Amour

In the film, Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva) are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter (Huppert), who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested. 

This movie was amazing.  I don't know that I've ever watched a movie that seemed more real.  This movie touched me in such a way that I literally told my wife that I called dibs on passing away first.  It was equal parts touching and upsetting throughout.  I am honestly having a hard time even reviewing this simply because of how much this movie hit an emotional chord in my heart/head.  EVERY happily married couple should watch this together and they will probably leave it loving each other even more than they already did.

I thought it was absurd that this foreign movie that nobody had heard of was nominated for Best Picture.  After watching it, it would probably get my vote.  I couldn't possibly recommend more that everyone see this movie.  It hit me in the most unexpected of ways.  

Parker

Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But on his latest heist, his crew double crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead.  Determined to make sure they regret it, Parker tracks them to PalmBeach, playground of the rich and famous, where the crew is planning their biggest heist ever. Donning the disguise of a rich Texan, Parker takes on an unlikely partner, Leslie (Jennifer Lopez), a savvy insider, who’s short on cash, but big on looks, smarts and ambition. Together, they devise a plan to hijack the score, take everyone down and get away clean.

This movie was basically Transporter 5 or 6 or 7.  The only difference was a lot more actual violence and blood than Jason Statham usual movies.  Outside of that it was pretty much the same characters, the same story and the same ending. 

I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the Transporter movies or any Jason Statham movies.  I do so this movie was enjoyable for what it is.  Other like me won't be disappointed.  Anyone that doesn't - why would you see this or start watching his movies now?

The Last Stand

After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy.  With the help of a fierce band of lawless mercenaries led by the icy Burrell (Peter Stormare), Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border at 250 mph in a specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1 with a hostage in tow. Cortez's path: straight through Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement, including Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) will have their final opportunity to intercept him before the violent fugitive slips across the border forever.  At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately rallies his team and takes the matter into his own hands, setting the stage for a classic showdown.

This movie is exactly what you would think it would be.  It's a throwback to 80s/early 90s action movies.  The problem is that unlike the two Expendables movies that basically mocked these kind of movies in a tongue in cheek kind of way, this movie tried to take itself seriously.  That's just silly.  Arnold is OLD now so the him playing an action hero ship has pretty much sailes.  Ironically, the scenes without Arnold (as beyond overdramatic) as they were are more enjoyable than the scenes with him.  

I wouldn't recommend anyone bothering with this movie.  The Expendables movies were one thing but are Arnold and Sylvester Stallone really going to start making movies again?  Again . . . . . the ship has sailed.

Promised Land

Promised Land is the new contemporary drama directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting). Matt Damon plays Steve Butler, an ace corporate salesman who is sent along with his partner, Sue Thomason (Frances McDormand), to close a key rural town in his company's expansion plans. With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company's offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Hal Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (John Krasinski), as well as the interest of a local woman (Rosemarie DeWitt). Promised Land explores America at the crossroads where big business and the strength of small-town community converge.

This was a very well written down to earth feeling movie.  Simple town life vs corporate america and all the lines of thinking that come with that.  All the characters were well developed and played great off of each other.  It was very well played out how Matt Damon's emotions about what his job was went up and down and all over the place and you find yourself really rooting for him to figure it all out.

I would definiely recommend people checking this one out.  It's not in a wide release at all so you will probably have to wait, but I think it's worth the time.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

After getting a taste for blood as children, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton)  have become the ultimate vigilantes, hell bent on retribution. Now, unbeknownst to them, Hansel and Gretel have become the hunted, and must face an evil far greater than witches...their past.

This movie is exactly what it said it would be.  Overacting with lots of silly gore and action.  It completely came through on what was advertised.   Again - if you thought that it looked ridiculous from the commercial - then you will find the movie ridiculous.  I expected what I said before and that's exactly what I got.  It's in no way a "good" movie but if you have 90 minutes and want to watch a movie like this, it's not a bad watch.

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who saw the commercial and thought it looked cool.  It won't disappoint you guys.  If you saw it and thought it looked like garbage, those expectations would more than likely be met for you as well.

Movie 43

From the twisted minds of producers Peter Farrelly and Charles Wessler comes Movie 43-- the outrageous new ensemble comedy starring some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Movie 43 is not for the easily-offended and contains jaw-dropping, sometimes shockingly disturbing, but always entertaining intertwined storylines you'll have to see to believe.

I am at a total loss on how to review this movie.  Is it good?  Absolutely not.  In fact - it's so bad that I want to tell people to see it to believe it.  The sight gags were out of control, but sometimes belly laugh funny.  That's what makes it all even weirder.  I did laugh throughout this movie but my brain won't let me say it was a good movie.  It was so out there and absurd and over the top.   And I couldn't stop asking myself how in the blue hell all these people were in this movie?   And for the record - I may never look at Hugh Jackman the same.

I would recommend adults seeing this simply so you can sit there for 90 minutes with your mouth open and the WTF look I had on my face the ENTIRE movie.

Stand Up Guys

Stand Up Guys stars Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin in a tough but touching action comedy as retired gangsters who reunite for one epic last night. Val (Al Pacino) is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. His best friend Doc (Christopher Walken) is there to pick him up, and the two soon re-team with another old pal, Hirsch (Alan Arkin). Their bond is as strong as ever, and the three reflect on freedom lost and gained, loyalties ebbed and flowed, and days of glory gone by. And despite their age, their capacity for mayhem is still very much alive and well - bullets fly as they make a hilariously valiant effort to compensate for the decades of crime, drugs and sex they've missed. But one of the friends is keeping a dangerous secret- he's been put in an impossible quandary by a former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out. As the sun rises on the guys' legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate and they finally confront their past once and for all.

This was a fun watch simply because it was Al Pacino and Christopher Walken playing off of each other for an hour and half.  How could that really go wrong.  Is it a great movie?  Not really because there really isn't too much more substance than these two great actors talking about getting older and living in the moment.  But it's Pacino and Walken so I enjoyed it.

I would definitely recommend people check this out.  Again - nowhere near must see status, but . . . . . IT'S PACINO AND WALKEN, people!

Gangster Squad

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and--if he has his way--every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. "The Gangster Squad" is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.

This was a very, very fun movie.  Sure, it was silly, overdramatic (especially Sean Penn) and total testosterone, but it was still a lot of fun.  They did a good job of rounding up the squad, developing the characters and making you get excited about what was happening.   This was one of those movies where you can just turn your brain off and enjoy watching the good guys get the bad guys.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's easily one of the most simple entertaining movies out there.

Mama

Five years ago, sisters Victoria and Lilly vanished from their suburban neighborhood without a trace. Since then, their Uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his girlfriend, Annabel (Jessica Chastain), have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home.  As Annabel tries to introduce the children to a normal life, she grows convinced of an evil presence in their house. Are the sisters experiencing traumatic stress, or is a ghost coming to visit them? How did the broken girls survive those years all alone? As she answers these disturbing questions, the new mother will find that the whispers she hears at bedtime are coming from the lips of a deadly presence.

This was one of the more blah PG-13 fright flicks.  These movies really are hit or miss. This one definitely missed.  It took too long to shed light on the story and there was no real hook into being invested enough in the ghost haunting the family.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone wasting their time with this.  Not only is it not scary enough but the "ghost" effects were beyond subpar and not scary.

Broken City

Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) has a promising career as a New York City cop until the night he is involved in a controversial shooting. Stripped of his badge, but kept out of jail by New York's popular Mayor (Russell Crowe), he re-makes himself as a private investigator.  Times are tough, and when the mayor offers Billy $50,000 to investigate the First Lady's (Catherine Zeta Jones) extra-marital activities, it seems like a straight forward payday. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that the Mayor is not at all what he seems, and for Billy to achieve redemption he will have to risk everything -- possibly even his freedom.

I was kind of bored in this movie.  It's not that it was a bad movie, there just wasn't a quality emotional hook that made me care at all about what the characters were going through.  Without that emotional hook, this is one of those movies where you are just kind of watching it play out.  And since you are well aware of how it will all turn out - it just made it that much more not too interesting for me.

I wouldn't really recommend people checking this out.  Maybe I'm wrong and there just wasn't an emotional connection for me and there might be for others. I was pretty bored though.

A Haunted House

From the creators of Scary Movie comes another horror spoof, a parody of the "Paranormal Activity" franchise. When newlyweds Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) and Kisha (Essence Atkins) move into their dream house, they quickly find they’re not alone. But it’s not the house that’s haunted, but his wife that is possessed with spirits – or as Malcolm calls it – “relationship baggage.” Malcolm hires everyone from a priest to modern day ghost busters to rid her of the demon, determined not to let the evil spirit ruin his marriage... or his sex life for that matter.

This movie was ALOT funnier than I thought it would be.  There were good sight gags and the spoofing of the Paranormal Activity movies didn't get played out like I thought it would.  The real downer of this movie was the whole Devil Inside spoof with Cedric getting too much play in the commercials.  If they would have held that out - I would have been dying watching those parts.  

I would surprisingly recommend people checking this out.  Those of you with teenagers thinking it would be a soft R because of language or something - there is a ALOT of sexually related humor in this movie.  You have been warned.

Anna Karenina

The third collaboration of Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley with acclaimed director Joe Wright, following the award-winning boxoffice successes "Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement," is a bold, theatrical new vision of the epic story of love, adapted from Leo Tolstoy's timeless novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard ("Shakespeare in Love"). The story powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart. As Anna (Knightley) questions her happiness and marriage, change comes to all around her.

Another massive snoozefest that I'm so glad showed up online preventing me from watching this in the theatre.  I'm really not the best person to review these pretentious old English type movies.  I am just completely bored by them 95% of the time and this movie was no different. 

I wouldn't recommend people wasting their time with this.  Like I said - I was barely interested enough to even acknowledge that it was on at all.

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

I cannot for the life of me put my finger on exactly why but I loved this movie.  It was like a alternate version of Where The Wild Things Are but in the real world.  Half of me kept thinking WTF and the other half was dying to see where this movie was going to go.  It was like watching real life struggles through the eyes of a strong willed six year old . . . . . and being about to identify with it or understand it.  

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  If I were to go back and adjust my 2012 best of list, this movie would probably crack the top ten.  

The Impossible

Based on the true story of one family's survival of the 2004 tsunami . . . .

Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her.  The Impossible is the powerful and unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, "The Impossible" is a journey to the core of the human heart.

This movie was a very tough one to watch.  The tsunami portion of the movie made me look away numerous times.  The violence, the injuries/hazards that you don't even think about and the working through the aftermath were simply gut wrenching.  The performance by the little boy really stole the show and this movie give you a whole new appreciation of areas that are ravaged by natural disasters like this.  For the most part, you get lots and lots of coverage of the area but then everyone's short term memory kicks in and it's left alone.  This movie really shows you what it's like after these types of world changing events.

I would definitely recommend that everyone check this movie out.  It was very well done across the board but be warned that there are some really tough to see scenes.

Hyde Park On Hudson

In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Olivia Williams) host the King and Queen of England (Samuel West, Olivia Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York - the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR's domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Laura Linney), Franklin's distant cousin, neighbor, and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy - and through her, for us all - a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.

This movie was one of the biggest snoozefests I've seen in a long long time.  I had absolutely zero interest 30 minutes in and was nodding off so I turned it off.  It kills me to see how much Bill Murray sucks in his movies now.  Can he please go back to just making a comedy or playing a regular acting role?

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting one minute watching this movie.  Unless you are having trouble sleeping.  If that's the case - you should put this on.  Better than Nyquil.

Hitchcock

Based on the book "Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho" by Stephen Rebello, Hitchcock is a love story about one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife and partner Alma Reville. The film takes place during the making of Hitchcock's seminal movie "Psycho."

This was a movie that was built mostly around the performances of Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren.  Both of them did great, but there really wasn't much substance to the film or the story besides there biographical performances.  The movie ended up just kind of being there.

I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this out.  It isn't a must see by any means.  The performances were good and there were some moments that the film was great but overall it was just kind of blah.

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Texas Chainsaw 3D continues the legendary story of the homicidal Sawyer family, picking up where Tobe Hooper's 1974 horror classic left off in Newt, Texas, where for decades people went missing without a trace. The townspeople long suspected the Sawyer family, owners of a local barbeque pit, were somehow responsible. Their suspicions were finally confirmed one hot summer day when a young woman escaped the Sawyer house following the brutal murders of her four friends. Word around the small town quickly spread, and a vigilante mob of enraged locals surrounded the Sawyer stronghold, burning it to the ground and killing every last member of the family - or so they thought. Decades later and hundreds of miles away from the original massacre, a young woman named Heather learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from a grandmother she never knew she had. After embarking on a road trip with friends to uncover her roots, she finds she is the sole owner of a lavish, isolated Victorian mansion. But her newfound wealth comes at a price as she stumbles upon a horror that awaits her in the mansion's dank cellars.

This movie was pretty much awful.  It’s not like I expected anything good from it going in, but it was actually worse.  There were pretty much zero frights and I never thought I would say this, even the amount of gore was pretty lame . . . . . especially for the blatant “3D” version.  To make matters worse they tried to expand the story.  They even went so far as to try and portray Leatherface as misunderstood and . . . . . .wait for it . . . . . one of the good guys.  Yeah.  That happened.

I would recommend nobody bother with the bazillionth attempt at this movie or an expansion of it.  It is a total waste of 90 minutes of your life.

Zero Dark Thirty

For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden.  Zero Dark Thirty reunites the team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man.

This movie was like one of those very intense episodes of Homeland.  There was a LOT of talky talky and political back and forth that led up to one of the most intense scenes I've ever seen.  When the elite squad actually went on their mission, I was pretty much sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time.  It just seemed so surreal.  It really showed/captured all the different emotions involved in this piece of history . . . . . . especially the main actresses face at the very end after it was all over and the pilot asking her what she would like to do now. 

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  This is exceptional writing, acting and directing. 

The Ten Best Movies Of 2012

Honorable Mention - End Of Watch

This movie was awesome. It seemed so real. They did such an amazing job of hooking you into these two characters that the intensity you felt when they were in action was amazing and the laughs you had while they were busting each other's chops were equally as great. There were a couple of times where I started to wonder where the movie was ultimately going but I didn't really care because I would gladly keep watching the daily events in these two cops lives.

10.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

This is a tough one to review. Do I do it as a stand alone movie or part of the Lord Of The Rings world? I was very entertained and loved the movie very much. It was too long and I'm still trying to wrap my head around how The Hobbit (one book) is going to be three movies with a running time of almost 3 hours each? But it is a very entertaining fantasy world story done by Peter Jackson. You really can't go wrong with that. Is it Lord Of The Rings level? HELL NO!!! Not even close. This movie cracked my top ten of the year . . . . . barely. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was a top 3 (if not number one overall) every year.

9.  Django Unchained

This was one of Tarantino's better movies. I like that he finally told a story in actual time instead of the going back and forth in the timeline sutff he usually does. The character development was awesome and his direction of Christoph Waltz just makes both of thier talents better. He was easily the best part of the movie. The quick and proper dialogue from him and the back and forth with Jaimie Foxx was awesome. I was loving the movie and couldn't wait to see where it would go and then we got to meet Leonardo DiCaprio's character and the setting of Candyland and the movie honestly got even better. The violence was waaaaaaaaay extreme at times and didn't really have to be, but outside of that - this was a very excellent movie.

8.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

I'm stunned by how much I totally loved this movie. I figured it was just one of those artsy movies with a bunch of excellent senior citizen actors and actresses that the critics rave about just because. But it wasn't. It was a perfectly told movie about a collection of very different characters finding their way regardless of age and circumstances. The characters were all equally and excellently developed that you care about each one of their stories. You find yourself rooting for all of them and being unable to wait to see how it all plays out.

7.  Pitch Perfect

This movie was soooooooooo much fun. I loved the music. I loved the characters. I laughed my ass off. This is easily one of the biggest surprises of a movie I've seen in a long, long time. I'm not by any stretch of the imagination willing to say that in terms of good filmmaking this is a phenomenal movie. But in terms of just pure fun and laughs - this is one of the more enjoyable movies that I have seen this year.

6.  Silver Linings Playbook

I loved this movie. They made you care about the characters and made it okay to laugh and care at the same time as they dealt with their mental disorders. The chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence was amazing. And although it was pretty predictable where it all was going, I enjoyed the ride. The performances of the ecclectic group of supporting characters were equally funny, touching and entertaining.

5.  Lincoln

This was a movie that is a reminder just how good of a director Steven Spielberg is. Forgotten at this point for the most part with all the talk about the new class of directors that churn out movie awesomeness, Spielberg has put forth a historical biopic without any of his usual special effects and what not that can make even the most not interested in history peeps (like myself) riveted by the story being played out on the screen. And Daniel Day-Lewis completely equals his director's awesomeness with his performance. The man is pure gold as an actor. It seemed as if Lincoln himself was alive and back on screen.

4.  Argo

This movie was great. And I didn't even realize how much I was enjoying it until the tension that had been building for so long finally passed. I literally felt relieved. That is good film making when you get someone to feel that way and totally reel them in without them knowing it's even happening. I continue to be amazed at how much better Ben Affleck is as an actor than a director and the fact that when he is directing himself, he makes himself a better actor. So weird.

3.  Les Miserables

I loved this movie. I have grown to be a bigger fan of musicals over the years. Thank you, Moulin Rouge! I had seen this play on broadway many many years ago. I sort of remembered the story and tried to keep my expectations in check because I had heard such great things about it. However, they completely met and exceeded my expectations and all of the good word the movie had gotten. I loved that it was a total musical with barely any normal spoken dialogue. I loved even more how the actors were legitimately singing at that moment instead of lip syncing to a previous recording. I loved the cast (especially Anne Hathaway and the new girl that played Eponie). This was easily my favorite non-comic book related movie of the year.

2.  The Dark Knight Rises

Brace yourselves because this is going to be a long one. Let me start by saying this is an amazing movie. It fell in line exactly with where my expectations for it were. I kept saying that this would be more of a sequel to Batman Begins than to The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger's performace was a once in a lifetime type of thing and to think that they would be able to top that would be ridiculous. That being said - Christopher Nolan (best director out there - sorry, Fincher) was so fair to everyone in this movie. He was fair each actor that has been throughout all the trilogy. Gary Oldman got his due. Morgan Freeman got his due. Michael Caine got his due. And most importanly - Christian Bale got his due after pretty much just being a distant third fiddle to Ledger and Eckhardt in the last one. Besides them, he worked in Catwoman very well and Anne Hathaway was great with the sleekness needed delivering her lines. Tom Hardy is the man. Love this guy and he was awesome as Bane. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt was great as the new cop getting introduced. Much more on him later. As for the fans - he could not have done us more justice. This movie trilogy wrapped up in the most phenomenal of ways. I can't really go into it without giving too much away. I will go over some stuff later but with spoiler warnings. I am just so happy with how I felt walking out of the theater and didn't realize how much this telling of Batman really meant to me as a movie fan until that point.

All of the awesomeness being addressed, there were some things that left a bit of a blah taste in my mouth. The first 30-45 minutes of the movie seemed a little choppy and forced having to introduce Bane, Catwoman and the new cop guy. Luckily, just when it was getting to the point where it could really take away from the movie - it smoothed out and because awesome from then on.

SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD! Only read if you don't care with things being mentioned.

Bane was so badass and was such an awesomely developed villain, yet he became completely inconsequential after the swerve of Thalia A'Gul being revealed and his demise was almost done in passing and for comic relief. That bothered me alot. I felt like the character deserved better than that. As for the aforementioned swerve - I'm being generous when saying swerve because I saw that coming months ago when they announced the casting and saw it coming the whole movie. That was very un-Nolanesque. The only two other things that didn't sit well with me was A - the flying away with the neutron bomb (Did they have to drag it on the ground and bang it all over the place? It's a bomb. I feel as if something would have happened in the realm of blowing up prematurely by doing that? It just looked kind of silly.) and B - a major editing snafu with the getaway from the Wall Street attack. The chase started in total daylight and they went under some tunnel and it was total nightime when they came out? Again - just kind of hit me as un-Nolanesque.

Now on to my praise of the ending - STILL SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Wow! Christopher Nolan not only gave every character what they wanted to have a happy ending, but he gave Warner Brothers the biggest gift ever if they really want to try and do the Justice League thing. I've been ranting with my friend about how they would never be able to pull it off because The Avengers was a work of advanced mastery in marketing and WB would basically just be throwing Justice League on the screen having to have a new Batman too soon and no advance hype whatsoever. Then Nolan goes and has Joseph Gordon Levitt acknowledged as "Robin" and has the movie end with him going in to the batcave. HOLY $HIT!!! I felt the same way after seeing Sam Jackson at the end of Iron Man. Now all they have to do is have JGL show up in the relaunched Superman next year and they already have the legwork for Justice League. Please let the powers that be at WB not screw this up and run with the absolute gift that Nolan has given them.

1.  The Avengers

Never have I seen a movie with expectations like this. I mean you are talking about four different mega-high profile movies with four different known comic book characters. And there was a sequel to one of them in there too. This movie has legitamitely been hyped for four years since the scene at the end of the credits in Iron Man. You are talking about juggling all these characters (and the egos of the actors attached to the parts). You are talking about a pipe dream of a movie for fanboys since they picked up any comic book featuring this. You can say what about X-Men, but that was different. They were established and developed within that one movie. These were all established seperately and all revolved around completely different ideals. One was all about ego. One was all about doing the right thing. One was all about mythology. One was all about controlling anger. How in the hell would they be able to put all this together and do it justice? I kept telling myself to just enjoy a popcorn movie short on substance and cool to the eye and I would have been satisfied. I was wrong. They managed to pull off what I thought would be impossible, met the sky high expectations and quite honestly - blew them out of the water. The story was amazing. The action was awesome. The laughs were HUGE . . . . and it wasn't just Downey Jr's one liners. The script was written in such a way that everyone got to be in on it. There were two scenes with the Hulk where the audience was hysterical. The balance between everyone was amazing. They did every single one of them justice. Even bit players like Agent Colson was made to matter to every viewer. I can't remember the last time that I was impressed by a movie. Actually - I can. It was the Dark Knight. This movie didn't have as much broad spectrum substance as that and it's the only thing that keeps me from saying that this is the best comic book movie ever made. But I have no problem saying that this is the second best comic book movie of all time and easily the greatest achievement of hype matching I've ever seen.

The Ten Worst Movies Of 2012

Dishonorable Mention - Lockout

This was without a doubt - the WORST edited movie that I have seen in my entire life. Apparantly, they decided that they wanted a PG-13 rating at the last second and decided to cut back on the blood and/or foul language. However, they didn't do reshoots and just cut the scenes. The result is it going from scene to scene with no transition whatsoever. Pearce headbutts a guy - cut scene - they are running out of the room on the completely different side of where they are with people chasing them. The movie was a giant turd regardless but could have been a "guilty pleasure" type movie but the editing just makes it straight up unbearable. 

10.  Dredd

This is total garbage. Acting poop. Writing poop. Action even poop. This was just a cheap excuse to show gunshots and exploding blood in slow motion 3D. Total garbage.

9.  Silent House

Pretty much a big turd. I felt no fear whatsoever for the first hour. The hand held camera thing is pretty much done for me scary wise unless the movie title is Paranormal Activity and has a number after it. Once the "fear" portion of it was over and they went it to the "swerve", I was beyond done and started reading my book on my phone.

8.  The Devil Inside

This movie was not what was advertised. It was not a Paranormal Activity of exorcist movies. It wanted to be. It was advertised (very creepily well) as being so. But it absolutely was not. It was pretty much garbage. It was three creepy or exorcist scenes - which were all in the trailer - and a couple of people running around with a camera. There was pieces of a story thrown in there but they pretty much stopped following that after a while. And the movie just sort of ends. The theater I saw it in was packed and I can't remember the last time that an audience was so out loud pissed at a movie. I've never been happier to not be working at a theater anymore than being able to not deal with the backlash from people dropping money on this.

7.  Alex Cross

Words do no justice to just how lame/bad this movie was. No matter what angle you look at it from - it was poop. I am a huge James Patterson fan and have read all the Alex Cross books. Having a background knowledge of Alex Cross was kind of a prerequisite for this movie because they really didn't bother with any of his character development. You were just supposed to kind of know who he was. That being said - the movie was all over the place in terms of the books. The "wife" was never known in the books. Referred to but not known. His partner/best friend was a huge black guy named Sampson - not Ed Burns. His kids ages were all out of sync. They were in Detroit instead of Washington DC. It was beyond frustrating in so many ways. Was this supposed to be like a prequel to the Alex Cross in the books? As a stand alone movie - it was still horrible. The acting was sooooooo over the top. Especially Matthew Fox. Tyler Perry is atrocious casting as Alex Cross. He would have been better as the aforementioned non-existent Sampson. The story was just there and everything was pretty much happening haphazardly. This was like a lame 80's action movie that should have had Sylvester Stallone as a random cop or something. 

6.  Taken 2

It is hard to believe how God awful this movie was. The first one was a great paced, simple story bada$$ movie. How could they manage to screw up the simplest sequel in the world to make like this? Answer - push way too much of the wife and the daughter and tone it down for a PG-13 rating. All enjoyment was pretty much non-existent in this and a barely 90 minute movie seemed like forever long.

5.  Hit And Run

I sat through this movie for the first 30-40 minutes with that "how bad can this movie really be" face on and begging WW to leave. The acting was god awful. Don't know if you read in the synopsis above that Tom Arnold was in it. After seeing his 4th or 5th rant of the movie, I finally realized that I had the car keys on me and was able to use that leverage to pull the plug before Bradley Cooper even came on screen.

4.  Cloud Atlas

I wanted so very badly to like this movie. I knew that it was going to either be completely awesome or way too far out there and suck. The movie is three hours long and after a little over an hour, I had no clue what was going on, I wasn't even sure that they were speaking english half the time and I simply couldn't see sitting through this for another two hours. The plug was pulled and maybe one day I will try to brave the rest of this movie, but I doubt it.

3. Silent Hill: Revelation

Not going to even bother here. The first one was a somewhat decent gorefest based on a video game. This is a sequel that was literally made to pull in quick first weekend 3d prices. It was horrible across the board and I walked out after compiling a list of things that I could be doing instead of watching the rest of the rank turd.

2.  Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

Dearest lord in heaven this was awful. I wasn't expecting much. The first Ghost Rider took care of that. I loved this comic book when I was younger and was hoping that maybe they would make it better the second time around. At least the flaming skull effects looked better in the trailer. I was beyond wrong. About halfway through the movie, Stinka and I were BEGGING WW to leave. It just got worse and worse and she finally relented after they showed Ghost Rider peeing fire. I mean really? What in the blue hell made anyone think that was necessary?

1.  Pirahna 3DD

Do I even have to bother reviewing this? It's crap. Crap was expected. Crap is what was given. Correction, steaming crap is what was given because they even brought the chaos out of the water and gave me one of the most disgusting images that I will never be able to erase from my memory.
A guy was attacked mid intercourse from a pirahna that was inside the girl.  That's all I'm saying.  Worst thing I saw all year on a screen.