Dear George,
Movies have been a big part
of Katja’s and my lives together we started going on dates to the Little Art
Theater in Yellow Springs in the late 1950s. Nowadays we go to the movies on most Friday nights with our
fellow cinema devotee Donna. The
6-screen Esquire Theater in our Clifton neighborhood shows top-rated
independent and foreign films, as well as some mainstream productions. We also go frequently to the Rave in
Western Hills or West Chester.
Here’s a rank-ordered list of my favorites that we saw this past year
(note that some of them actually opened in 2011). I’ve added a list of my “least favorites” too, though, because
we only go to movies that we think will be good, I liked all my “least
favorites” too. Frankly, as long
as there are images moving around on the screen, I enjoy it. Hooray for the movies.
Love,
Dave
1. Moonrise Kingdom. Bruce
Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton.
Two twelve-year-olds fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away
together into the wilderness. A
visually sensational, gripping fairy-tale which pits the maladjusted children
against the nerdy adults. Rotten
Tomatoes: 95%; Blog: A.
2. The Master. Philip
Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix.
A World War II Navy veteran is tantalized by The Cause and its
charismatic leader, Lancaster Dodd.
Brilliant performances by the principals and a tense, in-depth
exploration of the inner world of a cult (maybe Scientology). Rotten Tomatoes: 84%; Blog: A.
3. The Iron Lady. Meryl
Streep, Jim Broadbent. An intimate
portrait of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who broke barriers of gender and
class in a male dominated world.
Meryl Streep completely earned the Best Actress Oscar for her remarkable
performance, one of the best of her career. Rotten Tomatoes: 55%; Blog: A.
4. Django Unchained. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx. Set two years before the Civil War,
slave Django is the only person who can lead bounty hunter King Schulz to his
prey, while Django is focused on rescuing his wife Broomhilda. A complicated, thought-provoking mix of
spaghetti western, slavemaster brutality, racial liberation, comic satire, and
romantic love – engages the viewer on multiple levels. Rotten Tomatoes: 88%; Blog: A.
5. Life of Pi. Suraj
Sharma. Surviving a shipwreck at
sea, a young man in a lifeboat forms an unexpected connection with another
survivor, a fearsome Bengal Tiger.
A compelling fantasy that probes the nature of human survival and the
interdependence between living species.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%; Blog: A.
6. Melancholia. Kirsten
Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Family tensions mount at Justine and Michael's wedding while a planet
called Melancholia is on a collision course toward Earth. Justine's and her sister Claire's angst
take different forms, but both are consistent with a metaphorical depiction of
death in the guise of the world’s end.
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%; Blog: A-.
7. Ruby Sparks. Paul
Dano. Zoe Kazan. A struggling
novelist makes a breakthrough by creating a character named Ruby, but is
flabbergasted when he finds Ruby in the flesh in his apartment a week
later. A discourse on writing,
creativity, the thin line between reality and fantasy, issues of control and
freedom, and romantic love – plus an effective outlet if you want to have a
good cry. Rotten Tomatoes: 79%;
Blog: A-.
8. Silver Linings Playbook. Bradley
Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence. Discharged
after 8 months in a mental hospital, Pat is determined to rebuild his life and
reunite with his wife, but things get complicated when he meets Tiffany, a
mysterious girl with problems of her own.
A sweetheart of a movie which convinces us once again that love
heals. Rotten Tomatoes: 90%; Blog:
A-.
9. Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro
Ono. (Documentary) The story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, the
proprietor of a 10-seat sushi-only restaurant located in a Tokyo subway station
who is considered by many to be
the world’s greatest sushi chef.
An absorbing, thought-provoking portrait of a remarkable if somewhat
obsessed man, his staff, and their interesting world. Rotten Tomatoes: 98%; Blog: A-.
10. We Need to Talk About Kevin. Tilda
Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller.
A mother copes for 15 years with the increasing malevolence of her
first-born child, Kevin, culminating in a school massacre. No light moments in this family horror
story, but it’s a gripping, thought-provoking effort to understand the roots of
evil. Rotten Tomatoes: 78%; Blog:
A-.
RUNNERS-UP: 11. Pina 3D (makes you want to dance); 12. The Best Exotic
Marigold Hotel (splendid cast); 13. Beasts of the Southern Wild (an astonishing
world); 14. Les Miserables (lush and lovely); 15. The Artist (intriguing); 16.
Marvel’s The Avengers 3D (special effects); 17. The Bourne Legacy (nonstop
tension); 18. Chimpanzee (amazing film-making); 19. The Hunger Games
(well-crafted); 20. Tinker Tailor
Soldier Spy (visually elegant).
LEAST FAVORITES AMONG THE
MOVIES THAT WE SAW IN 2012: 36. Skyfall (dreary); 37. The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn Part 2 (corny); 38. Arbitrage (one-dimensional); 39. Salmon
Fishing in the Yemen (unfunny);
40. Taken 2 (blood & guts); 41. Lincoln (boring); 42. The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey in 3D (superficial); 43. Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D
(live show is better); 44. Jack Reacher (formulaic); 45. Total Recall
(uninvolving); 46. Sparkle (lackluster); 47. Rock of Ages (weak leads); 48.
Safe House (gratuitous violence); 49. The Grey (mindless).
G-mail Comments
-Linda C (1-18): Django – loved it too.
-JML (1-9): Hate to say it
Dad, I used to agree with you a lot about movies, certainly more than with
mom, but it looks like our movie-taste has changed over the years.
Moonrise Kingdom and the Master were among my least favorite movies, the first
too stylized and plastic, the second a complete butt-acher with no redeaming
characters. Saw a lot of names that I had not heard of so i'll have
to check out netflix. Thanks for the reviews nonetheless, J…
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