Best Movies of 2012

It's that time of year.  The time to look back at what the previous year had to offer.  2012 was a great year for many forms of entertainment as technology continues to grow and become more sophisticated.  Movies do too.  Movies when I was a kid were simple and entertaining due to a story and a plot-line.  Now they are spectacles of super shiny garbage.  Alot of effect and nothing special.  Writing has become a lost art as technology continues to grow.  There are sequels galore with very few original ideas.  The year 2012 did offer a few fresh takes and hopeful stories that were presented in a way that reminded me why I still love the movies, why it is still a great escape and a cheap date.  Here is my list of what I thought were the best movies of 2012.

Life of Pi was original, insightful, artful, inspirational, powerful and visually stellar.  The story wraps you up and catches you by surprise on a wonderful visual and challenging journey. The special effects in this movie take visual arts to another level.  We didnt even realize throughout the movie that at no time the tiger was real.  The best CGI I have ever seen.  The story poses some challenging questions about life and perspective that leaves the viewer with their own interpretation.  Many movies today are made simple for simple people with not much deep meaning.  This movie, based on the novel, challenges the viewer to ask yourself those personal questions.  I was very impressed by this movie.  We left the theater feeling good and like we had watched a movie.

 Goon was undersold, under advertised  and didn't come out in many theaters in the United States but was easily one of the funniest movies I saw this year and challenges Slap Shot as the best Hockey movie I have ever seen.  Sean William Scott was ruthless in this movie that got into the grittiness of the real world of hockey which is the semi professional leagues all throughout Canada and the United States.  Not these highly paid celebrity athletes in the NHL that don't even play anymore and never fight like this.  If you haven't seen this film check it out.  One of the best of 2012 easily.

 21 Jump Street was right there with Goon as one of the funniest films that I have seen in awhile.  It was pretty original in the way it went about getting its humor across.  It wasn't just shock value or witty wordplay that nobody ever uses but there was a more realistic level of several types of humor that demonstrated why Jonah Hill is one of the best comedy movie stars out there.  Channing Tatum proved he can do more than Step Up or Magic Mike and continued to show like he did in the Dilemma that he can funny and not take himself to seriously.

 The Avengers easily gets a spot here and just like with the Dark Knight Rises there is not to much to say.  You have probably seen these by now as they were some of the most watched movies in the history of movies and they both came out early in the summer.  They each build off of movies that came out previously so there was large expectations.  Both movies delivered.  They were awesome to watch unfold on the big screen, the way they were meant to be watched.  We saw the Avengers in IMAX 3D and The Dark Knight in DBOX 3D.  Each were amazing events.  Story lines pretty simple, special effects awesome, and hero's always win.  I am glad that Nolan will stop the Batman trilogy with those 3 epic films and it looks as if Marvel and Disney have no desire to ever stop with the Avengers so I hope those will stay as great as this movie was.

Honorable Mentions for the Best of 2012: The Grey, Hunger Games, Friends with Kids, Moonrise Kingdom, Snowwhite and the Huntsman, Spiderman (finally got it right), End of Watch, and Argo fuck yourself (see the movie if you don't get that).  Enjoy these movies if you haven't seen them.  2013 has many good films to look forward to as well.  Dont know if they can top the epic summer of 2012.