Hey man, we're going to do this. We're ten years out, time to update our list. I love best of movies list, especially making them smooth, flowing, and changing like water, not set forever in stone like a big rock. We listed our favorite movies at the time ten years ago but things change! Some have staying power, some don't. Some are good because they don't have staying power! It's all relative and there are so many reasons why a movie can be a good movie. But it also takes us a while to catch up to good films. So let's do this again. 2012 re-hash! Let's go!
Here's our shortlist:
The Grey
Wanderlust
Haywire
John Carter
21 Jump Street
Goon
The Cabin in the Woods
Lockout
The Five-Year Engagement
Battleship
Moonrise Kingdom
That's My Boy
Your Sister's Sister
Brave
Magic Mike
The Dark Knight Rises
Ruby Sparks
Celeste and Jesse Forever
The Campaign
The Master
Dredd
Looper
Pitch Perfect
Argo
Seven Psychopaths
Lincoln
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
Django Unchained
I was going through the beginning of the year with so many favorites and thought my list might really get switched up. Then I hit the end and was like, "Oh yeah, here are the heavy hitters. Dang. Your Sister's Sister ain't gettin' in!" Lincoln and Skyfall came out on the same day, folks. 11/09/12. Fun how that works.
Okay, let's pick the big shots. The untouchables, the stood the test of time movies. I've seen all these a few times, except Argo, which I know is the classic Oscar pick and all that crap, but I still really dug it.
The Master
Argo
Lincoln
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
Django Unchained
So that's six. Let's whittle down the rest to find our next top four, taking out the obvious bad picks. I personally enjoy a very high amount of infamously bad films from 2012. Huge year for Emily Blunt and Taylor Kitsch. Funny I gave the nod to Jennifer Lawrence and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (but did actually acknowledge Kitsch). Anyway, if I were to pick only four more...
21 Jump Street
That's My Boy
Brave
The Campaign
I just saw Magic Mike for the first time, and it lived up to all the hype. It ended up being first out, along with Dredd, Looper, and The Grey. 2012 was a great year for mid-budget action films and comedy movies. Two things we don't have any more! It's amazing how when doing the 2022 list I instantly took off No Time to Die, despite liking it a lot, but would never take Skyfall off 2012.
Comparing to the original list (funny we did leave Skyfall off originally), I have retained five of my original picks - The Master, Django, 21 Jump, Lincoln, and Argo. All made my shortlist except Silver Linings Playbook, which just really hasn't stuck with me at all.
Anyway, we've done this before. Let's see how we did when we re-appraised in 2014, 2017 and then just last year. I share a familiar six with 2017, but surprisingly only seven from just two years ago in January 2021. Notably the big six stay the same across those two re-appraisals, with Brave filling in again, but I traded The Campaign, 21 Jump Street, and That's My Boy, three comedies I can watch every day of my life for Celeste and Jesse Forever, Haywire, and The Cabin in the Woods.
I don't know what I was doing in 2014, maybe I just felt like rebelling. Dredd, Goon, The Dark Knight Rises, and Ruby Sparks made the cut for the first and only time, and I'm glad because those are all great movies that should get some recognition. But I only share four movies from this list! And three appear on all five! I make too many of these. Rest assured, I think when this becomes a thing, I'll just do the ten-year reappraisal and that's it.
Some of these are a total product of age and shifting novelty. Cabin is one of those mind-blowing movies upon first and even the ninth year watching, but everything, especially in horror right now is so meta, it's lost a bit of luster. That final scene packs an equal punch, but it's just not as shiny as it once was. It's weird how the comedy movies have kind of cemented themselves in my brain. Haywire is a little awkward with Gina Carano proving herself to be a crazy person. I did re-watch that in the past year and it's as rewarding as ever, but it doesn't quite make it out past the other great action films of the year for me anymore.
I'm very surprised I've never actually ranked Pitch Perfect in there. That's probably because the screenplay doesn't make any sense at all, even if the themes and moments are as rock solid as any movie ever made. Goon is an old favorite that hasn't held up all that well. TDKR could be in there, but there's just better movies. I'm not sure I've seen Ruby Sparks or The Grey since they came out, I should get a refresher. Moonrise Kingdom has proven itself to be quite a lesser Wes Anderson work in the wake of better pictures. Since all his movies are the same, it's tough when one proves itself to be the worst version of everything he does. Lockout is obviously still awesome.
This is obviously self indulgent, so thanks for sticking with us! As for #1, it has to be The Master or Django, I flip-flop every other year. Stay tuned next year when we recap 2013!
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