Top 50 Films of 2012: No.30 - 21

So we're halfway through this crazy year now and here are some films that were in my Top 10 at one stage but due to the quality have tumbled down into this section.

The Angel's Share 
Director: Ken Loach

Ken Loach returns to the tone he set in Looking for Eric in this amiable comedy with an edge that sees Paul Brannigan's Robbie and his fellow community service parolees attempt to steal several bottles of the world's most expensive whisky. The whole whisky heist story almost plays out like an Ealing comedy however Loach brings in a lot of depth to the film thanks to the past the Robbie character has endured including rendering a young boy disabled. Screenwriter Paul Laverty, who will feature in this list later on, mixes warmth with social commentary and the film also has a great supporting turn from John Henshaw as Robbie's whisky mentor.

The Cabin in the Woods - SPOILER ALERT!!
Director: Drew Goddard

OK so I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible but you can't talk about the delightful Cabin in the Woods without talking about what made it great. While the trailer made you think that this was a simple kids in the woods slasher movie, writer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard's film was much more of a satire on horror movies over the years. The characters played by Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins were a complete antithesis of what you usually see in your teen horror films and helped the right amount of sarcasm to the film. While I think the ultimate idea split audiences for me I think it was a brave attempt at something new however I reckon it will unfortunately mean a lot more film-makers will try to copy the idea.

The Descendants 
Director: Alexander Payne

Though technically a 2011 film, this Oscar winner was one that I watched in 2012 and therefore counts towards this list as we saw George Clooney's sad-sap dad try to comfort his daughters after their mother ends up in a coma. While this was one of Alexander Payne's weaker films it still had plenty of heart thanks to the script and the performances from Clooney and the two young actresses playing his daughters. The setting of Hawaii gave the film a real sense of place and once again Payne perfectly depicts what it's like to be a middle-aged man and still not sure where you stand in the world.


The Hunger Games
Director: Gary Ross

I initially felt that Gary Ross' blockbuster would be another Twilight as both were based on sets of books aimed at young female readers however thankfully it was so much more than that. That was partly down to Jennifer Lawrence's grounded performance as Katniss Everdeen a bow-and-arrow-wielding teen who was attempting to survive The Hunger Games which was essentially a less brutal Battle Royale. The combination of the harsh subject matter with the colourful supporting performances of Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson really bought this film to life and I have to say I was gripped from beginning to end. I would also go as far as to say that Jennifer Lawrence made much more of an impression on me in this film than she did in her Oscar-nominated role in Silver Linings Playbook.

The Kid with a Bike 
Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

I wasn't expecting a great deal from this little French film but it ended up being a simple tale of lost childhood and trying to find your place in the world. It concerned twelve-year old Cyril a resident and a children's home who was convinced that his father would one day come for him something that never happened. Instead Cyril found a new home with a kindly hairdresser who looked after him yet hankered for something more and unfortunately fell under the influence of a local gang leader. The film was beautifully shot by the Dardenne brothers and stuck with me due to the great lead performances of Thomas Doret and Cecile De France.

Life of Pi 
Director: Ang Lee

The award for most visually stunning film of the year must go to Ang Lee's Life of Pi or as I call it a boy, a boat and a tiger. From beginning to end the film lit up the screen with its cacophony of colour and stunning later scenes with starkly-lit marine life and an island full of meerkats. The reason why it's so low on the list is that I found it a little bit lacking in narrative depth and I felt Lee spent a little too long on the boat however the opening and closing of the film had plenty of character. All of the actors playing Pi were really compelling and overall I found this to be a great tale of survival and belief.

Marley 
Director: Kevin MacDonald

It's fair to say that Kevin MacDonald knows his stuff when it comes to documentary making and after the brilliant Touching the Void comes this tribute to Bob Marley. You can tell from the offset that this is MacDonald's labour of love to his idol and despite its lengthy run time I never once felt bored. Instead I enjoyed listening to the story of Marley and more importantly hearing all of the music that the Marley family let MacDonald have the rights to. For me the only issue with the film was that it didn't dig deep enough into Marley's more aggressive side, only hinting at it in some sections, but other than that a great music biography of one of the icons of the industry who had a story that needed telling.

The Muppets 
Director: James Bobin

It's easy to be sniffy about The Muppets but to me it was the best kids/family film of the year as it definitely appealed to both children and adults. It was clear that Jason Segal had a real love of The Muppets and wanted to do them justice with both his script and Brett Mackenzie's songs setting the right tone for the film. All of The Muppet performers were at the top of their game and a tear almost came to my eye when I heard 'The Rainbow Connection' while there was a lot of fun to be had from Chris Cooper's evil landlord. Overall this was a real reinvention for The Muppets and I just worry that their reputation will be tarnished by future sequels.

Nostalgia for the Light 
Director: Patricio Guzman

A fascinating documentary focusing on both astronomy and the atrocities committed by Pinochet's regime in Chile. Guzman's film is set mainly in the Atacama Desert where women still search for crushed up bones of their loved ones while at the same time the film looks at the similarities between the desert and the surface of Mars. I think the reason I enjoyed Nostalgia for the Light is that it shone a light on a part of history that I knew nothing about while at the same time was phenomenal to look at. While it wasn't always the easiest of watches it was still a fascinating and eye-opening documentary made by someone who clearly has a passion for telling good stories.

Young Adult 
Director: Jason Reitman

The reunion of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, the team behind Juno, passed a lot of people by and for me Young Adult didn't get the recognition it deserves. Cody took the criticism  that she didn't write for young people and turned her latest character, Charlie Theron's author, into a young adult novelist meaning that she didn't talk or act her age. As well as being a fantastically written work it also featured Charlize Theron's best performance as the awful Mavis who actually has a lot of pain behind those stinging insults meanwhile Patton Oswalt put an awesome supporting turn as her unlikely new ally. While Young Adult didn't have the best of endings it was still one of the year's funniest films and should've got a bit more love than it actually did.

So there's another ten. Next time we hit the Top 20.

Review No.50: The Hunger Games

So here we are the quarter-of-the-way mark to my 200 films and the 50th review is also one of the most anticipated films of the year in the largely hyped The Hunger Games. Though I'd heard some hype about it I wasn't aware that this film had been based on the first of a series of books that were popular among the same crowd who were into the better known Harry Potter and Twilight franchises. My companion to this screening was reluctant to accompany me as he feared another HP/Twilight type film and these are both franchises that he'd manage to escape for the most part. Though I'm yet to get his feedback he never seemed visibly bored throughout the film which I also found captivating especially the second half. For people like me who were unfamiliar with the stories The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian future where America is split into districts with those with the higher numbers being the most deprived. Following an uprising against the establishment every year each district is asked to offer up a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18 as a tribute to compete in the annual Hunger Games an event which sees them try to kill each other off with only one surviving as the victor. The film's first half introduces us to our heroine Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a girl who is a great hunter and who volunteers herself as Disrict 12's tribute as a replacement for her sister. The build-up to the games sees Katniss and male tribute Peeta journey to the capital along with eccentric escort Effie and Haymitch Abernathy the only District 12 tribute to ever win the games. While at the capital both Katniss and Peeta compete to impress the rich and influential and hope to gain sponsorship which will help them during the games with Katniss being ear-marked as one of the favourites. The film's second half is its strongest as we enter the games and Katniss has to use her wilderness expertise to survive while also befriending a young District 11 girl named Rue and also trying to save Peeta who recently expressed his true feelings for her.

Obviously The Hunger Games shares a lot of similarities with Battle Royale however the theme main theme here is survival and friendship rather than all out brutality although that is represented by District 2 nutjob Cato. What I mostly enjoyed about The Hunger Games was the contradciton between the wildly colourful and camp captial which is inhabited by strange rich types and the sparse wilderness of the games itself. Central to the film is the performance from Jennifer Lawrence who I've long admired since I first saw her as Kim Basinger's daughter in the underrated The Burning Plain she brings both a strength and vulnerability to Katniss which are both qualities this character needs to express. I think what I liked best was the fact that she never actively sought out violence and she only killed during the games when provoked by others. I have to say I cared less about Peeta as Josh Hutcherson was never a strong presence and therefore the romance between him and Katniss lacked credibility there were also some unintentionally hilarious segments where Peeta had to camouflage himself while in the games. While we're on cast members the campness of the film is reflected through Stanley Tucci as the horribly sugary TV host who treats the killing of young children as nothing more than part of a gameshow while the almost unrecognisable Elizabeth Banks was also fun as Effie Trinkett. It was Woody Harrelson who stole the show for me as Haymitch who was initially presented as a drunk but gradually became attached to both Peeta and Katniss and tried to aide their survival as much as possible. I thought the production design was great and James Newton Howard's score was also haunting and used to full effect during the scenes with no dialogue. At times I found that the plot dragged a little but I don't think there was enough appeal for me as there would be a fan of this franchise. But overall there was enough to keep me occupied and the film's final frame set up the sequel which is presumably on the way after the brilliant opening weekend The Hunger Games as enjoyed. I'm not yet sure what my friend thought of the film but suffice to say I myself was pleasantly surprised.

Verdict: While I'm not the target market for the film thanks to Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson and the production design I found myself drawn into the world of The Hunger Games and enjoyed myself enough to give this a 8/10