Top 10 Films of 2012

Just back from a screening of The Hobbit – here’s my top 10

1) The Guard
2) Avengers Assemble
3) Hope Springs
4) In The Loop
5) Brick
6) Seven Psychopaths
7) The Hobbit
8) Standing In The Shadows Of Motown
9) Dead Man’s Shoes
10) Koyaanisqatsi

1) The Guard

In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh’s brother, writer/director John Michael McDonagh, proves that a genius for dark comedy and a penchant for Brendan Gleeson runs in the family. Stellar performances from Gleeson and child actor Mícheál Óg Lane.

2) Avengers Assemble

Transcended the comic book genre with a gift for humour and characterisation in a large ensemble (Mark Ruffalo and Tom Hiddleston steal the show) that many serious films couldn’t manage.

3) Hope Springs

I watched this in the cinema and found some scenes hard to hear over the sound of collective buttocks clenching. Hilarious, heartbreaking, life (and love) affirming. I’d pay money to watch Tommy Lee Jones paint a fence.

4) In The Loop

Peter Capaldi plays the most gloriously angry man ever portrayed on screen in the sweariest political comedy imaginable.

5) Brick

Rian Johnson’s film-noir/college drama mashup is a love/hate proposition, but to me totally fulfilled it’s promise in a way The Brothers Bloom and Looper never did.

6) Seven Psychopaths

Martin McDonagh put my favourite mentalists Tom Waits, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken together in a labyrinthine plot and let them try to out crazy each other. A subtle comedy full of graphic violence that would repay repeat views.

7) The Hobbit

Peter Jackson+Tolkien+Weta+Martin Freeman+Andy ‘Mr Mocap’ Serkis should = box office gold. But there were a few worries, so… it’s not isn’t too long, too padded out or too childish. Also (in 24fps 3D) it doesn’t look cheap, too real or too bright. In fact, it looks like ‘tradition’ 3D always does. Dark, motion blurry, and you only notice the 3D when it looks like a children’s pop up book. I’m looking forward to seeing this excellent film in a format that really does it justice. On DVD. A good first film that can legitimately say “I go to my sequels, in whose mighty company I will not now be ashamed”

8) Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

This documentary about the Funk Brothers is a heartbreaking testament to the enduring power of a band that were bigger than The Beatles and yet remained anonymous. I cry every time I hear Pistol Allen’s drum fill on What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted.

9) Dead Man’s Shoes

Nottingham director Shane Meadows, powerful low budget revenge drama with a twist in the tail. Occasionally let down when the improvised skeleton shows through.

10) Koyaanisqatsi

A bewildering collision of sound and music portraying modern life out of balance is and a great way to experience the music of Phillip Glass.

Honourable mentions

Boston Legal (seasons 3 and 4)
Dara Ó Briain Live At The Theatre Royal

and three films that could easy exchange titles and be none the worse

Prometheus
Chronicle
Skyfall