No best of 2012 thread?

[luckystars]

What's with that

[saltysam]

Why not start one yourself??

[Markgway]

He just did!

[saltysam]

Poor year,very little to get excited about.Bloated and overrated superhero franchises ruled the roost. Can't think of a particularly outstanding list of films and i find myself increasingly watching back catalogue material.

[luckystars]

I'm the opposite!! Loads interested me, felt like the Cinema was constantly calling. Shame I can't make it often enough.

2012 Movies still to see

Amour
Chinese Zodiac
Cosmopolis
Django Unchained
The Hobbit
Holy Motors
Life of Pi
One For the Money
The Man with the Iron Fists
The Master
Price Check
Rust and Bone
Savages
Seven Psychopaths
Skyfall
Tai Chi 0
Tai Chi Hero
Taken 2
Ted
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
The We and the I
Zero Dark Thirty

Seen
Avengers Assemble
The Dark Knight Rises
Lawless
Moonrise Kingdom
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Not too urgent
The Amazing Spider-Man
American Reunion
Dredd
The Expendables 2
Frenkenweenie
Killing Them Softly
Lincoln
Looper
Total Recall
Underworld: Awakening

[saltysam]

Dredd was decent,Ted ok,Django Unchained good (if it counts as 2012) from the others from your list that ive seen range from passable (DKR,Expendables 2,Avengers) to average/disappointing (Prometheus,Spider-Man) no classics amongst any of them.

[luckystars]

Dredd was decent,Ted ok,Django Unchained good (if it counts as 2012) from the others from your list that ive seen range from passable (DKR,Expendables 2,Avengers) to average/disappointing (Prometheus,Spider-Man) no classics amongst any of them.

Maybe no classics but I wouldn't say a poor year. There'll be loads of stuff I've not even heard of too!

[Shingster]

It was a solid year for good films, a poor year for great ones. When I compiled my top10 for The Digital Fix there were only really five or so titles I really cared about including, and tellingly most of the other writers felt the same.

[HungFist]

Japan Top 10
1. Henge (Hajime Ohata) (2011/2012)
2. Giant God Warrior Appears In Tokyo (Shinji Higuchi) (2012)
3. The Kirishima Thing (Daihachi Yoshida) (2012)
4. Tokyo Drifter (Tetsuaki Matsue) (2011/2012)
5. Kueki ressha (Nobuhiro Yamashita) (2012)
6. Let's Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club (Eisuke Naito) (2011/2012)
7. Lesson of the Evil (Takashi Miike) (2012)
8. Kotoko (Shinya Tsukamoto) (2011/2012)
9. Audrey (Yu Katsumata) (2011/2012)
10. Isn't Anyone Alive (Gakuryu Ishii, 2012)

JP Bottom 5
1. For Love's Sake (Takashi Miike) (2012)
2. The End of Puberty (Shoko Kimura) (2011/2012)
3. Salvage Mice (Ryuta Tazaki) (2011/2012)
4. The Samurai That Night (Masaaki Akahori) (2012)
5. Zombie Ass (Noboru Iguchi) (2011/2012)

* 2011/2012 refers to a film that is a 2011 production (e.g. festival premiere that year) but had its domestic theatrical opening in 2012.

I've seen so few non-Japanese films that I won't even try to make a list.

Top 10 Still Looking Forward to Seeing
1. Maniac (Franck Khalfoun) (2012)
2. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) (2012)
3. Motorway (Soi Cheang) (2012)
4. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominic) (2012)
5. Birthright (Naoki Hashimoto (2010/2012)
6. Outrage Beyond (Takeshi Kitano) (2012)
7. Schoolgirl Apocalypse (John Cairns) (2012)
8. GFP Bunny (Yutaka Tsuchiya) (2012)
9. Shady (Ryohei Watanabe (2012)
10. The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie) (2012)

[luckystars]

It was a solid year for good films, a poor year for great ones. When I compiled my top10 for The Digital Fix there were only really five or so titles I really cared about including, and tellingly most of the other writers felt the same.

I'll have a look at those lists.

Did you like or loath Lawless btw?

[Shingster]

Actually, I've just remembered that we didn't post the individual writer's top10 lists this year, only the overall aggregated one here. I still have my original list saved though, so can paste it here. It probably answers your question about Lawless:

Moonrise Kingdom
The Muppets
Lawless
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
Holy Motors
Argo
Raid, The
Skyfall
Avengers Assemble
The Dark Knight Rises

[grim_tales]

Only seen 4 of that list Shing (Muppets, The Raid, Skyfall and Avengers) The Raid was good and Muppets and Avengers were lots of fun, I was actually surprised how funny Avengers was The Muppets was funny and moving at the same time (during the Rainbow Connection and Pictures in my Head songs )

[luckystars]

Actually, I've just remembered that we didn't post the individual writer's top10 lists this year, only the overall aggregated one here. I still have my original list saved though, so can paste it here. It probably answers your question about Lawless:

Moonrise Kingdom
The Muppets
Lawless
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai
Holy Motors
Argo
Raid, The
Skyfall
Avengers Assemble
The Dark Knight Rises

Good man. Nice and varied stuff

[luckystars]

Saw Ted tonight. It was enjoyable but always taking route one with every gag or plot line. The Jazz soundtrack and clean visuals were fighting hard to keep the film from sinking to purely toilet humour. In the end it won me over though on concept and unique feel.

3.5/5

[Markgway]

I've seen five of Shingster's top ten (which given that I went to the cinema only three times in 2012 isn't bad).

For reference here's my ratings...

The Muppets ***
The Raid **
Skyfall ***
Avengers Assemble **½
The Dark Knight Rises **½

[Shingster]

TBH my list only ended up the way it did with Batman and whatnot because they were "votes" that could influence the final TDF top10, there were a whole bunch of films released last year that were on par with the bottom 5 of my top10 in that "very good, but not quite great" category, all these are worth checking out imo:

The Angel's Share
A Dangerous Method
Into the Abyss
Oslo, August 31st
A Royal Affair
Shame

Beasts of the Southern Wild was also pretty good, although I feel it's somewhat overrated. The biggest disappointments of the year for me were Cosmopolis, which I really didn't connect with on any level & Life Without Principle, which is about as dull as Johnnie To gets.

[luckystars]

Agree A Dangerous Method was good with great production (I'd forgotten about it to be honest) but not weighty or dense enough for the subject matter

Have Cosmopolis will hopefully watch tonight. Heard very mixed reviews but hoping to enjoy it

[luckystars]

The biggest disappointments of the year for me were Cosmopolis, which I really didn't connect with on any level

Saw the film tonight. Thought it was excellent concept piece, as more a series of encounters and exchanges than a broader story as such. Could've been expanded on but excellent none the less.

4/5

[Markgway]

Since I've now seen most of the 2012 films I'm interested in (yet to catch Zero Dark Thirty...) here's my best and worst lists:

Top 5
The Bourne Legacy
End of Watch
The Expendables 2
Jack Reacher
Skyfall

(...and it was tough finding five)

Bottom 10
American Reunion
The Cabin in the Woods
The Collection
For a Good Time Call...
Piranha 3DD
Premium Rush
Rampart
Sinister
Stolen
21 Jump Street

(this was an easier list...)

[luckystars]

Did you see Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning yet Mark?

[Markgway]

Did you see Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning yet Mark?

No, but it would be unlikely to make any top five given that I didn't care for the first three.

Also, I made my list from films given US theatrical releases in 2012, so I don't know if US4 would've been on there.

[luckystars]

Wasn't suggesting a top five, just wondered what you might have thought of it (being a JCVD fan)

[Markgway]

If I get round to watching it, I'll post my thoughts in the review thread.