Wednesday, January 2, 2013

TM's 2012 film year in review: A quick round-up of what you should not miss

Starting with what opened first -- via any venue: theatrical, stream-ing, DVD -- in January 2012 and continuing through December of last year, here are the films most worth seeing (that I've seen at least) among the independents, documentaries and foreign films and a very few mainstreamers. They're listed in three categories: Musts, Near-Musts and Oddities Worth Encountering -- the last covering those films for maybe more specialized tastes. (Though already I see that I am mixing up those last two categories.)

In any case, just click on the title link, which should open up into my original coverage of the film. Oh-- and, as you'll see from the length of the lists below, TrustMovies doesn't believe in picking only ten....

MUSTS
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (photo just above)
THE PRUITT-IGOE MYTH
PERFECT SENSE (photo top)
DIRTY GIRL
THE KID WITH A BIKE
MONSIEUR LAZHAR
BERNIE
BAARÌA
THE VINTNER'S LUCK/A HEAVENLY VINTAGE
GOD BLESS AMERICA
MOONRISE KINGDOM
THE INTOUCHABLES
PINK RIBBONS, INC.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL
KUMARÉ
GRASSROOTS
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
YOU'VE BEEN TRUMPED
KEEP THE LIGHTS ON
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
THE OTHER SON
CLOUD ATLAS
SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD
THE LAW IN THESE PARTS
HITLER'S CHILDREN
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
KING KELLY
THE SHEIK AND I
CONSUMING SPIRITS
ON THE ROAD
WEST OF MEMPHIS


NEAR-MUSTS
NORWEGIAN WOOD
THE DIVIDE
ALL ME: The Life & Times of Winfred Rembert
AFTER FALL, WINTER
CIRKUS COLUMBIA
THIS IS NOT A FILM
THE DEEP BLUE SEA
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS
MY WAY
NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU (photo above)
PORTRAIT OF WALLY
I WISH
HIDE AWAY
LOOSE CANNONS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
UNFORGIVEABLE
UNITED IN ANGER: A History of Act-Up
THE WELL-DIGGERS' DAUGHTER
CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER
ROBOT & FRANK
HIT AND RUN*
ARBITRAGE
END OF WATCH
UNFINISHED SPACES
THE FIRST TIME
THE FLAT
LIFE OF PI
BEWARE OF MR. BAKER
THE LOVING STORY
ANY DAY NOW
THE HUNTER


ODDITIES WORTH ENCOUNTERING
HERE
A BAG OF HAMMERS
TALES FROM DELL CITY, TEXAS
THE PACT
DECONSTRUCTING DAD
THE IMPOSTER
ABENLAND
THE CHILEAN BUILDING
CAT RUN (ah, Janet McTeer, above!)
SIDE BY SIDE
NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (photo below)
[REC] 3
FRANCINE
DIANA VREELAND: The Eye Has to Travel
NOW, FORAGER
THE PAPERBOY
THE TALL MAN
GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR
VAMPS
EX-GIRLFRIENDS
WALK AWAY RENEE

Yeah: I know. That's 31 Must-Sees, 31 Near-Must-Sees, and 27 Oddities Worth Encountering. But, hell, these are all worth seeing, and they comprise only 88 out of the 423 that I have posted on this past year. (I've actually seen another 300 or so, but, really, who has time to write about 'em all?)

And I didn't even get around to listing some of these really terrific genre films -- The Assault, Safe, Sleepless Nights (above) -- that made the year so much fun.  (I just realized that I didn't even post on the last one. I meant to -- how it did it slip away from me?)

Oh, yes, and I know I am probably the only critic/reviewer who put Dirty Girl (above) on his list, not to mention A Heavenly Vintage (aka The Vintner's Luck, below) But, goodness: The former gave me my "feel-good" experience of the year (That's worth quite a lot, so try the film), while the latter is like nothing you will have seen for ages. It rather defies normal description and took some real balls, I'd say, to even attempt to bring the novel on which it is based to the screen. (Just like it did Cloud Atlas, another of my favorites.) And, yes, the Vintage filmmaker possessing those balls is a gal.

And as for documentaries: I know I am leaving out a bunch of good ones. Like David Fisher's Six Million and One (below). This is why these "best lists" are such a pain -- and somehow an insult, too. So many movies open in so many venues these days, that any critic who claims to have a 10 Best List is simply full of it. You know he or she has not seen them all. That's impossible -- unless s/he has found a way to make a day last a hell of a lot longer than 24 hours.

That's why TrustMovies simply call his picks "musts."  He could not begin to claim "bests." So he won't. And good luck to us all in 2013!

*Yes, I know: This one wasn't on my original list. But I just watched it again on Blu-ray and realize that it belongs on the list....

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