Be Kind, Rewind

2013 is almost in the books, and Oscar season has begun. Most guilds have announced their nominations, and in a few week's time most of those guilds will have also presented their award winners, which will lead us to the one that ultimately matters most, the nominations and winners of the Academy Awards. There will be plenty of great films to watch, performances to marvel at, screenplays to watch unfold. However, right now I want to take a break from 2013. What about 2012? There were quite a number of great films that year that didn't get a lot of awards love, for one reason or another.  In some cases here, I don't necessarily think the films were Oscar-worthy, but I just feel they were and are underrated.  I don't specifically mean the blockbusters like The Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises. They were great films too, but most people probably have seen those. I want to highlight some that didn't have those $300M box office grosses. So before we fast-forward to the 2013 awards, let's rewind to 2012...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Legendary British thespians gone wild!  Well, perhaps not quite, but it's a serious hoot seeing the likes of Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton and others adapting to their new chosen way of living out their twilight years in the country of India.  Based on Deborah Moggach's 2004 novel These Foolish Things, the story is that for one reason or another, all of these seniors decide to relocate to the hotel seen on the hotel website.  It looks beautiful.  It looks serene.  And it's a bargain!  Needless to say, when they arrive, and Sonny (Dev Patel) announces their welcome from the roof, the hotel isn't quite what they expected.  The same goes for the hustle-and-bustle life in India.  Combine with that each individual's story (Judi Dench's Evelyn adjusting to being a new widow, Nighy and Wilton's Douglas and Jean having martial problems, Ronald Pickup's Norman trying to find love and stay young, etc.) and the film winds up a funny, sweet and often moving two hours.

Critics and moviegoers loved the film, and it was a huge box office success, having a long run without ever going into full-fledged wide release.  Versus its modest $10M budget, it took in over $134M worldwide.  There has been discussion of a sequel, and every major cast member who was in this film (and...SPOILER ALERT...saw their character survive) are on board with coming back.  This was one of my favorite films of 2012 and I still find myself watching it every few months.

End of Watch

Not at all just another "cop movie", or "buddy movie", or "cop buddy movie", End of Watch showed about as realistic a portrayal of the dangers of being a police officer in South Central Los Angeles as we've ever seen.  Brian (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Miguel (Michael Peña) are partners on the force, and close friends off of it.  Amongst the occasional high-speed car chase and drug bust, they wind up stumbling onto a human trafficking ring run by a Mexican cartel.  Brian, newly-married and with a baby on the way, is also throughout all of this documenting things on camera for a film he is putting together, much to the chagrin of many of his fellow officers.  A final confrontation with the duo and the cartel changes their lives forever in many ways.

Gritty, profane and at times brutally graphic, End of Watch is at times uncomfortable to watch, but you can't stop watching it because the story is so good.  Simple, but good.  There are no theatrical gimmicks and shocking twists, and there doesn't need to be.  The film delivers.  David Ayer wrote the screenplay in six days.  Jake, upon receiving the script, read it and jumped on board in just over an hour's time.  The film itself was shot in just over a year's time.  Those are all much faster turnaround times than normal, but as it all unfolds on screen, it doesn't look that way.  It looks like a lot of time and effort went into making this.  Moreso, the budget on this film was just $7M but it grossed over $51M and made a few year-end Top 10 lists, including that of Roger Ebert.  A high-quality movie.

The Intouchables

François Cluzet is Philippe, a wealthy quadriplegic widower.  Omar Sy is Driss, his caregiver.  It's an unlikely pairing but an everlasting friendship.  The story begins with the two in a high-speed car chase that turns into a police escort when Driss convinces the police that Philippe has suffered a stroke and needs to get to the hospital.  As the duo laughs it up, we flash back to see how these two came together.  How Driss came to get hired.  How Philippe learned to rely on him.  How both men wound up improving the lives of each other.  And in the end, how Philippe learned to move on.  It's a fun, full-of-humor and often touching sight to behold, and based on actual events (although the real-life caregiver is Algerian and not African-American).

Both lead actors are great bouncing off of one another in this film, and Sy's performance even won him the "French Oscar", the Cesar Award, as Best Actor.  It was also a box office monster, ultimately breaking many records including that of the highest-grossing non-English film worldwide ($444M+).  Although I can't find a concrete number, it also was the highest-grossing foreign language film in North America of 2012, surpassing even Oscar-winner "A Separation."  And speaking of the Oscars...this film wasn't even nominated.  It did make the shortlist, but not the final five.  It's a damn shame, because in my opinion this was the best foreign language film of the year.

The Invisible War

Searching for Sugar Man was the documentary that got all the awards love from 2012.  That's all well and good, because it was a good film, but The Invisible War was by far the most important and impactful to this day.  Simply put, and with many firsthand accounts from very brave yet still obviously emotionally-scarred victims, this tells the story of rape in the U.S. military and how rampantly it exists.  Not just women, either.  There seems to be a lot of covering-up from within the military on it too.  There's no way you can't watch this and be angry as hell afterwards, especially every time this idiot named Dr. Kaye Whitley opens her mouth.  She was the former director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, and was an obvious complete incompetent fuckwad during her tenure.

Fortunately, the film has gotten results, and LOTS of them.  Two days after viewing the film in April of 2012, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a directive ordering all sexual assault cases to be handled by senior officers at the rank of colonel or higher, which effectively ended the practice of commanders adjudicating these cases from within their own units.  Within the military, many units have screened the film and discussed the subject on a level never before explored.  Even in recent days, laws continue to be revised and birthed that will prevent any such nonsense as what is seen in this documentary from ever happening again.  The Invisible War is the most important documentary of the 21st century because that war is not invisible any longer.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Yes, two documentaries on this list!  And after the heavy subject matter of the last one, this one is certainly lighter fare, but no less fascinating.  As Time magazine put it, this is "A foodie's dream night at the theater."   Jiro Ono is 85 years of age, owner of Tokyo's Sukiyabashi Jiro (a Michelin three-star restaurant), has two sons who have followed in his footsteps (one owns his own sushi restaurant, the other works under Jiro and will assumedly take over Sukiyabashi Jiro down the line), and to this day still feels he hasn't perfected the art (and make no mistake, it is an art) of making sushi.  We follow Jiro through his daily routine, see him at work and take in all the accolades of those who know and admire him, all of whom agree that if Jiro thinks he hasn't mastered sushi, he's sorely mistaken.

What few critiques exist of this film are pretty mundane.  We don't learn too much about Jiro's personal life, or what hobbies he may have outside of work, or what from earlier in his life may have molded him.  Then again, maybe we get all those answers after all, because this has been his life since childhood.  And he would have it no other way.  A fascinating portrayal of a man, a food and a culture.  You don't have to be a "foodie" and/or a sushi-lover to enjoy this fascinating documentary.

The Master

Joaquin Phoenix is Freddie, a sex- and alcohol-obsessed WWII veteran who is having great difficulty in adjusting to mundane everyday life after the war.  He works as a photographer but is susceptible to violent mood swings.  One night he stows away on a yacht that winds up owned by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), leader of a movement called "The Cause."  Lancaster thinks Freddie can be a great addition to his movement and works to break him free of his demons and see things the way of "The Cause."  That proves much easier said than done, and Freddie's continued alcoholic tirades begin to annoy everyone else involved with the movement, especially Lancaster's wife Peggy (Amy Adams).  In time, we learn of Freddie's past, including a woman he loved named Doris, and after awhile Freddie is given an ultimatum from Lancaster:  give 100% to the movement or leave forever.

Based on many reviews, this isn't the easiest film to follow along with.  However, I seemed to be able to do so.  Still, I can see why this was a polarizing effort.  It's often abstract and seems to have quite a penchant for gratuitous nudity (once you see the director is Paul Thomas Anderson, this probably isn't a surprise).  With that said, I found it quite engaging.  Phoenix was excellent, but even more excellent were Hoffman (what else is new?) and Adams (in what I think may have been her best work to date).  The Master was not a box-office success, and while it had very early Best Picture Oscar buzz, that buzz died quickly.  If you're feeling adventurous, this film may be worth a shot.

Moonrise Kingdom

New Penzance, an island somewhere in New England, circa 1965.  Sam (Jared Gilman) is 12 years old and a Khaki Scout.  Suzy (Kara Hayward) is also 12 years old and lives with her parents and three brothers.  They met a year earlier during a play performance and became pen pals.  In the process of writing, they both decide to meet up and run away.  Upon doing so, they set up camp and enjoy their books, records and dancing.  However, there's a search underway for both children by Suzy's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), the Khaki Scout leader (Edward Norton) and his troop, as well as the island police captain (Bruce Willis).  We also cross paths with a woman simply known as "Social Services" (Tilda Swinton), who thinks electroshock therapy may cure Sam of his wanton desires.

This all sounds pretty weird, and in fact, it is.  Yet it's the right kind of weird.  The characters are eccentric, yet somewhat grounded in reality.  The movie's climax certainly goes a little haywire, but in this Wes Anderson-scripted universe, it works as opposed to being stupid and silly.  Lots of cameos (some visual, some voice-only) from the likes of Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel, Larry Pine (the chief from "CHiPs"!) and Bob Balaban (as the narrator) keep the fun going.  In my opinion, this was the most underappreciated movie of 2012.  It's funny, it's sweet, it's interesting, it's weird, it's brilliantly original.  It also did very well with critics and moviegoers, I'm happy to say, because it should have.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Where else could you see Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) together in the same film?  Right here, and it's a good one.  Lerman plays Charlie, a high school freshman who's trying to adjust to his new "older" life.  He's quite brilliant, but also shy and unpopular, the titular wallflower.  It doesn't help that there are some emotional demons he's suppressing as well, as we learn during the film.  Watson plays Sam, the stepsister of Patrick, who becomes Charlie's first and closest friend early on.  Patrick is gay, and closeted (the film is set in the early 1990's), and doing his best as an equally-unpopular student to get by as well with that added baggage.  The circle of friends grow to include several others, and they often hang out doing things such as stage shows of Rocky Horror.  As the school year ends, Sam graduates and heads off to college, and it's at that point where Charlie's demons finally come out to be dealt with.

The movie is based on the 1999 novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, and in a rare and impressive feat, he also wound up writing and directing this film adaptation.  Many people who read the book and/or watched the film were very moved by it, because it's very true-to-life of that era.  Bullying, high school cliques, trying to fit in, adjusting to adulthood...it's all here and very real.  We've all been there.  The performances are great, the story is believable and there's just nothing about this film that I can find a negative critique about off the top of my head.  Some supporting appearances by the likes of Paul Rudd and Dylan McDermott are also pleasant additions.  The film was a modest box office success, making $33M to its $13M budget, but it deserves more love than that.

Quartet

Set at the Beecham House, a retirement home for musicians and opera singers, Quartet sees all of its occupants continuing to dabble in their work, presenting both entertainment for everyone as well as some rivalries amongst them.  One guest, Cedric (Michael Gambon, who's loads of fun in this role) hopes to put together a benefit concert for the House on the night of composer Guiseppe Verdi's birthday.  However, a lot of the singers in the home have either passed on or just don't wish to sing anymore, and Cedric would really love to see a performance of Rigoletto since three of the four voices on one particularly memorable recording--Reginald (Tom Courtenay), Wilf (Billy Connolly) and Cissy (Pauline Collins)--reside in the House.  As it turns out, the fourth voice on that recording is about to move into the House as well, Jean (Maggie Smith).  However, Reginald and Jean are former spouses, and the split was ugly.  Reginald wants no part of her, and Jean wants no part of singing anyway.  Egos clash and the past must be came to terms with if this quartet is to come to fruition.

While not as memorable as the earlier-mentioned The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Quartet is a fun film with a nice story, and a second example of what happens when you take a group of legendary British actors and actresses and give them a quality script in this day and age.  It just works.  The actors "get it", and they can often surprise us with very un-senior-citizen things that they wind up saying and doing for the sake of comedy, and none of it seems phony or forced.  Plus, let's face it, it's fun seeing the 78-year-old Maggie Smith drop an F-bomb.  This film was the directorial debut for Dustin Hoffman, and many of the film's supporting players are or were actual professional musicians.  In fact, perhaps the best part of the movie is the closing credits, because those actual musicians are highlighted versus the characters they were based on in the movie.

Robot & Frank

Frank Weld (Frank Langella) is a jewel thief who's gotten up there in years.  He has trouble remembering things at times.  And boy, does he miss the good old days.  His son, Hunter (James Marsden), is getting tired of the weekly trips to check up on him, yet he doesn't want to put Frank into a retirement home.  Frank wouldn't let him anyway.  So Hunter buys him a personal robot (voiced by Peter Sarsgaard).  Frank isn't fond of the robot at first, but as he gets a daily routine with it, he also discovers the robot doesn't distinguish between criminal right and wrong.  Plus, the robot can pick a lock in seconds.  Time to get back into the business!  However, instead of jewelry, Frank steals an old book from the library, which he thinks will win over the librarian he's courting (Susan Sarandon) since it shows he wants to preserve the book's safety.  A later jewel heist goes wrong and Frank is being questioned.  He lies about it, of course, but knows the robot would tell the truth, so now he must decide whether to wipe the robot's memory as he himself continues to lose his own to dementia.

This film was little-seen (mostly due to limited release during its entire theatrical run, combined with almost no advertising) but one of the nicest surprises of 2012.  It's never meant to challenge the viewer, it's pretty much just there to entertain via a simple story.  What makes it better are the subtle performances of the likes of Langella and Sarandon, elevating this to more than just a throwaway indie film.  Worth a look.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Renowned fisheries expert Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) receives an email from financial adviser Harriet (Emily Blunt) seeking advice on a project to bring salmon fishing to the country of Yemen.  It's a project being bankrolled by a wealthy Yemeni sheik (Amr Waked). Jones dismisses the project because the Yemen cannot provide the necessary cold temperatures and water needed to sustain salmon. Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister's overzealous press secretary, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas, over-the-top in the best way here) is up in arms due to news of an accidental mosque bombing in Afghanistan, so she wants a positive story to help improve relations between Britain and the Islamic world.  Upon learning of the salmon fishing proposition, she wants it done and well-publicized.  The project does get finished, but not everyone in this politically-charged area of the world may be thrilled about it.

Seeming somewhat fantastical, the film actually weaves the main point of the story (the building of the salmon fishing area) with the other main point of the story, and what ultimately this film could be classified as, a romantic comedy.  Yes, Alfred and Harriet do fall in love, but there are obstacles there too.  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen wasn't given any Oscar nominations, but it did surprise with three Golden Globe nominations, opening the eyes of many to the fact that this film with the odd title and premise, actually could be quite good.  And it is.

The Secret World of Arrietty (aka Arrietty or The Borrower Arrietty)

Narrated by the boy character Shawn, we are told of a week in the summer he spent at his mother's childhood home with his great-aunt and a housekeeper.  He sees a cat chasing something into a bush but loses sight of what he was chasing.  Later that night, he's awakened from his sleep to discover a tiny girl taking a tissue from his tissue box.  Shawn tries to befriend the girl, but the girl's father forbids it because they are supposed to live their lives out of sight and out of mind of humans.  They are Borrowers.  Ultimately, they need to move elsewhere, and Shawn does his best to help despite his great-aunt, the cat and...oh, yeah...his impending heart operation.

Based on Mary Norton's book The Borrowers, this wonderful and whimsical film could have only come from Studio Ghibli in Japan.  They are, movie for movie, the most consistent and high-quality animation studio in the world.  The screenplay was co-written by legendary anime figure Hayao Miyazaki, and despite Disney (for the purposes of marketing and release in the United States) tinkering only slightly with the screenplay, this still is a winner.  In fact, this had the best opening weekend in the United States ($6.5M on 1,500+ screens and a ninth-place finish) ever for a Studio Ghibli film.  Quality work that Disney can purchase the rights to market and release, but rarely deliver themselves anymore.  If you're not gorging your eyes and ears on the films from Studio Ghibli by now, I don't know why in the hell not.

Seeking a Friend For the End of the World

An asteroid 70-miles-wide is on a collision course with Earth.  Attempts to destroy it have failed.  There are no further feasible ways to avert the doom that lies ahead.  Life will end in three weeks time.  Dodge and Linda (Steve Carell and his real-life wife, Nancy) hear the news on the radio while on the side of the road.   Dodge scoffs at the news.  Nancy disgustedly exits the vehicle and takes off.  In the three weeks that follow, Dodge lives his life flippantly, even attempting suicide (hey, why not?), and he forms an unlikely friendship (unlikely mainly due to the fact that...well, you know, that whole "doom" thing) with Penny (Keira Knightley).  Both Dodge and Penny discover there are personal things left to do before the world ends, and they agree to help each other get those things done.  What follows is self-discovery, regrets corrected...oh, and also a realization that the asteroid is going to arrive sooner than expected...

It's a pretty odd and morbid basis for a story, but thankx to the work of Carell and Knightley, plus a screenplay by Lorene Scafaria that doesn't try to dumb down the subject matter or insult the audience, this turns out to be a very pleasant surprise.  It's not a flawless film, but considering it's about two strangers meeting up and riding around the country to "fix their lives" before an asteroid crashes into Earth and destroys humankind, it certainly could have been worse.  MUCH worse.  Comparing this to the 2011 doomsday film Melancholia, this film is worlds better, and an hour shorter!

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There we go, a nice batch of films from 2012 that you have never have seen, or even heard of, but I think are worth getting to know a little bit better.  Something for everyone, too.  Just don't wait TOO long to see them.  You never know when an asteroid may decide to show up...