The Official Review Thread of 2012

[Precious Doll]

The Sessions 9/10

This has to be the surprise of the year for me. I went to a screening the other night with very low expectations.

Ben Lewin, the films writer/director, has made a number of minor forgettable films over the years and I'm not a fan of John Hawke or Helen Hunt. But I was completely won over by this film which is just about perfect in every way. It's dramatic, funny, provocative, sexy and most of all moving without even becoming sentimental or mushy.

Surprisingly it cost under one million dollars. It doesn't show as the film has a gorgeous colorful look to it.

All the performances in the film are outstanding, with even the smallest roles perfectly cast. Aside from the career best work by Hawkes & Hunt, there's also excellent work by William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Jennifer Kumiyama, Adam Arkin & Robin Weigert.

But the film belongs to Hawkes and Hunt in equal measures and you see 'all' of Helen Hunt more then once.

[anonymous1980]

BRAVE
Cast: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, John Ratzenberger (voices).
Dirs: Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman.

First, the good news: This is a vast improvement to Cars 2. The bad news: It's still nowhere near as great as the other PIXAR films at its finest. PIXAR's first fantasy/fairy tale and PIXAR's first film with a female central protagonist is very much a solid effort that's only CLOSE to being outstanding. Its biggest fault really is being unfairly (somewhat) compared to its predecessors. I'm thinking had this been a Dreamworks film, the film would have had better reviews. But as it is, it's a fine, fine piece of work with great animation and excellent voice over performances.

Oscar Prospects: Best Animated Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.

Grade: B+

[Sabin]

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)

I'm still sussing out in my head certain aspects of the story, whether or not each beat is given the time it needs and whether there's something troubling about the film's political role-play. What I do know is that it's a beguiling experience to watch. Shot on gorgeous, grainy 16mm by Ben Richardson and set to a score by the director himself, Beasts is just a triumphant-feeling experience charting the father-daughter relationship between Quvenzhané Wallis' Hushpuppy and Dwight Henry's Wink on their journey up the river. I'm going to say that Zeitlin directs the piece like it's a more sophisticated journey than it really is with the score doing a lot of the heavy-lifting. In truth, the narrative itself is pretty rote with a degree of emotional manipulation admittedly so deftly handled that I didn't really care. Wallis is amazing.

[ksrymy]

Oh, yeah, there's also this cute little project called Les Miserables that she's in this year... You're right. COMPLETELY skipped my mind.

[rolotomasi99]

The biggest surprise came in Anne Hathaway. She nails Catwoman, and, if it's a weak year, I could see a nomination coming for her.

Oh, I doubt that very much. I objected when she was first cast as Catwoman, but was actually quite impressed with her. However, she does not dominate the film the way Heath Ledger does.

I do think though we will have a repeat of what happened with Michelle Pfeiffer, with folks speculating about a nomination for her Catwoman performance only to have her nominated for another film instead.

I think Anne Hathaway has a very good chance of being nominated in Supporting Actress for her performance in LES MISERABLES. She delivers the one-two punch of a good performance in a huge blockbuster, and a great performance in an Oscar-bait film.

[ksrymy]

A whole letter grade seems to be a lot to downgrade a movie in a three-day period, even after a second viewing.

In typical Nolan fashion, the director drags on and tries to add too many subplots to an otherwise great film. Maybe my familiarity with the Batman universe allowed me to see through the twists and whatnot, but Nolan tries to do too much. Gordon-Levitt is the weak link and his arc is very unnecessary, but there is a clear reason why Nolan wanted his character there.

And you lose the experience of being lost in a film every time Tom Hardy speaks.

Marion Cotillard is very good though.

Nolan's penchant for excess is not used for full effect. I'll need to see the film once more to gauge whether it's better than Batman Begins as I've seen the previous films three times in theaters.

My other big complaint is that Nolan tries to wrap everything all cutesy too which is very uncharacteristic of not only him but the previous films and the character of Gotham itself.

[Greg]

A whole letter grade seems to be a lot to downgrade a movie in a three-day period, even after a second viewing.

[ksrymy]

EDIT TO REVIEW BELOW

After seeing it again, I may give this film a B/B-.

The endings are predictable and ultimately a letdown.

[ksrymy]

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Christopher Nolan, 2012
Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway

I completely agree with anonymous; I really wanted to hate something about this film, but it's just so hard to do that. The film is very predictable though if you're familiar with the Batman universe. Also, Tom Hardy's voice through that vocoder or whatever sounds like robot Sean Connery and it becomes a bit distracting after a while not to mention he's very hard to understand at points. Also VAGUE SPOILER, I found the end to Bruce Wayne's story arc to be completely unbelievable.

I was glad to see this as a very plot and character-driven crime drama instead of the predicted superhero film.

The biggest surprise came in Anne Hathaway. She nails Catwoman, and, if it's a weak year, I could see a nomination coming for her.

Michael Caine absolutely deserves a nomination for this, but his character is missing from the middle of the film so that will not happen. He's heartbreaking.

I'll give this film an A/A-.

Prospects: Picture and the technical nominations. Maybe a surprise nomination for Hathaway and Nolan (for directing or writing). Even a more massive surprise if Caine sneaks in.

[Reza]

but I did love The Dark Knight. I rewatched that film the other night and I was reminded by how batshit (pun intended) intense the final 40 minutes of the film was.

Of all the super hero films I'm a big fan of Batman. However, those last 40 minutes actually put me to sleep in the cinema. The film just would not end. I'm dreading the 164 minute length of this new one.

[anonymous1980]

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, Ben Mendelsohn, Tom Conti, Nestor Carbonell, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy.
Dir: Christopher Nolan.

I secretly wanted to hate this just to fight with Nolan's cultish fan boys but goshdarnit, I thought this was a terrific closer to Nolan's Batman trilogy. I didn't care for Batman Begins so much but I did love The Dark Knight. I rewatched that film the other night and I was reminded by how batshit (pun intended) intense the final 40 minutes of the film was. I thought, can this film top that? I believe it did (not by much but it did). Tom Hardy is quite good as Bane, one of the main villains (although nothing here can top Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance). The end game of this one is highly crazy inventive that will put you at the edge of your seats. I will not spoil it so much here but I will say that this is actually less of a superhero movie and it's more a big, intense ENSEMBLE action-driven crime drama (which just happens to have people in costumes in it).

Oscar Prospects: I don't know if this will get Best Picture or Best Director or Best Adapted Screenplay (I suppose it's possible depending on how the rest of the year goes). I see it getting a ton of the usual tech noms: Art Direction, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Film Editing and Original Score.

Grade: A-

[Precious Doll]

Matthew McConaughey is certainly prolific this year: Magic Mike, Killer Joe, Mud, The Paperboy, Bernie.....

I've only seen Killer Joe, for which, like his performance in Magic Mike, he has received the best reviews of his career. I found his performance in Killer Joe to be very one-note, much like the film. Killer Joe was mildly enjoyable but William Friedkin seemed to be trying too hard to provoke and shock. Thomas Haden Church was the standout in the film for me.

Magic Mike doesn't appeal to me but as it is Soderbergh, I'll watch it.

[flipp525]

Oscar Prospects: I wouldn't be against a Matthew McConaughey Supporting Actor nomination.

I would definitely support a McConaughey nomination. I thought he was fantastic in Magic Mike. His opening scene is such a dynamo and he really does almost steal the movie at times.

On another note, Alex Pettyfer is gorgeous.

[ksrymy]

Oscar Prospects: I wouldn't be against a Matthew McConaughey Supporting Actor nomination.

With almost all award shows' current penchants for nominating normally non-dramatic stars for rather bland roles (Jonah Hill, Mila Kunis, and Melissa McCarthy) I would not be surprised if McConaughey gets nominated.

I don't know if I would call any of those performances bland...I may not like all of them, but they all had life behind them for sure.

Bland may have been the wrong term to use, but non-nomination-worthy seemed too much of a mouthful.

[FilmFan720]

Oscar Prospects: I wouldn't be against a Matthew McConaughey Supporting Actor nomination.

With almost all award shows' current penchants for nominating normally non-dramatic stars for rather bland roles (Jonah Hill, Mila Kunis, and Melissa McCarthy) I would not be surprised if McConaughey gets nominated.

I don't know if I would call any of those performances bland...I may not like all of them, but they all had life behind them for sure.