Top 10 Films of 2012by Wilson Morales
Of the many films I have seen this year (over 250), these are the films I thought were the best of 2012. Some will be recognized come Oscar time and some may not, but if you get a chance, check out these films and see for yourself why I considered them the best of this year.
December 27, 2012
1. Argo
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Ben Affleck
Screenwriter: Chris Terrio
Starring: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, Zeljko Ivanek, Richard Kind, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina, Michael Parks, Taylor Schilling
Based on true events, “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis–the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: Tom Hooper
Screenwriter: William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Isabelle Allen, Colm Wilkinson
Genre: Musical Epic
“Les Misérables” is the motion-picture adaptation of the beloved global stage sensation seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages around the globe and still breaking box-office records everywhere in its 27th year. Helmed by “The King’s Speech’s” Academy Award®-winning director, Tom Hooper, the Working Title/Cameron Mackintosh production stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar® winner Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne.
Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, “Les Misérables” tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption–a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
Screenwriter: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin, based on the stage play “Juicy and Delicious” by Alibar
Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes, Pamela Harper, Gina Montana, Nicholas Clark, Jovan Hathaway
In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.
Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Mark Boal
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Edgar Ramirez, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler, Nash Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau, Frank Grillo
For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar(R) winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man.
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Director: David O. Russell
Screenwriter: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, Shea Whigham, John Ortiz, Julia Stiles
Life doesn’t always go according to plan… Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything–his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet–and to share their family’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gerald McRaney, Dennis Christopher, Kurt Russell, Laura Cayouette, M.C. Gainey, Don Johnson, Kerry Washington, Anthony LaPaglia, RZA, Tom Wopat, James Remar, James Russo, Todd Allen, Evan Parke, Danièle Watts
Genre: Action, Western
Synopsis: Set in the South two years before the Civil War, “Django Unchained” stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.
Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the South’s most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.
Django and Schultz’s search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie ( Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of “Candyland,” an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy Award®-nominee Samuel L. Jackson), Candie’s trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organization closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival…
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Screenwriter: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Mae Whitman, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons, Dylan McDermott
Genre: Drama
Synopsis: Both humorous and heartbreaking, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a coming of age story about 15-year-old Charlie (Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs.
Distributor: AFFRM/Participant
Director: Ava DuVernay
Screenwriter: Ava DuVernay
Cinematographer: Bradford Young
Cast: Emayatzy Corinealdi, David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick, Lorraine Toussaint, Edwina Findley, Sharon Lawrence, Dondre Whitfield, Maya Gilbert, Troy Curvey, Yvette Cason
What happens when love takes you places you never thought you would go? When her husband, Derek (Omari Hardwick), is sentenced to eight years in a California prison, Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) drops out of medical school to maintain her marriage and focus on ensuring Derek’s survival in his violent new environment. Driven by love, loyalty, and hope, Ruby learns to sustain the shame, separation, guilt, and grief that a prison wife must bear. Her new life challenges her to the very core of her identity, and her turbulent path propels her in new, often frightening directions of self-discovery.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Screenwriter: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenarts, Bouli Lanners, Celine Sallette
Synopsis: It all begins in the North of France. Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) suddenly finds himself with a five year-old child on his hands. Sam is his son, but he hardly knows him. Homeless, penniless and friendless, Ali takes refuge with his sister in Antibes. There things improve immediately. She puts them up in her garage, she takes the child under her wing and the weather is glorious.
Ali first runs into Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) during a night club brawl. He drives her home and leaves her his phone number. He is poor, she is beautiful and self-assured, a princess: his complete opposite.
Stephanie trains killer whales at Marineland. When a performance ends in tragedy, a call in the night again brings them together. When Ali sees her next, his princess is confined to a wheel chair: she has lost her legs and quite a few illusions. He simply helps her, with no compassion or pity. And she comes alive again.
10. Skyfall
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, MGM
Director: Sam Mendes
Screenwriter: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Dame Judi Dench, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Helen McCrory, Ola Rapace
Synopsis: Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
