Favorite Movies of 2012

Best non-fiction movie was Argo.  I never did write a review of the movie, but for my review of the book, look here. 

My personal favorite was Pitch Perfect, a musical comedy that left me light-hearted when I left the theater.  My review of it is here. 

However, Pitch Perfect’s movie poster is the worst of the year.  The star, Anna Kendrick (third from right), is the least prominent person in the poster.  And why is it so dark?  This looks like an ad for a slasher movie, the kind where we’re supposed to wonder who will survive the killer on campus. 

More objectively, I would say the best movie I saw was Total Recall.  I cannot believe how many people did not like it, saying it “was not like the original.”  That’s right—this is a reimagining.  How can anyone say that the 1990 version, with Arnold Schwarzenegger mugging for the camera, was better?  My review is here. 

As you can see, they had a decent poster.  A different take on the poster was shown in Asia: 

My favorite “message” movie was Atlas Shrugged: Part II.  It has a completely different cast and director from the first movie, and it’s easily understandable without seeing Part I, which apparently had lower production values.  I do not agree with all of the philosophy in the movie, but it is worth seeing how people react to economic tyranny. 

My favorite art movie was Sound of My Voice, written by and starring that young genius Brit Marling.  This is a quiet, artistic movie about how a young couple go undercover to investigate a cult.  Any more description would give away too much.  

And finally, some of you are probably planning on shooting arrows at me for not saying that The Hunger Games was my favorite movie.  Well, it would have been if there hadn’t been these other fine movies that came along.  See my insightful review here. 

Giant outdoors poster

The news is out:  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is due in theaters November 22, 2013.