Hell, if you want to get really technical about it, Bilbo wrote “The Hobbit” himself. Titled “There and Back Again: A Hobbit’s Holiday”. It’s also known as the “Red Book of Westmarch” but we don’t have to get that far into it.

I absolutly loved Casino Royale, but Skyfall was a pretty blend and generic action movie for me, but worse because of the movie’s structure. To retreat from action and go ‘wild’ in the countryside, to suddenly get the jump on a well-prepared shadow organisation? Sure.

As for the Hobbit, it was a blast. I enjoyed every single second of it.

TDKR: I felt let down by it. I knew I probably would, since there was no way anyone could top Joker. But it felt less like a wrap-up and more like a big step backward. Also, I hate Catwoman, and even Anne Hathaway’s kick-ass performance could not justify her inclusion to me. Especially after Nolan promised he would not use her.

Prometheus: Oh boy, was I excited when I watched the opening scene. I got so ramped up–and then again, my heart fell as the movie descended into a flailing mess. It seemed as though it were on the verge of stepping forward, of asking a very profound question and maybe even answering it, and then lapsed into cliched horror mode as it tried to turn itself inside out and recreate its monster movie origins.

The Hobbit: Not LOTR? Of course not. The Hobbit was a children’s book, a much lighter tale than LOTR. I stayed away from the 3D and higher frame rate for economic reasons, but I was not disappointed. My only beefs are a bit of slow pacing here and there, and I think two movies would have been sufficient. Three will feel too stretched, I suspect, even with the added material. Which, by the way, I didn’t mind. For me it was like, “Hey, this wasn’t in the book–oh cool!” I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the next one. It was nice to revisit Middle Earth and listen to Howard Shore’s music again.

The 80s were pretty simple to go through, the 90s were a bitch since there were so many good movies there (1994 being the toughest to narrow down to 5 seeing as we had shawshank, gump, clerks, pulp fiction, and many many more. 1999 as well, tough one to whittle down to 5).

There was a lot to choose from in the 2000s as well, but most didn’t seem to have the magic that a lot of those 90s movies had, and I found it much easier to whittle down to 5 as most of the other movies I liked those years were stuff like 40 year old virgin or Incredible Hulk, which were good movies, but not anything that is top 5 material usually.

My friends were most amazed by my picks this year. I am a HUGE batman nerd, everyone knows it, and seeing dark knight rises at number 4 kinda blew everyone away. Number one was easily Looper. Such a brilliant film.

BUT… Looper was trash. The movie dragged, and was a negative (in my eyes) to Joseph Gordon Levitt’s momentum. There’s a reason that movie was dumped into a September release with all the other trash not good enough for the summer.

If you want tot see a good time-travel movie, watch Primer (twice, at least).

What I will say is that this year truly felt like the year of satisfying my inner geek. Many of the films that really stood out to me (for reasons good or bad) tended to fall into this category. Joss Whedon finally got the recognition he deserved (as you mentioned above), and I got a chance to witness all the glory and/or nightmarish hell that was Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Looper, Cabin in the Woods, The Hobbit, etc.

I do normally make a personal list of the movies I thought were the best of the year, but despite what I include on that list, this year was really the year of the geek for me.

I’m not really sure I can use movies to sum up the year. I guess if I was to give it a try, the thing that sums up this year for me is that some of my favourites of the year were barely in cinemas or even straight to dvd. For example:

Detention (Hyperactive horror comedy featuring time travel, aliens and slasher killers. Insane work of genius from a director whose only other movie was “Torque”.)

The Innkeepers (Ti West once again shows off his moderately-paced old-fashioned horror skills, but this time with more comedy involved. Providing a perfect blend of horror and comedy with an excellent central performance from Sara Paxton.)

The Revenant (This story of a soldier who comes back from the war in a coffin only to discover that he is still alive. He and his friend decide what to do with his new “powers”/curse and the film takes some hilarious twists and turns. That this ended up going straight to DVD after a long time in limbo is just ridiculous, but I am so glad I checked it out anyway.)

Sound Of My Voice (A couple decide to infiltrate and expose a cult surrounding a woman making bizarre sci-fi-related claims. This had only a ridiculously limited release at the cinema after a long delay since its appearance at film festivals. But now that it’s finally available in DVD it turns out that this is one of the best films of the year. Absolutely fantastic premise, intelligently explored with an excellently well-structured script with a superb performance from Brit Marling in the lead. Much better than her other excellent film “Another Earth” from last year.)

A Royal Affair (If this received a wide release in cinemas I never noticed. It certainly left cinemas with very little fanfare and has appeared in only a few top 10 lists at the end of the year, but this is the best costume drama I have ever seen. At very least, a relatively faithful interpretation of real historical events, the story told here is quite incredible. Mads Mikkelsen is brilliant in one of the lead roles.)