Yesterday I listed the nine less good films of 2012 here. Because I'm a useless critic and enjoy most films I see and would hate to give any competently made, mildly entertaining movie anything less than 5/10, there have been no real stinkers for me yet! I have about a hundred others I still need to see but will be waiting for the rental. Without further ado, this is my top 10 of 2012 so far. Please click the titles for more of my drivel:
What do you think? Am I stuck in the 90s putting Titanic as the best film of 2012? Have I got a fetish for woods with Hunger Games and Cabin so high up the list? Or maybe I've got a thing for the Hemsworth brothers? Is Chronicle really better than Avengers? Is anything better than The Avengers? Is this whole list pointless with the impending rise of the Dark Knight?
Three films I was lucky enough to catch in the cinemas this month:
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)
Very sweet love story told in the style of a silent film.When a silent star resists the coming of sound, his star fades as the girl he loves rises to fame.A pretty simple narrative that lacks surprises is disguised by the brilliant and clever way it’s told.Great performances from the cast who manage to hold their own against the scene-stealing dog, it’s a fun, easy-to-watch silent film that uses sound sparingly in a couple of particularly notable sequences and is guaranteed to leave you with a huge smile on your face by the end. Catch it before it cleans up at the Oscars on Sunday!
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, 2012)
Oh the trials and woes of the middle class.Academic students fall in love at an American college but are kept apart by strict regulations as the English girl breaks the terms of her student visa.Convincing performances from the two leads Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin can’t hide the fact they are playing pretty boring, and not particularly likeable characters.The most sympathetic character in the story is played by Jennifer Lawrence who shines with limited screen time and makes the audience care even less for the plight of the central couple.The obscenely upper-middle-class parents of Felicity Jones’ Anna add welcome comic relief but also remind the viewer that these characters should really just stop moping and count their blessings.
I highly recommend The Artist, slightly recommend The Grey especially if you can turn your brain off, and vaguely recommend Like Crazy if you think two kids falling in love and being kept apart by visa regulations sounds like you're bag. What do you think? Has The Grey been unfairly snubbed by Mr Oscar and friends? Is Like Crazy a painfully emotional and real story? Did anyone not like The Artist?
Hands up who else watches movies to see characters get punished? If you're a horror fan you'll be totally comfortable with this. Yes I like to see characters endure all sorts. Torture, murder... you name it. I get a sadistic kick from watching characters squirm, plead for their lives and just occasionally come out the other side of their horrific ordeals at least partially intact.
Films are full of conflict, tests, confrontation and challenges. If characters don't clash with something, then what the hell am I watching for? If you want to keep an audience hooked, a screenwriters got to pile on complication after complication. What would be the fun in having a character acheive his/her goal easily? No drama, no complications, no crisis, no climax. Even a rom-com piles on the barriers and obstacles to the couple getting together. It wouldn't have much of a climax or resolution if the characters just got together without any fuss, arguments, break-ups or complications.
Horror fans are generally a particularly sadistic bunch. We love to see blood, sweat and tears spilled. Half the time the characters suck so bad, I'm not even sure I care if they survive by the end. But the best horrors are the ones where we do care. A couple of examples spring to mind; Drew Barrymore in the opening of Scream, her parents so close to saving her as she clings to the phone unable to scream. The lovely trio in Wolf Creek who endure all manner of nasty shit at the hands of a very nasty Aussie bloke with a bigger knife than Crocodile Dundee.
So you could say I'm a bit like the Saw franchise's Jigsaw. I like to watch. I like screenwriters to set up my characters in the worst possible circumstances and I want to see what they'll do to get out of it. If that means sawing a leg off, so be it. Sacrifice makes a great story. Just look at the sales of the bible!
With this in mind, I present two trailers. The Cabin in the Woods is my most anticpated horror of 2012 (along with World War Z) and this trailer looks like a nice mix of the conventional and something new. It also had the line that inspired my above musings. Be warned: it seems to give a lot away but hopefully there will still be a wholesome WTF??? element. And it's bound to be better than the Evil Dead remake (even if that is written by Diablo Cody).
Then there's The Grey starring Liam Neeson and pitting him against some hungry (hopefully nasty) wolves. It's got a plane crash (having been in one(!), I'm always curious to see screen versions) and Neeson with a soppy reason to survive his grim circumstances. The last time I saw characters threatened by wolves was in Frozen, featuring three characters stuck in a ski chair lift overnight as hungry wolves circled below. That one didn't end so well but it will be interesting to see how hard-man Neeson fares against his own peckish tormentors. Let's just hope the wolves aren't painfully awful CGI creations that distract from the drama.
Looks like there'll be plenty of sadistic pleasure to be gained from the trials of these characters. Kids in a cabin in the woods up against who knows what... reality TV? Or if you don't like horror so much, Liam Neeson up against hungry wolves. Either way, the characters are in the middle of who knows where and there's sure as hell going to have to be sacrifices to be made if any of these characters are going to survive. Bring on the pain I say. Anyone else getting bloodthirsty?
