Can you believe it’s 2013, you guys? I can’t.
To kick off Friday Question Fun in the new year, I thought we could take a brief look backward and reminisce what our favorites of 2012 were.
What were your favorite movies of 2012?
Every time a year ends I always feel like I didn’t see very many movies from that year, but this year I had two very clear favorites. Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild were two movies that touched me and sparked my imagination in a way that very few other movies have. A close third place would probably Life of Pi or Wreck-It Ralph.
I will say that The Hobbit and Django Unchained were high up on my list but both films suffered from being slightly too long for their own good. I never did get around to seeing a lot of other favorites like Argo, Lincoln, Flight, Silver Linings Playbook, Ruby Sparks, etc. so my favorites list could very well change after I see some of those.
What about you?
Andy Watches Movies 
My top favorites were Looper, Dark Knight Rises, Argo, Skyfall. But there others that I really liked too.
I haven’t seen Skyfall either…
I feel like that and Argo may be high up on my favorites list for the year if I had seen them.
I wrote my top 10 favorite movies down a few days ago, you can find it here:
http://www.myfilmviews.com/2012/12/30/my-filmyear-2012/
Bloody Bloody Bible Camp and Killer Joe – both of which are probably not “for everyone” : )
I have Killer Joe in my iTunes wishlist…just got to get in the mood for it. I’ll check out BBBC, sounds like a good time
This is a bit difficult for me to answer as im still playing catch-up on lots of stuff but from what I’ve seen… Beasts of the Southern Wild and Killer Joe would be in there.
I know what you mean, I feel a bit silly stating my favorites when I’ve missed out on some of the most “buzz-worthy” films out there this year.
I still have a lot of 2012 films to see but my favorites were Rust and Bone, The Impossible, Perks of Being a Wallflower and Killer Joe.
Haven’t seen any of those four 😦
Looks like I have a lot of 2012 catching up to do
I still need to see Django and Zero Dark Thirty but I’d say my favorites are Amour, The Master, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.
I have a feeling Zero Dark Thirty will be one of my favorites of the year.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of The Hurt Locker and the movie looks great.
I missed a lot of flicks that a lot of people had rated highly. I’m slowly catching up with it. From what I have seen though, my faves would have to be Les Miserables and Prometheus.
Prometheus is definitely high up in my picks from the year, I have yet to see Les Mis, though.
Yay, Prometheus!!!
Moonrise Kingdom topped my Top 12. A couple you listed made my bottom list. Ruby Sparks and The Word missed either list but were decent films.
Wow, top 12? I’m not even sure I saw 12 movies from the year that could make a list that long…maybe I did.
Among those I saw, my favorites were: The Master (watched it twice), Django Unchained (3 times), Killer Joe (twice), The Turin Horse and Hors Satan (the latter two are both from 2011, though they were released in the US last year). I watched Hors Satan twice just over a 24 hour period. Can’t wait for that one to get a Blu-ray release. Bruno Dumont is one of my favorite living directors, and I found Hors Satan to be his most satisfying work since 1999’s L’Humanite.
I enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom too, and may have to see it again. I think I wasn’t in the mood for Anderson’s style the night I watched it.
Looper was entertaining for what it was, but Rian Johnson’s ideas (like juvenile gangsters, with that kind of power, sending their retired back into the past to get rid of them) are just too much for me to swallow. I guess his work just isn’t for me. I liked Brick though. Found that one worth watching once.
The four I still want to check out are Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook.
I’ve been interested in seeing Turin Horse and Hors Satan but that is some high praise. I’ll definitely check them out.
Loops didn’t kill it for me either, I liked it but not as much as some others.
I haven’t gotten to see all the ones I would have liked to yet, but right now, my favorites are Life of Pi and Moonrise Kingdom.
P.S. Only recently did I become interested in The Grey, so I’d have to add that to the four aforementioned.
Cloud Atlas was another title I need to revisit, because I was eagerly looking forward to it as a strong supporter of the Wachowskis. I enjoyed the film technically and applaud them for the courage of making it happen. My one issue is with the conclusion to David Mitchell’s story, which is a personal theme I felt somewhat agressive towards.
Below are comments I made to family and friends on Facebook shortly after watching it. Perhaps I overreacted.
October 27, 2012:
CLOUD ATLAS was one of my three most anticipated English-language films of the year, and it’s definitely worth seeing in theaters. Tykwer and the Wachowskis wove together an admirable narrative structure, with a clear message of how we are bound to each other. However I hope the film inspires artists with the desire to create works with more original philosophical ideas and with greater goals for …humanity to aspire towards [SPOILER: than living in a kibbutz-like community on another world].
At the end of the day I can’t help but examine the final outcome of the story, or where the journey lead to. I liked the film very much, but I feel that I’m never going to be satisfied with stories of this type until I write my own. And I will, just as soon as I’m done with these next two projects (yes, the children’s book). Bruce Lee said: “A goal is not always meant to be reached. It often serves simply as something to aim at.” I want a story—not a religion—that inspires the pursuit of happiness with the idea that the apex of man is something much, much greater than living forever in some abstract, half-baked Neverland-like utopia.
Hm, haven’t seen Cloud Atlas so I can’t really comment on it but that does mesh with what I’ve heard from others
The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Looper are clear winners for me. Since they are so different, I can’t really pick the best out of them but if I really really had to, Perks would take the gold by a second.
That is a film I really need to see. I wasn’t expecting it to get the praise that it has, really took me by surprise.
Perks? I read the book, it was basically Charlie’s letters and I was intrigued to see how the author would solve it – I loved it a lot!
I literally just found out the other day that the author wrote the screenplay and directed it. That definitely piqued my interest.
Yeah! And Game of Thrones author is also very connected to the show and that has turned out amazing, so it’s always amazing to see authors bring their own work to life!
I didn’t see many new release films this year. My favorite that I did see was probably Lincoln, though I also enjoyed The Hunger Games and Girl in Progress (which only got a limited release).
I really want to see Lincoln I just don’t think I want to see it in theaters. Girl in Progress has my interest, too.
Girl in Progress was a total happy accident for me. The trailer didn’t wow me but then the DVD got sent to me by mistake and I decided to give it a watch. The performances are very good. I was pleasantly surprised!
Haha nice!
Perks of Being a Wallflower, Life of Pi and The Avengers were probably my favourites although there are loads that I missed out on that could well get a mention. 2013 is going to be a good year for 2012’s films I reckon!
Haha that’s how it usually works with me! Most of the time I prefer home releases to theatrical ones.
‘The Cabin in the Woods’ was a really nice surprise and restored my faith in Hollywood being able to do horror movies well. ‘Looper’ could have been up there but the second half was too sappy and predictable.
Yeah, Cabin in the Woods was a very pleasant surprise. I wanted more out of Looper too.
My top 5 favorites(in order): Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games, Wreck-It Ralph, and Pitch Perfect
My Other Favorites(not in order): MIB3(Men In Black 3), The Avengers, Lincoln, The Odd Life Of Timothy Green, and Flight
Quite the eclectic mix of films there! Argo is THE film of 2012 that I still need to see. There are others I’d like to see but I feel like Argo is going to be huge at the Oscars.
There are so many I didn’t see but the most recent one I watched was Pitch Perfect and I am in LOVE with that movie. Watched it twice in 24 hours.
Wow! My wife really wants to watch that one
I am actually planning on posting a review about it today – that’s how much I dig it because it’s way out of my norm reviews.
Cool, look forward to reading it!
I’ll say “Arbitrage.”
Yet another one I’d really like to check out.
I’ll be posting a list on Monday. I’ll share the link when live.
Good deal!
Here is the link to my list of favorites:
http://victorsmoviereviews.com/2013/01/07/2012-year-in-review/
I’m going to stick with Looper as my favourite from last year. It may not be perfect, but it came together as a beautiful film overall. And it had Pierce Gagnon – the little dude who got me so much traffic last year… and he’s one hell of a fine little actor in that film!
Definitely check out Killer Joe though Andy – McConaughey is fantastic. A revelation.
Pierce Gagnon is going to be a beast of an actor.
Killer Joe may be on my list of things to watch this weekend 🙂
I pop over to his IMDb from now and again to keep an eye out for his next role. Apparently he’s in One Tree Hill? Who knew! I guess he’s got to do the whole “school” thing. Pah! Didn’t harm Lindsay Lohan or Drew Barrymore. They turned out just fine in their teens!
rofl
I agree with Moonrise and Beasts.
Right on!
What is with everyone? I couldn’t get through 10 minutes of Beasts. I was like. No. No no no no, I will not enjoy this, I hate it with a passion already, and I stopped it. I don’t even stop movies…like..ever. I have seen some doozies. I watched all of Cosmopolis, and couldn’t watch 10 minutes of this. That being said.
Ruby Sparks
Looper
Les Miserables
The Avengers
Dark Knight Rises
Safety Not Guaranteed
Cabin in the Woods
to name a few movies that are actually good.
I can’t even think of what happens in the first 10 minutes…
Little girl in bayou, I could tell it was going to focus on visuals rather than actual plot with a set goal and obstacles to get there. I hate movies that focus on visuals. I like plot. Same reason I don’t want to see Life of Pi
My favorites for the year are:
Brave
Arrietty
The Avengers
Prometheus
The Raid Redemption(even though technically it is a 2011 film)
The Pirates Band of Misfits
Moonrise Kingdom (I have yet to post about this movie)
Iron Sky
Total Recall (Need to post about this one)
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet (Documentary)
Good picks! I really want to see that doc
It was really good. I have the link for the main website you can order it from if you need it.
I usually hope and wait for docs to arrive on Netflix Instant or Hulu but I’ll let you know!
Avengers, Lincoln and Prometheus
Wow, that was hard. There were a Lou of good ones last year.
It was a huge year for movies, lots of good stuff came out
I posted my top picks for 2012 on my blog, but reading everyone’s choices here, I know I’ve missed a lot – I need to see Looper, DJango and Killer Joe among others. Seen A.L. Vampire Hunter, Cabin in the Woods and Prometheus but none of them are in my ‘best of 2012’ post.
It’s hard to catch everything that’s good, especially in theaters. I saw a lot of movies that were GOOD but not my favorites.
Definitely The Life Of Pi (to which I’ve just written the review: http://cinenematoblog.com/2013/01/05/the-life-of-pi-2012/ ), Killer Joe and Looper.
Oh yeah and The Avengers. Sorry but I’m a sucker for Marvel movies as I love their comics. I hate DC Comics though so the Batman did nothing but annoy and enrage me.
I’ve yet to see Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook but I will get to them, eventually. The same with Wreck-it Ralph.
In terms of animation, definitely ParaNorman and Frankenweenie. Maybe Wreck-it Ralph will be the 3rd?
Also, two movies that are technically 2011: Detention and The Innkeepers.
Solid choices. I’d definitely recommend Moonrise and Beasts, as well as Wreck-It Ralph.
“The Master”, “It’s Such a Beautiful Day”, “Tabu”, “Cloud Atlas” “Beasts of the Southern Wild” & “The Imposter”.
I think this proved to be a year of extreme ambition with filmmakers like the Wachowskis trying to really push the form in a new direction. Miguel Gomes and Behn Zeitlin also delivered some really fresh films as well.
It was definitely a great year for filmmakers. I think technology is at a really good place right now and lots of exciting things can happen without breaking the bank. Then the features that DO break the bank can be something really incredible too.
Cabin in The Woods, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, to name a few from the theater last year. I did see Drive on DVD this year and that was one of the better ones for me. I also enjoyed Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, but it wouldn’t be in my top ten.
Drive would be my favorite movie every year from here on out if I was watching it for the first time.
Hands down The Dark Knight Rise. A close second would be Skyfall. Although I didn’t see this movie in 2012, I LOVE Django Unleashed.
We almost went to see Skyfall yesterday but stayed in instead. I have a feeling it would be up there for me. Django rules too.
*Gasp!* I don’t think I saw a single new release this year. I can’t believe it!! How is this possible??
How is that possible?!?
I went to the cinema twice this year – once to see “Singin’ in the Rain” and then to see “Sunset Boulevard”.
I really am a Luddite.
Hahaha well, at least you made amazing choices for what films to see
You’ve seen my list 😀
I have indeed
Mine in The Master. It is perhaps the only American classic I can think of in the past 20 or so years. I know, right? 😛
I wish it was a little more clear on its intentions. I’m all for films leaving things up to the imagination, but that one was almost too esoteric for its own good. But I need to see it again.
Yeah, I know what you mean, totally; I had to see it three times before falling for it.
Didn’t get a chance to see to many New Releases, but would have to say Les Miserables.
I have no real frame of reference for that movie, I had never seen the play or anything else. It was good, though?
Yes, it was so great (besided Russell Crowe who was so-so) But I am also a little bias when it comes to this!
Funny you should ask! I have a whole post dedicated to that every subject. http://fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com/my-top-10-movies-for-2012/
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Moonrise Kingdom, & Headhunters were my top 3.
Don’t have much of a pool to dip into as I can count on my hands how many 2012 films I’ve seen. Of what I did see I enjoyed Grabbers, Antiviral, VHS and Django Unchained.
I haven’t seen enough of the 2012-ers.
At the moment, Dark Knight Rises & The Grey.