What I'm watching

10 Best Films Watched in 2012 (Excluding re-watched films)

1, The Descendants - Story, setting, music and most of all performance came together brilliantly to make a truly excellent film.

2, Warrior - A sports film which, much like Rocky, transcends its genre to be about so much more than it would seem to be on the surface. Again close to tears at the conclusion due purely to emotional exhaustion.

3, 127 Hours - A powerful piece of cinema which almost made me cry through sheer empathetic joy at the end.

4, The Avengers - Fun in every sense of the word with an absolutely marvelous cast. It’s the stuff you go to the movies for.

5, Falling Down - A wonderfully cathartic release from all the day to day minutia of societal and conventional norms. One of Michael Douglas’ finest performances.

6, Kramer vs Kramer - A great example that you don’t always have to go big to make an impact. The most real looking take I’ve seen dealing with the fallout of divorce.

7, The Artist - A superb love letter to the silver screen’s early years. Maybe a little over-hyped at this point but still a solidly entertaining watch.

8, Dog Day Afternoon - The limited locations combined with the powerhouse performance of Pacino kept the tension high and the story captivating.

9, Wreck-It Ralph - Loved this film: Great characters, great message and great cameos. An all around enjoyable watch.

10, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original) - The creepy premise and the uneasy undercurrent of the whole movie mixed with the American 50’s setting made for a fantastically unnerving film.

Best of 2011 watched in 2012 (excluding rewatched films)

Like a lot of film review blogs and sites do around this time of year, last year I created a top ten films from 2011 list. What I discovered from doing this though was that I don’t actually watch that many films released in a given year but wait for them to come to Sky the next year. Bearing that in mind I decided to create the top 10 films from 2011 watched in 2012 list.

1, The Descendants - There is nothing wholly remarkable about this film but the performances in it are what make it my number 1. Clooney and co just nailed it perfectly and I’d be surprised if he ever manages to top this film.

2, Warrior - The unsung great of 2011, this movie takes you on an emotional journey and makes you want to patch up any relationships you’ve let fall apart.

3, The Artist - Well deserving of the best picture win, this movie is beautifully made and a wonderful watch.

4, The Help - Four strong female performaces and an interesting story keep this from feeling too overly cliche.

5, Crazy, Stupid, Love. - This one caught me off guard but is a charming comedy dealing with the various issues and tribulations of love.

6, Drive - A polarising film to say the least but I liked it enough to merit a spot on the list. Not a lot of rewatchability but an interesting film no doubt.

7, Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol - Much like Fast Five last year, I could not have predicted my enjoyment of this film, given I’d written off the franchise, but this was just an entertaining watch all round and easily the one I’ve rewatched the most since its release.

8, Real Steel - I honestly don’t know why I liked this movie so much other than it’s a familiar tale with a twist and has two really well done performances in a relationship you completely accept as genuine.

9, The Muppets - I’ve got a soft spot for these lovable bundles of felt anyway but this film was a wonderful love letter to the show and great fun to boot.

10, Hugo - While kitschy in places, Hugo is visually stunning and an interesting look into a topic which could have been remarkably dry if handled incorrectly.

Best and worst watched in 2012 lists and a best of 2012 released in 2012 list are also forthcoming.

#294/#11 Warrior

When a new MMA fighting tournament is set up with a 5 million dollar prize for the last man left standing, it gets a lot of peoples attention. Brendan Colton (Joel Edgerton), an ex-UFC fighter, now high school physics teacher is about to default on his house leaving him and his family with nowhere to go. With no other options he starts training again with aspirations of the prize. Unknown to him however his estranged brother Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy) is also going after the money while being trained by both of their estranged, now sober father (Nick Nolte). Tommy’s got some damage and isn’t looking to work things out with anyone but soon it becomes increasingly clear that it’s going to come down to the ring to sort things out.

This is a fantastic film. It takes its time and it sets up all of the relationships beautifully before finally coming down to the tournament that we, as an audience, are so ready for. Edgerton is great as the ‘goody’ of the movie but he’s just dwarfed by the performances of both Hardy and Nolte. You don’t like Tommy in the beginning, and he acts like a dick for most of the movie, but as all the layers are pealed off you begin to see why he is as he is and you can’t help but beginning to like him as well. There is no true antagonist just a lot of grey areas surrounding some fucked up relationships.

The fights, while not really that big a part of the movie until maybe the last 20 minutes, are electrifying to watch. You are right there with all the secondary characters as they watch the matches going down. This wasn’t like Moneyball where I have no interest in the sport so I didn’t care what was going on. I have no interest in MMA either but I was wriggling around in my seat and actually vocalising suggestions because the fights were so absorbing.

One final point, which I think will be lost in most other reviews because of how good everyone else is in this film, is that the relationship between Edgerton’s character and his wife Tess, played by Jennifer Morrison, is just lovely to watch. All too often the wife is a shrieking harpy or the pointless add on to our main character but in this she was every bit as equal to Brendan. She’s the main bread winner, she encourages him when he needs it but she also calls him on his crap when he needs it as well. When she’s angry with him it’s not because he doesn’t listen to her on occasion but because she’s afraid he’s going to get himself killed. She is one of the most fully actualised real women I’ve seen in a film in ages and it’s a shame we don’t get more characters like her.

This was definitely one of the unsung greats of 2011 and I implore anyone who hasn’t seen it to definitely check it out. It’s not just a good sports movie, although it is that as well, but also a really well told drama 5/5