Alright, so here's my list of the ten best movies I saw that were released theatrically this year. Note that I haven't seen all of the films that I've wanted to this year, and if I saw a certain few then maybe one or two of those would take a spot on this list. That said, I'm still happy with the list as at least this year I was able to come up with a solid 10 choices, unlike in '10.
I have these in order from 10 to 1 (with one honorable mention) and each movie listed you can read the review of by clicking on the title. The list isn't written in concrete in terms of how they're ordered. Really, the only one I'm certain of is 1, as I strongly feel it deserves that spot.
Honorable mention: The Mesrine movies
These two French/Canadian movies were released in '08 and got a limited release last year stateside. I just happened to see both on the big screen back to back in January. The films, based on the life of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine, were wildly entertaining, as he was a wild character who was best known for his elaborate escapes from authorities.
10. Drive
Sure, I thought this was overrated for all the hype it got, and I didn't necessarily care for how it ended. Yet, I'll still say it belongs on the list, due to its great style, nice performances all around, and the groovy 80's electro-sounding soundtrack.
9. Devil's Double
This film that got a theatrical release on a limited basis was based on a true story of how Uday Hussein got a former pal to be his double due to the number of attempts on his life. The story was pretty outrageous and I don't know how faithful to the truth it was. But, it was entertaining sleazy trash and Dominic Cooper was great in a dual role where he had to play two very different characters.
8. Hangover Part II
Yes, this was almost as big of a copy of the first film as Home Alone 2 was to the original. I do agree that Alan was more off-putting as a character this time. Yet, I still laughed often while I watched this, so I had to include it. I guess I enjoyed the interesting Bangkok setting that much.
7. Paranormal Activity 3
Oh, if only the marketing for this one wasn't so damn dishonest... still, in a different way this was as fun as the first two movies in the series, so it belongs here, even if I wish they didn't explain the backstory as I don't really like what the backstory is.
6. Hobo With A Shotgun
What an insane and out there flick this proved to be. Extremely sleazy, extremely trashy, extremely graphic... and yet extremely fun to me too. Seeing Rutger Hauer in this kind of motion picture is still surprising to me. Just head my warning if you're the squeamish type.
5. Drive Angry
I was one of the few who got to see this on the big screen in 3D. I guess most people didn't care for this kind of flick. However, I happen to be one of those who enjoyed this ridiculous and ridiculously fun ride, filled with enough sex, violence, and car chases to make me happy. Amber Heard was also a great heroine.
4. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
I am glad I was able to see this at a cineplex. The movie was a send-up of slasher movie cliches and it worked well as both a comedy and a horror film. It featured two good-old-boys who love Pabst Blue Ribbon who get mistaken for killers by some dumb teenagers. If you love comedy/horror then this is a must-see.
3. Fast Five
I had only seen the first two movies in the series before I heard many rave reviews for this. It turns out the hype was warranted. While this may be the most preposterous movie I've ever seen it was also great fun, with a nice cast (The Rock was really memorable here) and a final 20 to 30 minutes that was pretty awesome.
2. 13 Assassins
I was lucky to see this Takashi Miike motion picture on the big screen via the Florida Film Festival. I'm usually not a Miike fan but this was quality stuff. It's a simple story of various badasses getting together to go against an evil Lord and his much larger army. The final 45 minutes or so is in essence one long action scene and like the big scene I referred to in Fast Five, it's filmed nicely with everything being easy to follow and it's none of that Michael Bay crap.
1. Attack The Block
I feel pretty strongly this is the best movie I saw all year. I am thankful I got to see it theatrically back a few months ago. It took some time but I'm glad I did have that opportunity. This tale of some tough young London teens (and a nurse) doing battle against a cadre of hairy aliens with glowing teeth is pretty tremendous throughout, from the electronic score by Basement Jaxx to the acting to all the action and gore you see. What's best, though, is that this is greatly written. Everything flows together so well. If only more movies were like this.
I'll be back Tuesday night. I thought I had a nice year of watching movies all in all. 2012 looks to be quite the eventful year, at least on the big screen. One thing I think I'll try to do is to watch more obscure movies, as those are always interesting to write about. Until then, have a good New Years Eve.
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