The perks of a wallflower (2012) rating: 8/10

Charlie (Logan Lorman) is a bit too tall, sufficiently good looking and having too fine a voice to realistically be an unpopular freshman in high school. Still there are some things to like about this movie. Probably a lot of real people have the idea that they weren't popular in HS, that they were outsiders. And this movie is an ode to those wallflowers. But Charlie here promises to be an extreme case, though his early high school isolation actually lasts exactly one whole day. On the 2nd day he meets very mature teenagers in step-siblings and seniors, Patrick and Sam, the latter in a fine performance by Emma Watson. In essences these two are more like adults, but with their own unique problems and challenges. They are not popular, but they are strong enough to stand on their own. They sort of take Charlie under their wings and help out the friendless kid and he starts to gain confidence. He has an obvious crush on Sam, but Sam already has a boyfriend. You can guess parts of what happens next. Overall it is well acted and the story while unrealistic in many aspects can be related to.

** spoilers **

Charlie also has a lot of problems. His aunt was killed when he was little, but

Django Unchained (2012) rating: 9/10

I am not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. I think most of his films are needlessly violent, though I understood that was part of his style. At the time of its release, I liked Pulp Fiction probably because of the great music. But I had reservations about the promotion of hit men as good or funny.

But Django Unchained is different. It is less ambiguous about its good and bad. And I guess I just like a simple good versus evil story. This is something this movie delivers in spades with a couple unequivocally good and smart heroes.

Waltz switches sides from the villian in Inglorious Bastards and becomes the worldly yet practical German bounty hunter (here, a good guy version of hit man) who in fact speaks excellent French as well. Eventually he takes Foxx's Django as his protege. Later, they take on the wicked but smart DiCapro playing plantation owner, Candie.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) rating: 7/10

The beginning of this film was difficult to watch, and in fact I didn't. I skipped it. From there it gets more interesting. We follow the young female CIA agent who kept after the trail. Her instincts are mostly spot on and she has the confidence to follow them. And shows even more confidence to keep after the path when everyone else express doubts. And of course we know how this all ends, but seeing it executed is riveting.

A couple negatives aside from torture: (1) too many seconds of darkness in the early part of the actual mission starting from the stealth helicopters.  I could see including some few seconds of this, but I think it went on too long. (2) too many times, calling out the name of the person to kill them. I wonder that this trick won't work again after every terrorist in the world has seen this movie. I thought it unrealistic that it worked every time. On the other hand, perhaps it is true that it does work. If so, did they give away a useful tactic?

Celeste and Jesse Forever (2012) rating: 7/10

A professional woman with greater education and a better career can't stay married to a man with no job and no ambition. But darn it, she gets along so well with the guy that they are still best friends. Seems implausible, but the movie spins it into comedy and interesting choices for the woman.

Elijah Wood plays the girl's gay sidekick (actually boss), but his part is very poorly scripted unfortunately.

Life of Pi (2012) rating: 6/10

I didn't like this movie much, but it has its moments.

Argo (2012) rating: 6/10

Best picture, nah. But it was the feel good movie of 2012 where Hollywood is partial hero. There was a manufactured drama feel to much of it. I got the feeling it might not have been that nerve wracking, but hey no drama, no movie. Nevertheless, ok.

North Sea Texas (2011) rating: 9/10

This movie has nothing to do with America and Texas. The author and director are Belgian. The movie is set in a Flemish seaside town. A quiet young gay boy with a neglectful single mom finds refuge with a neighbor and her children. Yes, it is a coming of age tale, full of innocent love and love lost. The boy protagonist is nearly silent which makes anything he says full of emphasis. The older actor (still only 14 years old) playing him does a good job portraying his growing up.

Here is an excellent interview of the director, Bavo Defurne, about the film.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) rating: 6/10

Not as good as any of the LOTR trilogy, this movie was rightly panned as a disappointment.

Note: some minor spoilers ahead...

I noticed a lot of repeats of the LOTR themes and ideas in this movie which is sort of like Fellowship. Similarities: trip to Rivendale, bunch of quest characters together in a group, trip through a mountain pass with rocks falling down, Gandolf stays with the group most of the way, but disappears for some of the time.

One anachronism bugged me. The dwarfs are offered a meal at Rivendale and distrust the elvish salad. One says he never eats greens and asks for 'chips'. I just couldn't imagine chips could mean anything other than modern potato chips in a shiny plastic bag. That comment took me out of the movie entirely.

Aside from this, it is also entirely too long. Since I was viewing it on dvd, I did have the great benefit of being able to Ffwd through boring parts, which I gleefully did, including a good bit of the Radagast dialog and action.

A few things I did like in this film: the telepathic conversation between Gandolf and Galadriel, the Bilbo v Gollum scene, and moon writing.

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I liked the review of 'The Hobbit' in the New Yorker by Anthony Lane who comments about the 48fps experience of the movie:

"The rest of us will be reminded of high-definition television—better known, in my household, as a reason to avoid viewing films on TV, unless they contain characters named Woody and Buzz. HD has the unfortunate effect of turning every film into what appears to be a documentary about a film set, not just warts-and-all but carefully supplying extra warts where a wart has no right to be. There is something awry in the idea that Tolkien’s wondrous inventions—an entire history and landscape, plus trees of unknown languages, grown from one man’s fancy—should be transmitted through a medium newly and utterly bent on realism. When the imaginary is presented as fact, hard and hypervisible, right down to the popping buttons of a waistcoat, does the magic not drop off?"

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2012/12/17/121217crci_cinema_lane?currentPage=all