Everyone waits until the year is over to compile their “Best of whatever” movie lists. This has become a mundane practice. Time for a bit of a change, kids.
The year is winding down and yours truly has been catching up on all the limited releases of 2012 since just about all the marquee flicks have been screened. The Guilt Trip is the only notable wide release that got ranked while documentaries Marley and Jiro Dreams of Sushi received some play time this past weekend. And the top ten was given another shuffle.
***Being a voting member of one of the accredited film critic associations recognized by the studios for year-end awards, a ton of “For Your Consideration” screeners will be viewed up until Christmas time; all vying for award nods/momentum heading into the 84th Academy Awards***
The new releases for the respective week will have a capsule review at the end of the column. An updated list comes out every Tuesday and Friday. Here’s how things are shaking up so far in 2012:
1. Chronicle
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. The Dark Knight Rises
4. Side by Side
5. The Cabin in the Woods
6. ParaNorman
7. Lincoln
8. Argo
9. Looper
10. Game Change
11. Skyfall
12. Zero Dark Thirty
13. The Intouchables
14. The Imposter
15. Red Hook Summer
16. The Avengers
17. The Secret World of Arriety
18. The Grey
19. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
20. Friends with Kids
21. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
22. The Raid: Redemption
23. Hitchcock
24. Holy Motors
25. Flight
26. Arbitrage
27. Samsara
28. Marley
29. Bad 25
30. The Odd Life of Timothy Green
31. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds
32. 28 Hotel Rooms
33. Red Tails
34. Big Miracle
35. Think Like a Man
36. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
37. Brake
38. This Must Be the Place
39. Robot and Frank
40. Amour
41. Hope Springs
42. Rock of Ages
43. The Sessions
44. A Late Quartet
45. Wreck-It Ralph
46. Silver Linings Playbook
47. HeadHunters
48. Hemingway and Gellhorn
49. Mirror Mirror
50. Head Games
51. People Like Us
52. The Invisible War
53. Rise of the Guardians
54. Magic Mike
55. Total Recall (2012)
56. House of Ghosts
57. Quartet
58. The Campaign
59. Ted
60. Celeste and Jesse Forever
61. V/H/S
62. Pitch Perfect
63. Snow White and the Huntsman
64. Shut Up and Play the Hits
65. The Words
66. Smashed
67. Safety Not Guaranteed
68. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
69. 21 Jump Street
70. The Master
71. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
72. This Is 40
73. Les Miserables
74. The House I Live In
75. The Central Park Five
76. Playing for Keeps
77. Sinister
78. This Means War
79. Citadel
80. Life of Pi
81. Lay the Favorite
82. Goon
83. Beasts of the Southern Wild
84. God Bless America
85. The Three Stooges
86. Gone
87. Dino Time
88. Ginger & Rosa
89. Resident Evil: Retribution
90. The Queen of Versailles
91. The Amazing Spider-Man
92. Blue Like Jazz
93. For a Good Time, Call…
94. Frankenweenie
95. Ruby Sparks
96. American Reunion
97. Jeff, Who Lives at Home
98. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
99. Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best
100. Katy Perry: Part of Me
101. Let Fury Have the Hour
102. Butter
103. Price Check
104. The Expendables 2
105. Let the Bullets Fly
106. Ice Age: Continental Drift
107. Juan of the Dead
108. Prometheus
109. Hysteria
110. Cloud Atlas
111. The Dictator
112. Chasing Mavericks
113. Hello I Must Be Going Now
114. The Deep Blue Sea
115. Safe
116. Searching for Sonny
117. Only the Young
118. The Man with the Iron Fists
119. End of Watch
120. Brave
121. Lawless
122. The Hunger Games
123. John Carter
124. Hyde Park on Hudson
125. Wrath of the Titans
126. Dead Dad
127. Ingenious
128. Underworld: Awakening
129. The Devil Inside
130. The Possession
131. The Collection
132. Wuthering Heights
133. The Other Son
134. Dredd 3D
135. Seven Psychopaths
136. Premium Rush
137. Deadfall
138. Father’s Day
139. Livid
140. The Five-Year Engagement
141. Downtown Express
142. Dragon
143. Sparkle
144. Savages
145. Sound of My Voice
146. Project X
147. Men in Black 3
148. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
149. Anna Karenina
150. Paranormal Activity 4
151. The Tall Man
152. Hit and Run
153. Hotel Transylvania
154. Piranha 3DD
155. Dark Shadows
156. The Raven
157. The Bourne Legacy
158. [Rec] 3 Genesis
159. Silent House
160. The Guilt Trip
161. LUV
162. Won’t Back Down
163. That’s My Boy
164. Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
165. Darling Companion
166. Bully
167. Union Square
168. Here Comes the Boom
169. The Watch
170. What to Expect When You’re Expecting
171. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
172. Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
173. Trouble with the Curve
174. Lockout
175. Fun Size
176. The Woman in Black
177. Little Red Wagon
178. The Vow
179. Man on a Ledge
180. Step Up Revolution
181. Extraterrestrial
182. The Lucky One
183. Red Dawn (2012)
184. Contraband
185. The Samaritan
186. Act of Valor
187. 4:44 Last Day on Earth
188. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
189. Safe House
190. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
191. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
192. To Rome with Love
193. The Apparition
194. House at the End of the Street
195. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
196. Taken 2
197. Why Stop Now
198. The Pirates! Band of Misfits
199. Kill List
200. Chernobyl Diaries
201. Haywire
202. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection
203. A Thousand Words
204. Tchoupitoulas
205. Jack & Diane
206. Alex Cross
207. Joyful Noise
208. Battleship
209. Wanderlust
210. The Innkeepers
211. Barricade
Not Screened: One for the Money, Casa De Mi Padre, Chimpanzee, High School, Nitro Circus 3D, Cosmopolis, Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure, The Cold Light of Day, Killing Them Softly, Save the Date, Bernie, Killer Joe, and a stack of Magnolia Pictures screeners
REVIEWS/NEW ARRIVALS (click on title for full write-up and/or info):
The road trip movie starring Seth Rogen, a struggling entrepreneur who has meetings set up around the country in the hopes of selling his cleaning product, ends up bringing his over-barring mother (Barbara Streisand) along with him. The humor is flat and the chemistry between the two stars just isn’t there. But when the choppy script injects two-three warm-n-fuzzy conversations – where the two share their candid feelings – it definitely has the ability to strike a heart-string. In the end though, it’s a stock/generic product that tries to capitalize on the holiday atmosphere.
If the filmmaking mechanics are represented by a hockey player’s teeth, a few are noticeably missing. With that being said, this ends up being an entertaining watch, with more substantial moments than one would think, in the same way as Major League. The substantial part is ushered by Seann William Scott’s more-or-less straight forward approach as the nice guy, whose knack for fighting, lands him a gig as the enforcer for a minor league hockey team. And with that angle, it is kind of reminiscent of Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy. By the way, with a plethora of on-ice fights, they definitely weren’t stingy on the blood.
It follows to employees who manage an old hotel in a small-town. Both believe it is haunted and spend time walking around the predominantly empty joint, save for a couple guests. The paranormal shenanigans don’t occur until the very end, and it’s not all at, and the dialogue between the two main characters is lifeless.
It’s a foreign documentary about a renowned sushi chef in Tokyo, Japan. The 85 year-old Jiro, along with his son, have a modest, non-comprising (strictly traditional sushi joint) business that has garnered world-recognition as preparing the best sushi on the planet. It’s not the most riveting telling out there, but it is thorough and can slowly reel you in as the practices behind the business are casually revealed.
MARLEY (Review by Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald)
The in-depth journey of musician Bob Marley is essentially a 150 minute obituary that covers the rise of a legend. See it, feel it, and learn what goes into to making a solid documentary.
It revolves around two teenage girls (one gay, one not) who end up experimenting with each other in the NYC underground hipster hangout realm. And for whatever reason, there’s apparently something horrific – Species movie-like – growing in one of the girls. It’s as if the editor screwed up and spliced two movies (lesbian romance with creature horror) together.
