Movies of 2012

Long awaited with it's flashy new frame rate and naive 3D...hmmmm. I essentially agree with most of the reviews, it just looks odd. Like you are watching something filmed on a studio for TV. The film is certainly more child-friendly than the Lord of the Rings but it is still just as brutal on your backside to sit through it all.

A definite winner. You could enjoy this movie without ever knowing who James Bond was or ever seeing any other movies in the franchise. As a long time fan, it honored all the things you want to see without turning into a scavenger hunt script that hunted for all the cliches. Doesn't hurt that it was gorgeous with solid acting.

This movie succeeded where Tron failed, it made the world of inside the computer fun and the characters worth watching. It was really cute. It did technically have a princess, but it had that new Disney twist that made it enjoyable instead of too cliche.

Way better than it deserved to be. God bless you Rebel Wilson! Fun time as always with Ms. Shellie!

Yee Haw, this was a ride! JGL+Bruce Willis team up with Emily Blunt to give you a slick, well acted, and engaging story about people that just happens to be a sci-fi thriller. Not the kind of movie you expect.

In the tradition of Valintino: The Last Emperor and The September issue, another documentary to speak to the vision of a fashion icon. Vreeland is more fascinating because she is not a fashioninista. Today she would have been an anthropologist or a circus ring master. She was someone who was interested in ideas and telling stories. Fashion became the lens she used to focus on the wider world. The movie makes or a flamboyant, Auntie Mame-equse, flight through her world.

A well acted, well written movie with a killer soundtrack. I really was expecting some east coast teen angst and was really surprised. Most teen movies play in the heightened reality of edgy teens from various social circles battling out armed by a writing staff full of quips. We love to imagine that we were that clever as 16 year olds. This film seemed to focus more on the honest intensity and our of control emotions that make teenagerdom so awfully wonderful.

This is a very different movie when you finally see it on the big screen. I never noticed all the live birds in it before. If you watch something so often as a child, it is hard not to see it through those eyes on each watching. Watching it now, I realized how simple of a movie it was. It was more like watching a play than a movie. The kids in the theater were all squeels and laughs. So I guess it still looks the same to kid's eyes today.

Like most remakes these days, it looked gorgeous and visually slick. The the original, it takes liberties with the plot. Colin Farrell is a decent Douglas Quad. In the chief of ironies, they replaced Arnold Schwarzenegger with an actor, then replaced Sharon Stone with a female version of the Terminator – not a fan.

Actually, my first time to see it, and on the big screen too! It was one of those great movies that if you see it so much later, it still seems completely modern. Easy to see why it is a classic. Film followed by Q&A with a close Wells collaborator (who I can't remember the name of)

You couldn't ask for a more satisfying ending to the trilogy. Where the previous installments suffered from too many plots, sub-plots, characters, an twists; this one did it right. It focused on a a singular story and kept drawing you into the characters and their situations. Anne Hathaway is like chocolate, she makes everything better!

I a summer of super hero reboots and sequels, this was pop corn entertainment that was well done. The new reboot was more fashion and less art, but delivered on fun. I love both of the leads and the chemistry seemed real on screen. Andrew's youthful enthusiasm played closer to Peter Parker than Tobby's pouting.

An untraditional, traditional Disney movie. It has a strong willed princess, but no stalking animal side-kicks, no dashing prince to love, and a misunderstanding mom instead of a single dad. The film is beautiful and the settings couldn't be any more enchanting. I liked the story a lot and the animators milk emotion out of each scene.

From the minute they play the Beach Boys and James jumps into his Iceberg Submarine turned sex palace, you know this is gonna be a long ride through the bad taste of the 80's. Grace Jones bounces between amazingly fun and scary. James is ancient. Walkins is creepy. The whole effort is really unwatchable.

A childhood favorite held up for me at least. Devoid of tedious chase scenes and partially staged in East Berlin, everything I could have wanted. Roger Moore was getting a bit long in the tooth, but played well against a circus of thieving amazons.

The start of an un-even double feature. Having only seen these movies on TV, I am not more than convinced that the editing for TV actually helped. The extra-long chase scenes were tiring. This movie holds up as a fun romp, but tipped heavily towards almost slapstick.

Great opening theme... down hill from there. Half the movie is a boat chase that destroys the inevitable wedding cake. Look for that in a View to Kill. Coming off as uncomfortably racists now, the jive talking antics of the 70's didn't age well.

What is not to love in the 3rd installment of James Bond? The Aero kicked off their James Bond festival this weekend and are working their way through each film.

While watching it, you think it is good. It looks good, the people can act, etc. But as you start getting into it, to at least paying attention; the whole things falls apart.Why the characters are doing what they are doing makes no sense. The whole movie is just sloppy.

Eye candy to the extreme. This movie had such good acting from Charleze that I forgot that I hated the girl. It was amazing to watch. Anyone who has seen other fantasy movies will immediately see scenes lifted directly from them, but when your movie is Snow White, it is not like you have an original story line here.

Like every Memorial Day I end up watching whatever film is out just because I am so excited for summer. When will I learn? MiB3 was serviceable. Nothing great, nothing bad. It was exactly as you expected. One thing I can say over other big budget fiascos, the script was at least consistent and not full of holes. All in all, worth a matinee.

There'll be a place for us... to keep loving this movie. A rare Friday night movie at the Aero. Rare for me, because I didn't have to be at work. Amazing 70mm print made it feel like a time warp.

Had a dance documentary thing going, so got a copy of the story behind chorus line to finish it off. If you are familiar with the musical, you probably will follow right along. It doesn't do a good job refreshing memories of who the characters are. But you get to watch the original Connie from the workshop cast herself.

First of all, since you are watching amazing dancers, the whole movie communicates physical joy. This is as close as you can get to watching people actually fly. Each of the children and their families present a range of compelling stories. You do not have to be a dance aficionado to really enjoy this movie. Plus, I got to see it at the Royal, which is a classic, single screen theater; which classes up anything.

This movie was an intense thriller. There was a lot of gore and violence, but all of it moved the story forward and was not for shock. It reminded me of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It is one of those magic trick movies where the lead character is unlikable and everything in their life goes from bad to unescapable. One tragic decisions spirals into a series of over-his-head violence. The trick is how the character becomes likable and all the insane threads pull into a tight resolution. In that way, it was the best of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Of course I saw it. By the box office numbers, so has everyone else...twice. It was a good superhero movie. It lagged at parts, but the actors were mostly compelling. (Archer dude, who are you again?).

This is what happens when you take a bunch of top notch actors and stir. It was really great, and with this line up, how could you do any wrong? It was a love poem to India. It is how I would imagine the later years of Autie Mame, after she retired to India.

Loved it! It was a great movie that both children and adults love. Like the classic Muppets or Bugs, it works on multiple levels: childlike and funny, and adult and subversive. It never talks down to either of the audiences.

Don't ask, I am a glutton for punishment.

Duh! You know I was going to see this. I wish the Twilight cast had been in it, along with the author; so they all could have been killed. It was fun to watch and sanitized enough to be enjoyable.

Saw this charmer late night with Lynn and Keith at the Landmark. It was a quite and understated Miyazaki confection. Like many of his movies, it lacks direct or terrible antagonism instead to give us strong and child-wise protagonist who maneuver through the dream-like logic of his worlds. Any child can experience real thrilling fear and adventure of this story. It was beautiful.

To say that this is a "paced" movie is an understatement. It is like 10-15 minutes before the lead character even says his first line. Never the less, this classic builds suspense and atmosphere that leaves you with paranoia and chills. The time of movie is lovenly recreated from clothes to lighting. The actors are likewise, flawlessly emersive in their roles. The hole movie will leave you with a gray chill.

It was exactly as you expected, and exactly as it should be. In a return to the simple plot and streamlined roots of the first movie, this low budget thriller's constraints saved it from being the bomb that was #2. It was good popcorn fluff and stayed on focus, making it an excellent video game style movie. Topped this movie off with Border Grille, and it was a decent night.

The movie has the perfect conceit to make the gimmick work. Just like "Good Night and Good Luck" make good use of black and white, they plot and directing conspire to make it all work. The stars did a great job fitting into their roles and making the audience relive the magic of the bygone era. Everything from the music to the credits evoke the time. And a few moments of sound, when you finally get them, really seem magical.

If when you watched this, you immediately thought of E.T., there was a reason. Show at the Aero with J.J. Abrams and some of the cast and crew to talk afterwards, this was my first time to see it. It was pretty good, and after hearing the kids talk, they were a lot better actors that i would have guessed. The movie is goonies-eque, but the low-tech insights into how it was made were fun.

This movie qualifies as a big "Why Not?!?" as attested to by the by young couple who decided to engage in relations a couple rows ahead of us. Sam, Keith, and I decided to ring in the new year with a classic detective. RD Jr. stole the show, as he did with the previous installment. The directing and settings made it entertaining, but as believable as a comic book. The adventure setting worked throughout, alas, some people seemed resolved to entertain themselves instead of letting the movie.