It’s a new year with more films than I’ll know what to do with. I cam close to hitting the 400 films seen mark in 2012 and I hope to surpass that note, or actually get a social life, whichever comes first. Regardless, heres my first update of films seen in 2013.
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012)
This is one of those special cases of documentaries where I feel the fact that you know nothing going in serves as the best way to enjoy the film. When the love, and effect, of an undeservedly forgotten miss in the history of American music is sought after by a couple of South African musicologists a lot of interesting details come to light. A great overall documentary and if nothing else it gives us, the audience that wasn’t listening, a new artist to listen to.
LINCOLN (2012)
Every year these movies come around. The kind of movie where regardless of how long or drawn out any one audience member may feel about it not one person can deny the acting talent of almost every person cast in the film. From Daniel Day-Lewis to Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Pace to David Strathairn, and John Hawkes to Hal Holbrook the movie is great. However, even more than that Steven Spielberg takes on the difficult task of humanizing the myth of Abraham Lincoln in a way that’s never been done before and I appreciate it for that, but I’m not quite sure I feel completely in love with the movie as some others have.
THIS IS 40 (2012)
I’ve been the sole defender of Judd Apatow I feel for too long. I stood behind him as he produced Girls and even when he gave us Funny People. Here he revisits Knocked Up (a generally loved film) to give the side characters of Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann) and it’s a bore. He attempts to make this psuedo mid-life crisis film about this couple who’re struggling to stay intact at the turn of their ages and it never felt funny or even like a real story. With a lack of a resolution with any form of weight due to a lack of stakes throughout the film everything just felt completely flat and uninteresting. I wonder if this will tarnish my good memories of Knocked Up everytime I see that movie.
LES MISÉRABLES (2012)
An interesting approach to film based musicals that Tom Hooper decided to tackle but I don’t believe it quite hit singing nirvana for me… Here’s my review.
JACK REACHER (2012)
Everything I was hoping for from this film. Christopher McQuarrie gave us The Way of the Gun and it is the perfect action buddy film about detestable villains that you enjoy hanging out with. Here he gives us the hero that you need. The detective who can see all the angles but doesn’t need to articulate them for others to know. He’s the drifter with nothing to lose and here to serve justice. The action is fantastic, the characters are great and more than anything else it works as an overall detective/conspiracy story. However, the most important part of this movie is how cool our main hero and bad guy come off. It’s the perfect action movie blend that I needed and I’m so happy for it. Review to come this week.
REWATCHED
In the flurry of 2012 films that I’m watching, still yet to decide on my Top Ten of the year past I also decided to revisit the blaxsploitation action western genre film by QT that is Django Unchained. A review is forthcoming this week.
Also deciding to take a break from the movies that I feel I needed to absorb more attentively than others I revisited Fantastic Mr. Fox the gem of 2009 that needs even more love than it got from mainstream audiences.
My count for the year of 2013 is updated to 5 First time watches (0 from 2013); 2 Rewatches; 7 Total Films