Best movies of 2012 so far

[Chris Knipp]

BEST MOVIES OF 2012 SO FAR

Wes Anderson's newest [MOONRISE KINGDOM[ is the best film I've seen so far this year.
It's a lock for a Best Picture nomination. Even now in July.
It's an amazing movie, alright.
A match struck in a dark cave.
My faith in cinema is always tested, but movies like this one bring it all back home.
--Johann.

I agree with this assessment (July 4, 2012): best American film so far.

BEST AMERICAN MOVIES SO FAR:
MOONRISE KINGDOM (Wes Anderson)
THE MASTER (Paul Thomas Anderson)
COSMOPOLIS (David Cronenberg)
LOOPER (Rian Johnsonj)
_______


BEST FOREIGN FILMS SO FAR (Including non-US-release)
AMOUR (Michael Haneke 2012)
HOLY MOTORS (Leos Caras 2012)
*SISTER (Ursula Meier)
*RUST AND BONE (Jacques Audiard)
BREATHING (Karl Markovics 2011)
DAY HE ARRIVES, THE (Hong Sang-soo 2011)
DEEP BLUE SEA, THE (Terence Davies 2012)
ELENA (Andrei Zvigentsev)
I WISH (Hirakazu Koreeda)
MISS BALA (Geraldo Naranjo)
NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (Kleber Mendoça Filho 2011)
OSLO, AUGUST 31 (Joachim Trier 2011)
RAID, THE: REDEMPTION (Gareth Evans 2012)

_____________
*No US theatrical release yet (August 31, 2012)

I was disappointed by DAMSELS IN DISTRESS (Whit Stillman) , but I will give it some kind of mention due to my admiration for Whit.

GOOD PROSPECTS? NOT YET OUT

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (Benh Zeitlin) - OUT - SHORTLIST, NOT TOP LIST
COSMOPOLIS (Cronenberg) - OUT Aug. -- very much liked.
DARK KNIGHT RISES (Christopher Nolan) -
GRANDMASTERS (Wong Kar-wai)
GRAVITY (Alfonso Cuaron)
GREAT GATSBY (Baz Luhrman)
ROAD, THE (John Hilcoat) -
SAVAGES (Oliver Stone) - NOW OUT - FORGET IT
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (David O. Russell)
TAKE THIS WALZ (Sarah Polley) -- NOW OUT -- A TURNOFF
CLOUD ATLAS (Wathowskys, Tom Tykwer) -- interesting, not top ten

Polley's, Stone's, Nolan's, Hillcoat's and Zeitlin's are coming this summer, but LOOPER is scheduled for Sept,. 28.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks to Peter for getting the site up so quickly when there was a glitch today (July 9, '12)

SAVAGES certainly didn't pan out. I still need to see TAKE THIS WALTZ, which opened here last week.

Armond White has his mid-year assessment list of movies. This has reminded me I forgot THE DEEP BLUE SEA, which I have added above. Here are his top rated films:

Pantheon Directors
Unforgivable (Andre Techine)–a tumultuous view of private lives as society and society as family.
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies)–examines the linkage of desire and despair to find the value of personal resurrection.

The Far Side of Paradise
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman)–the rare campus comedy genre visits private worlds that reflect the eccentricities we recognize deep down.
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)–compares the innocence of youth and maturity.
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz)–tragedy found in the comedy of hopes squandered by misguided fashions.
The Skinny (Patrik-Ian Polk)–clarifies the blur of sex and friendship that gay-life faces straight-on.
A Thousand Words (Brian Robbins)–a Hollywood satire so casually profound it scared off the industry and its fans.

He also mentions CHRONICLE, GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING, and the (here) still awaited BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD.

DARK HORSE is coming to the Bay Area July 20. There is a SFFS preview with the director present that I may attend July 19.

[oscar jubis]

I don't feel I have seen enough of the films released this year to give an authoritative answer to the topic. Lately I watch at least as many silents as I watch new releases, to be honest. However, I really like three movies you listed and they are
The Deep Blue Sea,
The Day He Arrives
and Elena.

By the way, I think it's cool that White's list borrows ranked categories from Sarris in what constitutes an homage to the recently deceased writer of "The American Cinema".

I watched a couple of "minimalist" films at the local fest that I liked a lot and will not be released commercially: The Last Christeros (Mexico) and Las Acacias (Argentina).

Another film I liked a lot which does have a chance to get distribution is Violeta by Andres Wood (remember Machuca?)

The best two films I have seen this year that have a distributor and a 2012 release date are:
Wuthering Heights by Andrea Arnold
Cafe de Flore by Jean Marc Vallee

[Chris Knipp]

I appreciate these comments. I haven't gotten to see those last two you mention yet. I certainly want to see The Andrea Arnold. FISH TANK was great and I think it's Fassbender's most intimate, haunting performance. I only know CAFE DE FLORE is French Canadian and C.R.A.Z.Y was unruly but fun. I had to refresh my memory on MACHUCA. I found flaws in it but said it's "essential viewing."

Those three you list are sterling:
THE DAY HE ARRIVES
THE DEEP BLUE SEA
ELENA

Top quality. Directors working at the top of their game.

You know we differed on LAS ACACIAS. I didn't think there was enough to it. But it is much admired at festivals. and by critics. To me FOUND MEMORIES had more substance, and though I wasn't crazy about it either -- magic realism ain't my thing -- the memory of it lingers very clearly.

Actually Armond White wrote a whole tribute to Sarris, whom he admires. What are the categories of his that he echoes though? I didn't realize that.

[oscar jubis]

I can see now that part of my post is redundant. Sorry.
White is placing this year's films in some of the categories used by Sarris to create a typology of directors who had worked in Hollywood: "Pantheon", "the far side of paradise", "expressive esoterica"...
Two new movies I watched recently turned out to be less interesting to me than I had hoped: Corpo Celeste and Americano...
I have high hopes for Philippe Garrel's A Burning Hot Summer, which I will watch Friday night...

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks, I didn't know that about Sarris' categories. My ignorance. Must read White's tribute to Sarris.

Americano was terrible, really. I would not get your hopes up for Un été brûlant; it's pretty terrible too. I liked Corpo Celeste quite well. Was I wrong? As I've said I'm happy when anything good comes out of italy moviewise these days. I was ecstatic over The Double Hour, which did win prizes, but some are less impressed.