Hi all,
Those last 12 months have passed so quickly and now I face the task of deciding which were the best films I’ve seen in 2012 that I thought fit to review!
Generally at the cinema, the quality of films I deigned to throw hard-earned money away on was quite mixed with some films simply failing to meet not just my expectations but those of most people, Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” being perhaps the most egregious example for its woolly plot which had characters doing strange things completely out of character for them and for the mere purpose of pushing the story along or to generate tension and sensationalism. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises” was a major-league Hollywood lapdog disappointment as I expected. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” by Tomas Alfredsson was another disappointment though nowhere near as bad as the Batman film. Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” was well below the master’s best and really quite pointless.
When it comes to choosing films on Youtube or at my local library, or stumbling across them during Google searches for other things, my BS detector is still active with the result that I have a surfeit of interesting animated shorts to choose from for best films. I still find it hard to privilege some animation above others as they’re all enjoyable and often very experimental and adventurous in their own way.
Given the way in which Hollywood is in thrall to political conservatism and the continuing need to pull in bums onto seats in spite of the continuing Global Financial Crisis which has all but demolished the US middle classes, I feel it’s too much to expect anything significant or important to come out of that particular dream propaganda factory in 2013 and so I’ll continue seeking out interesting films wherever I can find them!
Everybody have a wonderful year in 2013 and let’s hope the year will end on a better note than 2012 has!
Cheers,
Jennifer.
Best Films
Aleksandr Andriyevsky, “Gibel’ Sensatsii / Loss of Feeling” (1935)
Luis Buñuel, “The Exterminating Angel / El ángel exterminador” (1962)
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation” (2012)
Louis Feuillade, “Les Vampires” (1916)
Mikhail Kalatozov, “The Cranes are Flying / Letyat zhuravli” (1957)
Aki Kaurismäki, “Le Havre” (2011)
Jean-Pierre Melville, “Le Samouraï” (1967)
Jindrich Polak, “Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea / Zitra vstanu a oparim se cajem” (1977)
Hans Werckmeister, “Algol, Tragedy of Power / Algol, Tragödie der Macht” (1920)
Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012)
Best Documentaries
Sally Aitken, “Seduction in the City: the Birth of Shopping” (two episodes) (2011)
Herman Axelbank and Max Eastman, “Tsar to Lenin” (1937)
Dave Dahl, “Skywatcher” (2012)
Aaron Franz, “The Age of Transitions” (2008)
Ron Fricke, “Samsara” (2011)
Mitchell Hawkes, “Heavenly Pop Hits: the Flying Nun Story” (2002)
Sut Jhally and Bathsheba Ratzkoff, “Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land” (2003)
Marie-Monique Robin, “The World According to Monsanto / Le Monde selon Monsanto” (2008)
Jean Vigo, “Taris, Roi du L’Eau” (1931)
Best Animated Films
Walerian Borowczyk, “Les Jeux des Anges” (1964)
Walerian Borowczyk, Chris Marker, “Les Astronautes” (1959)
Robert Breer, “A Man and a Dog Out For Air” (1957)
Robert Breer,”Fuji” (1974)
Jan Lenica, “The Labyrinth / Labirynt” (1963)
Georges Méliès, “Le Voyage dans la Lune” (190
Zdenek Miler, “The Mole and the Eagle” (1992)
Zdenek Miler, “The Mole and the Medicine” (1987)
Zdenek Miler, “The Mole in a Dream” (1985)
Priit Pärn and Hille Kusk, “Aeg Maha / Time Out” (1984)
Priit Pärn and Hille Kuusk, “Eine Murul (Breakfast on the Grass)” (1987)