2012 movies - Personal review and Awards

Notes: I had a great time watching this flick. I saw it in IMAX 3D in 48fps and it was visually quite overwhelming. I hope that, like the previous installments, it will get even better with the following movies but it was just great to be back in Middle Earth.

For those who don't know, in a festival, the Grand Jury prize honors a great movie which just missed the biggest prize.

Notes: Wow! This movie came out from nowhere but really smashed me. I mean, I kept hearing interesting things about it but I wasn't sure since I have never been a fan of the Wachowski siblings (in my opinion, 'The Matrix' is the most overrated movies ever made) but they and Tom Tykwer managed to make the most ambitious movie released this year, possibly one of the most ambitious movies ever made. Even though it wasn't completely flawless, it was definitely the most intriguing movie I have seen this year.

Notes: Honestly, I thought that this movie was rather disappointing. I mean, it was pretty good but I never really thought it was as amazing as some seem to think. Still, there were a lot of impressive stuff, especially Michael Fassbender's performance was quite brilliant and he is definitely one of the best actors of his generation.

Notes: Even though Princess Merida was pretty cool, this year, this award goes to Scarlett Johansson. I must admit, it wasn't really a strong year concerning the female performances but I thought Johansson did a pretty good job, especially when you consider the massive cast of The Avengers.

Robert Downey Jr.



Chris Evans



Chris Hemsworth



Mark Ruffalo



Scarlett Johansson



Jeremy Renner



Tom Hiddleston



Samuel L. Jackson



Gwyneth Paltrow


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Stellan Skarsgård


Special mentions : Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises

Notes: For the second year in a row, Pixar which used to produce the best recent animated features, doesn't win this award. This time, it is a smaller feature which gets the big prize. Even though the story was rather pedestrian in my opinion, the whole thing really looked gorgeous and there were some hilarious bits here and there.

Notes: Even though MIB3 was indeed fun, the most fun I had this year was actually with The Avengers. Indeed, I went there with some rather low expectations but it became one of the most entertaining super-hero flicks I have ever seen (and I have seen a whole bunch of those).

Notes: Even though the final sequel to Nolan's batman was really good, the winner in this category was definitely The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It is just great to feel the same excitement, waiting a whole year for the next installment, just like in the good old days with the LOTR trilogy.

Notes: I'm probably in the minority but I don't think it was that amazing and that's why it ended up being my biggest disappointment for this year, especially after all the hype surrounding this flick. In my opinion, it is a little bit better than 'Quantum of Solace', which wasn't that bad, and a little bit less good than 'Casino Royale', which wasn't that good. Above all, I was once again really underwhelmed by the story. I mean, is it supposed to be a brilliant story?

Notes: It is sometimes quite amazing how much the studios can milk dry some franchises... This is a good example. I mean, the first movie was not bad (I was not a fan though) but, now, it is getting quite ridiculous as the makers obviously don't have anything else interesting to tell about those vampires/lycans/whatever. The best thing is that they provided an open ending... As if we should get a 5th installment! Please spare us...