Palooza's Top 125 Films of 2012

[Palooza]

Really enjoyed goon, had a smile on my face for basically the entire movie. For a sports/humor movie the story line was solid, and the cast filled the roles perfectly.

Bingo. It was exactly what it needed to be. It could have been a total piece of shit, but it was a lot of fun. I always catch bits and pieces on TV, it's hard to turn it off once you start watching.

[Palooza]

40 . Chronicle

Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, Anna Wood, Bo Peterson

Director(s) - Josh Trank
Writer(s) - Max Landis, John Trank
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - PG-13
Release Date - February 3
Runtime - 1 hour, 23 minutes
RT Score - 85%
Metacritic - 65/100
Views - 2
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "It's like wanting to make things better for everyone."
Review - It's impressive when a movie can be based around two of the most obnoxious and over done things in Hollywood today and still be both successful critically, commercially and by me. That's what Chronicle winds up being. Those two overused gimmicks include SUPER POWERS and HANDY CAM! Sidenote - "Handy Cam" is also the name of the Adult Film starring Warner2BruceTD and that Chili's waitress. It's actually called a "found footage" movie, but I liked that W2B joke. Fucking sue me. Anywho, so yeah, those are two of the most obnoxious gimmicks in Hollywood today, but here the super powers thing feels realistic (thanks due to the handycam, shockingly enough) and somewhat refreshing. What helps the handycam work is that it's not a low budget horror movie but a sci-fi action adventure drama with some pretty awesome effects that feel like a spectacle with the style used. What keeps this from being one of the serious sleepers of 2012 is the inconsistent use of the handycam, the "wow that escalated quickly" 3rd act and the killing of one of my favorite people on Earth. Outside of that, I have a hard time understanding people's dislike for this movie. Dane DeHaan plays the slow decline into villainy very well and his home life, while a bit overdramatic, humanizes him. His abusive firefighter father is played by the always fantastic Michael Kelly (Doug in "House of Cards") and serves as a logical reasoning behind DeHaan's downfall. He's a Carrie-esque character who has been pushed to his limit and people pushing him have no idea what he is capable of. This puts us in a 3-act film starting off as a high school drama then once the kids get their powers it turns into an action adventure movie, showcasing the fun kids would have if given these powers. They don't go out immediately fighting crime or anything, they teach themselves how to use these powers and have a shit ton of fun in the process. The same fun they are having the audience latches on to and has a lot of fun of their own. However when one of the three boys is killed, the movie turns into an all out good vs. evil action film, which as I said escalates pretty quickly, but is a lot of fun to watch. It's not perfect and like most of these first person shot films, certain things make no sense to be recorded and other things are done off screen with no explanation. It's frustrating at times, but mostly fun. Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan and Alex Russell all give really good performances of a bunch of regular kids who all of a sudden become more powerful than they could ever imagine. Unfortunately, the results are tragic.
Rating - B-

[Leftwich]

Palooza your quote for Goon should have been. "I've got two rules, Stay the fuck away from my percocets and do you have any percocets."

[dell71]

Chronicle was much much better than I expected it to be.

[Palooza]

Palooza your quote for Goon should have been. "I've got two rules, Stay the fuck away from my percocets and do you have any percocets."

Ahhhhhhhhh! Yes, you're right, but I wanted to disrespect all the baseball dudes we have at this place.

edited accordingly for my homeboy, Gabe Leftwich

[NAHSTE]

Chronicle was good.

 

The whole 3rd act I was like "WHERE'S WALLACE tho?"

[Palooza]

Chronicle was good.

 

The whole 3rd act I was like "WHERE'S WALLACE tho?"

 

[wingsfan77]

Haven't seen 'Compliance' yet but I know you get to see Dreama Walker's boobies so I definitely wanna see it eventually haha (yes I've googled the pics.)

[MvP]

Never heard of Compliance or Goon until now. Interested in both.

[Palooza]

I drank a lot of wine with dinner. Perhaps I will babble about some movies tonight.

[Palooza]

39 . Save the Date

Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Geoffrey Arend, Martin Starr, Mark Webber

Director(s) - Michael Mohan
Writer(s) - Michael Mohan, Jeffrey Brown, Egan Reich
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - December 14 (limited)
Runtime - 1 hour, 38 minutes
RT Score - 42%
Metacritic - 54/100
Views - 1
Viewed - torrent
Quote - "You threw it all away."
Review - Do you see that picture up there? Do you see those two women? I love them. And I am a sucker for indie relationship dramedies. This movie is RIGHT UP MY ALLY. Then you throw Martin Starr in there and I can’t even contain myself. As predictable as this movie gets, it is an extremely fun ride, even at it’s most depressing thanks to the actors involved and some well-written dialogue. The story is pretty generic but Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie being in the same movie together skyrockets this film's rating. It's called bias. I think only someone like Houston will appreciate my liking of this movie, so everyone else move along unless you have a raging Caplan-boner.
Rating - B-

[Palooza]

Because I can't count, we are now moving on to the B's....

[Palooza]

38 . Jeff, Who Lives At Home

Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Surandon, Judy Greer, Rae Dawn Chong, Steve Zissis, Evan Ross

Director(s) - Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Writer(s) - Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Source Material/Connections - n/a
MPAA Rating - R
Release Date - March 16 (limited)
Runtime - 1 hour, 26 minutes
RT Score - 78%
Metacritic - 60/100
Views - 2
Viewed - netflix?
Quote - "Was Gandhi a pussy?"
Review - This Duplass Brothers film is far superior to #87 on our list, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon even though it explores the same themes of family and brothers in general. This time around, we have a bigger budget for a less homemade looking film and experienced actors, although the lead in The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, Steve Zissis shows up in this, he doesn't need to carry the film in any way shape or form. The carrying is done by the always likable Jason Segel, who plays the title character of Jeff. Jeff believes in random coincidences that will define his destiny except his spiritualness is literally clouded by all the weed he smokes, his lack of ambition outside of following the signs and the fact that he lives in his mom's basement and the simple task of going out to get glue is a struggle for Jeff. Speaking of "signs", a lot of Jeff's beliefs are solidified by the M. Night Shayamalan's Signs (a total this movie sucks guilty pleasure of mine), which he opens the movie with a pretty great monologue about. So back to the wood glue, so yeah Jeff is assigned the task of going out and getting some by his mother where he inadvertently runs into both his foolish salesman brother (a role Ed Helms could play in his sleep) and Helms' wife (Judy Greer) on separate occasions. When he runs into Greer's character she happens to be out with another man (Steve Zissis). Jeff and his brother team up to do an awkward investigation into the affair and both hilarity and mayhem ensue. Meanwhile, there's a secret and pretty obvious lesbian crush situation going on with Surandon's character. The first 2/3 of the movie are pretty fun and enjoyable but once it hits that third act it gets caught up in a lot of cliches of happiness and everything working out in the end. I was a bit disappointed by that but it didn't ruin it as much as I would have thought.
Rating - B

[albidnis]

This is an awesome review man. Much appreciated... You, Buzzman and Dell have enhanced my movie watching.

[DoubleDeuce]

Two straight movies I loved