Mike's Micro Movie Reviews - Episode 5

It may have been a while since the last episode of Mike's Micro Movie Reviews, but he has still been busy watching movies over the December-January period. Here's a selection of some of his recent viewings.

Argo

Argo

Glad this was still showing at the Shaftsbury Ave Odeon late last year as I had a free ticket. My word - a brilliant film; intelligent, engaging work from Ben Affleck – I said at the time "If this is not mentioned for an Academy Award then I'm a Dutchman!" Period setting of the Iran hostage was flawless, a real nail biting thriller as the true story built to a climax… Drama perfectly offset by the humour in the script of the Hollywood characters whose job is to create the fake movie for the hostages alibi… (if you don’t know anything of the plot...)


Mike's Rating: 9/10

The Hobbit (An Unexpected Journey)

The Hobbit

For me, this was the perfect long movie for the Boxing Day blues… Not being a superfan of the fantasy 'Games of Thrones' type culture I haven't seen anything this epic since the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but for me it did not disappoint. Stunning cinematography, great effects, battle scenes and sweeping aerial shots, all brought together by a huge, varied and talented cast! Ian McKellen arguably a joint lead with Martin Freeman - who's version of Baggins was great and justified Peter Jackson's patience in landing him, and nice cameos from Elijah Wood, Bret McKenzie, Gollum and other old faces… Still remains the only Tolkien book I have read since I was a kid long ago.


Mike's Rating: 8/10

The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy

The other critics were right! Something was missing with this fourth Bourne instalment, and it certainly wasn't Jeremy Renner's fault playing the lead vice Matt Damon… In my view the issues were all technical – a better script and story edit were needed – what the other agents did and how they were connected to Treadstone… The ending felt too rushed to me as well…

Mike's Rating: 6/10

The Raid

The Raid (Serbuan Maut)

Unusual meeting of Welsh director and Indonesian cast of martial arts experts and acrobats – result – slightly predictable but relentlessly action packed cops vs. gangsters in a Jakarta tower block – my word the bullets, death count and in your face graphic violence were intense – a remarkable pace!

Mike's Rating: 7/10

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Movie Retrospect's Films of 2012

In recent years, I've been producing a list of all the films I've seen, that were released during that calendar year and then compiling MY Top 10 for the year. It's normally a very personal list that I only share with my friends, but this is the first year I have been running the Movie Retrospect site, so before I give my list of 2012, I'll just recap my Top 3 Films of 2011 - which was controversial in some respects as my top 2 were both documentaries.

My Top 3 Films of 2011

TT3D: Closer to the Edge

1. TT3D: Closer to the Edge
2. Senna
3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2012 - My Year in Films

Every time I watch a movie or documentary film, I add it to a list called "Watched in 2012" in my IMDB account.  It only takes a second and I can even do it on my smartphone as I walk out of the cinema, so it's no effort at all to keep track of all the films I've watched during the year.

According to my Watched List, I've managed to squeeze in 91 films in 2012 (thanks mainly to my Love Film subscription) - not all of them released this year - in fact, it turns out I've only managed to see 21 films this year that were actually released in the UK in 2012.

Below is my complete list of films with my ratings in reverse order - It's been a particularly strong year in the Top 10, and as a result, even though I thought The Hobbit was an excellent film, amazingly it didn't make my Top 10 - I can't really believe it myself... Keep on reading to see my Top Ten of 2012: -

21st - 11th Place Films of 2012

21. I Superbiker: The Showdown - 4/10
20. Man on a Ledge - 5/10
19. Total Recall - 5/10 (see my full Total Recall review here)
18. This Means War - 5/10
17. The Hunger Games - 5/10
16. American Reunion - 6/10
15. The Expendables 2 - 6/10
14. 21 Jump Street - 6/10
13. Jack Reacher - 7/10
12. Brave (3D) - 7/10
11. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 8/10 (see Mike's micro review)

See the The Movie Retrospect's Top 10 Films of 2012 after the jump...

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