Cavalcade of Awesome

This will be the first year that I don’t actually have a physical “white board” in which I wrote down all of the movies I saw this past year.  My movie list is kept all digital now with Google Spreadsheets (like my book list).  So, it’s sad, but for the most part I think I’m retiring my literal “white board”.  Who knows, maybe I’ll bring it back.  We’ll see.  To see previous years’ picks, click the image above.

Anyway, I combed through my movie log and picked 5 of my favorite movies released in 2012.  Notice I’m not saying “best”.  That is so subjective, I’m just telling you my “favorite” movies of 2012, in no particular order.

Marvel’s The Avengers – Who am I kidding? This is my favorite movie of the year. It’s probably the greatest movie ever filmed.  I can’t add anything more to what’s already been said.  You’ve seen it or you are in a coma.  And I’m sorry for you coma people because you’re missing the best movie ever made.

Django Unchained – Just got a showing of this movie in under the wire and HOLY SHEEEEE-IT, it’s amazing. I think I like this one even better than Inglourious Basterds.  Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio are the reasons to see this movie, but I don’t mean to discount Jamie Foxx or Samuel L Jackson.  This is one well acted, well written movie and…IT’S A WESTERN!  Yes, maybe this will cause Hollywood to try it’s hand at more of them.  However, I am concerned that Disney’s The Lone Ranger may kill that notion, quick.  But I hope not.

Skyfall – Is this the best Bond film of all time? No, it’s not. However, it’s probably the best Craig Bond film. For me, right now, it ranks up there, possibly in the top 5 of all time Bond movies. We’ll see, though, time will tell if that holds up.  Fantastic movie.

The Bourne Legacy – Honestly, I was a little concerned when Matt Damon said he wasn’t going to return to the Bourne role for this movie. However, they assembled a dynamite cast with Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz.  Lots of great action and Renner is awesome as usual.  Also, you can imagine this as a Hawkeye prequel to The Avengers and it works just as nicely.

The Cabin In The Woods – This sort of came out of nowhere for me. Such a great movie. I liked it so much I even co-hosted an Atomic Geeks supplemental podcast where Christian, Digio and I talked about how great the movie was.  If you are a fan of horror, or any well written satire/homages, then you’ll love this movie.

My favorite movies I watched in 2012 that weren’t released in 2012.

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) – I really had no desire to see this, but Steven Spielberg directed it and Jaime Bell is the lead voice, so I gave it a chance. And it’s pretty awesome. And the animation is RIDICULOUSLY good. Lots of fun action. Sort of a treasure hunt and it’s family friendly.  This could become a generational movie to younger kids today in about 10-15 years.

Chronicle – This movie also snuck up on me.  I was aware of it, but not really how good or dark it was going to get.  Turns out it gets very good and very dark.  Seriously, this is exactly what it would be like if three teens ever got super powers.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) – I really like the third movie (MI: III), but this movie is even better than that. This is the perfect Mission Impossible movie. The addition of Jeremy Renner was genius (especially if Cruise leaves and Renner becomes the lead). Absolutely see this.

Real Steel (2011) – I must be a sucker for Hugh Jackman and fighting robots. I loved this movie. Part of it may be because at the heart of the story is the relationship between a father and son. And being the father of a son, that stuff just gets me. And the fighting robots thing. This was a surprisingly good movie.

13 Assassins (2010) – Watched this based on recommendations from Jeeg on the Nerd Lunch Podcast. Wow. Just AWESOME. Brutal, violent, amazing.

Spirited Away (2001) – Watched this for an episode of Nerd Lunch with Shawn Robare. I can’t believe I’d never watched it before. I’m really going to have to start checking out more of Miyazaki’s work.

This entry was posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:00 am and is filed under movies with tags Marvel Comics, Movie Board, movies, reviews, The Avengers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.