel here.  It also helps that I am a sucker for a musical so singing and dancing muppets had me at the first note.

Lawless is set in 1931 Virginia and centres around the Bondurant brothers; Forrest (Tom Hardy), Howard (Jason Clarke) and Jack (Shia LeBeouf) who are the biggest bootleggers of moonshine in Franklin County.  They also run a legitimate family business of a restaurant/gas station which is how they meet Maggie Beauford (Jessica Chastain) who comes to work at their restaurant and ends up falling for Forrest.  At the same time Franklin County gets another new resident in the form of Special Deputy Charley Rakes (Guy Pearce) who informs Forrest he wants a cut of all the profits made by the county's bootleggers.  This leads younger brother Jack to try and prove himself to his big brothers along with his friend Cricket Pate (Dane DeHaan) who is Jack's sweet best friend who is physically and mentally challenged and as soon as he arrives on the scene you know it is not going to end well.  The characters need something to avenge and to fight for and Cricket gives them that and leads to the final shootout.  My only issue was with the ending in regards to the Forrest narrative as I was a little disappointed with how that played out.  Other than that though I really liked this film as it has a great cast who deliver great performances.

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem.  Every year each district has to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 years of age to take part in The Hunger Games.  The tributes must fight to the death in an arena with the winner receiving wealth and fame.  In District 12 the lottery selects Primrose Everdeen (Willow Shields) but her older sister Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers herself instead so along with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Katniss enters the Hunger Games.  The games are televised and it becomes a kind of commentary on today's society as quite often sci-fi has been known to do.  It has a great cast led by Jennifer Lawrence which includes; Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and a favourite of mine Stanley Tucci.  It is a different and interesting sci-fi movie and I look forward to the next instalment in the franchise.

The Avengers was one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and it did not disappoint.  I have always been a fan of Joss Whedon's work and he did not let me down with The Avengers as it has his usual humour and smart writing that make this film so good.  In lesser hands the film could have easily slipped into the chessiness of having a bunch of superheroes running around in dress up saving the world.  However, Whedon manages to bring all the heroes together giving each one their share of the narrative.  So Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye and the Black Widow come together to battle Thor's adopted brother Loki who wants to take over the world.  It's a total popcorn movie but sometimes that is all you want and The Avengers is mindless entertainment at its best.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a fantasy drama film that centres around Hushpuppy a precocious six year old girl who lives in the Bathtub, a Southern Delta community at the end of the world, with her father Wink.  Wink tries to prepare Hushpuppy for a time when he will not be there by treating her with tough love.  Wink becomes ill and so Hushpuppy goes in search of her mother.  This is such a sweet film that is told from the perspective of a child which means anything can happen.  Quvenzhane Wallis is amazing as Hushpuppy as is Dwight Henry as her father Wink both of whom have never been in anything before.  The use of non-actors in this film adds to its appeal for me as it gives the film an authenticity and simplicity which is both charming and breathtaking.

Amour is a drama from Michael Haneke which focuses on an elderly couple, Anne and Georges, retired music teachers whose daughter lives abroad.  After Anne suffers a stroke she becomes paralysed down one side of her body and Georges, after promising to never put her in a home, does his best to take care of her.  All the while Georges watches his amour/love slipping away.  Georges desire to take care of his wife causes tension with his daughter and her husband which adds to the narrative tension.  This is a beautiful film with stellar performances from Emmanuelle and Jean-Louis Trintignant who give breathtaking performances that will pull on your heart strings with the ending breaking your heart.  Amour tells a simple story of an impossible situation and is film making at its best.

Silver Linings Playbook is a romantic comedy drama from David O. Russell about two people struggling in their lives who meet and help each other through their respective issues.  The film has a great cast led by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence who have a great chemistry together.  It is a simple story about Pat (Bradley Cooper) who has just been released from a mental health centre and has bipolar disorder.  All Pat wants is to reconnect with his ex wife and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) promises to help him do just that providing that he help her win a dance contest.  The film has a brilliant cast who have a great script in which to show off their acting chops.

End of Watch largely feels like Southland the movie with a little bit of The Shield thrown in for good measure two TV shows I highly recommend if you have not seen them so it was no surprise that I loved this film.  The film has a great cast led by Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal as two LAPD officers who patrol South Central area of Los Angeles.  The film is gritty and although I have never personally patrolled the streets of South Central LA and so have no basis for the comment it certainly felt realistic in its presentation.  The film follows Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Miguel Zavala (Pena), two partners as they go out on patrol while Brian films the whole thing for a film project he is working on.  This proves to cause some problems as there are several moments where the filming cannot be from a handheld camera but you can excuse that as it does not detract from an enjoyable film experience.  You follow them through not only their job but also in their personal lives with their respective marriages and children.  Everything is going well for them until they stumble onto a case involving the Mexican cartel and soon the two officers become such a pain for the cartel that a hit is put out on them.  The major strength of this film is the chemistry between Pena and Gyllenhaal as they are very believable in their roles as both dedicated police officers and best friends.  The supporting cast also give strong performances; Natalie Martinez and Anna Kendrick playing the wives and fellow officers Van Hauser (David Harbour), Orozco (America Ferrara) and Sarge (Frank Grillo).  This film has all the ingredients necessary for a superb movie; a great cast, a brilliant script, clever direction and believability.

The Cabin in the Woods is about five friends who decide to go off the grid and venture into a remote cabin in the woods.  At first it appears to be the stereotypical horror movie plot of unsuspecting young people who find themselves being hunted by some horrifying entity.  However, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not your typical horror movie which in the hands of Drew Goddard and the fantastic Joss Whedon is not that surprising.  The film does not stop with the usual horror plot but rather has another level to it as under the cabin is an underground laboratory which is full of workers controlling the scenario.  The two main workers are played by Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins who in some ways are the film alter egos of Goddard and Whedon as the writer, director and producer of horror movies who control what is happening.  The movie takes on the horror genre as a whole and the last twenty minutes are absolutely insanely brilliant as every horror monster, creature or psycho you ever imagined joins the party.  The film has a brilliant cast of young actors mixed with more established talent like Whitford and Jenkins who are superb as the lab workers.  You will also not be surprised to see Whedon regulars Amy Acker as fellow lab worker and Fran Kranz as the comic relief Marty.  The writing is great and has a good mix of humour, references to past works and superb twists and turns.  The five young people are archetypal horror characters; the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the slutty friend (Anna Hutchison), the intellectual sweet guy (Jesse Williams), the funny guy (Fran Kranz) and the good girl (Kristen Connolly).  However, although you have the archetypal characters here they are subverted and not stereotypical until they are altered by the lab techs at the cabin in order to fulfil their roles.  It is rare that films surprise me but this film did that and then some which is why it is my film of the year.

Honourable Mentions to:

The Dark Knight Rises, Ted, Killer Joe, The Amazing Spiderman