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Django Unchained 2012
Brutal but brilliant, Django is a relatively simple story that is made greater by the characters and dialogue. I was going to give this a lower rating due to the violence, coming in the form of either cartoonish splatter (anything involving guns) or realistic abuse (anything involving slaves, and easily the harder to watch), but I'm not actually sure how this film would fare without either. Christoph Waltz was a standout for me — as he was in Inglorious Basterds…
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The Avengers 2012
Great fun, with a healthy mix of action and humour. I think I wanted to like this more than I did given the rave reviews it has been receiving, but ultimately my preference swings more toward alien-less superhero films that have a little more grounding in the real world (as much as that's possible when talking about comic book superheroes, at least). But overall I feel this was a great effort by Whedon, who undoubtedly faced a lot of pressure to bring this all together.
Mark Ruffalo makes a great Bruce Banner, no?
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Drive 2011
A beautifully crafted film, with consideration in every shot and a kick-ass soundtrack. Winding Refn certainly earned his Best Director award at Cannes this year, helped greatly by the outstanding performances of Gosling and Mulligan. I'll definitely need to see this again, and while I'm not much a fan of ultra-violence I couldn't imagine it working any other way in this film.
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Skyfall 2012
OK, I think I have a new favourite Bond film.
I was expecting to enjoy this latest installment, but was genuinely surprised at just how much I ended up enjoying it. Bardem plays the perfect villain, the locations and lighting were fantastic, the new characters great, and it reaffirmed my thoughts on Daniel Craig making a stand-out Bond. Brilliant fun :)
I have no idea how re-watchable this will be in the long-term (and it's not likely to be something…
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The Dark Knight 2008
The epic views over the city made it worth seeing this at IMAX. The transitions between standard widescreen and oversized IMAX were handled well, seamless enough that there was never a jarring moment in the turnaround.
Plus, he's the goddamn Batman.
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 2012
Visually stunning, and very much in keeping with the previous LOTR films, The Hobbit was a film that I enjoyed about as much as I expected to; a fun ride with entertaining visuals, but not something that set my world on fire. I made a point of seeing it at a cinema with the full 3D/48fps setup, but to be honest I think the film would have been just as enjoyable without either and I'm quite looking forward to seeing…
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Prometheus 2012
Not many films provoke post-viewing conversation quite as much as Prometheus seems to have. There are just so many questions... The Red Letter review (spoilers) goes some way to describing the list, but there are even wider questions than just these. Despite all that I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The 3D wasn't gratuitous, and the whole thing looked gorgeous (except for the bad old-person makeup... why they had to dress up a young person for the part, I have no idea).
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Moonrise Kingdom 2012
Anderson really dialed his style up to 11 on this one, and while detractors point to a lack of character development I certainly can't complain — I pretty much got exactly what I was expecting and loved every minute of it, particularly enjoying the two young leads (both of which making their film debut here) and the inclusion of Willis and Norton. The whole experience was made all the more memorable by seeing it in the majestic Civic Theatre with friends, as part of the NZ film festival.
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The Cabin in the Woods 2012
Finally. After hearing so much about (and avoiding spoilers for) Cabin in the Woods, I finally had the chance to see this last night with a small group of friends. Which, incidentally, is the best way to see this film. See it in a group, or in a theatre, because it's the kind of film that is made even greater when enjoyed as a collective experience (preferably with as little prior knowledge of the film as possible).
I have to…
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Life of Pi 2012
This film was beautiful. Visually it was easily one of the best of the year, and one of the few films I've seen where the 3D was a real asset. Right from the opening credits I was impressed with the richness of the colour and imagery, something that continues throughout, and the CGI animals are hands-down the best I've seen. I was worried about a tiger being such a big part of the film, that the noticeable animation would pull…
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The Master 2012
OK, so let me start by saying that I think Joaquin Phoenix has more than earned his Oscar nomination for this role, utterly convincing me as Freddie the drifter, and the cinematography was fantastic. But ultimately when it came down to it I just couldn't get invested in this film as much as I hoped I would. After all that happens Freddie seems to remain largely unchanged, and while there are certainly times where I felt sympathy for him there…
