Palooza's Top 125 Films of 2012

[Palooza]

This will be quick since I just got home.


Best Picture
Amour
Argo - WINNER
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln” - WINNER
Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook” - WINNER
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Actor in a Supporting Role
– Alan Arkin, “Argo”
– Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
– Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
– Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
–Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained” - WINNER

Actress in a Supporting Role
– Amy Adams, “The Master”
– Sally Field, “Lincoln”
– Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables” - WINNER
– Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
– Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Directing
– Michael Haneke, “Amour”
– Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
– Ang Lee, “Life of Pi” -- WINNER
– Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
– David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
– “Argo,” Screenplay by Chris Terrio -- WINNER
– “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
– “Life of Pi,” Screenplay by David Magee
– “Lincoln,” Screenplay by Tony Kushner
– “Silver Linings Playbook,” Screenplay by David O. Russell

Writing (Original Screenplay)
– “Amour,” Written by Michael Haneke
– “Django Unchained,” Written by Quentin Tarantino - WINNER
– “Flight,” Written by John Gatins
– “Moonrise Kingdom,” Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
– “Zero Dark Thirty,” Written by Mark Boal

Animated Feature Film
– “Brave” - WINNER
– “Frankenweenie”
– “ParaNorman”
– “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
– “Wreck-It Ralph”

Cinematography
– “Anna Karenina,” Seamus McGarvey
– “Django Unchained,” Robert Richardson
– “Life of Pi,” Claudio Miranda - WINNER
– “Lincoln,” Janusz Kaminski
– “Skyfall,” Roger Deakins

Documentary Feature
– “5 Broken Cameras”
– “The Gatekeepers”
– “How to Survive a Plague”
– “The Invisible War”
– “Searching for the Sugar Man” - WINNER

bold = prediction
italics = I didn't see the movie
green = correct pick
red = incorrect pick

[Palooza]

3 wrong, pretty not fucking bad. I was torn between Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, so I ain't mad atcha. More Oscars for Argo the better and FUCK THE WORLD BRAVE WAS TRASH. Wreck It Ralph is one of the best animated movies ever.

[Palooza]

Getting back on my grind now. I will be doing my own awards around the time I get to the top 10.

[Palooza]

67 . Contraband

Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Kate Beckinsale, Caleb Landry Jones, Lukas Haas, Diego Luna, JK Simmons, Robert Wahlberg, Jacqueline Fleming, William Lucking, David O'Hara

Director(s) - Baltasar Kormákur
Writer(s) - Aaron Guzikowski
Source Material/Connections - Based on the 2008 Icelandic film "Reykjavik-Rotterdam" which director Baltasar Kormákur played the Marky Mark role
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - January 13
Runtime - 1 hour, 49 minutes
RT Score - 51%
Metacritic - 51/100
Views - 3
Viewed - Torrent, Starz
Quote - "This is no fucking bueno."
Review -
There is nothing great or spectacular or amazing about this movie. It's extremely mediocre, hence the score, but what helps its cause is that it has no business being good or entertaining or any of that. A second weekend of the year release is built to be one of the worst of the year, see Man on a Ledge. This movie defies the odds by hitting all the right buttons at the right moments. What helps is that even though Marky Mark coasts through this movie in his sleep, he still does it extremely well. Like Will Smith in Men in Black III, he's really good at it, mailed in or not. You can tell with the director's connection to the original film, he has a passion for the source material and does a really fantastic job of figuring out what translates well enough for American audiences to create one of the more entertaining and fun heist movies of the past few years. This is on the same level as the Italian Job in terms of heist-fun, but throw in a shootout 2/3 of the way through and you have elevated the entertainment value. As you can tell a movie that is supposed to be terrible, but overcomes the odds and is surprisingly well made, highly entertaining, fun and cool. My main man Ben Foster kinda gets the works, but he deserves it after some of the shit roles he has taken lately. This is a step in the right direction if only because it's not terrible. His arc in the film felt really forced and even though he seemed like a cool dude, his villainy felt unnecessary. That's one of my only few genuine gripes with the film. Well, that and how Kate Beckinsale has the ability to come back from the dead, that was annoying. Giovanni Ribisi's over the top awfulness is incredible here and fits perfectly because he exists only to be a villain and to hate him. He pulls it off with such ease, it's unfortunate we don't get to see him more often. His raspy annoying voice gets old, obviously, but I like the quirks to add fuel to my hatred. The whole Jackson Pollack storyline was really corny and forced, but I accepted it. Diego Luna's over the top psycho cartel guy was great because Luna is a good enough actor to keep his ridiculousness in the realm of the movie. Plus he generated that cool shootout 2/3 of the way through that put this movie onto another level of fun.

So this is pretty much The Italian Job version of a Gone in 60 Seconds sequel where Nic Cage is dead, Charlize Theron is Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi's character has broke bad and dropped stealing cars for drug smuggling, but in a highly entertaining way.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

66 . The Five-Year Engagement

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Rhys Ifans, Jacki Weaver, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart, Brian Posehn, Chris Parnell

Director(s) - Nicholas Stoller
Writer(s) - Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - April 27
Runtime - 2 hours, 4 minutes
RT Score - 64%
Metacritic - 62/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "The first important thing to remember about marriage is that it requires commitment. The second is that so does insanity."
Review -
Before having seen this film, I remembered seeing Gooby's quick hate-filled review of this film and it completely dropped my expectations to zero. This film defied those odds and wound up actually being a cute little rom-com, albeit annoying and overly-sappy. Written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller is always a good sign as they've been pretty damn successful so far in their collaborations - Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets. Here they blend what worked with both of them, but it doesn't work as well. It's a really odd subject for the two as they've pretty much focused on passion projects up until this point, but this seems like a studio-friendly cash grab. It certainly shows, but with the names attached, they make it work.

As a Freaks and Geeks and Forgetting Sarah Marshall fan, I can handle Jason Segel's mopey-ness for longer than most people as long as there is plenty of his adorable and pathetic raunch in between. I prefer him as a looking for love loser than a make love work loser, but whatever. Emily Blunt is cute as fuck with her British accent, weird face and charisma. The real passion from this movie comes with the power couple that is Chris Pratt (Parks and Rec) and Alison Brie (Community) two of my favorite human beings on Earth. This is a match made in internet heaven and while they don't get the screen time they deserve, they still pull off their relationship incredibly well. Alison Brie does this the entire time with a British accent, no less. They definitely need to be doing their own thing a la This is 40, but better.

The story is actually really paint by numbers, cliche, rom com bullshit, which brings the experience down. I can totally understand why Gooby hated it, but with the names involved, I was okay with all the sappiness, tired, overdramatic plot. They definitely made the best of their situation and I hope that Segel and Stoller put more heart and soul and passion into their next collaboration.
Rating - C

[NAHSTE]

I enjoyed Five Year Engagement but I watched it on a five hour plane (to San Francisco, coincidentally enough) so I kind of had no choice. Agree Pratt/Brie stole the show from our two charming and lovable leads.

[Palooza]

65 . Premium Rush

Joseph Gordon Levitt, Dania Ramirez, Michael Shannon, Jamie Chung, Wole Parks, Christopher Place, Aasif Mandvi, Henry O, Brian Koppelman

Director(s) - David Koepp
Writer(s) - David Koepp and John Kamps
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - PG-13
Release Date - August 24
Runtime - 1 hour, 30 minutes
RT Score - 76%
Metacritic - 66/00
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "Suck it, douchebag."
Review -
This movies rating is pretty much the combined reasoning behind the reviews for Contraband and The Five-Year Engagement - it's highly entertaining and it has a great cast. Like mentioned a million times, Joseph Gordon Levitt is my man crush. You will see further down the list with more of his movies that I am a very big fan. All the corniness or lame, unbelievable bullshit that accompanies a fucking bike parkour movie is erased with the casting of one of the most charismatic actors around. He's slick, he's cool, he's likable, he's good looking. There is not one thing that is not to like about JGL and his involvement in this movie, along with Michael Shannon as the films bad guy, really brings this movie up from what could be potentially one of the worst films ever made. This movie seriously has no business being any good, but it takes all the lame chase/race against the clock movie elements and elevates them to a level of entertainment that wouldn't be accomplished without these actors involved. OH! And Dania Ramirez is really, really hot. This movie is super fun and the right level of corny. If you're a JGL superfan like me, you've seen it already, but if it's on Starz or HBO or sumshit ever, I don't suggest turning it off. It's a quick watch, too. Definitely an easy movie to watch, especially if you have time to kill.
Rating - C

[Buzzman]

I have to say Premium Rush is one of the biggest pieces of garbage I've ever seen. Especially Michael Shannon.

[Palooza]

I have to say Premium Rush is one of the biggest pieces of garbage I've ever seen. Especially Michael Shannon.

Stop that.

[DoubleDeuce]

I loved Premium Rush. It's not gonna be on my top 10 all-time great movies or anything lol, but for what it was, it was fucking awesome.

[Palooza]

64 . Arbitrage

Richard Gere, Brit Marling, Susan Surrandon, Tim Roth, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker, Stuart Margolin, Chris Eigeman, Graydon Carter , Bruce Altman

Director(s) - Nicholas Jarecki
Writer(s) - Nicholas Jarecki
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - September 14 (limited)
Runtime - 1 hour, 47 minutes
RT Score - 85%
Metacritic - 73/100
Views - torrent
Viewed - 1
Quote - "You're not my partner, you work for me! Everybody works for me!"
Review - Nothing. Really. Happens. Outside of some pretty great acting (except for Tim Roth's horrible accent), especially Richard Gere, who I usually fucking loathe. Why did I see this movie, you ask? Was it for the silly, pitch perfect family man is actually a lying, cheating, sleazy businessman plot? NOPE. I saw this movie for the lovely Brit Marling, who does as well as she can as Gere's daughter/employee who is kept in the dark about his shade-ball activities. She isn't given much to work with, but it's refreshing to see her as the only normal person who isn't painfully boring. Hello, Susan Surandon, why are you even in this movie? Oh yeah and so they throw a death in the middle of the story to complicate things, but it's forced and unnecessary and there's this weird mysterious relationship with this black dude who helps him and he knows his dad or something. Besides that death, nothing really happens at all. Tim Roth comes in as a cop who knows Gere is guilty of the woman's death but doesn't have the evidence to convict him. Roth is atrocious here, really cliche cop, his accent is horrible, he looks like shit.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

63 . The Invisible War

Director(s) - Kirby Dick
Writer(s) - Kirby Dick
Source Material/Connections - REAL LIFE
MPAA Rating - Unrated
Release Date - June 22
Runtime - 1 hour, 37 minutess
RT Score - 100%
Metacritic - 75/100
Views - 1
Viewed - netflix
Quote - "Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire with the number of assaults in the last decade alone in the hundreds of thousands."
Review - I don't really want to discuss this movie too much because it will just make me sad. It's an extremely important and well made documentary about sexual assault in the US military. It's absolutely disgusting and the movie is extremely hard to watch. There are countless women who have been victims and it is extremely brave for the half dozen or so who had the balls to feature themselves in this. The one woman almost made me cry every second she was on screen with her constant pain and struggles to get herself help because she is still being shunned by the military for what she has come out about. Absolutely horrible. This is one of these documentaries that is so close to home that it is hard to watch. Everybody needs to see this movie, just once. I know I'd never be able to sit through it again, way too emotional and painful. Really good job by the filmmakers., but the tough nature of the subject and my hatred for myself afterward, even though I am not in anyway involved certainly brought it down.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

62 . The Imposter

Director(s) - Bart Layton
Writer(s) - n/a
Source Material/Connections - REAL LIFE
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date -
Runtime - 1 hour, 35 minutes
RT Score - 95%
Metacritic - 77/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote -
Review - This movie is actually really good, but I'm letting my personal feelings cloud its ranking. The story is incredibly fascinating and it is coming from the source - the primary storyteller is the man in question, Frédéric Bourdin, the "Imposter". The problem though is that there are all these questions presented and explored that all of a sudden come a halt with an "I don't know" answer. It's extremely unsatisfying and disappointing and crushed me. I was so involved, drawing the same conclusions as the private investigator but his pursuits are left unanswered. We find nothing. About half the movie, the part that draws you in, is flawless. Bourdin's con is absolutely brilliant. So once he "returns" to their home, looking older, different with an accent and an elaborate story in tow, the questions are posed. Why are they so accepting of this boy to be THEIR boy? There are two options - 1.) They want so badly for their son to return to their family, they are blinded by emotion. or, the more logical approach - 2.) They had something to do with the boy's disappearance from the get-go and this was the perfect opportunity to cover it all up. It's once these questions are posed that a movie starts to hit an emotional high. Once I had the private investigator on my side I was ecstatic, so when we came up with nothing. Denial from the family, speculation from an old P.I. and the word of a con artist was all that we had at the end. No evidence. No body. No revelations. Questions with "IDK" answers. Extremely frustrating, even though that's life there aren't any bows to tie on this one.

This movie also gets points for bringing Hanni el Khatib to my attention. The awesome "You Rascal You" plays over the movie's intense trailer.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

61 . Not Fade Away

Joe Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill, Dominique McElligott, Brahm Vaccarella, Gregory Perri, James Gandolfini, Bella Heathcote, Molly Price, Meg Guzulescu, Christopher McDonald, Brad Garrett, Isiah Whitlock Jr

Director(s) - David Chase
Writer(s) - David Chase
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - December 21
Runtime - 1 hour, 52 minutes
RT Score - 70%
Metacritic - 65/100
Views - 1
Viewed - in theaters
Quote -
Review - Pretentious and over done 60’s music scene plot, even if it is based on Chase’s life. I appreciate effort, it was extremely well directed, looked cool, had great music. Really well made it just wasn’t a good movie. The actual story within the frame of the movie is really what brings this down. He captures the major events of the 60s really well, it's just the eye we see it from isn't ideal. The autobiographical elements make me think that maybe I wouldn't like David Chase very much IRL. I'd imagine he's grown up in 50 years, but who knows.

Joe Magaro as the main character was a penis, Jack Huston was great as the retarded douchebag who loses his spot as the lead singe after accidently swallowing a joint at a show. Main character steps in and he can sing! They try to make the band work, but he's become too full of himself, fucking a hot piece of ass, being too cool for everybody, stepping on Jack Huston's sensitive toes because he's not the man anymore. Thing's don't work out, but it doesn't matter Joe dreams of hitting it big in Hollywood and directing movies, but not before alienating his girl and his friends/bandmates and eating a lovely dinner with Tony Soprano himself, the penis's father, who passes the reigns on to him as man of the family, because Tony's getting old you see.

So there's a lot of nothing going on that gets tossed around into a sloppy mess. David Chase obviously had an idea, not a story and tried to turn it into a movie. I hope his post-Sopranos career gets better beyond this because I am a huge fan of the series. The music is good, the directing is pretty fantastic, it's just missing a story to tell. Maybe next time.
Rating - C

[Palooza]

60 . 10 Years

Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Kate Mara, Justin Long, Chris Pratt, Max Minghella, Lynn Collins, Ari Graynor, Scott Porter, Brian Geraghty, Anthony Mackie, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Zano, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Ron Livingston, Aaron Yoo,

Director(s) - Jamie Linden
Writer(s) - Jamie Linden
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - PG-13
Release Date - September 14 (limited)
Runtime - 1 hour, 30 minutes
RT Score - 59%
Metacritic - 61/100
Views - torrent
Viewed - 1
Quote - "I got fat?! What did you do, eat one of your kids?"
Review - This is like Valentines Day or New Years Eve but for 30 year olds who like to party. It’s more mature, has actual heart and some decent acting and laughs. Pretty funny and great cast that works really well together. The AV Club review put it perfectly - This is like a sequel to Can't Hardly Wait. Everybody has a point they need to get to, which I will discuss and even though the movie is corny at times and predictable, it works because the cast is so fucking brilliant together.

Oscar Isaac absolutely steals this movie as the singer friend. His plot line, even though it may be the corniest, is that he has come to the reunion to connect with his high school crush. He is a famous musician and he is known for one hit song, which is about her. The climax of their story is great when he sings the song in front of everyone and she watches, connecting the dots. It's quite possibly the cheesiest part of the movie, but Isaac is so fucking mesmerizing while singing the song and you watch Kate Mara's sexy ass figure everything out. You get caught up in the moment, forgetting about the corny bullshit. That's what this movie is - a moment to get lost in. It's a shitty ensemble comedy that is entirely forgettable after seeing it, but while you are watching it, you're like damn this is pretty entertaining. I don't mind this. Also, Oscar Isaac showing off a bit of his vocals here, a preview of what he will do as the title character of the Coen's latest Inside Llewelyn Davis

The first of the Channing Tatum trifecta in this top 125. He is in classic Tatum here, but he has my respect so I can appreciate it here. He is the “main character” but he is given just as much screen time as the others. He is there with his new girl, his real life wifey who he is about to ask to marry him. Howeva, the love of his life will be at the reunion (Rosario Dawson) so that puts a wrench in things. An old plot that is acceptable because there are so may other things going on. Rosario Dawson is also fine as shit, so being caught up on her makes a ton of sense. Her being married to Ron Livingston, doesn't. The two reconnect but not sexually and this plot line is the easiest to wrap up and move past, even though they keep jumping back to it.

Justin Long and Max Minghella are potentially homosexual best friends who have an obsession with the former hotty at the school. They also spend most of the movie overexaggerating their happiness. Minghella is about to get a divorce and Long has a single bed. Tough life. This is probably this most juvenile, annoying and frustrating plotlines. Justin Long has become one of the most annoying people in Hollywood and this movie totally makes the case for that. Lynn Collins looks great though as the hotty with some secrets and mistakes on her resume. They TP her house and then they meet her kids and they all eat and have a swell time. Moving on...

Jason Street from FNL gets the least amount of screen time as the fun, cool, smart guy who came from Hong Kong for this and is deciding to live there forever and never coming back to the states. He's the generic guy who jumps from group to group giving out advice because he is so international. Felt good to see him use his legs in this.

Chris Pratt and Ari Graynor are the couple who got married and settled down, staying in the town they grew up in and had a family. They're the epicenter of the whole thing, everyone is going to visit them and then head to their reunion. They are the home base. Pratt and Graynor have great chemistry and make total sense as a couple. Pratt's problem is that he was an asshole in high school and now he's a miserable, yet happy drunk man child who constantly apologizes to these nerds he bullied, making the situation worse and worse for him. Ari Graynor's problem is her husband is an embarrassment. I forget what happens in this one, but Pratt is great as always I fucking love that guy.

Brian Geraghty and Anthony Mackie from The Hurt Locker reteam in this one, except this time they are old high school buddies who used to dance their asses off to impress the bitches. Aubrey Plaza plays Geraghty's wife who is having the hardest time accepting the fact that her husband used to be a "Wigger". This plotline is fun and nothing is more attractive than Aubrey Plaza being a bitch.

I think that's everything. Like I said, forgettable but good while you are in the moment. The cast is completely believable as old friends and with a cast this deep, it's impressive they pulled it off so swimmingly.
Rating - C