What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?

Posted on January 28, 2013 by badblokebob

12 for 2013

There are an awful lot of Absolute Classic movies that I’ve never seen. I think that’s true of many of us, but I write a film blog where I try to see quite a lot of films every year, and I’ve been doing it for six whole years now — I have fewer excuses than most.

So this year I’m setting myself a little challenge. Within my regular challenge, that is. I’ve compiled a list of must-see movies that I haven’t actually seen, and this year I’m going to try to watch them all. I’m going to aim for the not-insurmountable (I hope) target of one each month, hence the “12 for 2013” thing. (Yes, this would’ve worked better last year. Hush you.)

To help govern this process (because there really are an awful lot of films I could choose from here), I’ve made up a few, fairly arbitrary, rules:

I must own it on DVD or Blu-ray. If I care enough to have paid money for it without seeing it, I really should’ve watched it. And I own enough unseen stuff that I don’t want to complicate this with buying more (which I’ll inevitably do anyway) or downloading stuff (or whatever) just to see it.

It must appear on both the IMDb Top 250, for regular-people-voted popularity (especially after the change on vote limits last year), and the top 250 of They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’s The 1,000 Greatest Films, for critic-approved quality (and 250 rather than the full list for equality with IMDb). (Both lists were taken from their position last Sunday, not that much/anything will have changed since.)

Major stars or directors will only be represented once. After I did my comparison for rule two, I noticed that Kubrick, Hitchcock, Chaplin and Bergman factored heavily. To prevent undue dominance, then, each is locked to one film.

Blu-ray beats DVD. Rear Window comes out of the comparison higher than North by Northwest (indeed, it’s higher on both IMDb and TSPDT), but I only own the latter on BD, so it wins the Hitchcock slot.

Recommendations from others. Provided they comply with the first two rules (primarily) and the next two (to a lesser extent), anything that someone has recommended gets a little boost.

The method for executing said rules was to compile a long list of unseen-but-owned films from each list (total: 91), see how many were on both (total: 25; if you allow the full TSPDT 1000, another 20), then split the difference between their places on each to see which came on top overall. Then I eliminated those that fell under rule 3 until I had the top 12 films.

In that ranked order, then (we got here in the end!), my “What Do You Mean You Haven’t Seen…?” 12 for 2013 are…

Seven Samurai
IMDb #17 / TSPDT #7

City Lights
IMDb #41 / TSPDT #26

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
IMDb #39 / TSPDT #29

Lawrence of Arabia
IMDb #67 / TSDPT #13

North by Northwest
IMDb #42 / TSDPT #57

Bicycle Thieves
IMDb #92 / TSDPT #14

Raging Bull
IMDb #100 / TSDPT #18

Touch of Evil
IMDb #131 / TSDPT #21

The Seventh Seal
IMDb #119 / TSDPT #53

On the Waterfront
IMDb #116 / TSDPT #91

The Night of the Hunter
IMDb #175 / TSDPT #40

Once Upon a Time in America
IMDb #78 / TSDPT #147

Interesting that exactly half hail from the ’50s. Don’t know if that says more about the lists or the gaps in my viewing.

For the curious, I had to skip six films under rule 3 to make that final 12, and those were: Rear Window, Modern Times, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, The Gold Rush, and Wild Strawberries. That doesn’t mean I won’t watch them (or indeed any others from the longer list) this year, but it does mean they’re not part of my ‘official’ aim. (In related trivia, high-ranked omissions via this method include 12 Angry Men (6th on IMDb, only 475th on TSPDT); City of God (21st on IMDb, only 592nd on TSPDT); The Searchers (8th on TSPDT, not on IMDb); and The Passion of Joan of Arc (20th on TSPDT, not on IMDb). Plus, It Happened One Night, which I happened to watch earlier in January, would come 16th on my list.)

I considered assigning each a specific month, but that’s counterproductive — what if I fancy November’s film in February, or can’t be doing with March’s film until June? So I’ll just select one per month as I feel like it. Who knows, maybe I’ll even end up watching them faster. Stranger things have happened.

And I’m only posting this now because I’ve actually seen one for January. What is it? Well, in an attempt at eliciting some form of (fake) tension, you’ll have to wait until Friday morning’s January update to find out! Gasp!

And on that bombshell…

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part II (2013)

Posted on January 25, 2013 by badblokebob

The two-part animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic, regularly voted among the top three stories ever told in the medium, concludes here. If you’ve not seen Part I, I recommend you start there — I imagine you could follow much of Part II without it, but why bother?

In the second half of Miller’s tale, the Joker is being released from incarceration to appear on a talk show, apparently reformed. Batman doesn’t believe a word of it, but the new police commissioner isn’t about to let Gotham’s vigilante have his own way. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., a President concerned about the ramifications of Batman’s return has a little chat with a red-and-blue-clad chum…

Miller’s original work is most often consumed as a graphic novel these days, but it was originally published as four individual parts and is consequently quite episodic. What screenwriter Bob Goodman has done with his adaptation is manage to make it feel like a story of two halves, with each movie being largely self contained — you could stop at the end of Part I and feel you’d had an entire tale, I think. Here, elements from Miller’s fourth chapter are introduced earlier (at least, that’s how I remember it, but note I’ve not read it for years), lending Part II the sense of being a whole movie, rather than two back-to-back shorter tales.

Nonetheless, a pair of big battles form the cruxes around which the story works: Batman vs the Joker, and Batman vs Superman. I won’t spoil the outcomes for those who’ve not read the book, but both are excellently realised on screen. Action can be tricky in comics — you’re stuck with a series of still images to convey fast-paced, often intricate movement. I also generally have the impression that action sequences are not 2D animation’s forte — too many frames need to be drawn, too many different angles to make it quick and exciting enough. The Dark Knight Returns is one of the exceptions, however, and the two big sequences in Part II — as well as a couple of smaller ones — outclass anything in Part I, which was good in the first place. I’d go so far as to say the Superman fight improves on the novel’s version, at least in a visceral sense — Miller delivers Batman’s internal monologue and a certain pleasing disregard of Supes, while Oliva wisely skips any kind of voice over and delivers the entire duel blow for blow. It’s a fantastic climax.

It’s also quite dark and brutal, particularly during those action scenes. Translate this shot-for-shot to live action and I don’t imagine they’d get away with a PG-13, even from the violence-friendly MPAA. Producer Bruce Timm revealed in one interview that they were concerned they’d get an R even for the animated version. The UK Part I classification of 15 is much more in step with the content.

The story may provide some déjà vu for those only acquainted with live-action Batman, because Christopher Nolan borrowed liberally from Miller’s TDKR for his TDKR, The Dark Knight Rises. This is even less obvious than the Batman Begins / Batman: Year One issue, though, because most of what Nolan used is in Part I, and most of the story he told wasn’t remotely similar. Still, you may spot one or two correlations.

As Batman, Peter Weller’s vocals are largely fine but sometimes lack heft. His rousing speech to a massed army sounds more like a weary chat than a bellowed rallying cry, which is just poor direction… or an uncooperative star, I don’t know which. Lost and Person of Interest star Michael Emerson makes a great Joker though, understated and calm but with a loony edge. He wouldn’t be right for every tale of the Clown Prince of Crime — sometimes you need Mark Hamill’s crazed cackle — but for Miller’s older, sneakier version, he’s bang on. Elsewhere, Ariel Winter’s shining moments came in Part I, and Mark Valley is a bit of a limp Superman — this is pretty much a piss-take of the Big Blue Boy Scout, but the voice doesn’t go OTT to match. Indeed, never mind over the top, it’s barely halfway up.

But these feel like niggles, because on the whole The Dark Knight Returns, Part II delivers exactly what you want from an action-packed Batman animated movie. There were many sceptics when DC first announced they were going to tackle such a sacred Bat-story, and not all were convinced by Part I. I don’t imagine Part II will change their minds, but for those of us who did enjoy the first animated interpretation of Miller’s seminal tale, this is even better. In fact, even without its first half, I’d say it joins the ranks of my very favourite Bat-films.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part II is out on DVD and Blu-ray in the US from Tuesday 29th January 2013. No UK release date has been announced.

It placed 9th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2013, which can be read in full here.

Special (2006)

Posted on January 23, 2013 by badblokebob

2012 #40
Hal Haberman & Jeremy Passmore | 78 mins | DVD | 1.85:1 | USA / English | 15 / R

A lot of praise was slung Kick-Ass’ way for being the first superhero movie genuinely set in the real world, showing the actual problems someone might face if they tried to fight crime behind a mask and a cape. But it wasn’t the first film to hit such a vein, just the most high profile.

One of the forerunners was this, in which a bored man signs on to a drug trial that, it turns out, gives him special powers — levitation, running through walls, etc. Or does it?

If you’re looking for comparisons, Special is more in line with Super than Kick-Ass. It doesn’t quite have James Gunn’s crazy surreal touch, but it shares the low-budget realist aesthetic and a surprisingly recognisable cast (albeit with smaller, TV-er faces here).

One might also argue it’s not strictly a superhero movie per se, more a comedy-drama about a man with mental health problems… though it’s less bleak or inappropriate than that might sound. That doesn’t mean it’s devoid of action or special effects, but they emerge largely in the third act and mostly serve a different purpose to the norm. Or, to put it another way, this isn’t as much of a sci-fi/fantasy film as you might expect.

Those after a more genre-aware “real world superhero” movie would do better to stick with Kick-Ass or Super, but those who might embrace something a little different — especially something with an indie sensibility — would do well to take a look. Indeed, being a comic fan is certainly not a prerequisite for enjoyment here.

Room on the Broom (2012)

Posted on January 22, 2013 by badblokebob

From the makers of the successful Christmas TV shorts The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child comes another adaptation of a children’s book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

This one concerns a witch, her broom, and all the creatures that want to ride on it. It’s a simple story with simple rhyme for little kids, of course, but that’s where its joy lies. Pre-schoolers are treated to far better poetry (because, ultimately, that’s what it is) than the dreary stuff us adults are meant to engage with. Along the way there’s moral lessons and whatnot too, which even if you can see coming, are freshly presented.

The animation retains the claymation-esque style employed for the previous two films, and consequently looks just as good. The creatures are all imbued with acres of character, mainly thanks to the animators — there’s an all-star voice cast, but as each has about two lines to deliver (literally, with the exception of the narrator), it’s in their actions and reactions that most of the character comes through, and consequently that most of the story is told. For what it’s worth, voice work is provided by Simon Pegg (narrating) with Gillian Anderson, Rob Brydon, Timothy Spall, Martin Clunes, Sally Hawkins and David Walliams.

Those seeking adult-aimed sophistication must look elsewhere, but for a family audience — or anyone who’s a bit of a child at heart — I think this is charming fare, more or less the equal of any short film Pixar has to offer. If these adaptations are to become a regular Christmas Day treat, you’ll hear no complaints from me.

Repo Chick (2009)

Posted on January 21, 2013 by badblokebob

2012 #35
Alex Cox | 84 mins | TV | 1.78:1 | USA / English | 15

Alex Cox’s belated non-sequel (despite the title, there are apparently no links besides some cast members) to cult favourite (and 2012 Masters of Cinema release) Repo Man. It’s also the second of his “microfeatures”: films shot for a budget below the Screen Actors Guild cut-off of $200,000. Although it was written for a budget of $7 million, by shooting his actors quickly (in ten days) on green screen, then putting in sets made from toys, Cox made the entire film for closer to $180,000. It’s not going to work for every film, but perhaps there’s some lessons big over-expensive Hollywood productions could learn…

Not everything, though, because Repo Chick is definitely an acquired taste — which may be an understatement. Most reviews on the internet seem to be negative; most people will tell you it’s awful; and I could sort of tell it was rubbish… but at the same time, I sort of loved it. Everything is heightened. This is emphasised by the incredibly mannered greenscreened-actors-on-toys visual style, but the performances and plot are pitched at the same daft level, so that it all kind of works… in a crazy cult-y kind of way. The humour is equally quite broad; satirical, but on the nose about it.

It’s been asserted that there are no likeable characters, which I don’t think is true. The titular Repo Chick, Pixxi (Jaclyn Jonet), starts out as appallingly irritating as her obvious inspirations (the Paris Hiltons of this world), but somehow she grew on me. I think it’s around the time of a montage which shows her to be an exceptionally gifted repo person — from then on, she’s the hero, and I was properly rooting for her by the end.

True, the other characters are mostly dim and unlikeable, but is that a problem? We don’t need a film full of characters we like (otherwise we’d never have villains) — do we need there to be any? Or is the problem not that we don’t like them, but that their dimwittedness makes them too-easy targets for humour? I suppose it’s easier to just hate the film than grapple with such questions.

I’m not going to assert Repo Chick is actually a misunderstood masterpiece. As I’ve said, it will only appeal to a specific audience (and not one that’s easily defined), the satire can be blunt, and it does get a bit repetitive towards the end — all the stuff on the train once the real plan has been revealed could’ve been cut back. But, overall, Cox makes his point about doing things cheaply very well, I think… though, at the end of the day, it’s only going to work by embracing the craziness of a style such as this film’s toy sets. You’re not going to get Sin City for such little money.

Repo Chick should be a mess. In many ways, it kind of is. It’s not for everyone — it’s not even for most people — or even many people, come to that — but it worked for me. I sort of loved it.

Django (1966)

Posted on January 18, 2013 by badblokebob

The ’60s were a pretty exciting time for cinema. In France, the Nouvelle Vague were tearing up the rulebook and pushing forward their own techniques; in Britain, the James Bond series was ditching kitchen sink drama in favour of reinventing the action movie, turning itself into a global phenomenon in the process; and in Italy (and Spain) they were pulling a similar trick on that most American of genres, the Western.

Say ‘Spaghetti Western’ to most people and what they’re envisioning is the work of Sergio Leone, but you and I know it stretches much further than that. Aside from his works, the original Django is arguably the best known, so successful it spawned over 50 sequels and rip-offs (only one, made 21 years later, is official). With Quentin Tarantino adopting the name for his latest cinematic outing (in UK cinemas from today), I imagine its renown has only increased.

The titular gunslinger (Franco Nero, dripping with silent tough guy masculinity) is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, walking into a near-deserted town on the US-Mexico border dragging a coffin in his wake. There he runs afoul of a local Major, who consequently descends on the town with his 40-strong army… and that’s just act one! That alone would sustain plenty of films, but Django has more in store.

Much of the film plays as an action movie. There’s a lot of atmospheric ponderousness at the start, but once things kick off they rarely let up. In just over 90 minutes the film rattles through a damsel-in-distress rescue; a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shoot-out; a 40-on-1 massacre; a raid on a fort; a barroom brawl (one of the stand-outs, that — anyone who thinks handheld ShakeyCam fights are a modern invention should take a look); a tense, silent escape; a brutal punishment (or two); a valley ambush; and a graveyard stand-off. I think that’s all, but I may have missed some. It’s practically a definition of bang for your buck, which I’m sure goes a long way to explaining its popularity.

It all culminates in a final act that’s remarkably fatalistic, almost to Shakespearean levels. Without wanting to spoil too much, nearly everything goes wrong and hardly anyone makes it out alive. The answers about Django’s past aren’t exactly cheery either. It’s all a bit doom and gloom, though ultimately not as depressing as it could be. But almost.

I don’t normally comment on the format in my reviews — especially Blu-ray, which I never feel well enough qualified to offer detailed comment on — but it’s fair to say the US Region A-locked BD from Blue Underground has questionable picture quality. Some would say it was atrocious. The film begins with a note that this transfer is from the original negative and there were some age-related faults, but if that leads you to expect the odd scratch or speck of dirt, you’d be wrong. Detail, colour, and so on are actually all very strong, but it’s like watching something on a not-quite-correctly-tuned analogue TV; like you’ve found the channel, but you’re one or two points off the optimum frequency. Or, to put it another way, it’s really snowy. As I said, I’m no expert in BD quality, but this looks like it needs a sympathetic dose of DNR. No one but fools want a waxy Predator-esque hack job, but the mess here is equally distracting. When the odd clear bit comes along, though, it looks gorgeous. There’s a UK version out on Monday, but obviously I have no idea if it’ll be any better.

Django is exactly the kind of film you’d expect Tarantino to love: violent (so violent it was denied a UK certificate until 1993), yet classically stylish, but with boundary-nudging parts, the odd vein of dark humour, and a rough-round-the-edges feel (no doubt because they started shooting without a finished story, and never had a full screenplay!) It’s not as slick as Leone’s work and, even with Tarantino shining a spotlight on it, won’t challenge the Dollars films or Once Upon a Time in the West for a place at the top table. But it is entertaining.

As noted, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is in UK cinemas today, while Argent Films release a UK Blu-ray of the original on Monday.

Moonfleet (1955)

Posted on January 14, 2013 by badblokebob

2012 #91
Fritz Lang | 86 mins | TV | 2.35:1 | USA / English

Moonfleet is probably what you’d call a curio. It’s a colour CinemaScope Hollywood adventure movie from a director best known for epic German silents or dark film noirs; it’s not been passed by the BBFC since its original release in the ’50s, meaning it’s never been released here on DVD or (presumably) even VHS; I believe it’s also unavailable in the US; yet despite this dearth of attention in both the country that made it and the country in which it’s set, a poll in France’s Cahiers du cinéma ranked it the 32nd “most essential film”, besting the likes of Battleship Potemkin, The Godfather, Seven Samurai and The Passion of Joan of Arc. That probably explains why it has been released on DVD in France.

It was brought to my attention by a passionately positive article in MovieMail’s catalogue (because they currently sell imported copies of the French DVD), and then I caught it in the middle of the night on Channel 4, complete with sign language accompaniment. It’s based on a children’s adventure novel by J. Meade Falkner, though going by comments from the novel’s fans it makes some considerable changes that they find none too impressive.

Rendered on screen, it starts out feeling like a Dickens adaptation — part Oliver Twist, with orphaned blonde poppet John Mohune arriving by foot in the titular village, and part Great Expectations, with an unwilling guardian in a run-down, closed-off mansion and an attempt to forcibly send the boy to a distant boarding school. Gradually it becomes more overtly exciting, with smugglers, hidden treasure, adventures down wells and crypts, fights and chases of various kinds, a dramatic shoot-out on a beach, midnight escapes, and so on.

These moments provide some of the excitement one hopes for from a swashbuckling adventure, but they take a little while to trot along and feel hard-won. It’s difficult to see what so inspired the voters in Cahiers du cinéma’s poll, but then the French have always had their own ideas about cinema. On the bright side, between the film and the comments online, I do quite fancy reading the original novel.

At the very least, Moonfleet deserves more recognition as a curious aside in the accepted narrative of Fritz Lang’s career. Plus, for fans of mid-century Hollywood adventure movies (of which I’m sure there are more than a few), I imagine it’d be right up their street.

Another aside from Lang’s Hollywood career, war film An American Guerrilla in the Philippines, is on Channel 4 today at 12:35pm.

Dirty Laundry (2012)

Posted on January 13, 2013 by badblokebob

aka The Punisher: Dirty Laundry

2012 #62a
Phil Joanou | 10 mins | streaming | 3:1 | USA / English

Unveiled at San Diego ComicCon and then released on YouTube in July 2012, Dirty Laundry is an unofficial short film starring Marvel character the Punisher. It’s a fan film, really, but the twist is it’s made by the production company of Thomas Jane, star of the 2004 film version of The Punisher, who reprises the role too.

A short tale clearly inspired by so many Westerns (Frank Castle, the Punisher, sees bad stuff going down, doesn’t want to get involved, but then realises he Has To), it’s designed as a tribute to the character, who’s arguably been ill-served by the three big screen versions to date. I presume it’s also meant to act as some kind of proof-of-concept pitch, though I’ve not specifically seen anyone involved in its production say that. The subtext, however, is that this is how the makers believe a Punisher movie should be done.

For that reason you’d assume the director was some young up-and-comer, eager to prove what he can do. In fact, Joanou is 50, directed U2’s Rattle and Hum documentary in the ’80s, helmed some films no one’s heard of and a couple of episodes of TV shows no one’s heard of, and his last work was The Rock crime/sport drama Gridiron Gang in 2006. Which just goes to show you shouldn’t assume things.

The one glaring flaw (unless you hate realistic CGI-aided bloody violence, in which case there’s that too) is its use of music from Hans Zimmer’s Dark Knight score. It kind of works, but it’s such an iconic and unique score that it’s instantly recognisable, which is distracting. If they can produce a professionally-shot 10-minute film with professional actors, why couldn’t they get someone to do some music? Or at least use unfamiliar library tracks?

Considering it breaks both Marvel/Disney’s character copyright and WB’s music copyright, and thanks to starring Proper Actors & That it’s been relatively high-profile, it’s a miracle it’s still on YouTube after all this time. It’s a fairly effective depiction of a fan-favourite character, though, so long may it remain.

Rules of Engagement (2000)

Posted on January 10, 2013 by badblokebob

2012 #32
William Friedkin | 122 mins | TV | 2.35:1 | Canada, Germany, UK & USA / English | 15 / R

Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones star in this military courtroom thriller from the director of The French Connection and The Exorcist. Jackson is the commanding officer who may have done Something Wrong during a mission; Jones is the old friend he asks to defend him by finding out The Truth.

Let’s jump straight to the heart of the matter, and arguably the film’s primary flaw, with a bit of trivia from IMDb. (Should you wish to avoid spoilers, skip the quote and the first paragraph after.)

The scene of Sokal viewing and destroying the tape after he sees it proves gunfire was coming from the crowd, was imposed by test audiences according to William Friedkin. The film was supposed to leave ambiguous whether or not [Jackson] did the right thing, depicting what happened through subjective viewpoints and never revealing the objective truth of what occurred.

Which just goes to show why test audiences are a bad idea. Friedkin’s original idea would’ve made a stronger movie, and this explains some of the choices and attempts at ambiguity displayed elsewhere. I thought the flashback Jackson has played more like an imagined version than What He Really Saw, but knowing he was right (from having seen the tape) makes it seem like he’s merely remembering.

That said, most of the time it feels less like the film is aiming for ambiguity and more like it doesn’t know how to guide us well enough in what to feel. Important points aren’t appropriately established, others aren’t appropriately dealt with, and Mark Isham’s score toddles on regardless while important moments slip by, such as the declaration of the final verdict: when it’s announced, the music continues on the “tension” setting for a while before petering out. I know some people hate heavy-handed music in films, but this isn’t that, it’s just misguided.

That’s not all that’s bungled. There’s numerous instances of awkward editing by Augie Hess; a screenplay from Stephen Gaghan that clearly wants to be A Few Good Men (right down to several attempts at conjuring a “you can’t handle the truth” moment) but doesn’t exhibit Aaron Sorkin’s skill; relatedly, Guy Pearce’s prosecutor is disappointing underused (his character just needs more time, especially on his “I’ll only try with good evidence” facet); and the climactic court scenes, Friedkin and DoPs William A. Fraker and Nicola Pecorini go overboard with Dutch angles and chiaroscuro lighting.

There are good ideas in Rules of Engagement, but none of them are given enough weight. Couple that with several weak technical elements and it comes out a disappointment.

2012 In Retrospect

Posted on January 6, 2013 by badblokebob

Here we are — the final end of 2012. What better way to wrap up than to reflect on the good, the bad, and the other? And so there’s a top ten, a bottom five, and a bunch of stuff I missed. (This post is long; you might appreciate those links.)

“What’s the point,” you may ask, “of choosing a top ten from a wholly arbitrary list of 97 films?” And to that I say, “best not to think about it too much.”

As ever, all of these are selected from what I watched this year. The full list of eligible titles is here.

The Five Worst Films I Saw For the First Time in 2012

In alphabetical order…

The Book of Eli
I gave four main-list films one star this year, and 14 two stars, yet a film I awarded three stars makes this list. Why? After a great beginning, Eli gradually descends into sanctimonious tosh; it becomes almost offensively bad. For that reason, I remember it with considerably less affection than its star rating would suggest, and certainly worse than those 14 others.

The Final Destination
I came to the Final Destination series late, but initially found them to be divertingly enjoyable teen horror movies. The third one went a bit off the rails (literally), but this fourth entry has no redeeming features. The definite-article title neatly indicated it was the last in the series, but then they went and made a fifth and so ruined that too.

The Last Airbender
Some people have called M. Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of the Asian-tinged US cartoon one of the worst films ever made. I don’t necessarily disagree. Poorly made in every way but its special effects, the only joy in The Last Airbender comes from tittering at the double entendre every time the hero is described as “a powerful bender”.

Legion
I don’t necessarily have anything against films with a religious theme, yet this is the second one on this year’s list. Legion doesn’t contain the objectionable moralising of The Book of Eli, though — it’s just a really badly made film. You might forgive bad dialogue and acting if the action sequences were well-done, but they’re not. Irredeemable.

The Spiral Staircase
A needless modernised remake of the ’40s adaptation of Ethel Lina White’s novel Some Must Watch. This isn’t that bad judged in its own class (turn-of-the-millennium US cable TV movies made For Women), and it even has a couple of good bits, but by comparison to the fabulous earlier film, it’s contemptuous.

The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2012

10
Ironclad

An uncomplicated low-budget British period action movie, but one that delivers on all the fronts it promises to. It may be too bloody and gory for some, but that adds a certain realism to the Seven Samurai-esque medieval story that isn’t unwelcome. Paul Giamatti stands out as a scenery-chewing villain par excellence, but a likeable cast all round help pull the film through some of its slower moments.

9
Bill Cunningham New York

I couldn’t care less about Fashion — indeed, in many respects I despise that world as much as the next right-headed human being — but Bill Cunningham transcends that to be a social documentarian. A documentary about a documentarian may sound trite, but this simple portrait of a simple man is anything but. I imagine it won’t connect with everyone, but I loved it.

8
The Lincoln Lawyer

I love a good procedural thriller (look at Anatomy of a Murder, the only pre-millennium film to crack my 2010 top five), and this adaptation of a Michael Connelly doorstop is in broadly the same mould. Matthew McConaughey endears even as a smarmy small-time lawyer thrust into a big-league murder case, with (bit of a spoiler here) his own client certainly the villain. There’s been talk of a sequel, for which I have my fingers tightly crossed.

7
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A big franchise is relaunched because a writer had a good idea for a story? Wonders never cease! And it pays dividends, because Rise isn’t your usual blockbuster: it’s an intelligent science-inspired drama that just happens to link up to a studio sci-fi/action series. Its pretty much Proper Science-Fiction, in fact. Even better, that doesn’t stop it from having a barnstorming climax.

6
The Dark Knight Rises

I don’t think even TDKR’s staunchest defenders could claim in good faith that it was a perfect film (though some of the holes people harp on about aren’t holes at all and that bugs me). I think a lot of people wanted The Dark Knight: Part 2, but instead Nolan delivered something that was, despite the sheen of realism, much more comic-book-y. And you know what, I loved it. Caution after the non-stop unconvinced reaction of so many others leaves it low-ish in this list; when I get round to a pre-review re-watch I’ll see if I should’ve ranked it higher (or, indeed, lower).

5
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

A British spy thriller, yes, but about as different from Bond as you can get. A measured pace unveils an intricate plot (too intricate for some (mostly American) critics), it’s gorgeously shot, and Gary Oldman pulls off a mission many thought impossible by delivering a Smiley that can stand up to Alec Guinness’ classic performance. Superb. I really need to re-watch it though, which may have seen it place higher on this list.

4
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Many Bat-fans would argue that the finest screen depiction of the Dark Knight is the ’90s animated series, and this is the theatrically-released spin-off — which many Bat-fans would argue is the finest big-screen depiction of said hero. Boasting an original new take on Batman’s backstory and origin, plus a fine cameo-sized turn from Mark Hamill’s arguably-definitive Joker, it’s definitely up there with the best Bat-films.

3
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

It took me a long time to get round to this 2003 Oscar nominee, for which I give myself a rap on the wrist because it’s excellent. Mass audiences also ignored it in droves, meaning we’re unlikely to get a sequel (despite there being well over a dozen further novels in the series). A shame. If, like me, you weren’t interested and haven’t bothered to see it, I encourage you to reconsider.

2
War Horse

Spielberg’s World War One epic got lost last awards season under the weight of a silent French film and relative critical indifference. I thought it was a fine film, more family-friendly than its 12 certificate might suggest, but with a nonetheless realistic portrayal of a horrid period of history. Perhaps too melodramatic for some tastes, I loved it.

1
Skyfall

Is this really a surprise? I shouldn’t’ve thought so. I’m a big Bond fan and Skyfall is a big entry in the Bond canon, and I wrote a bloody big review of it too (lest you forgot). Whether it’s the best Bond film ever — or even the best Bond film to star Daniel Craig — is still open for debate, but the very fact it’s a debate to be had signals Skyfall as something very special.

Special Mentions

Having got my 36-film long list down to just 14, I struggled with some parts of the final top 10. Just bubbling under (and maybe they would’ve got in on a different day) were The Hunger Games, The Scarlet Claw, With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story… and Avengers Assemble. I love the work of Joss Whedon (which I’ll talk more about in my review), but arriving on Blu-ray after years of hype and a rapturous reception in cinemas, I found the culmination of Marvel’s Phase One movies to be underwhelming. Though it may not be a five-star insta-classic (and, believe it or not, I’m far from alone in that view — indeed, Whedon himself agrees), it’s still a rollicking good time.

An honourable mention too for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final instalment in what has turned out to be quite an incredible series, in its own way. Following those characters and actors as they grew up over ten years and across eight films is a fairly unique achievement, and while the films aren’t always objectively great, they’re rarely less than engrossingly entertaining. I didn’t unconditionally adore the finale as much as (British, at least) critics and audiences seemed to, meaning it’s pipped to a place on my top 10, but it was a fitting climax to what turned out to be an epic saga.

I also can’t end this without mentioning the nine main-list films that earned themselves 5-star ratings this year. Almost all of them (seven, to be precise) made it into the top ten: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Bill Cunningham New York, The Dark Knight Rises, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Skyfall, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and War Horse. The other two were The Lost Weekend and With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story. Plus, among my other reviews, there were also full marks for Batman Begins, Batman Returns, The Dark Knight (I’ve seen it three times, reviewed it three times, and given it five stars three times!), From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and the lovely Christmas-telly short Room on the Broom.

Additional thanks this year to the ’30s/’40s series of Saint and Falcon films, which between them accounted for 14 films. It should’ve been more, but my regular viewing of them kind of tailed off. I’ll aim to complete the Falcon films this year… but as I’ve been working my way through the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes flicks almost since this blog began, we’ll see how that pans out.

The Films I Didn’t See

In case you missed it at the start, this post isn’t about the films of 2012, only my 2012, and as always there were a large number of notable releases this year that I’ve yet to see. As is traditional, then, here’s an alphabetical list of 50 films from 2012 that I’ve not seen. Normally I slavishly stick to those listed as 2012 on IMDb, but this year there are several where their year listing is dubious, so I’ve (partially) thrown that notion out the window. Maybe next year I’ll go whole hog and just go by UK release dates. But that might be a bit radical.

Debates about precise years-of-production aside, this list is always a mix between a year’s biggest films and ones I think I might actually get round to seeing, considering that I tick it off going forward (see the last post’s statistics for how I’ve got on down the years). This year is particularly awkward at the top end of this balance, with a ton of kid-aimed animated films among the highest-grossing films both in the US and worldwide. I love a Pixar, Dreamworks, or whoever crossover as much as the next man, but Ice Age 4? Madagascar 3? The Lorax, Hotel Transylvania, ParaNorman, Rise of the Guardians? All were financially very successful, but how many am I likely to care about enough to get round to – especially as I’ve seen not even seen Ice Age 2, never mind Ice Age 3. I usually try to include about the top 20 highest grossing films, but I’ve dumped that this year to exclude some of those movies I don’t imagine I’ll ever see. Though, as it’s the fourth highest-grossing film of the year worldwide, I couldn’t really ignore Ice Age 4.

As ever, the rest of the list is made up of Things People Have Talked About – not necessarily big earners, but Oscar contenders and those smaller, usually foreign, films the cinephile press and sites seem to have been discussing. Bit more of the latter this year, I think, just because I’ve been paying a little more attention.

21 Jump Street
The Amazing Spider-Man
Amour
Anna Karenina
Argo
Battleship
Berberian Sound Studio
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Bourne Legacy
Brave
The Cabin in the Woods
Chronicle
Cloud Atlas
Dark Shadows
Django Unchained
Dredd
End of Watch
The Expendables 2
Flight
Frankenweenie
The Grey
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Holy Motors
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Jack Reacher
John Carter
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Looper
Magic Mike
The Master
Men in Black 3
Les Misérables
Moonrise Kingdom
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists
Rise of the Guardians
Rust and Bone
Seven Psychopaths
Silver Linings Playbook
Snow White and the Huntsman
Taken 2
Ted
Total Recall
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2
Underworld: Awakening
The Woman in Black
Wrath of the Titans
Wreck-It Ralph
Zero Dark Thirty

A Final Thought

Congratulations if you’ve made it this far, especially if you’ve read through all the end-of-year posts I’ve produced this year. I do waffle on, don’t I?

But that’s it now! I’m done! Well, apart from the whopping pile of unposted reviews. They’re going to require some re-viewing before reviewing, I think.

And it’s also time to get stuck into 2013. Maybe this year I’ll reach 100 again; indeed, based on form I should reach 120-something. Always good to set oneself up for failure, eh…

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