Friday, June 22, 2012

2012 Mid-Year Theatrical Review

Standing at the midpoint of the year and looking back, it truly has been an interesting year thus far at the cinema.  Coming into 2012, there was a lot of anticipation for the diverse slate of movies, but outside of a handful of flicks – most have underwhelmed and under performed.  With that in mind, here is my mid-year ranking of the top 20 (out of 22) theatrical releases that I have seen this year:

The “I DEMAND A REFUND” Category.

The “YOU COULD’VE CAST ADAM SANDLER AS THE LEAD AND THE MOVIE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER” Category
17. CONTRABAND - C+

The “YOU COULD’VE CAST NICOLAS CAGE AS A LEAD AND THE QUALITY WOULD HAVE REMAINED THE SAME” Category
15. THAT'S MY BOY - C+

The “CARMAGEDDON CATEGORY” for movies that are hyped up but fail to deliver.
12. CHRONICLE- B-
11. PROMETHEUS - B-

The “MY GIRLFRIEND STRONGLY HINTED THAT SHE WANTED TO SEE THIS MOVIE” Category
8.  THIS MEANS WAR - B

The “OLD GUYS STILL KNOW HOW TO KICK BUTT” Category
7.  SAFE HOUSE- B
6.  THE GREY - B+

The “FAIRLY DECENT MOVIES THAT ARE ONLY RANKED THIS HIGH BECAUSE IT’S BEEN A WEAK YEAR THUS FAR” Category
5.  THE DICTATOR- B+
4.  MEN IN BLACK III - B+

The “BEST MOVIES NOT NAMED ‘THE AVENGERS’” Category
3.  TED- A-

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE…
1.  THE AVENGERS - A

And as for a few standout performances:

Best Male PerformanceRobert Downey Jr. (The Avengers)
Best Female PerformanceJennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games)
Best Comedic PerformanceChanning Tatum (21 Jump Street)
Best VillainGiovanni Ribisi (Ted)
Best Supporting MaleMichael Fassbender (Prometheus)
Best Supporting FemaleMila Kunis (Ted)
Best Overall CastRobert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers)
Worst Movie EverProject X

As for the rest of 2012, the outlook is still bright as there are a number of promising titles on the horizon – most notably The Amazing Spider-Man, Total Recall, Bourne Legacy, The Great Gatsby, Skyfall, Taken 2, and of course, The Dark Knight Rises.  Here’s hoping that the next six months produce more hits than misses.

4 comments:

  1. Good post, but I disagree with some of the standout performances. I think Tom Hiddleston as Loki cannot be passed over as the villain (though I did love the dancing scene in Ted). Also, there must have been better female performances than Jennifer Lawrence and Mila Kunis, right...?

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  2. Another movie to look forward to is Sinister, coming out in October! The trailer, alone, scared the wits out of me!

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  3. Wish I read this before I rented "The Woman in Black" the other night. Had all the ingredients to make for a really good psychological/suspense thriller. I think it started out well, but quickly went downhill. Scary bits that were overplayed and too predictable and story lines that were underdeveloped.

    I'm looking forward to some animated films - "Brave" and "Rise of the Guardians," as well as some comedies - "The Watch," "The Campaign" and "Magic Mike." Wait...is "Magic Mike" a comedy? The previews look funny to me.

    Lastly, judging by your GF's "you really want to take me to this movie" list, she has pretty good taste.

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  4. I am seeing The Campaign next week, MTT. I wil let you know how it goes.

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