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Top 12 Films of 2012

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I’m generally not one for Top 10 lists. In fact, I’ve abstained from the collective Top 10 with The Skinny the past 2 years. But since I wrote up my Top 12 Books of 2012, I decided I might as well do films too.

These are in no particular order.

Young Adult


Young Adult is a story that proved Diablo Cody’s worth and blew the lid off the Plutonic ideals of being a writer. Something about its representations of the lazy and casual acceptance of shallow high school drama and reality television really worked for me, and Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt were fantastic. Full review here.

Martha Marcy May Marlene

I don’t know if “psychological thriller” is a label that is applied to this film, but it’s certainly my idea of a good one. Compelling and spooky, it’s a film that asks more questions than it answers, and it really stuck with me. Another great performance from John Hawkes, who has quickly become one of my favourite actors.

Tiny Furniture

If the mark of a good movie is equal or greater enjoyment on second viewing, this film fails. I initially watched this at Glasgow Film Festival 2011, closer to my graduate ennui/doing a Masters and languishing at my parents’ house period. Rewatching it a year later – and after having seen Girls season 1 – it had lost much of its bite. In context, though, it’s fantastic, and I’m a huge Lena Dunham fan, so it makes the cut.

Looper

I do love Rian Johnson’s films. This was one of the big releases of the year for me, and although it was somewhat overhyped it didn’t disappoint. Original story, great performances, and it’s been great to see a filmmaker spend months deflecting alleged plot holes…

Marley

An epic documentary from Kevin Macdonald with fantastic interviews from sparkling subjects, gorgeous shots from Jamaica’s Trenchtown, and an absolute avoidance of hagiography. Full review on the BBC Movie Café podcast. Click here (right click, save as) to download. [Offline]

Wild Bill

Easily the British film of the year. Western meets kitchen sink, with real flair from a long-time actor and first-time filmmaker. Full review here. Interview with director Dexter Fletcher here.

Tabu

The film of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012 for many; myself included. Part silent film, part meditation, this 2-part drama has everything a pretentious film fan could ever want. In a good way.

The Descendants

Family drama, dark humour, and George Clooney. What more could you possibly want? Full review on the BBC Movie Café podcast. Click here (right click, save as) to download. [Offline.]

Ruby Sparks

Ever seen a film that you loved so much, and that was written so much towards you and your sensibilities, that you almost wanted to hate it? Ruby Sparks was that for me. Simple filmmaking, the struggling second-time novelist trope, and a great take-down of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Probably my film of the year, and I kinda wish writer and co-star Zoe Kazan and I could be friends.

Your Sister’s Sister

Another gem from Glasgow Film Festival, breaking its long-held tradition for having a disappointing Opening Gala pick. The final 10-15 minutes and closing scene caused some debate, but it’s a neat wee indie film nonetheless.

Wreck-It Ralph

This fantastic new animation from Disney isn’t released in the UK until January, but it makes my list. Aping video game characters old and new, this touching story is spectacularly well-cast (John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Jack McBrayer) and has borrowed all the best bit from the Pixar filmmaking process.

Chasing Ice

Long-listed for the Academy Awards, Chasing Ice is probably the best issue documentary you’ll see for several years. Where Al Gore showed graphs and projections, environmental photographer James Balog gives undeniable visual evidence for climate change. Remarkable, worldview-altering stuff. In UK cinemas this month, find local screenings here.

What are your films of the year? Which films are you looking forward to in 2013?

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Read my Top Books of 2012.

Film Reviews – Great Expectations & Sightseers

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This week I returned to BBC Movie Café to review Mike Newall and David Nicholls’ new adaptation of Great Expectations and Ben Wheatley’s hilarious horror Sightseers. Listen in at the top and bottom of the show to hear my thoughts alongside Janice Forsyth and Gail Tolley.

Paul Greenwood also made his debut appearance on the show to review the DVD of Brave.

You can stream the show here until Thursday, or download the podcast over here.

Have you seen Great Expectations, Sightseers, and/or Brave? What did you think?

Review: Liberal Arts

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I’m dying to read Infinite Jest. But if what Liberal Arts would have you believe is true, that book will kill you.

Josh Radnor’s sophomore foray into filmmaking has a touch of Lena Dunham about it. Taking a leaf out of Zach Braff’s book (and Dax Shepard’s to come), the sitcom star has written, directed, starred in, and heck knows what-else’d Liberal Arts. It’s an easy comparison to make, but there is definitely a touch of Garden State in this story of an Ohio university graduate and book lover languishing in the admissions department of a New York City college.

The Midwestern undergraduate dream is alive and well for 37 year-old Jesse Fisher (perfect, right?) who makes a trip to his Ohio alma mater for the send-off of his favourite professor, Peter Hoberg (Richard Jenkins). There, he is reunited with his college self, allowing for a personal makeover/do-over and an opportunity to be the harbinger of wisdom for these 19-22 year-old minds. Minds, in particular, are provided by young love interest Zibby (Elizabeth Olsen), whose musings on life always hark back to a love of improv, weirdo shaman stoned-on-air Nat (Zac Efron) – the less said about him the better – and manic depressive Dean (John Magaro), who is, in this world, living proof that reading too much David Foster Wallace puts you in danger of art following life following art.

Nostalgia for a rose-tinted 4 year sojourn for reality is alive and well here, and is something with which most campus-educated film and book lovers can identify. However, like many a college paper, its themes are discussed at length and its metaphors over-stretched (I mean, look at the fucking poster), particularly in breathy conversations between Jesse and Zibby on the meaning of life and… well, Twilight. Early on, they exchange letters and share the enlightenment of Classical music in a sequence at once charmingly written and profoundly ridiculous.

What’s odd about Radnor’s devotion to the written word is that it seems to assume that the viewer hasn’t picked up a book in his or her life. He is eyed by the local bookseller, picks up a second book after the last page of a first, and has a number of profound-sounding (he assumes) conversations about literature. But not once does he refer to the author of the book that’s in his hand. An odd choice, and one that I found distracting. For a filmmaker to be afraid to share a love of books on film; to have a film forgiven its sins and become the go-to movie for the bookish, as High Fidelity has become for music nerds… Well, that’s a mistake for, as the genius Allison Janney’s character Prof. Judith Fairfield might put it, a mistake for “effette over-intellectual manboys”.

Like many of his peers, Radnor pokes fun at the tropes that his movie perpetuates, but we’re all, like his characters, better off for it in the end.