Top 10 Films of 2012

2012 was an interesting year in film. Some of the top rated movies by critics paralleled box office returns, comic book movies cemented their spot on the top of the genre heap and award season fare is full of movies the public generally approves of.

Our review total at What’s Up Movement was down from the century mark of 2011, but the new arrow grading system has allowed us to get a more accurate read of how the films compare to each other. Out of five possible arrows, four films earned 5, 12 fell just short at 4.5 and 15 films earned the strong rating of 4 arrows. A very solid last quarter of the year skewed the results toward the high scores, but we have no quota. If the movie meets the standards, it gets a high grade. So to begin Oscar week, here are the top 10 films of 2012.

(Click titles to read full reviews)

10. Lincoln

The supporting cast does very well. But the difference is they give good performances, the actor with his name above the title, Daniel Day Lewis, gives one of the best performances ever.

9. Les Misérables

The film is an accessible version of the dense book for audiences who never brought themselves to read or view a play whose title translates to “The Miserable Ones.” That doesn’t really sound like much fun.

8. Django Unchained

The aesthetically impressive scenes that separate the action and gore from dialogue and story development are worth the audience’s attention from shot to shot. There’s no doubt Quentin Tarantino is crazy, crazy like a fox. This is his crazy western.

7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

It’s masterly crafted with precision dialogue and unmatched pacing. Director Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the screenplay and the original novel, has made a movie that deserves to go down as one of the great coming of age films of the decade.

6. 21 Jump Street

The fact that they rarely go more than a minute without a successful joke or funny moment means that 21 Jump Street is one of the best comedies in recent memory. The film is a perfect example of how to redefine a franchise. Just make the movie really good.

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Director Peter Jackson definitely knows what the fans want, complexity and continuity. The film is long and requires a level of commitment to enjoy, but we know from experience Jackson likes to make the audience earn the rewards that come at the end of an epic story like this.

4. Looper

Looper is a new idea. The film has been highly praised for its innovative approach to a sci-fi genre which borrows heavily from itself. It’s a slow burn of a film that can keep interest through the relaxed parts and have you on the edge of your seat without even knowing it.

3. The Dark Knight Rises

Almost any other movie would collapse under this mountain of characters and established actors fighting for their minutes of screen time. But instead the film proves to be large enough for such a task. The Dark Knight Rises puts an end to one of the best trilogies ever made and is a defining work of both comic book and action film culture.

2. Argo

I can’t recall another film that is able to cut between such intense drama and witty comedy like Argo does. There is always that moment in espionage thrillers that presents the common citizen as gullible for believing the untrue reports, but now we’re in on the secret.

1.Zero Dark Thirty

Even if only half of the events on screen are true, millions of people were invested in the hunt for Bin Laden and the film is a chance to gain some closure. Culturally, it’s a very important film and will stay with you days after viewing. Jessica Chastain is near flawless in her lead performance. Combining confidence, vulnerability and a social awkwardness that fits so perfectly with a character in her position,

Honorable Mention: The remaining films that scored a 4.5

11. Life of Pi

12. The Amazing Spider-Man

13. The Woman in Black

14. Lawless

15. Chronicle

16. Cloud Atlas

Please leave your top ten list in the comments and let us know why you liked what you did.

The Super Bowl's Off-Field Winner

This year’s Super Bowl proved to be a pretty exciting game, but for those of us located outside of California and Maryland who weren’t particularly invested in the teams playing, still had plenty to focus on off the field. Social media erupted with shouts that Bane from The Dark Knight Rises was involved in the lights going out and that the loss of power was a glimpse into NBC’s "Revolution," where the future is void of electricity. Then there are the pricy commercials, which included spots for Oz the Great and Powerful, World War Z, Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6.

So besides the Baltimore Ravens, who was the big winner of Super Bowl XLVII? That would be Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Showing early in the game, the Fast 6 spot caused big buzz with huge pyrotechnics, insane auto stunts and a promise that all the familiar faces of the fifth installment will be back. Even the “dead” Michelle Rodriguez made a cameo. Johnson takes lead in the ad asking Vin Diesel and crew for help. How a newcomer, who didn’t play a part in the series until the fifth movie pushed his way to the front of the marquee, I don’t know. But the actor’s likeability definitely played a part.

Johnson also starred in a milk ad that saw the star rush through the streets in his pajamas searching for milk. He passes on all kinds of situations that need a hero, but once he has his milk he “goes to work” to save the planet. It’s a fun ad that was one of the night’s strongest, partly because of the star power. Ads also played frequently throughout the pre-game and post-game shows for Snitch, which opens later this month. The film doesn’t have the hype of Fast 6, but Johnson’s presence is featured prominently. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the actor can single-handedly draw large box-office receipts, but he can bring his commanding presence into any role. See Journey 2: The Mysterious Island for an example of his control over the cameras.



The Rock has been a certified action star for a while now, but never has his status been showcased on such a large scale. It is apparent movie studios and companies entrust their reputation on showcasing a guy who got his start as a professional wrestler. Oh and did I mention The Rock became the WWE champion at “WWE Royal Rumble” a week before his Super Bowl ads aired? I guess we smell what The Rock is cooking, success.

In Defense of Twilight... No, Seriously

So here we are. I can’t believe it’s over. After five films and four books, one of the most hotly debated franchises ever is finished. “Twilight” has been incredibly popular, but has always faced questions. People love it, people hate it. It’s sometimes unfairly compared to “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games” because of demographic crossover and the fact that the movies are all based on popular books. But the series must be given credit where it’s due. While JK Rowling and her “Harry Potter” books can be credited with a young reader revolution, “Twilight” expanded that base among young females, bringing about a whole new genre. Barnes and Noble shoppers may notice the relatively new “teen paranormal romance” section. These are all books that draw from “Twilight.” “Twilight,” the poorly written series, which borrows a lot from “True Blood” and spends time telling young female readers they should change to be like the one they love. Yes, that one.

I obviously don’t have an infatuated interest in the series like the countless fans do. In fact, I think a good amount of the material in the books and movies is poorly done. But I do understand the appeal of escapist fantasy books and films. This is what author Stephenie Meyer does best. Creating an explanation for how vampires could exist right under our noses is something authors have been doing for a long time. But to do it in a (relatively) family friendly way, to ground it with a Romeo and Juliet like forbidden love was a multi-million dollar decision. But getting to know the five vampires living in Forks wasn’t enough. Meyer created a whole world and needed to prove it. The Volturi, rival covens, Carlisle’s accounts of vampire history, make the world bigger than the books. While “The Hunger Games” books are better written, their ambiguous back story is where they fall short of “Twilight.”

When Summit Entertainment was bought By Lions Gate earlier this year, Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer mentioned that the series may continue after the release of the final adapted film. This idea has gained a bit of traction as the cast answered questions about it during their lengthy press tour for Breaking Dawn Part II. We don’t have any solid evidence this will happen, but I’m actually more excited about this idea than the five initial films. I think getting away from Bella and Edward would give the franchise a breath of fresh air. If the films were to be original and not based on new Meyer novels, it gives screenwriters freedom they haven’t had before. The currently released films are forced to navigate awkward dialogue and one-liners that the readers have deemed memorable, but the screen dictates as being ill-fitting.

The cinematic legacy of the movies will ultimately be casting and writing that couldn’t live up to the scale presented in the aesthetic. But more importantly as a movie fan, it can be appreciated for the sold out midnight screenings and box office dominance. It’s no secret that it’s easier to get a male audience into a movie theater. But “Twilight” and its four sequels have solved the young female demographic, who have transferred seamlessly to” The Hunger Games” films. So before you blindly criticize “Twilight,” which I have been known to do, consider how much they’ve done for literature and film. Not too shabby.

Transformers 4: Say Hi to Your Mother for Me

If you want a perfect example of how public perception can change one’s mind about a movie, look no farther than the Transformers franchise. Yes, the second one, Revenge of the Fallen, didn’t make sense. But the Third one made up for it and the first one was a lot of fun. Yet for some reason when I think of Transformers my first thoughts are usually negative, which is weird because I like them.

But what does this matter because the series is over, right? Wrong. Michael Bay is returning to do a partial reboot of the franchise without Shia Labeouf. And now for the exciting part. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Bay has confirmed that Mark Wahlberg will star in the upcoming Transformers 4. I imagine the movie will receive a subtitle at some point. Something like Transformers: Say Hi to Your Mother for Me. But no matter what the title, this is exciting news. It reveals that the story won’t follow teenagers again, which has been done before. Instead we get an actor who has done action and done it in both critically acclaimed settings (The Departed, The Fighter) and in blockbusters (Planet of the Apes, The Italian Job).

I’d like to see the franchise go back to the “robots in disguise” theme from the first movie instead of trying to outdo the scale of the sequels. It’s clear that less is more when it comes to the number of combatants in a rock ‘em sock ‘em robots kind of franchise like this. As you can see from the accompanying photo, a new logo for the film has also been released, which combines the 4 and the mark of the Deceptions, the film’s villains for those non-fans who are reading.

It looks pretty cool, but I don’t think we’ve been shown enough to get too excited about the movie yet. The Happening tells us that Wahlberg can’t save a stupid movie from being stupid. So I send this message to any surviving Transformers writers taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting. Get it? That’s what Optimus Prime says at the end of the first one, but directed to other Transformers… Boy, I’m clever.

Marvel Makes Announcements Left and Right

It seems like any entertainment rumors or news items this week just don’t seem that important compared to the mammoth announcement of new Star Wars films coming our way, but the Marvel machine, which spans multiple studios, keeps chugging along regaining our attention. Three new items have come to light that brought me out of my Star Wars coma.

The Iron Trailer

Marvel Studios have begun phase two of their genre defining Avengers Initiative that was pulled off so perfectly during the last few years. We now have the first trailer for Iron Man 3. I must admit that while I’ve enjoyed the first two installments, plus the character’s involvement in The Avengers, I’m always less excited for Tony Stark than I am other Marvel commodities. This probably stems from my indifference toward the character in the comics. But this trailer has bucked that trend.

The fact that all three Iron Man films feature Academy Award winning actors as the lead villain, Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke and now Ben Kingsley, has me realizing how important these films are to the comic book film genre. Kingsley plays The Mandarin in the new one, a character long overdue to make his big screen debut. Apparently his origins have changed for the film, but count me intrigued. Watch the trailer for yourself. It looks pretty intense.



Sing-Along

The year was 2003 and the comic book world was raving about X2 and the further possibilities for the X-Men world. But director Bryan Singer decided to try his hand at Superman Returns rather than return for the third film in the trilogy. The subsequent film X3: X-Men United was successful, but it brought the saga to a standstill. Now we have Wolverine spin-off films and the smaller scale reboot X-Men First Class. Well guess what folks, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Singer will direct the First Class sequel Days of the Future Past.

Comic book fans will know the possibilities for such a title. It presents a chaotic future and the possibility to unite characters from the original trilogy and First Class. The fact that Fox has decided to bring in a director who has a report with the likes of Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen is very interesting. My guess is that McKellen and Halle Berry wouldn’t return since Berry almost opted out of X3 and McKellen needed some big convincing to return to his other franchise, The Hobbit. But Stewart has expressed interest in the past and Jackman has always been vocal with his love of playing Wolverine. It would be great to see the X-Men timelines interact.

It’s Electric

Variety is reporting that Jamie Foxx is in early talks to play Electro in the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man. Wow. The rumor regarding Electro being the film’s primary villain has been around for a little while, but the Academy Award winner’s involvement is new, fueled by a tweet this week claiming he was Electro for Halloween. Many eagle eyed fans have pointed out that the scene at the end of TASM has Dr. Connors speaking to a shadowy figure accompanied by lightning. Was that Electro? Maybe. Or maybe the lightning was just for dramatic effect to accompany Norman Osborne, Mysterio, The Shocker, or a number of other characters.

Foxx fits really well in this franchise. He’s a good actor who will have no problem making the long living character his own. Plus it’s a smart move to keep digging into the rogues gallery rather than rebooting villains. But I imagine Osborne/ The Green Goblin will show up pretty soon.

So there you have it. Marvel on all cylinders. It looks like X-Men is trying to bridge gaps to make Avengers-like continuity and Spider-Man just gets cooler with every rumor. We’ll keep an eye for more Marvel news.

Disney Buys Star Wars

In terms of movie news, it doesn’t get much bigger than Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the rights to Star Wars. As for a reaction from the purchase, I don’t really know what mine is. My initial concern was that George Lucas was forced out of the brand he built. Not so. He was in on the deal and will stay on as a consultant. Then I figured that this wouldn’t make a difference since the Star Wars world mainly consists of cartoons, books and merchandise these days. Wrong again! A treatment has been completed for Episode VII, which will apparently take place after the events of Return of the Jedi. This will lead to Episodes VIII and IX all without Lucas directing.

While I usually love making hypothetical lists in situations like this, I currently have no idea which way this trilogy will head. It’s already been said that the next movie won’t be based on a book, comic book or video game that’s already been written. So while the buzz on the internet questions this new series’ ability to fit into the packed timeline of the books, I think that the super “fans” will likely be disappointed.

The prequels were able to take characters the audience had already seen or heard about and put them into a storyline that was relatively well known. Obviously Anakin was going to become Darth Vader, the Jedi would be killed off and the Republic would become the Empire. I anticipate the new trilogy doing something like that. So, familiar characters should appear. Obviously C-3PO and R2-D2 will be there, but some Rebels or even some combination of the big three (Luke, Leia and Han) would be great. It never made sense to me that people complained that the prequels were inaccurate to the timeline. Since Star Wars was first a movie, that medium is the infallible one in my mind. Just like how a Spider-Man story-arc in comic book form is the real story holding more weight than the movies.

But no matter how this plays out there will be masses who bash the films for not being a shot for shot remake of The Empire Strikes Back. But fans like me will cling to this news because it means more midnight premieres, cryptic trailers for deciphering, and cross-over promotions at the grocery store. Okay maybe we don’t need the Star Wars pop-tarts, but I’ll buy them anyway.

**Update** George Lucas has confirmed that the new film will feature Jar Jar Binks as the main character.

**2nd Update** I completely made up the last update.