Looper is probably the best film I've seen this year. The Dark Knight Rises was also quite good, but mostly in the context of the series as a whole. The Avengers was a fun popcorn movie, but that's about it. Cloud Atlas was actually much better than I expected, but not really a masterpiece. More like a surprisingly effective and aesthetically pleasing train wreck.

Oh, and The Grey. Ehh... It certainly had a lot of heart and maturity behind it, and a lot of scenes were really effective. But the thing as a whole didn't leave much of an impression. Liam Neeson is still absolutely awesome, though.

Still haven't seen Argo, and not sure how excited I am about Skyfall. It's actually both at once :P. A bunch of mediocre films that end up combining into one fairly good film. Wait, seriously?

-__-

Well you do know it's based on a Cormac McCarthy book, right? So realism is the key here. It was a realistic end to his "adventure." No blaze of glory, no final confrontation with the antagonist, no Deus Ex Machina. Just the inevitable result of having the odds stacked so much against him. It's kind of unsatisfying, but at least it's not unsatisfying just for the hell of it.

I do agree that once that happens, the pacing of the movie gets entirely destroyed, though. Probably the only (admittedly glaring) issue in what is otherwise one of the best films I've ever seen.

Not really. I don't even have a faintest idea who he (or she) is. Apparently some writer. :)

It was an ok movie, I don't regret watching it, but I don't necessarily feel need to see it again either. I guess it would have been surprised if the closure would have been somehow "normal" or expected, considering it was a Coen movie. I got a bit similar feeling as in Fargo's "Based on a true story"-lie that the closure was trolling the reader/viewer. Just how I felt.

Skyfall
Avengers
Dark knight rise
Looper
Dredd(so much better than the god awful sly version)
Frankenweenie

Haven't seen too many movies this year, but The Avengers was my favorite by far.

I also liked Born Legacy a lot, and I enjoyed Hotel Transylvania and Looper.

Has anyone else seen The Master yet? While I'm a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson's previous films and most critics were head over heels for it, it just didn't click for me. I thought the film's central character, Freddie Quell, although well acted by Joaquin Phoenix, was too one-note to carry the film. I would have preferred a film focusing on Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, Lancaster Dodd, who was infinitely more interesting.

I didn't go to the movies that often this year, only few of them catched my interest (although it's possible I missed some good ones). Of the ones that I watched, my favorite one by far was Moonrise Kingdom, while The Amazing Spiderman was the biggest waste. The DarK Knight Rises was somewhere in between, entertaining and enjoyable, but definitely not one of Nolan's best.

Glad you mentioned this one! One of the best and freshest martial arts/action movies since Ong Bak

I haven't gone to the theaters as much this year as before. In order of how much I enjoyed them I saw:

Moonrise Kingdom
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Robot and Frank
The Hunger Games

Since no one mentioned The Perks of Being a Wallflower yet I'll talk about it. I just read the book earlier in the year and I have to say that Charlie is one of my favorite characters ever. I was very skeptical about the film but I am so glad they nailed it. I rarely like the movie as much as the book but with this one it is close.

I'm stoked to see Cloud Atlas, Argo, Dredd and The Master as well!

This list is premature, the Hobbit hasn't been released yet.

Why wouldn't it?

The movie was made in 2011, but the theater premiere was stalled, as I recall.

All your posts are really interesting, Barry. It's like you only communicate in lists, it's a very efficient means of communication I must say.

Mine are Expendables 2, Dark Knight Rises, and The Avengers.

I would mention more but a lot of the ones I saw this year were released prior to 2012.