Despite its 7 Academy Award nominations, The Insider is a woefully under-appreciated drama filled with excellent performances and a compelling story. Al Pacino, Russell Crowe and Christopher Plummer are all incredible and Mann’s direction, alongside Dante Spinotti’s lense, makes for a near masterpiece.
Argo has plenty of problems with regards to historical accuracies, but even when taking liberties with the story and characters, producer/director Ben Affleck highlights a story not many Americans know about and presents a suspense-thriller with greatly intense moments with a couple standout performances.
Wreck-it-Ralph is a great animated-comedy-adventure the entire family will enjoy and, at least for the past couple of years, rivals some of Pixar’s own works. It’s a fresh and imaginative story and the animation is wonderful.
Live Nude Girls, from my perspective, seems to be a predecessor to “Sex in the City” with a lot of girl talk and girl drama. I wasn’t a big fan of the movie but realize it has a core set of fans which makes this Blu-ray release to be somewhat popular to that segment.
Scooby-Doo!: Mask of the Blue Falcon is a wonderful entry into the long-running franchise. The voice casting is well done as always and the story for once holds at least a little mystery, albeit by the third act it’s pretty obvious who the culprit is.
Anna Karenina is yet another film with plenty of potential but failed thanks to a lifeless script and oft stilted acting from what is normally a respectable cast. This is the epitome of style over substance as Wright attempts to give his portrayal a different flavor than those that have come before.
Deadfall is a simplistic and predictable drama-thriller but thanks to a suspenseful performance from Eric Bana makes for an engaging flick which is well worth at least one viewing.
In Like Flint is a fun comedy for sure although it does overstay its welcome by a good 15-20 minutes. Still, James Coburn is charming once again as the title character and there’s just enough sly fun to keep one’s attention until the end.
A Star is Born is a well acted music-drama by Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand who both share wonderful chemistry.
The Running Man is certainly dated but still a lot of fun in that cheesy fashion that the 1980s and Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for.
Pony Soldier is a well-made Western though mostly remembered for its Technicolor beauty rather than a weak storyline and modest performances from the cast.
Skyfall is a fun entry into the long-running James Bond series. Daniel Craig is still a fantastic Agent 007 and while it’s entirely possible this movie gets more praise thanks to lower standards of the previous outing, I still found it to be highly entertaining. Javier Bardem makes for a great villain and Adele’s theme song is one of the best and really brings back that classic feeling.
Highlander 2: Renegade Version still has many problems which of course were not fixable without major reshoots but I do at least give credit to the editors for trying to present a half-decent movie. No doubt, it’s still not a very good movie although it would make for a fun Friday night drinking game, rife with many scenes worthy of mockery.
A Late Quartet is the surprise gem of 2012 featuring four great performances, one of which from Walken deserving of more recognition, and a story which is rich with great drama, even when certain scenes get on the melodramatic side.
Monsters, Inc. is a great film that the entire family can enjoy. The story is cute and the voice talent Pixar puts together is once again done to perfection.