2012: The Best and Worst For Me

2012 is about to finish so, despite the fact that I haven't seen a lot of films, I figured why not make a list of the best and worst for me? First, lets get the films I haven't seen out of the way, so you won't start wondering why this or that didn't "make it". Some of the ones I haven't seen are: The Avengers, Skyfall, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Les Misérables, The Hobbit, Life of Pi, Argo, The Master, etc. etc. As of today, I've only seen 15 films from 2012, so here are my best and worst.

The Best

To this day, I hadn't really seen anything spectacular. Casually, the one that I would consider the best 2012 film I've seen so far is Chained, which I saw this last week. It is a little known thriller starring Vincent D'Onofrio. Neatly acted and overall well done. The rest of the best that I've seen tend to fall more in the B-grade range, but entertaining nonetheless. Films like Savages, The Sound of My Voice, and The Hunger Games, among others, were all entertaining films, albeit not spectacular.

The Middle of the Pack

Not far from the last three I mentioned above, are a group of films that were also entertaining, but leaning more towards average. Films like Prometheus or The Dark Knight Rises could be considered disappointments, but they were far from awful. Other films that would fall in the middle would be Haywire, The Grey, Safe House, and The Raid, among others.

The Worst

Just like I haven't seen anything spectacular or mind-blowing, I haven't seen a truly awful 2012 film. The one I would probably consider the worst would be The Raven. Overall, a mediocre film with pretty good directing, but uneven acting and a mediocre script. After that, I would probably say that Chronicle was very disappointing. I thought the premise was pretty good, I felt the approach was inventive, the acting was solid, but the use of the "handheld camera" ended up being annoying and distracting, and the final act ended up being a mess.

Maybe later, as I end up watching more 2012 films, I'll add more to this entry. But as of now, that would be my feeble list of 2012 best and worst.

Chained: Surprising little film

(Although I tried to refrain from spoilers, there might be some light ones.)

Chained is a little-known film from director Jennifer Lynch with a disturbing premise. A 9-year old kid and his mother are kidnapped by a cab-driving serial killer. After dispatching of the mother, the killer forces the kid to work as both his servant and helper on his secluded home, which goes on for years. I hadn't heard of this film before renting it this week. It was mostly filmed and shown in Canada, and then released directly to video in the US. After watching it, I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.

The role of Bob, the serial killer, falls on the hand of Vincent D'Onofrio. IMO, D'Onofrio is one of the most underrated actors out there, and I just can't understand why he hasn't had more success, or at least more exposure. His performance is disturbing, chilling, scary, but at the same time, he manages to give the character certain levels of humanity. The role of the kidnapped child, who Bob calls Rabbit, belongs to both Evan Bird (9 years) and Eamon Farren (17-18 years), and they both excel in it. They both portray the complexity of Rabbit's relationship with Bob perfectly, as well as the fear and insecurity that an isolated child might feel.

 

As the film progresses, and the years go by, we see dozens and dozens of women dragged into the house by Bob only to end up dead and buried under the house. Meanwhile, Bob assumes the role of paternal figure to Rabbit in his own way. He tries to "educate" Rabbit by giving him a book of anatomy, while forcing him to keep scrapbooks of the news of his kidnappings. In their free time, they "play" with the drivers licenses of the deceased which they both have memorized.

As Rabbit grows older, Bob tries to teach him his "craft", which brings up the question. Will Rabbit grow up to follow Bob's footsteps? Even though Bob removes his chains at one point, is he still "chained" to this fate? The film doesn't necessarily offer an answer, but the ending revelation surely took me by surprise, and made the film feel yet more twisted and sad.

Overall, a surprisingly good little film, with some great performances. Despite its subject, Chained doesn't fall into the slasher genre, and becomes more of a psychological thriller/character study. I fully recommend it. Grade: A

(All pictures belong to Anchor Bay Entertainment and its affiliates)