I’ve been so busy with other projects that I haven’t kept up with my essential record of movies watched in 2012. This epic post is my attempt to catch up. I’ve tried to keep track of what I’m watching, but I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (2006) d. JJ Abrams re-watch
The second MISSION IMPOSSIBLE is underrated, and this is a bit overrated. Abrams first feature, it does feel like something meant for the small screen. The script is tightly constructed and it’s nice to see Hoffman chewing up the screen as the movie’s villain, but did anyone really give a fuck about the home life of Ethan Hunt?

RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) d. Quentin Tarantino re-watch
Of course people talk about the dialogue in this movie (which is warmed over Leonard) and the infamous ear scene, but the movie is so well directed. There is a visual craftsmanship in the scenes that is more impressive than the Madonna’s big dick type conversations. I always lose interested when the movie focuses on the cop, who is far and away the least interesting character in the movie. And, yes, it does feel as if Ringo Lam at least needs to be at least thanked in the closing credits for not only giving Tarantino the idea of the ending but pointing the way on how it should be shot as well. This movie was made before the wide population caught onto the fact that Tarantino was big on “appropriation” and they mistook his genre shenanigans as blisteringly original.

SAFE HOUSE (2012) d. Daniel Espinosa first time watch
It’s nothing great, nothing original, nothing that’s going to blow your hair back, but it’s a good enough entertainment.

BLOOD AND WINE (1996) d. Bob Rafelson re-watch
Nicholson and Cain are pretty damn amazing here and everyone else is okay. I don’t think too many people even remember this movie. It’s a solid genre exercise. It’s definitely worth a look.

CHRONICLE (2012) d. Josh Trank first time watch
An interesting concept and script that is hampered by a needless found footage aesthetic.

WE OWN THE NIGHT (2007) d. James Grey re-watch
On paper, the plot of this movie feels like a re-hash of familiar tropes we’ve seen countless times before, but the movie has a depth of feeling and exquisite performances that elevate the plot to something quite special. It’s a great movie.

PRESUMED INNOCENT (1990) d. Alan J. Pakula re-watch
I’m already on record with how much I love this movie. I still have hope Ford still has a performance like this in his future. And, God, how I miss Raul Julia.

THE GETAWAY (1972) d. Sam Peckinpah re-watch
Steve McQueen is the coolest movie star ever. Period. End of discussion. He is amazing. This is as good a crime/action movie as you’re ever going to see. The opening prison montage is a text book clinic on the power of montage. In 5 to 10 minutes, Peckinpah is able to make you feel what it would feel like to be in prison for another year. The scenes afterward between McQueen and McGraw are unbelievably tender, and the scene where McQueen realizes what McGraw had to do to get him out of prison is both brutal and heartbreaking. Peckinpah is know n for violence but he has a deft touch with human feelings. The climatic shootout

THE OUTFIT (1972) d. John Flynn first time watch
I wish I could remember more of this movie. I have bits and pieces in my head but not enough to really write anything useful about it one way or the other.

TAKE SHELTER (2011) d. Jeff Nichols first time watch
I regret not seeing this in a theater. I tried. I drove out to a theater about a half an hour away to catch it one Saturday afternoon but was told the projector was broken and they were not going to screen. It’s a shame because I can only imagine how much more powerful the movie would have been on the big screen. For the moment, we’ll forget the fact that if I had been able to see it that Saturday it probably would have played in a show box theater not much bigger than my television at home.

It’s a spectacular movie with incredible performances that has a jaw dropping Tommy Hearns punch of an ending. The less I write about the movie the better a first time watch is going to be. Just see it. And if anyone happens not to like the movie, please lie to me and tell me you did. I don’t want our friendship to be affected.

PULP FICTION (1994) d. Quentin Tarantino re-watch
I remember sitting in a theater on the Friday this movie opened and the exhilaration I felt in seeing this movie for the first time. You literally didn’t know where this movie was going. It felt like anarchy in a way. There were no rule, anything could happen, and it was just exciting to experience. I saw the movie twice opening day and would see it 5 more times in the theater. I have to say that my initial enthusiasm for the movie has waned over the years. In that time, I’ve seen many of the movies that inspired Tarantino from which he liberally appropriates to his own means. I have strange push/pull with many of Tarantino movies. On the one hand, with the exception of JACKIE BROWN, which I think is far and away his best movie, I don’t think there is much more to the movies other than their references. I don’t think he has much to say as a filmmaker. He has a juvenile, sixth grader on the playground view of the world. And still I think he is an amazing director. He is a director that uses the language of cinema to play with audience expectation and keep in the palm of his hand for the duration.

SPARTAN (2004) d. David Mamet re-watch
In Phoenix at least it was in and out of theaters in a couple of weeks and I don’t know if it has found an audience on DVD or not. I dragged my wife to see it opening day. I love this movie. I love everything about this movie. I like the way the story is structured and now Mamet handles the exposition. I love that fact that it is not filled with constant storytelling redundancies and he has the courage to risk confusing the audience but trusting enough that they are going to be able to catch up and stay with him.

THE SECRET LIFE OF ARRIETY (2010) d. Hiromasa Yonebayashi first time watch
I don’t worship at the altar of all things Studio Ghibli. I’ve like the movies I’ve seen, but I’m not ejacting in my pants over any of them. As a father who has to sit through a lot of terrible fucking animated movies and television shows, I do appreciate their different approach to storytelling. These aren’t really kids movies per se, although my kids really loved this movie. But they are not loud and crass and filled with a bunch of shitty pop music and references the adults will get. This is a nice story with beautiful hand drawn and crafted animation.

PLACES IN THE HEART (1984) d. Robert Benton re-watch
I didn’t see this movie in the theater but I did see when it was on cable. I must have been around 11 and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I liked it. I know that it was a movie that I watched repeatedly, but I can’t remember why exactly. What was I drawn to? There is no way I understood everything that was going on, especially the relationships between Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Lindsay Crouse. Whatever it was, this movie has always been a perennial favorite. It has one of my favorite endings to a movie ever.

MISS BALA (2011) d. Gerardo Naranjo first time watch
I really liked this movie and it proves that a filmmaker with a unique point of view can elevate a thriller above its genre tropes.

TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE (2012) d. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim first time watch
I don’t know. It just didn’t work for me. I can appreciate the audaciousness of it, but I didn’t find it funny. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of anti-comedy or self-consciously trying to make something bad. It’s funny because it’s intentionally not funny. Huh? This movie’s an annoyingly unfunny borderline incompetent piece of shit. Exactly! Now you get it. To what end? Can’t anyone hide behind that card? And I’ve watched Tim and Eric on Jimmy Kimmel or giving interviews for this movie and everything feels like a giant put on and I can’t tell what is sincere and what is part of some kind of extended performance art joke. Is that the point? I don’t know. I guess I’m not smart enough to figure it out. I feel like I don’t have to secret handshake to join the cool kids club of Tim and Eric appreciation but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.

PROJECT X (2012) d. Nima Nourizadeh first time watch
A worthless piece of shit. I hated everything about this movie.

J EDGAR (2011) d. Clint Eastwood first time watch
I kept drifting in and out of sleep during this one so it wouldn’t be fair to really comment on it. I will say that from what I saw I’m not encourage to give it another try.

RAMPART (2011) d. Oren Moverman first time watch
An undeniably feel good movie where you might find yourself whistling a tune with a smile on your face as you leave the theater.

THE LORAX (2012) d. Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda first time watch
This is the antithesis of a Studio Ghibli movie. While some of the animation is stunningly executed, this is a loud and obnoxious movie filled with characters that I couldn’t give a fuck about. This is compounded by the fact that the movie has some of the worst songs I’ve heard in a movie in a long time. This one got old quickly and was painful to endure to the end.

IN TIME (2011) d. Andrew Nichol first time watch
Eh.

FRIENDS WITH KIDS (2011) d. Jennifer Westfeldt first time watch
Once you get past the egregiously retarded premise, this is mildly enjoyable and easily forgotten. It has one of the oddest last lines for a movie.

GAME CHANGE (2012) d. Jay Roach first time watch
I don’t know how historically accurate this movie is, and frankly do not care. As a movie about a modern day campaign, it felt authentic and to have some genuine insight into the political direction we are heading for both the right and left. There is nothing extraordinary about the filmmaking. It is in service of the actors, who are all very good. If Streep could take home an Oscar for her Thatcher imitation, I would think Moore would be a slam dunk as Palin.

I SAW THE DEVIL (2010) d. Jee-woon Kim first time watch
When this movie premiered at Toronto I had to see it immediately, and then for some reason I never got around to seeing it until recently. Jee-woon Kim is a director of such craft and meticulous storytelling; he really uses the language of film to tell his stories. And while there are moment of unbelievable brilliance and audacity (the scene in the taxi cab is hands down one of the most amazing set pieces I’ve ever seen), the movie does grow tedious after a while.

THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN (2011) d. Steven Spielberg re-watch X 2
I took the kids to see this when it first came out, and while I like it well enough I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. I don’t know what was wrong with me that day, but I’ve re-watched this movie twice now, and since it is one constant rotation at the house (my son loves it) I’ve seen bits and pieces of quite a few times, and I am head over heels in love with this movie. With these MOCAP movies, people complain about the eyes being dead but I don’t find that to be the case. I think there is something off with the way the mouths move when the characters speak. That tiny quibble aside, this movie is such a fun adventure. Spielberg is the greatest director of action and here he shows such a deft touch with the set pieces. People rightfully lost their shit over the one take Moroccan shot, but the other action scenes are just as impressive in terms of composition, movement, cutting and music. The way Spielberg is able to effortlessly move from Haddock and the pirate story he tells is sublime.

JOHN CARTER (2012) d. Andrew Stanton
I really wanted to like this movie. It was annoying to watch how the media was ready to take this movie down months before it had opened. It was being deemed a colossal failure before anyone had seen it. I wanted this to be great so that critics and the blogging fan boys would just shut the fuck up.

It was not meant to be.

The movie has no adventure and it is very talky and quite frankly boring. I can’t imagine a young get understanding or caring about what is going on here. Plus, there is nothing in this movie that makes it seem as if you’re on Mars. It’s just not good at all.