THE BEST NEW FILMS I SAW IN 2012 IN THE ORDER I SAW THEM
Hiljaisuus ([Silence], FI 2011, Sakari Kirjavainen)
Canned Dreams (IE/NO/PT/FR/FI 2011, Katja Gauriloff)
Carnage (FR/DE/PL/ES 2011, Roman Polanski)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (GB/FR/DE 2011, Tomas Alfredson)
Hugo (US 2011, Martin Scorsese)
A Dangerous Method (DE/CA 2011, David Cronenberg)
Shame (GB 2011, Steve McQueen)
Soundbreaker (FI 2011, Kimmo Koskela)
Eräänlainen rakkaustarina (My Little Window, FI 2011, Lauri-Matti Parppei)
Sodankylä ikuisesti 1-4 (Sodankylä Forever, FI 2010-2011, Peter von Bagh)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (CA/US/FR//DE/GB 2010, Werner Herzog)
The Descendants (US 2011, Alexander Payne)
Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, FR 2011, Robert Guédiguian)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (GB/US 2012, Peter Lord)
Dark Shadows (US 2012, Tim Burton)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, HU/FR/DE/CH/US 2011, Béla Tarr)
Mario Ruspoli, prince des baleines et autres raretés (FR 2011, Florence Dauman)
Side by Side (US 2012, Chris Kenneally; Keanu Reeves)
Carlos I-III (FR/DE 2010, Olivier Assayas) the long version in three episodes, totalling 330 min
Barbara (DE 2012, Christian Petzold)
Cosmopolis (FR/CA/PT/IT 2012, David Cronenberg)
Terraferma (IT/FR 2011, Emanuele Crialese)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (US 2012, Benh Zeitlin)
Moonrise Kingdom (US 2012, Wes Anderson)
Holy Motors (FR/DE 2012, Leos Carax)
Margaret (US 2008/2011, Kenneth Lonergan)
Urbanized (US/GB 2011, Gary Hustwit)
1 Plus 1 Plus 1 - Sympathy for the Decay (FI 2012, Ilppo Pohjola)
Searching for Sugar Man (SE/GB 2012, Malik Bendjelloul)
Sinivalkoinen valhe (When Heroes Lie, FI 2012, Arto Halonen)
Palme (SE/DK 2012, Maud Nycander, Kristina Lindström)
Akkaansilta ([The Akkaansilta Bridge], FI 2011, Juha Rinnekari)
De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone, FR/BE 2012, Jacques Audiard)
AN INTRIGUING YEAR IN BLOCKBUSTERS
Hunger Games (US 2012, Gary Ross)
The Amazing Spider-Man (US 2012, Marc Webb)
The Dark Knight Rises (US/GB 2012, Christopher Nolan)
Skyfall (GB/US 2012, Sam Mendes)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (US 2012, Bill Condon).
Isn't this a strange list of names for some of the most popular films of the year?
Good directors, experimental elements, bleak visuals, dystopian visions, deranged and broken protagonists, anti-heroes, monsters as identification figures. The Twilight Saga is the most desolate of them all, a turning-point in the mainstream cinema's horror fiction: the identification figure is a monster, the plot is about saving the monster child, and there is practically no "normality" in the story. I was puzzled about the suicide wish fantasy, but I am apparently the only person in the world who sees it that way. - Epic fraud and social injustice were recurrent themes in the year's movies, including Arbitrage (US 2012, Nicholas Jarecki). - Superstorm Sandy seemed prefigured in The Turin Horse, and "after us the flood" imagery appeared in Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern wild.
DIGITAL WAS GETTING BETTER
A cold, bleak, and lifeless look was predominant, but there were exceptions. Margaret, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Moonrise Kingdom were shot on 16 mm, and the warm photochemical quality was successfully sustained in the digital intermediate. Skyfall was the first James Bond film shot digitally, but it had a richer look than the two previous ones that had gone through a bleak digital intermediate process.
3D
My best 3D experiences were: Stefan Drössler's updated magisterial illustrated lecture on the history of the 3D, The Amazing Spider-Man, Step Up Revolution, and Life of Pi. I'm still processing The Hobbit in HFR: the image was bright and clear in Tennispalatsi 1 where 3D has often been too dark.
MY FAVOURITE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Ellen Page as Monica "who knows one line from every poem" in To Rome with Love (US/IT/ES 2012, Woody Allen). I like the combination of satire and tenderness.
AN ANTHOLOGY PIECE IN A COMEDY
Sacha Baron Cohen's speech in defense of dictatorship in The Dictator (US 2012, Larry Charles)
BOOKS OF THE YEAR
David Bordwell: Pandora's Digital Box (E-book, Madison, Wisconsin: The Irvington Way Institute Press, 2012).
Torkell Sætervadet: FIAF Digital Projection Guide. Brussels: FIAF, 2012.
NEW RESTORATIONS AND TOPICAL RETROSPECTIVES
Stefan Drössler: The History of 3D (his touring illustrated lecture, 2012 update)
Universal Pictures Centenary: our tribute was to screen nine Robert Siodmak masterpieces from his film noir cycle
Die Weber (The Weavers, DE 1927, Friedrich Zelnik, 2012 restoration)
Magde dhaka tara (The Cloud-Capped Star, IN 1960, Ritwik Ghatak, 2012 restoration)
Komedie om geld (The Trouble with Money, NL 1936, Max Ophuls, newly restored)
Kalpana (Imagination, IN 1948, Uday Shankar, 2012 restoration)
Lewat djam malam (After the Curfew, ID 1954, Usmar Ismail, 2012 restoration)
Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre (FR 1900, Paul Decauville, 2012 restoration)
Vor fælles Ven / Our Mutual Friend (DK 1921, A.W. Sandberg, 2012 restoration)
Moi syn ([My Son], SU 1928, Yevgenii Cherviakov; Anna Sten, 2011 study dvd)
The Spanish Dancer (US 1923, Herbert Brenon; Pola Negri, newly restored)
The Jiří Trnka 2012 touring show from Naródni filmový archiv (Prague)
Die freudlose Gasse (Joyless Street, DE 1925, G.W. Pabst, the 2012 colour print from Filmmuseum München)
Kevade (Spring, EE-SU 1970, Arvo Kruusement) the Estonian Film 100 touring show in 2012
Pohjalaisia ([The People from Pohjanmaa] / [The People from the Plains], FI 1925, Jalmari Lahdensuo) 2012 restoration
FURTHER DELIGHTS IN FESTIVALS AND ARCHIVAL SCREENINGS
David Golder (FR 1931, Julien Duvivier)
Olivier Assayas retrospective: it is very rewarding to view his films within a short period
The Making Over of Mother (US 1916, Christie Film Co., Horace Davey; Neal Burns and Betty Compson)
Prostoi sluchai (A Simple Case, SU 1932, Vsevolod Pudovkin)
Jenseits der Strasse (Harbour Drift, DE 1929, Leo Mittler)
A Woman of Affairs (US 1928, Clarence Brown; Greta Garbo) with the Carl Davis score
Bab el hadid (Central Station, EG 1958, Youssef Chahine)
Il cammino della speranza (The Way of Hope, IT 1950, Pietro Germi)
Hiljaisuus ([Silence], FI 2011, Sakari Kirjavainen)
Canned Dreams (IE/NO/PT/FR/FI 2011, Katja Gauriloff)
Carnage (FR/DE/PL/ES 2011, Roman Polanski)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (GB/FR/DE 2011, Tomas Alfredson)
Hugo (US 2011, Martin Scorsese)
A Dangerous Method (DE/CA 2011, David Cronenberg)
Shame (GB 2011, Steve McQueen)
Soundbreaker (FI 2011, Kimmo Koskela)
Eräänlainen rakkaustarina (My Little Window, FI 2011, Lauri-Matti Parppei)
Sodankylä ikuisesti 1-4 (Sodankylä Forever, FI 2010-2011, Peter von Bagh)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (CA/US/FR//DE/GB 2010, Werner Herzog)
The Descendants (US 2011, Alexander Payne)
Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, FR 2011, Robert Guédiguian)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (GB/US 2012, Peter Lord)
Dark Shadows (US 2012, Tim Burton)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, HU/FR/DE/CH/US 2011, Béla Tarr)
Mario Ruspoli, prince des baleines et autres raretés (FR 2011, Florence Dauman)
Side by Side (US 2012, Chris Kenneally; Keanu Reeves)
Carlos I-III (FR/DE 2010, Olivier Assayas) the long version in three episodes, totalling 330 min
Barbara (DE 2012, Christian Petzold)
Cosmopolis (FR/CA/PT/IT 2012, David Cronenberg)
Terraferma (IT/FR 2011, Emanuele Crialese)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (US 2012, Benh Zeitlin)
Moonrise Kingdom (US 2012, Wes Anderson)
Holy Motors (FR/DE 2012, Leos Carax)
Margaret (US 2008/2011, Kenneth Lonergan)
Urbanized (US/GB 2011, Gary Hustwit)
1 Plus 1 Plus 1 - Sympathy for the Decay (FI 2012, Ilppo Pohjola)
Searching for Sugar Man (SE/GB 2012, Malik Bendjelloul)
Sinivalkoinen valhe (When Heroes Lie, FI 2012, Arto Halonen)
Palme (SE/DK 2012, Maud Nycander, Kristina Lindström)
Akkaansilta ([The Akkaansilta Bridge], FI 2011, Juha Rinnekari)
De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone, FR/BE 2012, Jacques Audiard)
AN INTRIGUING YEAR IN BLOCKBUSTERS
Hunger Games (US 2012, Gary Ross)
The Amazing Spider-Man (US 2012, Marc Webb)
The Dark Knight Rises (US/GB 2012, Christopher Nolan)
Skyfall (GB/US 2012, Sam Mendes)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (US 2012, Bill Condon).
Isn't this a strange list of names for some of the most popular films of the year?
Good directors, experimental elements, bleak visuals, dystopian visions, deranged and broken protagonists, anti-heroes, monsters as identification figures. The Twilight Saga is the most desolate of them all, a turning-point in the mainstream cinema's horror fiction: the identification figure is a monster, the plot is about saving the monster child, and there is practically no "normality" in the story. I was puzzled about the suicide wish fantasy, but I am apparently the only person in the world who sees it that way. - Epic fraud and social injustice were recurrent themes in the year's movies, including Arbitrage (US 2012, Nicholas Jarecki). - Superstorm Sandy seemed prefigured in The Turin Horse, and "after us the flood" imagery appeared in Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern wild.
DIGITAL WAS GETTING BETTER
A cold, bleak, and lifeless look was predominant, but there were exceptions. Margaret, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Moonrise Kingdom were shot on 16 mm, and the warm photochemical quality was successfully sustained in the digital intermediate. Skyfall was the first James Bond film shot digitally, but it had a richer look than the two previous ones that had gone through a bleak digital intermediate process.
3D
My best 3D experiences were: Stefan Drössler's updated magisterial illustrated lecture on the history of the 3D, The Amazing Spider-Man, Step Up Revolution, and Life of Pi. I'm still processing The Hobbit in HFR: the image was bright and clear in Tennispalatsi 1 where 3D has often been too dark.
MY FAVOURITE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Ellen Page as Monica "who knows one line from every poem" in To Rome with Love (US/IT/ES 2012, Woody Allen). I like the combination of satire and tenderness.
AN ANTHOLOGY PIECE IN A COMEDY
Sacha Baron Cohen's speech in defense of dictatorship in The Dictator (US 2012, Larry Charles)
BOOKS OF THE YEAR
David Bordwell: Pandora's Digital Box (E-book, Madison, Wisconsin: The Irvington Way Institute Press, 2012).
Torkell Sætervadet: FIAF Digital Projection Guide. Brussels: FIAF, 2012.
NEW RESTORATIONS AND TOPICAL RETROSPECTIVES
Stefan Drössler: The History of 3D (his touring illustrated lecture, 2012 update)
Universal Pictures Centenary: our tribute was to screen nine Robert Siodmak masterpieces from his film noir cycle
Die Weber (The Weavers, DE 1927, Friedrich Zelnik, 2012 restoration)
Magde dhaka tara (The Cloud-Capped Star, IN 1960, Ritwik Ghatak, 2012 restoration)
Komedie om geld (The Trouble with Money, NL 1936, Max Ophuls, newly restored)
Kalpana (Imagination, IN 1948, Uday Shankar, 2012 restoration)
Lewat djam malam (After the Curfew, ID 1954, Usmar Ismail, 2012 restoration)
Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre (FR 1900, Paul Decauville, 2012 restoration)
Vor fælles Ven / Our Mutual Friend (DK 1921, A.W. Sandberg, 2012 restoration)
Moi syn ([My Son], SU 1928, Yevgenii Cherviakov; Anna Sten, 2011 study dvd)
The Spanish Dancer (US 1923, Herbert Brenon; Pola Negri, newly restored)
The Jiří Trnka 2012 touring show from Naródni filmový archiv (Prague)
Die freudlose Gasse (Joyless Street, DE 1925, G.W. Pabst, the 2012 colour print from Filmmuseum München)
Kevade (Spring, EE-SU 1970, Arvo Kruusement) the Estonian Film 100 touring show in 2012
Pohjalaisia ([The People from Pohjanmaa] / [The People from the Plains], FI 1925, Jalmari Lahdensuo) 2012 restoration
FURTHER DELIGHTS IN FESTIVALS AND ARCHIVAL SCREENINGS
David Golder (FR 1931, Julien Duvivier)
Olivier Assayas retrospective: it is very rewarding to view his films within a short period
The Making Over of Mother (US 1916, Christie Film Co., Horace Davey; Neal Burns and Betty Compson)
Prostoi sluchai (A Simple Case, SU 1932, Vsevolod Pudovkin)
Jenseits der Strasse (Harbour Drift, DE 1929, Leo Mittler)
A Woman of Affairs (US 1928, Clarence Brown; Greta Garbo) with the Carl Davis score
Bab el hadid (Central Station, EG 1958, Youssef Chahine)
Il cammino della speranza (The Way of Hope, IT 1950, Pietro Germi)
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