The Man, The Myth, The Geek: dredd

So yeah, a lot of greats films were released in 2012. There were laughs, cries and all out action. This is my post of my top 10 films that I saw during 2012 and that I thought were good enough for this list. It's took about a month to type this up but here it is.
Some people might read this and say "you haven't really seen any of the other good films" and yes, I know I've missed out on seeing "Total Recall", "Bourne Legacy", "Hunger Games", "Looper", "Snow White And The Huntsman", "Taken 2", "Jack Reacher", "Cabin In The Woods", "End Of Watch", etc. I will try and make an effort and see them this year on DVD or just on Sky Movies. Once I've seen the ones I missed, I'll add them into my top 10 and revise this post later in the year if they deserve to be in top 10, might even expand to top 20. I did though see most of the greats like, well obviously "Avengers Assemble", "The Amazing Spider-Man", "Skyfall" and "The Hobbit", "Prometheus", etc. I saw "Act Of Valor", "The Muppets", "Chronicle" and "Men In Black" and "The Expendables 2" also, but they weren't top 10 material, more like top 20, still good though.
So here is my list of my favorite films of 2012. I'll right a wee thing about them, but not a BIG overall review or anything like that. I'll say something short and sweet. Let's begin:

10. American Pie: Reunion

Jim, Stiffler and the whole gang are back after nearly 10 years of being off-screen. After 4 very unsuccessful spin-offs, the original creators thought it was time to bring the original kids back to show the new generation of Pie lovers how to party. The only thing that's stopping them is old age. Can they really compete with the teens of today? Stiffler still thinks he can. Jim and Michelle are having trouble with their marriage and Ox and Heather realize that they still love each other but can't show their feelings because they both have new partners.
The film in a whole was fucking brilliant and it's great to see how the gang are doing now, but I think the creators were trying just a wee bit too had to make it as funny as it was back in the first film over 10 years ago. How far can Stiffler really go in a movie. Never the less, it was a commercial and critical success and the cast and crew are planning to return for a fifth slice. I will say one thing, this one definitely beats "American Pie: The Wedding" anyway.

9. TED

Well, what can I say about good old Ted......................"FUCK ME!!!!!" That was some god damn film to sit though. It had the type of humor that I think fits perfectly with the youth of today. I really think "American Reunion" could have done some edgy humor like this, but then again, I am talking about the creator of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" here people. Still could have helped though. I never gave a shit about this film until I saw it for the first time!!! Never done posts on it's posters, trailers, nothing. I was wrong to do that!!!
Fucking Marky Mark Wahlberg is a 30 something year old man with a CGI walking/talking bear, voiced by Seth McFarlane, who's know for voicing Stan Smith (American Dad) and Peter Griffin (Family Guy) and Wahlberg's long tern girlfriend, Mila Kunis. Kunis wants to settle down with Wahlberg, but Ted is holding them back because he still stays with them. Ted realizes that he can't stay with Marky Mark forever, so he tries to make a life of his own by getting a job, a flat and a trailor-park trash girlfriend.
The film is fucking hilarious!!! It's funny, it's sad, the humor is edgy as fuck. It's got dick jokes, it's got fart jokes. Stonner moments and bonner moments. If you love "Family Guy", then you'll love this!!!

8. The Dark Knight Rises

Now, before I start, I was seriously thinking of not placing this film in my top 10, because I had and still have serious mixed feelings on this final chapter in Nolan's "Batman" franchise. It is Batman, and I'll also have a place in my heart for this franchise and the ending was fucking EPIC, hence why it's for sure in my top 10!!!
Chris Nolan and the gang return with new faces to give fans the ultimate ending to his overwhelming take on the favorite comic-book character, Batman. As a whole, the film was good, but not as great as what it could've been. In my opinion, "The Dark Knight" was well better. Tom Hardy's Bane was brutal and brilliant, but I just felt as though he was predictable, whereas Heath Ledger's Joker was off the wall crazy and no one knew what was coming next from the character. Anne Hathway's Selina Kyle/Catwoman was sexy and amazing. I literally fell in love with her after just seconds of seeing her for the first time on screen. The story itself is good, but some parts were a bit iffy though. We saw Batman rise and fall and rise and fall and rise again, good and bad, because the falling got a bit repetitive, but still, it's fucking Batman, so of course I'm going to enjoy it at other times though.
The film was shocking, the beginning......great, but I think it got a bit boring in the middle and I just felt as though everything was lost and I felt as though it dragged out. Then the ending came with the final fight and the whole thing just fell into place and the last moments were both breathe taking and exciting and sad and happy and............JUST FUCKING AWESOME!!! Watch this film if you haven't already seen it!!!

7. DREDD

Karl Urban IS Judge Dredd!!! How awesome was this film?! 2012 was truly a year for action filled films and the film that stood out the most, even more than "The Expendables 2", was the new "DREDD" reboot. It was an amazing 3D experience that should have made more money in the box office. The action was non fucking stop all through the film as Dredd and his psychic partner Judge Anderson have to go through floor to floor taking down bad guys in crazier and crazier ways has they climb higher to the top to take down the top dog......Mama, played by Lena Headey. It did though get a tiny bit repetitive, but fuck it, it was awesome!!! The 3D and the slow-mo sequences were just bloody stunning to look at and watch, especially the 3D. Like most 3D films lately, it's more projected imagery 3D rather than things flying at you or anything exciting like that, nothing like "Avatar" anyway. "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "DREDD" are the only two films that I can think of right now that have amazing 3D sequences that are the REAL 3D!!!
It was praised by critics but done so poorly in the money making section. My answer to why it never made much was that it never got much promotion till near the time of it's release. It was the production companies fault that it never made much. Hopefully they will make some more of the money back during the DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

6. Prometheus

"Prometheus" was fantastic!!! It wasn't as amazing as the first or second "Alien" films, but it was well better than the third and fourth ones anyway. Shit, forgot, this ain't an "Alien" film.....WHOOPS!!! It bloody is an "Alien" film. It's work perfectly as a stand-alone prequel or if you want to say "running up to" to the "Alien" films. Visually, it's as stunning as you'll probably get an "Alien" film to look these days. Great mix between CGI and practical effects, not like the shitty 2011 "Thing" prequel.
Ridley Scott returned to the type of genre he knows and does best.......SCI-FI and with an amazing cast. They were all on the ball. Michael Fassbender was the ever so friendly, but strange cyborg. Noomi Repace was the very sexy and smart new version of Ripley. Idris Elba was the captain and he was awesome! And Charlize Theron was the sexy and bossy well boss. The crew wanted to find new life, but it wasn't the kind of life they wanted really.
The story was great, a bit stiff at times, but we got there in the end and WOW, what an epic ending it was for fans of the long-running "Alien" franchise, even though this isn't a prequel, but the ending says it is though. I loved the music, literally the whole soundtrack was cool, fast moving, creepy and just great to listen to in certain scenes at certain times.
I don't want to talk about it anymore because I don't want to give much away........JUST WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT!!!

5. 21 Jump Street

"21 Jump Street"........Now there's an interesting case right there. When I first saw the very first teaser trailer for this big-screen sequel/reboot to the old Johnny Depp series, I was like "this looks shite". The trailer just tried to hard to look funny. I laugh at anything, but I just didn't gel with this films first teaser. After a few more trailers, I kind of started to enjoy them, then I watched the 4 minute preview and I was pissing myself with laughter. I literally could not stop watching Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill trying so hard to be good cops and just cocking things up. It was hilarious to watch. And again, when I went to see the film in the cinema with mt friends, we all just couldn't stop laughing from start to finish. Thankfully the film stepped away from the more serious feel of the 80's TV show and was made more of a piss take, like Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson's "Starsky & Hutch" film.
In a whole, the film had a great story. Channing Tatum can actually act in this film. Some action stars can't really go from action to comedy, but I think because this is the best of both worlds, he can do that and do it extremely well in my opinion. He's actually much better in this type of genre than anything serious and dramatic. He should seriously just stick with action and comedy. Is was also seriously surprised with Jonah Hill too. That guy is actually good in the action sequences. I know the film is a comedy action film, but it is more comedy, but even in the serious action scenes, he was really good. He also lost so much weight which also helped him look like the actioner type guy.
Tatum and Hill play two cops who think they are amazing at what they do, Tatum more in that situation. To save the Captains ass on the humiliation, he sends them away to 21 Jump Street to work in an undercover division to catch out drug dealers in high school. This is when all the funny stuff happens, especially the night before they start school again. Just seeing them trying to think the would fit in and trying on different clothes was just hilarious to watch. What's funny about the school scenes is that popular Channing Tatum is stuck with the nerds and turns out he ain't as cool as he once thought he was and even when he was all nerdy, he did manage to stay cool by shouting out "FUCK YOU SCIENCE" during the scene where he and Hill were as high as kites on drugs. The drug scene between Hill and Tatum was the most EPIC scenes in comedy history!!!
The film is just packed with action, comedy, romance, awkwardness, etc. It's definitely a film to watch before you die, even if you're not a massive fan of Channing Tatum or Jonah Hill. OH, and there's also two surprise and amazing cameos at the end..........never going to believe who they are!!!

4. The Hobbit

"The Hobbit", for people who know me, was not really a film I was planning to see anytime soon. I thought it looked really, well shite actually. Now I was never a MASSIVE "Lord Of The Rings" fan, but I enjoyed them enough to watch them whereas when I saw the trailers for this, I was like "Not for me thanks"...........I WAS SOOOOO FUCKING WRONG PEOPLE!!! This film ruled!!! It was visually amazing, as per usual when it comes to a Peter Jackson film. The landscape shots of New Zeland got a bit too much after a while, but in a whole it was stunning. Gollum is becoming more realistic as we go on. Andy Serkis was awesome once again as the creepy little creature. The chemistry between him and Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins was superb, same as the scenes between Bilbo and Gandalf, once again played by the great Sir Ian McKellen. The dwarfs did become a bit too much with all of their silliness, because at times I felt as though I was watching a Disney film and yes, it was meant to be more light-hearted, but it was a tad too light-hearted, but none the less, a great film to watch for fans and new comer fans to the much-loved franchise. We can already tell that the sequels will be just great and hopefully a lot darker, like the same as the way the "Harry Potter" films went. Like I always say, I don't want to tell you guys anything about the plot, just about the way the characters are, but the plot is pretty simple, the first films, without the ring, or is the ring in it, woops, said too much. JUST WATCH IT PEOPLE!!!

3. The Amazing Spider-Man

When this reboot was announced a few years back, I was like "give it sometime to rest first before starting all over again" and then I heard who was directing it and who was going to be in it and what the film was going to be about and I thought........FUCK YEAH!!! The film was really amazing.
Andrew Garfield takes over the role of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in the new 2012 reboot, with the very amazing and sexy Emma Stone playing Gwen Stacy. Rhys Ifans plays the villainess Dr Curt Connors aka The Lizard. He was good, but I think he could have been better. The CGI for The Lizard was fantastic, but Rhys Ifans playing Connors was a bit off I think. I think Dylan Baker's Connors was better. I didn't really feel sorry for Ifans's character until the second time around, but even then, Baker was better. He should have became The Lizard.
Visually it was the best of all the Spider-Man films. There was a lot more practical effects like they had a stunt actor actually web-sling through the city via some green screen wire and a harnest. Even the CGI was better this time around. It was just all visually stunning. The 3D was real and wasn't like the usual projected imagery, which was good to see for once, well this and "DREDD".
Marc Webb really done a great job with bringing new life into the "Spider-Man" film franchise. The only downside is that this film promised us "the untold story", which wasn't shown really. And there was a few vital parts in the trailer taken out of the final cut of the film. The good thing is that "the untold story" is said to get expanded through the rebooted trilogy instead on just one film. So we'll find out about the death of his parents, who really shot Uncle Ben and who Peter Parker really is in the next two films!!!

2. Avengers Assemble

"Avengers Assemble" was fucking fantastic!!! One, if not the greatest comic book film of all time. Future comic book films will be totally different now because of this film. A lot of them will surely be influenced by this highly-anticipated adaption. Comic book films once to influence from Chris Nolan's "Dark Knight" franchise, now they should take it from this and Joss Whedon.
"Avengers Assemble" was totally perfect. The cast were fantastic because they all just gelled together and everyone got right amount of time on-screen. Joss Whedon really should be getting an Oscar for this film and taking control of the cast and crew. I watched all the behind the scenes footage and fucking hell, he was busy as fuck!!! If you haven't yet seen the new film, seriously watch it. I don't want to give too much away about the films plot but basically Loki, Thor's brother, travels to Earth to create mayhem and destruction. Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D call on Earth's Mightiest Heroes to come together and take a stand against this evil. It's tough and hilarious to watch them coming together, but it's amazing and every comic book fan would love this........WATCH IT!!! The music, the visuals, the acting........WATCH IT!!!

1. SKYFALL

And my number 1 film of 2012 was "SKYFALL". The new James Bond saw an epic return for Daniel Craig's 007 and was a fantastic instalment in the long-running British spy franchise, which last year saw it's 50th anniversary and what a film to celebrate it. Oscar winning director Sam Mendes took the rains of the latest Bond film, he had been signed on for many years, but MGM went bankrupt and the film was placed on hold for quite a while which was worrying for the franchise. Good old Sam stuck by the franchise and the film was revived and it got made and shown to the world.
The film to a story of hurt, revenge, betrayal and just Bond being Bond. It was action-packed with a hell of a story and had fantastic James Bond references to the older films. You knew that the cast and crew were trying hard on making this the best Bond film ever!!! Dame Judi Dench gave a great performance as M, Daniel Craig was just as great as ever. He really acted in this film. Craig's Bond was pushed to the limit this time around. Blood, sweat and honor for James Bond in this film. Let's not forget about the lead villain, Javier Bardem......fuck me what a character he was in the film. He was extremely creepy and you felt as though Bardem took some inspiration from Heath Ledger's Joker in 2008's "The Dark Knight".
The music, scores by Thomas Newman and the official theme were brilliant. Adele should get a chance to come back and sing some more. She could be the modern day Shirley Bassey of the Bond songs. The story was different. It didn't feel like the usual Bond film, but neither did "Casino Royale" and that turned out amazing.
Sam Mendes and the crew have definitely redefined the James Bond franchise and kind of in a wee way rebooted it again to fit in with the 50th. Good things will definitely come out of this and for further instalments in the franchise. "SKYFALL" was and is and highest grossing James Bond film ever and has just reached over a billion pounds in the box-office. If this is Craig's last film, what a film to go out with. He started with a hit, middle was okay, but the last film was spectacular and ever better than his first, "Casino Royale" back in 2006.

While promoting "DREDD" on DVD and Blu-Ray, the films director Pete Travis was asked once again about the fate of the films sequels. During his answer he mentioned that he doesn't think he'll return for another one. Maybe he'll stay as producer or exec or something along those lines.
"I don't think so. I really hope there is a second one. I just feel very lucky to have been involved in the first one. It has been a great experience for me. I read Alex Garland's script two years ago, and I feel in love with it then. I have enjoyed the whole process of working on that with him, and bringing it to the screen. It was extraordinary. I hope they get the chance to make another one. I think Dredd is an extraordinary character. I think Karl Urban captured him so perfectly. I think there is a real beautiful future there."
"I think Alex Garland has a trilogy in his mind. I think there is a whole exciting journey in front of Dredd if Alex and Karl Urban get to take him on that journey. The future is really exciting for him. Especially in terms of going with some of the other characters from the comic book. Finding out more about where Dredd comes from. I also think its exciting, the possibilities. The first film does go all out as a visual feast. Whoever gets a chance to do the others willl take that, and make it even more exciting. I can't wait to see it. I don't really know how the sequel thing works, really. I hope they get another chance to make a second film. I think Karl Urban...He is Dredd. It would be really exciting for them to make another, and go further with that character. I sincerely hope so..."