Pictures: Top 20 Films of 2012

Honorable Mention: The Grey

20. Rust & Bone (dir. Audiard) (review)

"Did you hear what happened to me?"

19. Anna Karenina (dir. Wright) (review)

"Romantic love will be the last illusion of the old world order."

18. The Gatekeepers (dir. Moreh) (review)

"You can't make peace using military means."

17. Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Anderson)

"What kind of bird are you?"

16. Queen of Versailles (dir. Greenfield)

"Do you get strength from your marriage?"

Highlights: 2012's Best Opening Sequence...

... is The Place Beyond The Pines (directed by Derek Cianfrance).

The opening sequence is as elusive as the film had been until the moment of its TIFF premiere. Taking advantage of Ryan Gosling's incredible physique, the heavily prominent body art, and a leather jacket vaguely reminiscent of the one he sported in Drive, Cianfrance's camera follows Gosling without showing us his face as he plays around with his knife, puts clothes on, walks a long distance from his trailer through an admiring crowd to finally show us his visage as he puts on a helmet and enters an extreme motor-riding exhibition. It's a beautifully shot, deliberately edited sequence that sets the pace for the rest of the film and excites the unsuspecting viewer to no end.


All 'Best of 2012' Entries...

Short Take: The Place Beyond the Pines

Grade: A-

* A shorter version of this review was originally posted at The Film Experience during TIFF12.

Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to his marriage drama Blue Valentine is a three-part genre piece about a stunt motorcycle rider (Ryan Gosling) who enters a life of crime when he realizes that a short fling in the past with Romina (Eva Mendes) has resulted in a son. When a young cop (Bradley Cooper) gets involved with his case, his criminal activities take an abrupt turn.

Fans of Cianfrance's previous film and also those who were expecting "Drive redux" based on the minimal promotional material available are in for a surprise, though in my case the surprise was a very happy one. This robust story of complex morality and corruption is told with sensitivity and gravitas. It is intermittently a white-knuckle action film that keeps you squirming on the edge of your seat and a dense drama of Shakespearean gravity that explores father-son relationships. Think of it as a crime thriller with the emotional punch of Blue Valentine.

Gosling gives yet another superbly intense performance, and Cooper and Dane DeHaan steal the show with their surprising depth. Ultimately, though, the star of the show is cinematographer Sean Bobbit, whose graceful work in the film's more intimate moments makes for an interesting juxtaposition to the Grand Prix-inspired dynamism of its action-packed first half.

Given the presence of two major Hollywood stars and the potential to market the hell out of the genre elements, The Place beyond the Pines could become a big financial hit, even though it might be too far out of the comfort zone of awards bodies for recognition.

TIFF Diary, Part 3: Four Short Takes

Over at The Film Experience, I've written four short reviews on At Any Price, The Place beyond the Pines, Foxfire and Beyond the Hills. Make sure to check them out!

TIFF Lineup...So Far

Nina Hoss in Barbara

The way I approach my ticket selection at TIFF every year is not to jump to films that I most want to see, but to first go for titles that I suspect will be sold out quicker. More often that not, there are some overlaps between these two sets of films, but just as often, my wish list includes films that go unnoticed for the first few days of ticket sales, allowing me to get to them once I've got the loftier titles out of the way. Although, as I've mentioned several times before here and on The Film Experience, the festival's biggest attractions usually aren't close to the top of my list. I came this close to being tempted by seeing The Master at the fest - for many people the experience of watching Boogie Nights is their best TIFF memory, though I think that's partly because Paul Thomas Anderson was more of a surprise package back then - but eventually I decided against it because of its pre-determined October 12th release in Toronto. I can always wait longer when there are other options at hand with no release date.

Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond the Pines

Anyway, for now, there are ten films that I will watch for sure as I just finalized my ticket package. I'll be adding maybe another ten or so in the coming days and I'm hoping that my hunch that films like Ernest & Celestine, Like Someone in Love, The Central Park Five, Mea Maxima Culpa, The Suicide Shop, The Hunt, etc. will not sold out by Monday proves to be correct. I'd hate to miss out on any of those. We'll see. But you can look forward to my coverage of all of this at The Film Experience, where since last year, Nathaniel has been nice enough to invite me as his Toronto correspondent.

Christian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills

In the order of their screening dates:
The Place beyond the Pines,  At Any Price, Berberian Sound Studio, Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, Lore, Beyond the Hills, Barbara, Dormant Beauty, What Maisie Knew, To the Wonder