Here we are, at the brink of destruction. Until then, take a look at what I considered to be the top 10 films of the year.
Keep in mind this list is only based on the films I saw in 2012. I’m sure a lot of you will disagree with my picks, but the beauty of the internet is that you can comment or make your own damn list.
That being said, here it is:
10) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Some of you are probably saying, why is The Dark Knight Rises at #10?! Well the short answer is because this movie really wasn’t that good, in my opinion.
I was really looking forward to this flick, and Christopher Nolan does not disappoint — at least he didn’t until this film.
Aside from the myriad of plot holes, this movie was kind of slow and a bit of a bore. I felt Nolan tried too hard to mix some ‘Inception’ style surprises towards the end that just fell flat.
For a film about Batman, Batman was hardly in the film at all. 2 of the best things about this 3rd film in the Nolan trilogy are Catwoman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Beyond that I just saw a lot of fancy CGI shots that were just trying to top ‘The Dark Knight’, useless dialogue to give exposition where none was really needed and a convoluted storyline that left me feeling a little confused and ultimately bored.
Not to mention Bane was a throwaway character that was built up through marketing to be the next Joker. He wasn’t even close.
The only reason I put this at #10 because it was one of the better films of 2012 (what does that say given my glowing review) and Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Tom Hardy is a formidable team that deserve some recognition.
09) TOTAL RECALL

For a remake this is one of those that’s better than the original, imo. Great cast, cool story, great CGI & action-packed. Colin Farrell is great as Arnold Schwartzenegger’s Quade who finds out he’s not who he thinks he is.
The bad guy is played by Heisenberg himself, Bryan Cranston (with a bad wig I might add) who has a bad ass right-hand (wo)man portrayed by Kate Beckinsale. Jessica Biel plays Quade’s alter-ego love interest and Bokeem Woodbine his best friend.
The remake was good I thought. They don’t go to Mars, Colin Farrell doesn’t pull anything out of his nose and there’s no corny bulging eyes at the end. What they did keep in the mix is the cloak & dagger element of this story, the sci-fi and of course the 3 breasted woman.
I went in to this with an open mind and no real expectations and was pleasantly surprised at what a fun, action packed & well done sci-fi film it was.
Definitely has nods to the original, but it is a great movie all on its own.
08) MOONRISE KINGDOM

This was a quirky little feel-good film that was a nice change of pace from the tent-pole actions films I saw most of the year.
People like to rant & rave about (or completely loathe) Wes Anderson, but I’ve never given him much notice either way. The only other film by him I really enjoyed was the Life Aquatic.
This flick though I found to be touching, funny, interesting & cute. I’m not sure if those are the adjectives one would hope to hear about a film, but I find them to be pretty accurate.
I thought the love story between the two main characters (10-11 year old boy & girl) was charming & overall the film had a really feel-good vibe that I couldn’t ignore.
While it wasn’t my favorite film of 2012 it definitely deserves a Top 10 mention.
This film also had a great ensemble cast (Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Francis McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton) who worked very well together. This was probably one of my favorite Edward Norton roles because it was very different for him and I thought he pulled it off well. Overall it’s one of those movies that you just kind of watch, smile over & move on with your life.
07) CHRONICLE

This movie was a nice surprise. I saw the trailers and it starred no one I knew but had a really cool premise.
Suffice to say it’s an anti-superhero movie about people with super powers. Actually about teens with super powers.
What I liked was the real-world accountability involved in this flick regarding the kids and their powers. Specifically the character of Andrew (portrayed by Dane DeHaan) who is an abused & solitary boy who starts to use his new found abilities in dark & twisted ways — an exponential reflection of a victim of abuse who becomes the abuser.
Written by Max Landis (John Landis’ kid), I liked the story a lot and I thought it was paced well and had enough character development to give the final and epic conclusion that takes place in downtown Seattle the room it needed to really have an impact. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.
The film is shot from the perspective of Andrew’s video camera for the most part, which gives it a found footage vibe, but it cuts back and forth between that and an objective observer viewpoint that you don’t feel like you’re watching Blair Witch meets the Avengers, which it could have ended up being.
06) JOHN CARTER

Another cool sci-fi flick that came out this year, John Carter (based on the book, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs) was a lot of fun & had some great CGI.
I’ve heard people give this movie a lot of shit, but I have to say that I really liked it. It gave me a sense of that 80′s sci-fi feel like the original Star Wars or Buck Rogers or even Battlestar Galactica (the original) but through a modern point of view.
This was my first real introduction to Taylor Kitsch, and I really dig this guy as an actor. I also thought he was great in Battleship & Savages.
In this film he portrays John Carter, a Virginia solider who gets teleported to Mars where a battle rages between warring factions of humanoids as well as aliens known as the Tharks.
The Princess, who is portrayed by actress Lynn Collins, is a feisty, aggressive and strong woman who makes most Disney Princesses look like complete wimps. Her and Kitsch are great on screen together and gave the film a real sense of chemistry.
The film really does appeal to the kid in me, but I thought it was action-packed enough that even as an adult you’ll enjoy it if you like sci-fi and fantasy.
05) SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED

Ah, the good ol’ Duplass’. This film was only produced by them and stars Mark Duplass, but it definitely has their vibe all over it.
Answering a craiglist ad about time travel, a reporter takes 2 interns (the female intern portrayed quite awesomely by Aubrey Plaza) with him to try and get a story for a failing magazine he writes for.
What ensues is a really great, quirky character piece that takes you on an interesting adventure.
Kenneth (Mark Duplass) comes off as a conspiracy nut who claims to be able to travel back in time. Throughout the movie you don’t know if he’s serious or just off his meds.
I won’t spoil the end for you, but I will say it’s a pretty awesome finale to this story.
There’s tons of great character development throughout the movie for all of the characters involved and I thought it kept the threads simultaneously interesting & connected.
Definitely one of the better films of 2012. I do recommend you see it for sure.
04) JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME

More Duplass madness. Written & Directed by the Duplass Brothers, this movie is a really awesome, funny & somewhat poignant indie comedy.
Susan Surandon who plays the mom of Jason Segel & Ed Helms, deals with her own life crisis as her two sons simultaneously deal with theirs.
Jason Segel, in probably one of his best roles to date IMO, portrays Jeff (the title character) who does indeed live at home with his mom. Ed Helms plays his arrogant brother, Pat whose marriage is failing due to his own short comings as a husband and a human being.
What makes this film fun and interesting is Jeff’s search for meaning in a random phone call that may or may not end up being so random.
It’s a really fun movie and by the end if you’re not emotionally affected, you might not have a soul. You should check.
03) THE AVENGERS

What Top 10 list of 2012 would not be complete without a Joss Whedon flick? Well without a doubt one of my favorite movies of the year was The Avengers.
Sure it was campy and over-the-top and filled with a lot of one-liners & corny dialogue — but what else would you expect from Joss Whedon, or a comic book movie for that matter.
Christopher Nolan this is not. Joss Whedon brings the super hero movie to a different level by infusing comedy & action together seamlessly with witty dialogue, great characters & cool toys.
Another all-star cast is present here with Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston and more.
What makes this movie work so brilliantly is a well-woven story that gives each character room to breathe, develop and interact with one-another in a way that shows off each of their talents, their personalities and how they all blend (and don’t blend) together.
Kudos to Joss Whedon who not only directed but also wrote the script and made for one of my favorite super hero movies of all time.
02) THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Joss Whedon comes in at #2 as well as co-writer of one of the best horror flicks this year. He and Drew Goddard (who directed the film) penned a truly original-yet-homage-laden script that is funny, intense, captivating & even makes you jump as all good horror movies should.
Five 20-something year-olds go up to an old log cabin for a relaxing weekend that turns in to a night from hell.
I won’t spoil anything, because if you haven’t seen this film yet you really need to enjoy all of its twists and turns as you watch it — but I will say that the film is not what you expect and has an ending you will either love or hate.
The highlight of the cast for me is Fran Kranz who I first saw in Whedon’s Dollhouse series. He’s really funny and made the movie so much more enjoyable than it already was.
Other highlights include Richard Jenkins & Bradley Whitford who really steal the show & one of the best kills in cinema history.
There’s lots of blood and gore, as you would expect from a film that gives homage to everything from Friday the 13th to Evil Dead, some nudity and lots of laughs.
Easily one of the top films of the year and I can’t give it enough praise for being original and unique in an industry wrought with remakes, sequels & re-imaginings.
01) LOOPER

Drum roll please…..oh never mind — you can already see that my pick for the #1 film of 2012 is Looper.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a Looper, a special group of assassins that kill people from the future. They’re paid well and live a life of luxury in a future Earth where time travel exists in the future, but is illegal.
Confused yet? You might be. Time travel films always have a way of messing with your head, & Looper doesn’t miss that mark, but it doesn’t rely on it in lieu of a good story.
Bruce Willis plays an older version of JGL’s character, Joe, who is sent back in time to close Joe’s loop — a process in which a Looper kills their future self and gets paid a huge sum of money, and then lives out their days in even more luxury before they’re collected and sent back in time to be killed, 30 years later.
Like I said, Looper has it’s share of time-travel confusion, but what it also has is a solid, character-driven storyline that makes it fun, interesting & fresh.
I don’t like spoilers, so I won’t spoil this film either, but I will tell you that the ending is something that left me thinking for the rest of the night. It was impactful and unexpected.
Looper is easily the best film of 2012, and as I’ve said before, possibly of the past 10 years.
Director/writer Rian Johnson (Brick) created a really unique & entertaining sci-fi flick that will hopefully go down as a 12 Monkeys of this generation.
While some critics said it could very well be the Star Wars of this generation, I don’t think it has that broad of appeal & is too dark and brooding to be enjoyed by all.
It is a great movie though, and will most likely leave you and your friends debating time-travel theories for days.
Highlights also include Jeff Daniels and relative newcomer Pierce Gagnon who plays Cid — an 8 year old who steals the show in ways you’ll have to see to believe.
See Looper. You’ll enjoy the hell out of it.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Tom Hardy in Lawless
PROMETHEUS – This flick failed in my opinion. A re-hash of Alien plot points. They say if you’re going to steal, steal from the best — but it seems that Ridley Scott might just think that’s him. After seeing this I highly disagree. Why did I give it an honorable mention? Because visually it’s great and Idris Elba is in it.
LAWLESS – I really liked this flick a lot. Tom Hardy’s character, Forrest Bondurant was one of my favorite anti-heros in a long time. Shia LeBeouf did really good in this as well. A prohibition flick that tells a true story about 3 brothers who go up against Guy Pearce’s character, Charlie Rakes — a federal marshall who bites off more than he can chew. Really good flick. Tom Hardy was better in this than TDKR for sure. Nice cameo also by fellow TDKR cast member Gary Oldman.
THE HUNGER GAMES – Last but not least, The Hunger Games I enjoyed. Never read the books, but I thought the movie was fun and interesting. Jennifer Lawrence is great in this, as is Woody Harrelson.
While it didn’t have quite the impact to make my Top 10 list I did think it was a good film.
So that’s my list.
Hopefully the world doesn’t end this Friday as I still wanna see The Hobbit, Argo and some other films this year not to mention what’s coming out next year…