Continuing to encapsulate the year in film, I present you with my list of Top Fives. After this, all I’ve got are performances, song usages and finally, my 30 favorite films of the year. I’ll probably end up condensing those first two into one post in an effort to save time and space. I would’ve done scenes, but without keeping track of something like that throughout the year, it becomes impossible to make a scenes list. Suffice it to say, The First Processing Scene from The Master would’ve been my number one. Without further ado…on to the 2nd Annual Cinema Enthusiast Top Five Awards! Being a huge fan of The Film Experience’s Film Bitch Awards, I borrowed a few categories from there. All of these are in order and I tried to make them as accurate as I could considering this is all after the fact.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my choices, what you would’ve put in these categories and if there are any categories I should add for next year!
Beginnings:
1. Argo (Storming the embassy)
2. Attenberg
3. Alps
4. Seven Psychopaths
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Use of Title Card/Opening Credit Sequences:
1. Skyfall (Title Card/Opening Credits)
2. Bachelorette (Title Card/Opening Credits)
3. Cabin in the Woods (Title Card)
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Title Card)
5. Amour (Title Card)
Endings:
1. The Grey
2. Holy Motors
3. The Imposter
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. Alps
Honorable Mentions: Take This Waltz and Monsieur Lazhar
Ensemble Cast:
1. Your Sister’s Sister
2. Django Unchained
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Bachelorette
5. Moonrise Kingdom
Honorable Mentions: Killer Joe, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Underrated Films:
Films that were critically acclaimed but were forgotten by the end of the year and didn’t get enough attention or films that didn’t get the critical love they deserved. Or, as my number five illustrates,a film that the entire internet invested in minutely taking to task.
1. Gerhard Richter Painting
2. Farewell, My Queen
3. Pirates! Band of Misfits
4. Beyond the Black Rainbow
5. The Dark Knight Rises (yeah, I went there )
Films That Started Strong But…
1. Wuthering Heights (Older Catherine and Heathcliff are excruciating)
2. Django Unchained (Those last twenty minutes shouldn’t be there, period)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (Don’t buy Pat’s arc once he pieces things together re: the letter)
4. Moonrise Kingdom (The storm made the film lose itself a bit)
5. The Hunger Games (The games just don’t cut it and that climax is laughably bad)
Honorable Mention: Frankenweenie (Turns into chaotic monster movie tribute in last third albeit with fantastic character design work)
Disappointments:
1. Damsels in Distress
2. Django Unchained
3. Lawless
4. In Another Country
5. Paul Williams Still Alive
Honorable Mention: Haywire
Newcomers:
1. Matthias Schoenearts (Bullhead, Rust and Bone) (Ok, maybe not a newcomer, but this was absolutely his breakout year as far as exposure in the States is concerned)
2. Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
3. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, Lawless)
4. Mikkel Følsgaard (A Royal Affair)
5. Sophie Nélisse (Monsieur Lazhar)
Honorable Mentions: Ariane Labed, Sarah Gadon, Dreama Walker, Hani Furstenberg, Alicia Vikander. Any number of other child actors such as Thomas Doret in The Kid with a Bike and Kacey Mottet Klein in Sister.
Underrated Performances: (Again, how do you do this? Everyone I think of putting down, I immediately imagine being called out on my choice)
1. Sara Paxton – The Innkeepers
2. Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Jude Law – Anna Karenina
4. Dreama Walker – Compliance
5. Christopher Walken – Seven Psychopaths
Honorable Mention: Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games) (I realize this is in no way an underrated performance. But she’s got a legitimate shot at winning an Oscar for another film, while everyone forgot her work in this. I actually far prefer her work as Katniss)
Bit Parts/Smaller Supporting Roles:
1. Tom Waits – Seven Psychopaths
2. The Embassy Staff (Clea Duvall, Tate Donovan, Scoot McNairy, etc) – Argo
3. Ben Whishaw – Skyfall
4. Liev Schreiber – Goon (Yes, he’s a main cast member, but I don’t recall much screen time)
5. Paul Giamatti – Cosmopolis
Honorable Mention: Garrett Dillahunt – Looper
Worst Performances:
1. Lindsay Lohan – Liz & Dick
2. Chloe Grace-Moretz – Dark Shadows
3. Kaya Scodelario and James Howson – Wuthering Heights
4. Johnny Depp – Dark Shadows
5. Guy Pearce – Prometheus
Scores:
1. The Master – Jonny Greenwood
2. Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat
3. Cloud Atlas – Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dan Romer, Behn Zeitlin
5. Beyond the Black Rainbow – Sinoia Caves
Characters:
1. Claire (Sara Paxton) – The Innkeepers
2. Patrick (Ezra Miller)– Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Mr. Whiskers – Frankenweenie
4. Oblonsky (Matthew MacFadyen) – Anna Karenina
5. Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) – Django Unchained
Honorable Mentions: Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd – The Master
The Why Are You Even Here Award?
1. Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
2. Laura Dern – The Master (You have Laura Dern in your film and this is what you do with her PTA? For shame!)
3. Maiwenn- Polisse
4. Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Lincoln
5. Zac Efron – The Paperboy
Honorable Mention: Juno Temple – The Dark Knight Rises
Character Dynamics:
1. Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd (Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman) – The Master
2. Driss and Philippe (Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet) – The Intouchables
3. Claire and Luke (Sara Paxton and Pat Healy) –The Innkeepers
4. Schmidt and Jenko (Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum) – 21 Jump Street
5. Louise and Simon (Lea Seydoux and Kasey Mottet Klein)– Sister
Honorable Mention: Sitterson and Hadley (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) – Cabin in the Woods
Villains:
1. Joe (Matthew McConaughey) – Killer Joe
2. Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) – Django Unchained
3. Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers) – Beyond the Black Rainbow
4. Silva (Javier Bardem) – Skyfall
5. Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) – The Raid: Redemption
Honorable Mentions: Aggie – ParaNorman, Lola – The Loved Ones
Romances/Couples
1. Ali and Stephanie (Matthias Schoenaerts and Marion Cotillard) – Rust and Bone
2. Lancaster Dodd and Freddie Quell (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix) – The Master (Not a romance in the traditional sense, but they fit the bill of two people inextricably and inexplicably drawn to each other and I say theirs was a romance ‘of sorts’)
3. Caroline and Johann (Alicia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen)- A Royal Affair
4. Sam and Suzy (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) – Moonrise Kingdom
5. Georges and Anne (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) – Amour
Honorable Mention: Denis Lavant and a certain furry animal – Holy Motors, Anna and Vronsky – Anna Karenina, Barbara and Andre – Barbara
Jan 23, 2013 @ 00:37:49
I’m in total agreement with you on the “Why Are You Even Here?” inclusion of both Laura Dern and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt served no purpose whatsoever in Lincoln. As much as I like him, his role could’ve been written out of the entire film and it would not have suffered one iota. I kept *hoping* Laura Dern would have a more significant part in The Master, but other than getting yelled at by Philip Seymour Hoffman, there wasn’t much there. I’ve heard the DVD release will contain about 20 minutes of deleted scenes. Maybe she was part of that massive cut?
Jan 23, 2013 @ 00:41:37
I thought the slap in Lincoln made up for a lot of Levitt’s inclusion, but it’s so sad it came to that. I’m definitely a fan of his, but was really disappointed with how he was used and how much of a baby his character came off as. I’m really hoping there is some more Laura in those deleted scenes because seriously…her big moment is when Hoffman snaps at her. This is LAURA DERN Paul! What a waste!
Jan 23, 2013 @ 10:09:54
You have seen a lot of films I can’t wait to see (Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Master, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and more.
I saw Django Unchained and was pretty much blown away by it. Found it utterly compelling and loved almost every performance (Samuel L Jackson and Christoph Waltz in particular).
Jan 23, 2013 @ 14:36:06
Absolutely love this list. I was a bit disappointed with Django as well. I’ve been avoiding Dark Shadows for a while. Shame it’s so bad.
Jan 23, 2013 @ 20:13:51
Yeah, I have to agree, the ending/ denouement of Django Unchained seems to be part & parcel of the double edged sword that is Tarantino’s self indulgent style. That whole sequence involving the horse etc now ranks up with LOTR: Return of the King and A.I. for superfluous endings.
Jan 23, 2013 @ 22:24:45
It’s already been mentioned but I completely agree in regards to PTA’s negligence towards Laura Dern, who initially seems like she’s going to be a significant part of the story from the time she enters, but really feels like an unnecessary, glorified cameo. That’s my only complaint of “The Master” however.
Jan 23, 2013 @ 22:41:36
You took your time making these, I’m impressed. Some of these movies I’ve never heard of, like Attenberg and Alps, which I assume are worth checking out?
Jan 24, 2013 @ 01:44:58
Love these Catherine. You’ve convinced me to visit/revisit so many of these films.
I would add Emile Hirsch to the year’s worst performances. His work in Killer Joe just did not work for me at all.
In the character dynamics, right up there would be Michael Pena/Jake Gyllenhaal in End of Watch, which is a film that for most part I actually dislike otherwise, but their chemistry was top notch.
I’m also willing to go out on a limb for Guy Pierce who was, yes, truly awful, but what can you do with SUCH a poorly written character and even worse makeup? I mean that’s possibly the single worst makeup I’ve seen any actor under in my life.
As I tweeted at you, kudos for including the ending of ALPS and highlighting the song in the other post. So lovely to see it show up.
Jan 24, 2013 @ 01:49:42
Thanks! Really good call on Emile Hirsch. Yikes. Yeah, he was a serious weak link for me. I feel someone else could have actually done something with that role instead of making it thankless like he did. I didn’t catch End of Watch but I have also heard good things about the two of them. Yeah, I guess the misstep in the Guy Pearce performance was the choice to cast a younger guy to play an old man for no reason whatsoever. I’m a big Pearce fan but he was saddled with an impossible task.
Jan 25, 2013 @ 05:23:56
Agreed. That makeup job does indeed make it an impossible task.