Friday, December 21, 2012

Call for Top 10 lists

6:53 PM / Podcast / Comments9 Comments

Podcast

The end is nigh! No, not the end of the world. That's just silly. But there are only ten days left in 2012, which means it's once again time for myself and Lee to begin preparing for that most sacred of annual traditions, the Movie Matters "Top 10 Films of the Year" special.

And we want your lists.

Last year, we had an overwhelming response - so overwhelming, in fact, that we weren't able to feature all the MP3s we received in the episode itself and had to do a supplemental mini-episode for them. This year, we're going to be slightly strict and impose a five-minute limit on any MP3 files.

So, send us your Top 10 films of 2012 in either text or MP3 form (email MP3s to moviematterspodcast[dot]gmail[dot]com; either email text lists or simply post them as a reply to this thread). The criteria can be of your own choosing, but let us know what they are - e.g. theatrical releases by UK release date, theatrical releases by US release date, DVD/Blu-ray releases. We'll be recording the show at some point in January - there's no confirmed date yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we have one so you can be sure to get your lists in on time.

 
9 Comments

1. David S.H said:

I'll try and get a list put together before the end of the year, will be my top 10 films released on blu-ray in 2012.

(Posted on Friday, December 21, 2012 at 11:38 PM)

2. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Great! Looking forward to seeing your list!

(Posted on Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 10:41 PM)

3. Neil Harrison said:

Top ten is difficult since I've found many 2012 films slightly disappointing. Whilst I still enjoyed the likes of Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, Skyfall or Dredd...the films certainly fell short of my expectations. Expectations that were usually generated by overly enthusiastic reviews. Only two films lived up to the hype: The Raid & Moonrise Kingdom - both were excellent. btw Looking forward to Tarantino's Django entry.

(Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2012 at 12:30 AM)

4. Phil Quail said:

I always struggle to think of top tens (or fives, or whatever) but of the films I saw in 2012 two which immediately spring to mind are THE HUNT and KISS OF THE DAMNED. Of the blockbusters I've seen, I enjoyed THE AVENGERS most, but I must confess I haven't seen SKYFALL or THE HOBBIT.

Sorry, completely useless reply....

(Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2012 at 10:49 PM)

5. Neil Harrison said:

For what it's worth, my theatrical 2012 top-ten:

10. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Lockout
8. Dredd
7. The Avengers
6. Prometheus
5. Skyfall
4. Woman In Black
3. The Grey
2. Moonrise Kingdom
1. The Raid

Sadly I still haven't seen This Must Be The Place, Life Of Pi or Django Unchained. Think all 3 have a more than good chance.

btw Don't have especially high hopes for The Hobbit - more than happy to wait for domestic.

3 incredibly long films really is pushing it - that would be sort of stretched, like...butter scraped over too much bread.

Turkey award goes to Amazing Spiderman despite the excellent performances of the lead actors...

(Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 1:52 AM)

6. David S.H said:

Here's my top 10 films released on blu-ray in 2012 (all UK releases);


1. Universal Monsters Collection - Strong transfers and good extras, shame my "Creature" disc was damaged (warp/stain on disc). The replacement disc played fine though. A nine film set for under £30, bit of a steal really.

2. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial - Classic film, with a great transfer. Thankfully the theatrical cut, not the awful CGI ET & walkie talkie version.

3. Jaws - Another Spielberg film getting the VIP treatment by Universal, if only their whole back catalogue of films could be as lucky.

4. Tyrannosaur - Great film, a tough watch granted but worth it. Very strong performances from Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman

5. Pocahontas - Thankfully a strong presentation from Disney (considering some of the weak offering lately). Shame the song "If I Never Knew You" isn't included via seamless branching (was even a feature of the DVD). It was a deleted song, not a brand new one shoehorned it. I just paused the film, found it in the pop-up menu, watched it then continued where it left off. Not ideal though obviously.

7. Cast Away - Long awaited UK release is open matte 1.78:1 (OAR 1.85:1) but apart from that the transfer is pretty solid. Sadly though it is barebones, so for extras & even the audio commentary you really need to pick up the 2 disc R1 release.

8. 21 Jump Street - Very funny comedy, haven't laughed like that in a while. Both Tatum & Hill were great.

9. The Hunger Games - I enjoyed the film, Its no Battle Royale but its good. Jennifer Lawrence is definitely one to watch over the next few years.

10. Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson is a bit hit and miss for me but I really like this one. It's a lot more of a coherent story than say "The Royal Tenenbaums" (which I do still enjoy). Less than 10 minutes of extras on the disc though, which is a shame.


A couple of honourable mentions;
"The BFG" it spent years being aired, released on DVD, VHS etc. in cropped 4:3, was nice to see it in original 16:9 framing.
And "Life Is Beautiful", the fantastic film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. Sadly the transfer is lacking in detail. Seems to be some filtering going on. Contrast seems a bit off too.

(Posted on Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 8:11 PM)

7. Daniel Sardella said:

1. Beyond The Black Rainbow (2010) ****1/2
2. The Master ****1/2
3. Cloud Atlas ****1/2
4. Samsara (2011) *****
5. Moonrise Kingdom ****
6. Looper ****
7. Lincoln ****
8. Argo ****
9. Skyfall ****
10. Excision ****
11. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ****
12. The Dark Knight Rises ****
13. The Avengers ****
14. Frankenweenie ****
15. Side By Side ****
16. God Bless America (2011) ****
17. Haywire (2011) ***1/2
18. Father's Day (2011) ***1/2
19. Lawless ***1/2
20. The Woman In Black ***1/2

Honorable Mentions

1. Django Unchained ***1/2
2. Cosmopolis ***1/2
3. Savages ***1/2
4. The Expendables 2 ***1/2
5. Hitchcock ***

Biggest Disappointment

1. Prometheus ***

Worst Film

1. Magic Mike **1/2

(Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 6:47 PM)

8. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Thanks for your lists, Neil, David and Daniel. I've made a note of them.

David, you're missing #6 from your list? Any chance of letting me know what it is?

(Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 10:01 PM)

9. Neil Harrison said:

Ordered Berberian Sound Studio. It probably would knock DKR off the list - oh well...

(Posted on Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 9:08 PM)

 
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