My Movie Picks for 2012

So I love films almost as much as books, and although I enjoy a good indie or drama, the films that I really love are those made for the cinematic experience - epic, action-packed, fantasy or supernatural-based, lots to look at, lots to be blown away by. So the below are my picks for 2012. Actually, most of them are based on books and fairytales. Can't wait to see how they come up on screen.

THE AVENGERS

Can't wait to see how all the big superheroes play together - and it helps that their individual movies have been the pick of the Marvel lot as well.


Snow White and the Huntsman

Any film based on fairytales, I'm going to check out. Good cast - I love Charlize, and have always thought Kristen Stewart is a great little actress ever since I saw her in the gorgeous Speak. Really looking forward to this.

HUGO

The book has been huge so am interested to see what they do with it. Goods like lovely, good old-fashioned fun.

The Hunger Games

One of the biggest YA books shaping up to be one of the biggest movies in 2012. I think the trailer is very intriguing, and love Jennifer Lawrence.

PROMETHEUS

It looks epic and creepy and action-packed and full of thrills. Loving the cast too.

WRATH OF THE TITANS

I actually really enjoyed the first one, and this looks more of the same. Lots of beasties and mythology and battles - my kind of thing.

JACK THE GIANT KILLER

Good cast and once again, anything based on a fairytale I'm inclined to check out.

THE HOBBIT

Lord of the Rings is one of my absolute favourite books and movies, but I always loved The Hobbit just a little bit more because it had a great sense of adventure and fun. Can't wait to visit Middle Earth again and see what PJ comes up with this time around. Love when they start singing in the trailer.


I'm also quite curious about Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, but cannot find a trailer anywhere.

Doctor Who and Dalek I Loved You

Recently I just finished reading Dalek I Loved You, a kind of memoir/ode to Doctor Who by British TV journalist/reviewer Nick Griffiths, published in 2007. This book divided me. I absolutely loved the parts about Doctor Who: his anecdotes, his rememberances of the show, his lists of favourite episodes. It was really quite touching to read how, through his work with the Daily Mail, Griffiths got to meet many of his heroes from the show. He tells of it in quite an understated way, but we cannot miss how much it means to him, we cannot miss that beautiful sense of childlike awe at getting to meet the characters who so populated his imagination.

Therefore, I think if he left it at just that - revolving around Doctor Who - then Dalek I Loved You would have been a better read. As it is Griffiths drops in memories of his experiences at boarding school and his loves and the path he took to getting a job and pretty much anything he really wants. Which is fine I guess, if I knew who he was. But I don't, and so I was left wondering exactly why I should care, what warranted me reading his memoirs. Perhaps he is a well-known personality in Britain, and if so, then that's fine. But to me it just felt a little bit self-indulgent, like using Doctor Who as a guise to get his story out there. To his credit he is quite an engaging storyteller, and I was quickly turning pages. The only thing that really bugged me is that he kept playing down his Doctor Who geekiness and so it felt like he felt like he had to justify his love for the show, to which I say....

JUST LOVE IT, MAN. Because this is a show that must be loved whole-heartedly. I do. I love it with every inch of my heart and soul and brain - for me, it is right up there with mermaids and peanut butter on toast. I don't think it is geeky or embarrasing to love The Doctor anymore, such is the surge of popularity it has received since bursting back to our screens in 2005. I absolutely just adore this show: the idea, the action, the imagination, the adventure, the characters, the intelligence, the humour, the stories - but really, what totally won me over is that it has such a big heart. Everything is underscored by such a perfect understanding of emotion, and paring everything down to the humane experience. And although there have been some dud episodes, this understanding of humanity is rarely off mark.

I absolutely love the Doctor with all his eccentricities and loneliness and pure brilliance - whether he be portrayed by a Tom Baker or a David Tennant or a Matt Smith, the acting is a joy to watch. I just want to give this show a great big hug - it really is television at its best.

And lastly, while we're on topic (sort of) - a couple of good movies I've recently seen. The Last Station, with Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy. Brilliant acting from these three and an engaging look at the latter life of writer Tolstoy. And a decent YA-ish movie - Remember Me, with Rob Pattinson and .... well, I guess anyone else doesn't really matter after him ;). Yes, he has his sexy turned up pretty high here but also busts some pretty swish acting chops and there's some nice stuff about family relationships/dysfunction. Worth a look.

Up and Easy A - Movie Reviews

I love kids movies almost as much as I love kids books, and a real winner I saw for the first time a couple of days ago was Pixar's Up. I avoided this when it first came out because the previews didn't appeal to me. Wall-E had me inconspicuously wiping away my tears in the theatre, and Up just didn't seem to be on the same level. Well I finally did see it and am now a convert to its general brilliance - this is a great film with a fantastic concept and full of those heart-breaking but never naff moments that Pixar does so well.

It is the subtle, little touches that get me every time - like Mr Fredricksen coming to stand in for Russell's father at the end, but not relinquishing his case of the grumps for even the most emotional of moments. And how he hands over his treasured soda-cap badge to Russell and how we are shown that the house, so devastatingly lost in previous scenes, ends up right where it was intended to be all along. The visual spectacles are fantastic, of course, but where they really boggle your mind is with the precious, subtle beauty and the emotion invested in each one. This is a film that is beautiful and wise and so lovingly crafted - a real winner.

Another teen film I just saw on DVD was Easy A, touted as the new Mean Girls, Clueless etc. This film is also a real winner - full of quirky, endearing characters so well acted, and genuine moments that had me rolling around on my bed with a severe case of the giggles. Emma Stone as the lead character doesn't put a foot wrong. This is smart, hilarious film-making and I had an absolute ball watching it.