Comments on: My Top 15 Movies of 2012

By: Ethan

Ethan — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:12:30 +0000

No Beasts of the Southern Wild? No mention of The Master? tsk tsk

By: Susy26

Susy26 — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:06:23 +0000

TDK was simply a better movie, not just because of The Joker..it was a better executed movie..it’s like a perfect crime thriller..also it can stand alone, as one movie…TDKR connects to BB, which bored the shit out of me…TDKR doesn’t deserve to be at the first place..my opinion

By: fatpie42

fatpie42 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:45:14 +0000

In the UK, “Les Miserables”, “Django Unchained”, “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Wreck-It Ralph” all either were or will be released in 2013.

As such, this is my 2012 list (which can also be found at my own blog with explanations). It was originally a top 10 list with runners up, but I’ve improvised the final portion to make it a top 15:

1. A Royal Affair
2. Sound Of My Voice
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. Skyfall
5. The Revenant
6. Detention
7. Cabin In The Woods
8. The Innkeepers
9. The Grey
10. The Amazing Spider-Man
11. Avengers Assemble
12. Young Adult
13. Prometheus
14. Chronicle
15. Looper

By: Jake

Jake — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 00:59:33 +0000

I’ll use some of the movies listed here as suggestions as I haven’t seem them. I only watched your top 2 movies and I have my doubts about both. Avengers is essentially a fun movie to watch but one that I will only watch once.
TDNR’s had sky high expectations it could never live up to. It is possible that I liked the Hobbit even better than those 2 (I know you hated it) hehe.

By: johnc

johnc — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:19:48 +0000

Avengers is a bit high for my liking, ZDT was a mess precisely for the reasons you mention, Paul (posing tough questions, but not answering them), and TDKR, while phenomenal, is iffy for #1 spot. I do believe it was the best of the trilogy (with TDK basically riding Ledger’s death [admit it]).

I left the theater astounded, no doubt. It was monumental. There’s just a few tweaks that would have propelled the movie into a classic. Namely, showing Alfred smiling at the end and cutting. Batman has always been about the symbol, not Bruce Wayne. It doesn’t matter if Bruce lived or died. The Batman is immortal. The best way for him to keep that status is if the audience wasn’t shown what Alfred saw. At that point, the audience makes the distinction and comes to realize that it doesn’t matter.
Batman will live on. Physically, through JGL. Mentally and emotionally, in the hearts and minds of Gotham’s citizens.

To those complaining about the “realistic” tone of TDKR (and subsequent plot holes), you should look at the other movies. Gritty and generally more grounded is a better descriptor. Suspension of disbelief flies out the window when I watch any of them, so I just accept it as a series that played it fast and loose here and there. The nitpicking of TDKR is actually more inconsistent than the supposed plot holes. Honestly, most of the detractors probably consist of contrarians and hipsters. Or those with ungodly high expectations.

By: johnc

johnc — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:52:04 +0000

*SPOILERS*
@ Cube, it was because that wouldn’t have guaranteed that his future self would’ve been stopped.
He needed to guarantee that the vicious cycle would be negated, hence phrase of closing the loop. I would consider it to be very on-the-nose with the thematic elements. Even so, it was quite beautiful in terms of character development, given that it was a split second decision.

By: justin_g

justin_g — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:26:21 +0000

Good list! I’ll have to check out some of those movies that I haven’t seen yet.

However, I still can’t believe TDKR is at the top of people’s list. That movie seemed like such an afterthought (you can tell Nolan really wasn’t into it) with so many plot holes among other disappointments (eg. the whole Batman not being Batman for 8 years and only being in the film for like a half hour etc.). If it wasn’t for Bane, that movie would have been MUCH harder to watch.

By: Shiki

Shiki — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:19:34 +0000

I can see why people like to bash on The Avengers now when they saw the movie like 20 times (I know I did), but the feeling I got after watching them was indescribable. Also, Dredd was so awesome, they have to make a sequel with a more epic villain that takes place in more places than just one megablock.
Still, nice list. No Hobbit, but nice list!

By: Nerd Wiki

Nerd Wiki — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 06:55:00 +0000

nice list, Paul!

Even though you deserve to be slapped for having the mediocre Dark-”kick my spine into place”-Knight Rises at the top and no Hobbit…

But, to each his own, I guess … ^^

By: Steve2

Steve2 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:45:20 +0000

Expendables 2 for this guy. As I’ve said on this site many times before,I’m an action nut all the way. Watching EX2 is like literally seeing all my childhood play-time with action figures come to life. Not only that, but Sly himself did it FOR the fans. How many other actors/directors can say they intentionally made something specifically for the fans? Sure we got it 25 years later than we’d wished, but better late than never I say.

Dredd comes in a close 2nd for me because, as much as I hate to admit it, for all the love and care Sly put into EX2, the truth is that Dredd is more of an 80s action movie throwback whether it was intentional or not.

Django comes in 3rd cuz it was awesome. Those fake blood squibs QT used were obnoxiously overdone, and I loved it. Oh, and the story and performances were good to