Contagion has some things going for it, but mainly from an acting and technical level rather than the story. The cast is mostly good despite having a limited amount of screen time and Soderbergh’s visual style, while nothing new from what he’s done in the past, still looks stunning.
Elysium doesn’t exactly reach the potential since the actual Elysium only makes up less than half the film, the rest taking place on Earth. That being said, the action is well done and the film did manage to entertain me.
30 Rock is a hilarious show, probably the funniest one I’ve come across since Seinfeld and Frasier. The ensemble was pitch-perfectly cast headlined by Tina Fey and even Alec Baldwin, along with Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski and Tracy Morgan.
Ford v Ferrari is probably one of my favorite movies of the year, a great mix of high-adrenaline racing and excellent acting by both Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
Geronimo: An American Legend is a excellently made historical drama from renowned filmmaker Walter Hill and with a great group of cast headlined by Gene Hackman, Wes Studi (as the title character), Jason Patric and Matt Damon in one of his early roles, this is a great film.
Saving Private Ryan is just one incredible experience from the amazing war sequences from the D-Day invasion to the Ramelle scene but in between are some excellent performances headlined by Tom Hanks, and should’ve taken home Best Picture especially over Shakespeare in Love.
Suburbicon probably had some good ideas at its core, mostly perhaps by the Coen Brothers, and one would think someone like George Clooney who has not only worked with them but no doubt has the highest reverence for the two might make for a good replacement, Instead we get a mishmash of ideas that never come together.
Jason Bourne had plenty going for it seeing the return of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass after nearly a decade but what we got instead was a pretty much disinterested party involved and a half-assed script that seems to be a cliché of its previous movies.
The Martian: Extended Edition is a well made sci-fi thriller but admittedly, I think the theatrical version is tighter though there are a couple nice additions to the Extended Cut while other scenes weren’t necessary. As for this Blu-ray release, which should’ve been the initial release anyway, it offers up amazing video/audio transfers and some extensive bonus material.
EuroTrip wasn’t a favorite of mine when it originally came out in 2004 but in the years since, I’ve come to really enjoy it and find the comedy, albeit obvious, to be quite funny and a cast that have a strong chemistry.
The Talented Mr. Ripley isn’t the perfect suspense-drama and could have been so much better with a cast consisting of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett and with Anthony Minghella at the helm, but it still has some superb moments.
Masters of the Universe is a silly movie that seems to be better regarded today than it was back in 1987. The visual effects at times is lame, the acting fairly substandard save for Frank Langella and the story is fairly thin, though given the source material (a toy line and cartoon series), one has to give credit to the writer for doing his best.
The Avengers is one of the funnier movies of 2012. It perfectly brings together these heroes into a story that, albeit, is fairly mundane but with action and adventure which is both fun and thrilling under the tutelage of Joss Whedon..
Snow White and the Huntsman had great potential between the cast (Charlize Theron especially), adequate direction from Rupert Sanders, and some truly impressive art and production design. However, for all the good the film has going for it, everything else is kind of bland. The opening of the movie is fine but the middle portion meanders and Kristen Stewart has limited emotions making it difficult to really care about what happens to her.