I’ve also included
lists of the best performances so far this year, so please look out for those
films, too, whilst perusing your local show times. It was no difficult task for
me to name the top performer so far this year: Christopher Plummer’s
performance in Barrymore is simply in
a league of its own. The top spot for the
best supporting performance so far is a tight race between Paul Giamatti's deranged recluse in Cosmopolis, Charlotte Sullivan’s fiery turn as the moll
of Edwin Boyd and Maggie Smith’s fun work in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Without further ado, here are my picks for the films so far
this year in alphabetical order:
(Titles link to full review where available.)
(John Madden, UK)
Plenty of travel
movies take viewers on a journey of self-discovery, but none has done so as
well as the troupe of geriatrics headlined by the reliable Judi Dench has. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel succeeds
above others because it immerses viewers in character rather than a
postcard-perfect sense of place.
(David Cronenberg,
Canada/France)
I haven’t seen so
much flack for a positive review since Moneyball.
Alas, though, Cosmopolis is a perfect
conversation piece. It gets people talking in classic Cronenberg style, with
all sorts of big ideas and trippy visual colliding with an excess of Hollywood
stars and an assault of Canadian content. And it all takes place in a city
called New York that looks exactly like Toronto. Classic Cronenberg, indeed!
(Whit Stilman, USA)
Yes, Whit Stilman is
back and as good as ever. Greta Gerwig leads a quartet of deadpan damsels that
sends up all sorts of silly social mores in polite banter, fake accents, and
well-placed affirmatives. The film even has a dance sequence, if it was already
quirky enough. (Eight steps can save your life!) Does this calls for a vodka tonic?
Yes.
(Nathan Morlando,
Canada)
A star is born with
Scott Speedman’s strong turn as Edwin Boyd, the title character in this
electrifying landmark in Canadian genre films. With crackerjack supporting
players like Charlotte Sullivan, Kevin Durand, Kelly Reilly, and Brian Cox, not
to mention a playlist by The Black Keys, Edwin
Boyd offers a big score for audiences. There are few gangster films within
the snow-covered canon of Canadian cinema, but Edwin Boyd makes it look as if the Canucks have been making them
for years.
(Jennifer Westfeldt,
USA)
I just fell in love
with this movie from the opening scene. I do not attempt to hide my thoughts
about public baby decorum, but this comedy by Jennifer Westfeldt really tackles
the pros and cons of parenthood. Best about Friends
with Kids, I think, is the film’s ability to wrestle with the question of
whether the nuclear family remains the hallmark of success circa 2012. Is a
happy, productive, meaningful life with friends enough, or does one need more?
(Gary Ross, USA)
While Friends with Kids probes the nature of baby
making, The Hunger Games is a must
for anyone who falls within the “con” argument for children. A strong Jennifer
Lawrence leads a troupe of kids who go at it Battle Royale style in this impressive and surprising dystopian
drama. Having read the novel by Suzanne Collins after seeing the film, I must
applaud Mr. Ross’s The Hunger Games
as a superior adaptation of a fun and thrilling novel. I will happily eat crow for
presuming this film to be “the new Twilight”.
(Bart Layton, UK)
This film is an
absolute masterpiece. It’s a tale too unbelievable to be real: if The Imposter was not a documentary, I’d
be rolling my eyes and dismissing the story as too farfetched. That’s what
makes the film so fascinating, though. As the imposter gleefully explains his
story and delineates the overwhelming hurdles of rationality, common sense, and
probability that he overcame to accomplish his masterful act of deception, the
film generates all sorts of deeper queries and conspiracy theories. Flawlessly
edited and executed, The Imposter is
a genuine feat of storytelling.
(Kirby Dick, USA)
Of all the films I
saw at Hot Docs this year, I think The
Invisible War to be the strongest contender for a shot at Best Documentary
at the Oscars this year. It’s a provocative, devastating case about sexual
abuse in the military as told in the voices of victims who ask for the crimes
to stop. The film has already enacted change from the American government, so
any awards are essentially ticks on a tally sheet for the compelling film.
(Corey Lee, Canada)
Another Hot Docs find,
Legend of a Warrior is a surprising
and compelling human drama. It’s the story of a son (Corey Lee) who wants to
reconnect with his estranged father, Frank. Lee decides to relearn kung fu
through his father’s teachings, and the sport offers a convenient way for Corey
to rekindle the bond. It’s really the revelation that the film brings out in
Frank’s character, though, that grants Legend
of a Warrior its deep catharsis. The drama resonates far beyond the story
of the father and the son, and it extends to reparation for the new generations
of family to come from this kung fu master.
(Kevin Macdonald,
UK/USA)
Marley is a sprawling, staggering epic. It pulls off the rare trick
of doing justice to a man and his music within the confines of one feature-length
film. As a viewer with only minimal knowledge of Bob Marley prior to seeing the
film, I found Marley to offer an
exhaustive range of context, information, anecdotes, and opinions. Add to the
list an impressive range of concert footage, photographs, and archival
material, and Kevin Macdonald’s Marley
is surely the definitive portrait of Marley and his life’s work.
(Wes Anderson, USA)
Moonrise Kingdom ensures that Wes Anderson will forever be included
in the upper tier of auteur
filmmaking. Moonrise is arguably his
best film to date; his idiosyncratic/quirky/offbeat style finds its best
narrative match in this story of young lovers on the lam. Anderson’s aesthetic
is perhaps the best realization of child’s play that the cinema has seen in
quite some time. Moonrise Kingdom has
a unique friskiness in its nostalgic look at pre-adolescent love circa 1965. It
takes viewers back to a more innocent time and lets them be kids all over
again.
Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
(Bruce Beresford,
USA)
I honestly don’t
understand why this isn’t a bigger hit. Peace,
Love, & Misunderstanding was, for me, the most pleasant surprise at
last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The crowd seemed to love it,
as good-hearted laughter rippled throughout the Visa Screening Room until
ecstatic applause marked the end of the film. P,L,M is simply a good-hearted comedy. It’s seems like a film that
the whole family could enjoy on a hot summer’s day, but it doesn’t pander,
either. P,L,M also has the secret
ingredient for a big hit, which is the triumphant return of Jane Fonda as,
Grace, the hilarious hippy mother of Catherine Keener’s uptight New Yorker,
Diane. Fonda’s turn as Grace offers the perfect fusion of star persona and
performance. Both the film and Fonda deserves more consideration.
Take This Waltz
(Sarah Polley,
Canada)
Take This Waltz is another of my TIFF holdovers. I named it one of
my Top Ten Canadian Films of 2011, but then I goofed and realized that I really
should consider it a 2012 film due to the date of its release. I think that
Sarah Polley can double dip her chip as often as she likes, since Take This Waltz is a beautiful film that
has stayed in my heart since last September. After Away from Her, Take This
Waltz confirms Sarah Polley as an expert teller of stories of the heart.
Although Waltz is much different in
tone from her debut feature, it is another of her honest, true-to-life
explorations of love. What I also love about Polley’s work is how, like David
Cronenberg, she is unafraid to let the Canadianness of her film shine. Whether
it’s a sound-bite of Neil Young or a forkful of poutine, Polley’s films
celebrate the little tokens of Canadiana that are too often masked in hopes of
commercial appeal. Take This Waltz
embraces the messiness of life and offers a poignant, uniquely Canadian love
story.
(Opens in Ottawa at The Bytowne on Friday! I can't wait to see it again.)
(Amie Williams, USA)
Saved the best for
last. We Are Wisconsin topped the
list of films I saw at Hot Docs this year and I still have to tip my hat to
director Amie Williams and her team of collaborators/subjects. Even though the
state voted not to recall Scott Walker, I still greatly admire the effort made
by the film. There have been a handful of politically charged zeitgeist films during
the Bush and Obama eras, but We Are
Wisconsin is probably the one American film that really hit home to Canada.
Wisconsin captures the wave of
backwards conservatism that is spreading across North American, for the threat
of Wisconsin reform frequently pops up in talks surrounding Ontario politics.
Films like We Are Wisconsin, then,
give me hope that there are still lots of intelligent, progressively minded
people within our land. The film does not pose a loss in terms of its
objective, for it remains an impassioned snapshot of dedicated citizens fighting
for necessary change. We Are Wisconsin
is a film that needs to be seen by anyone who cares about the future.
The Best Lead Performances
of 2012
1. Christopher
Plummer, Barrymore
Runners-up:
Jane Fonda, Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
Robert Pattinson, Cosmopolis
Noomi Rapace, Prometheus
Scott Speedman, Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
Jennifer Westfeldt, Friends with Kids
Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz
Michelle Yeoh, The Lady
The Best Supporting
Performances:
1. Paul Giamatti, Cosmopolis
Runners-up:
Tom Cruise, Rock of Ages
Tom Cruise, Rock of Ages
Michael Fassbender, Prometheus
Samantha Morton, Cosmopolis
Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Charlotte
Sullivan, Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster
Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman
Tom Wilkinson, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
There we have it! I hope that the rest of 2012 brings good things, but I'll remind you that these films won't be forgotten. Last year, for example, Midnight in Paris was my #1 film at this point and it held the top spot all year long. It should be noted, though, that I haven't seen some of the year's most beloved films such as Les intouchables, Bully (hopefully I'll see that when it plays at The Mayfair next week), Lola Versus, Brave, and a few others.
What are your favourites so far this year?
