The formula:
PE x 0.35 + ACT x 0.25 + OR x 0.2 + DIR x 0.15 + CIN x 0.05 = Overall Score
where
PE = Personal Enjoyment
ACT = Acting
OR = Originality
DIR = Directing
CIN = Cinematography
I’ve weighted each according to its importance.
Personal Enjoyment (35%) Some purists demand that movies bore viewers, such that the hidden truths are only accessible to a fabled “mature class.” These individuals will sit, stubbornly, through lousy films in order to prove their maturity. Respectfully, these people are nuts.
Acting (25%) Just as one horrible performance can drag down an otherwise decent movie, fantastic performances can keep a floundering film afloat.
Originality (20%) I just looked it up [Editor’s note: Ben didn’t look anything up.], and 9 out of 10 new films are super hero flicks, Pixar sequels, or movies weirdly similar to The Bourne Identity. Films that blaze new cinematic trail score high here. Movies that pick safe subjects the Academy will like get penalized.
Directing (15%) Some movies demand good direction just to work (Argo, The Social Network). Others simply need a semi-competent hand guiding the action (Lincoln, The King’s Speech). Regardless of which style, the difference between capable and phenomenal directing can significantly sway an overall score.
Cinematography (5%) Some movies—otherwise slow, flat, or nonsensical—boast beautiful shots, lighting and scenery, making them worth a rental. On the flip side, the battle between two excellent films is often won and lost on its visual merits.
The Contestants
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
I haven’t seen it, so I won’t go through the usual metrics. Instead, I’ll give my thoughts in real time as I watch the trailer.
Clicks play. Guy wandering around. Police. Back to the guy. More asynchronous shots. An old couple. Someone is playing piano. There she is! Playing the piano. No, wait: it’s actually a guy listening to the piano on a stereo. He turns it off. He’s just sitting there. Still sitting there. Blank expression. And, “Coming Soon” appears.
No idea. Let’s move on.
Argo
(See my full Argo review)
Personal Enjoyment: 9 / 10
Acting: 6 / 10
Originality: 6 / 10
Directing: 10 / 10
Cinematography: 7 / 10
Ben Affleck paces his latest film perfectly, building tension and expertly balancing quick wit, silliness, and despair. Argo belongs in the first chapter of every director’s handbook. That said, none of the performances stand out (including Affleck’s understated, underwhelming Tony Mendez). The film’s story feels fresh, but takes few truly bold cinematic risks.
Overall Score: 7.7 / 10
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Haven’t seen it. Trailer time.
Clicks play. Abstract, Sundance Film Festival quotations. “Striking,” “transports,” “force of nature.” Cute kid’s voice. A storm brewing. Female mentor, unseen, speaks guiding words. Thunder and lightning. “I see that I’m a little piece of a big, big universe,” the kid says. Fade to black.
I’ve always enjoyed “coming of age” tales! Tell the Sundance Film Festival I’m intrigued.
Django Unchained
Personal Enjoyment: 10 / 10
Acting: 8 / 10
Originality: 7 / 10
Directing: 8 / 10
Cinematography 8 / 10
Exploding with style, Django Unchained darts merrily from playful repartee to sinister scheming. Even the opening credits sparkle with Tarantino charm. Jamie Foxx broods marvelously as Django, the freshly freed slave out for revenge. Leonardo DiCaprio—his yellow, chipped teeth gleaming nastily—smiles straight through the film’s most troubling, manipulative lines. But top acting honors belong to Christoph Waltz, who savors every syllable of his character’s high vocabulary, mesmerizing his real-life audience while dumbfounding the clueless characters around him.
While far more original than most 2012 films, I’ve docked a couple points: Tarantino’s done the satirical violence and villain buffoonery many times before.
Overall Score: 8.5 / 10
Les Misérables
I’ve seen the London, stage version, but not the 2012 Tom Hooper film. Screw it: let’s do a “projected rating.” [Editor’s note: We tried to get Ben to take this section out, seeing how unfair it is to rate a movie he hasn’t even seen. His response: *long stare* “You’re really asking me this. Wow.”]
Personal Enjoyment (projected): 6 / 10
Acting (projected): 8 / 10
Originality (projected): 2 / 10
Directing (projected): 7 / 10
Cinematography (projected): 9 / 10
Movies are like assassins: they work best when the emotional moments sneak up undetected, then fade back before you’ve had time to discover their true identity. If Zero Dark Thirty is a ninja, Les Misérables is a loud-mouthed, drunken cowboy, out to settle an argument at the local saloon. This also might just be the least original film of 2012. I found this transcript [Editor’s note: we think Ben is making this up.] between Working Title Films (the producer) and Tom Hooper (director):
Working Title Films: We’d like to partner with you, Tom. Got anything?
Tom: So picture this…it’s a raw, limited-dialogue, single-camera piece about a newly divorced family, trying to find meaning day-by…
Working Title Films: Can’t you just remake Les-a-Mis or something?
Tom: Deal.
Overall Score (projected): 6.0
Life of Pi
Haven’t seen it. Let’s go to the trailer.
Clicks play. Lightning. A storm at sea. “From Academy Award Winning Director Ang Lee.” Pauses trailer. Hold on, there’s a siren going by my house. Waits. Oh I’m sorry, it’s a siren from the boat in the trailer. Play. “When all you’ve ever known is LOST….Find your courage.” Sweet tiger. A giant whale! “Life of Pi.”
Actually, looks fantastic! Adding to my list.
Lincoln
(See my full Lincoln review)
Personal Enjoyment: 6 / 10
Acting: 10 / 10
Originality: 3 / 10
Directing: 6 / 10
Cinematography: 9 / 10
Lincoln plays like a lazy Saturday morning: it’s pleasant and relaxing, but you have that nagging sense you’ve wiled away three good hours of the day once it’s over. Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sally Field induce shivers of theatrical joy, while a few of Spielberg’s shots—like Lincoln’s slow stroll down the White House hall at sunset—are worthy of the director’s pedigree.
But beyond the half dozen exhilarating moments, the movie is safe, bland, and repetitive. Midway through, you can almost make out the smile of Dreamworks CEO Stacey Snider in the flames of Lincoln’s fireplace, bracing for Lincoln’s Best Picture victory. After all, drab, historical sentimentality worked for The King’s Speech. [Editor’s note: Ben insists he isn’t still bitter about The King’s Speech beating The Social Network in 2010.]
Overall Score: 6.55
Silver Linings Playbook
(See my mini-review of Silver Linings Playbook)
Personal Enjoyment: 9 / 10
Acting: 8 / 10
Originality: 5 / 10
Directing: 6 / 10
Cinematography: 7 / 10
Silver Linings Playbook would like to be a Film About Mental Illness, when really it’s a masquerading romantic comedy. Unlike the average Hugh Grant affair, however, the disguise almost works. Pat (Bradely Cooper) and Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) joust satisfyingly at an eggshells-awkward dinner party, before sparring over whose psychological abnormality is worse. Lawrence’s dry, gravelly quips play nicely against Cooper’s doe-eyed earnestness, and for awhile, we don’t even think about how attracted they are to one another.
In the film’s final half hour, director David O. Russel trades originality for a box office-friendly resolution, but it’s hard to blame him when everyone seems to be having so much fun. There’s a reason rom-coms sell tickets, and Playbook happily falls in line.
Overall Score: 7.4
Zero Dark Thirty
(See my full Zero Dark Thirty Review)
Personal Enjoyment: 8 / 10
Acting: 8 / 10
Originality: 8 / 10
Directing: 9 / 10
Cinematography: 9 / 10
Wonderfully complex and haunting, Zero Dark Thirty mesmerizes with fierce performances, gorgeous aerial cinematography, and dogged, confident direction. If there’s anything to criticize, it might be that the first couple hours aren’t as tightly executed as the last, or that Jessica Chastain’s Maya leaves little room for her fellow cast members. Still, there’s a good chance we’ll remember 2012 for Zero Dark Thirty first, and all of these other fine films second.
Overall Score: 8.2
The Final Scores!
8.5 Django Unchained
8.2 Zero Dark Thirty
7.7 Argo
7.4 Silver Linings Playbook
6.6 Lincoln
6.0 (projected) Les Misérables
Congratulations, Django Unchained, best film of 2012! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch Pulp Fiction.