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The Avengers 2012
My friends know this undeniable and shocking truth about me: I never got into the Whedonverse.
Couldn’t stand “Buffy.” Thought “Angel” was OK. Couldn’t bring myself to invest in “Firefly.” I can only sit through “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” for about four minutes before being completely tired of it.
But in 2012, I find that Whedon can do no wrong, first with his work on “The Cabin in the Woods,” and now his writing-directing effort on the blockbuster superhero film…
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Argo 2012
This year's "Moneyball" - an excellent film that I just cannot fall completely in love with... no standout performances, everything just fits into place: the casting, makeup and costuming, great tension, solid editing. It's earned its place in the Best Picture conversation; just not sure what it would take for it to actually win.
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The Dark Knight 2008
An amazing performance by Heath Ledger coupled with stellar sound effects in an otherwise disjointed story. All the practicality of "Batman Begins" is stuffed inside Gotham General and blown to kingdom come.
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Silver Linings Playbook 2012
Perhaps the most balanced film of David O. Russell's career, exploring a collection of perfectly imbalanced people. Charming, emotionally gripping and perhaps a bit more reserved RE: comedy despite the rip-roaring laughter my advance audience produced. One of my absolute favorite films of the year thus far.
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012
The worst Tolkien feature Peter Jackson has done to date... the 48fps is very off-putting. Still, it is a fun storytelling experience. Would have liked to have seen a bit more darkness to balance out humor.
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Moonrise Kingdom 2012
Even Wes Anderson can’t avoid the allure of parodying Wes Anderson.
Plenty of YouTubers have had fun mocking the auteur’s various tropes, usually a combination of sans-serif titles, slo-mo shots and British Invasion rock tracks. With “Moonrise Kingdom,” Anderson seems to be getting back to the very basics of what has made him such a unique and regarded filmmaker.
In the way Benjamin Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” breaks down the component pieces of a symphony, “Moonrise Kingdom”…
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The Cabin in the Woods 2012
The film moved much quicker than I remembered it in the theater. There is so much depth and richness to appreciate for genre fans, but anyone who enjoys film should get a kick out of the tropes being played with here. Still one of my favorites of 2012, still very high on my list of horror films of all-time despite being more meta-comedy than horror.
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The Cabin in the Woods 2012
Since “Shaun of the Dead” synthesized all which zombie horror fans love and loathe about the subgenre, filmmakers have tried to create meta-comedy copies for other styles of film, quilting a patchwork of inside jokes and popular opinion to fully encapsulate all there is to know about that particular brand of film in a tidy two hours or less.
“The Cabin in the Woods,” co-written by “Buffy” and “Angel” alums Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, goes beyond what director Edgar…
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Inglourious Basterds 2009
The "Cat People" scene still grates on me, but otherwise brilliant.
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Zero Dark Thirty 2012
Not a legitimate Best Picture contender. Good debate starter, but not a great film.
