2. The Avengers - a monster mash beautifully orchestrated by Joss Whedon to have heart and soul to go with the big bangs. Quick, someone give Iron Man and Hulk a buddy movie!
3. The Dark Knight Rises - thrillingly satisfying ending to an increasingly bleak trilogy that truly explored what is is to be a 'hero'.
4. Hugo - a beautiful film about the power of the movies and friendship. Scorsese at full power and fantastic visual effects and 3D.
5. The Adventures of Tintin - huge fun to kick off the year, I haven't forgotten it a year later. The chase scenes!
6. The Artist - hugely deserving of the Best Film Oscar this year, it had the X factor of being a silent film that still conveyed so much emotion.
8. Looper - vaguely sci-fi plot wrapped around an intelligent near future thriller with great performances from Bruce Willis and Joe Gordon-Levitt, my man of the year.
9. Moonrise Kingdom - an antidote to cynicism, sadness and sarcasm, just a pure delight and wise words on love and life.
10. Argo - high suspense in a nail biting thriller that also skewered Hollywood and taught us some possibly slightly exaggerated history.
Very close to getting in the Top 10 were Frankenweenie 3D, 50/50 (seen on DVD so no review), Sinister (scariest film in years but seen at the Film Festival), Pirates: Band of Misfits (Aardman kicking ass again), The Cabin in the Woods, Skyfall.
B's Top 10 (bit different than mine)
The Dark Knight Rises
Prometheus
Sinister
The Avengers
Hugo
Moonrise Kingdom
Looper
Cabin in the Woods
That's my Boy
The Rum Diary
Least Favourite Movies of 2012
Not awful but didn't live up to my expectations or I didn't walk out going 'Yeah!:
1. Prometheus
2. Dark Shadows
3. The Campaign
4. That's my Boy
5. The Dictator
6. Kath and Kimderella
Most Surprising Movie Moments of 2012
- Magic Mike not sucking as a movie, even though with Steven Soderbergh at the helm this should not have been expected
- Prometheus sucking (Empire magazine agrees with me even if nobody else does) - huge gaps in logic, stupid dialogue, a fairly pointless outcome, and too much 'spirituality' talk derailed the good suspense
- A silent film being made and achieving moderate box office success, then winning the Best Picture Oscar along with Best Actor and Best Director.
- Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came out simply 'meh' neither better nor worse than the original and largely pointless
- Channing Tatum's hitherto unknown comedic skills, displayed in 21 Jump Street
- Remakes of earlier films didn't rake in the big bucks this year (looking at you Total Recall)
- An oddball animated kids' film about Dracula preventing his daughter from dating a human (Hotel Transylvania) did far better for Adam Sandler than his latest live action 'comedy' "That's my Boy" which by comparison to his earlier films was a fairly large flop for him. Have the one-two punch of crap films "Jack and Jill" and "Grown Ups" taken the sheen off Sandler comedies?
The Hulk dealing with Loki. No, wait. The Hulk taking out some frustration with Thor. No, wait. The Hulk buddying up to Tony Stark. Hmmmm, can't decide. Let's just say "the Hulk" in Avengers.
Scariest Movie:
Sinister. One of the scariest films I've ever seen. Someone walked out! I wanted to but I also didn't want to. I love being scared.
Best Performances of the Year
2. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in everything he was in this year! Huge star in the making in my view but he was solid in The Dark Knight Rises, amazing as a young version of Bruce Willis in Looper and touching as young cancer sufferer Adam in 50/50.
3. Tom Hardy as the elder Bondurant brother in Lawless - a masterclass in 'presence'. Not bad as Bane either!
4. Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller in the Artist. Living up to her character's name.
5. Jean du Jardin as George Valentin in the Artist. Old school Hollywood charm.
6. Charlize Theron as pure evil Mavis in Young Adult - A plus for acting 'ugly' again although this time it was personality only. A powerhouse as Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman as well.
7. Liam Neeson as Ottway in The Grey - grizzled, gruff and going down with a fight!
8. Iko Uwais as Rama in The Raid - when you've got something to fight for, you are unstoppable! Amazing skills.
9. Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey in The Amazing Spiderman. Cutest couple by a long shot, both perfect for the roles and fantastic chemistry which spilled over into real life.
10. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises - deliciously catty, tough but vulnerable and all in the tightest suit this side of Michelle Pfeiffer. Cool goggles!
......and the worst: everyone in Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 and newcomer Cody Horn in Magic Mike.
Top 10 Australian Box Office
Sequels and franchises ruled again this year. Props to grey-vote winning The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for hitting the Top 10 with an original story and no franchise power. Highest ranking Australian film of the year was The Sapphires in 22nd place, well ahead of Kath and Kimderella at 52 and A Few Best Men at 59.
1. The Avengers ($54 million,outgrossing Harry Potter finale last year)
2. The Dark Knight Rises ($44 million)
3. Skyfall ($39 million, and still on release so getting bigger all the time!)
4. Ted ($35 million)
5. The Hunger Games ($31 million)
6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 ($28 million)
7. Ice Age Continental Drift ($28 million)
8. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ($25 million)
9. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ($21 million)
10. Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows ($20 million)
The full list of all 244 films released during 2012 can be found here http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/australia/yearly/?yr=2012&sort=gross&order=DESC&pagenum=1&p=.htm
Wish I'd seen: The Woman in Black, The Sapphires, Margin Call, Seven Psychopaths, Paranormal Activity 4, The Master, Chronicle, The Lady, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Margaret, Dredd.
US Box Office
The Avengers wiped the floor this year with highest box office by far and highest opening weekend ever ($207 million!) and it was the same story as Australia with sequels, prequels and franchise entries.
1. The Avengers ($623 million)
2. The Dark Knight Rises ($448 million)
3. The Hunger Games ($408 million)
4. Skyfall ($294 million)
5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 ($287 million)
6. The Amazing Spiderman ($262 million)
7. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ($251 million)
8. Brave ($237 million)
9. Ted ($218 million)
10. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ($216 million)
My Predictions for 2013
1. Fantasy themed films with built in audiences from beloved book series or prior movies will gain the biggest box office for the year - led by "Oz - the Great and Powerful", "Hunger Games: Catching Fire", "Beautiful Creatures", "The Host", "The Mortal Instruments", "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug".
2. We will be loving the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger to full movie roles (see The Last Stand).
3. Seth MacFarlane will rock the Oscars hosting gig, restoring it to a must-watch event.
4. Comic book heroes will again dominate our cinemas. No sign of this juggernaut ending anytime soon as "Man of Steel" goes up against "Thor: The Dark World", "Iron Man 3" and "The Wolverine".
5. Movies based on the "Classic novels with a twist" genre will continue to tank critically and commercially. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter failed to excite anyone this year, so why they've made Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters and Jack the Giant Killer I don't know. I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the book, so leave it the hell alone Hollywood!
6. Warm Bodies will out-do World War Z as the zombie film of the year.
7. "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" will withstand being the most anticipated sequel of the year and deliver. Man I hope this one comes true.
8. Sequels will continue to be made for anything that is deemed a successful movie, but most of this year's batch are likely to produce diminishing returns through redundancy (Hangover 3, Kick Ass 2 - the original movies were perfect as they were and do not need sequels), coming way too late after the last (Sin City: A Dame to Kill for, Riddick), being too far down the line to get audiences interested anymore (Paranormal Activity 5, Fast and the Furious 6), or just completely unwanted (The Smurfs 2, Scary Movie 5) . "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug", "Star Trek: Into Darkness" and "Anchorman 2" not included.
9. We will see a 50 Shades of Grey movie, it will be a huge hit but 75% of the female audience will be disappointed with the actor chosen to play Christian. No way of testing this prediction of course....
10. The re-release of movies to the cinema in 3D versions will not make as much moolah for the studios as they are probably hoping. The Star Wars, Titanic, Lion King and Finding Nemo versions haven't done too well so far, so just stop now and leave it for home theater. Everyone's got a 3d TV now don't they?
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