Byzantium

We are in the middle of vampire craze in cinema. Ever since Twilight, there was a bit of a renaissance when it comes to vampire films - there seem to be at least three new big productions every year. From television shows like True Blood and The Vampire Diaries through European flicks like Livide and Let the Right One in to the big productions like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Underworld series, vampires are everywhere these days.

The Impossible

On Sunday, 26 December 2004 for many the end of the world really happened. It was the day of Indian Ocean earthquake - the resulting tsunami is given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian tsunami, Indonesian tsunami, and the Boxing Day tsunami.The earthquake was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest-hit country, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

The Master

I don't know what happened to Paul Thomas Anderson. He is a great director, bot sometime after Magnolia a certain shift occurred. I divide his movies into two groups - one that has great, entertaining films with clear story and wonderful acting and other that is somewhat experimental and, well, only the words "great acting" remain when I describe it. I greatly enjoyed Boogie Nights and Magnolia. I cannot say the same for Punch Drunk Love, There Will be Blood and The Master.

The Best (and Worst) of 2012

Best movie: The Dark Knight Rises

(2. Killer Joe 3. Looper  4. Prometheus  5. Silver Linings Playbook 6. Lincoln 7. Argo 8. The Cabin in the Woods 9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 10. Django Unchained)

Christopher Nolan's masterful conclusion to The Dark Knight trilogy is not only a step up comparing to previous two movies, it's also one of the most epic and incredibly well made action/adventure films I've seen. Directed with much skill, done with great scope and featuring stellar performances from the cast, the movie has been my number 1 of the year for the last six months and though some films came close, not one of them managed to dethrone it. The film has one stand out performance - that delivered by Anne Hathaway as suave and clever Selina Kyle - but it doesn't have the biggest issue The Dark Knight had - the performance so fantastic it puts everyone in the shadow, making the film uneven. Lead by wonderful Christian Bale, the cast delivers earnest performances that are never overshadowed by the film's incredible action set pieces and breathtaking moments.

Anna Karenina

And when you are one of the characters in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina - you probably should. But apart from ridiculous tagline "You cannot ask 'why' about love" the actual movie has many more - and much more serious - problems. I generally like Joe Wright's films - in fact he made only one movie I despise - The Soloist. His Atonement and Hanna were in my top 15 of the respective years they were released in and I thought his Pride and Prejudice was very skillful and heartfelt adaptation of the famous novel. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about his Anna Karenina.

Frankenweenie

I remember the day my beloved hamster died. It was terrible - he was my first pet, well, excluding the fishes in aquarium, and though I couldn't walk him and I almost never let him out of his cage, I really loved him. I cried for days. Now I have a beautiful Yorkie, my first dog ever. He is one year old,  I've known him for 10 months and I love him so much - he wiggles his tail and jumps whenever I get back home, he wakes me up in the morning and he brings toys and drops them next to me when he wants to play. He is my friend.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is director's David O.Russel follow up to his hugely successful The Fighter (which ended 24-year long history of the Academy snubbing Christian Bale). To be honest I was quite surprised that this director took on to adapt that book - which is essentially a romance story. O.Russel strikes me more of a director who would be interested in more manly subjects like war or boxing - it was only recently that I read about O Russell having a son who suffers from bi-polar disorder and that is what made him took interest in this project. But let me tell you this now - Tiffany, the main female character in Silver Linings, would probably kick any boxer's ass and bring him to tears, just by using her wits and passionate words.

The Paperboy

The Paperboy is one of the most divisive movies of the year - it got a fair share of terrible reviews and then it got a lot of positive responses from the audience that was entertained by the film. You probably know two things about the movie - that it includes a scene where Nicole Kidman is peeing on Zac Efron (in the film's defense - it's after he is stung by jelly fish and thanks to Friends we all know what needs to be done in this situation) and that this is a movie for which Kidman got the Golden Globe nomination. The fact that not many people actually got to see that trashy little gem is in its favor - The Paperboy is a fun ride filled with unpredictable twists and turns.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I remember when I first saw The Fellowship of the Ring, 11 years ago. I loved the movie. I loved The Two Towers even more and though I'm not a big fan of The Return of the King it still had many unforgettable and moving moments. The Hobbit, which will be inevitably compared to The Lord of the Rings, really suffers when that comparison is made. There are so many problems with it I hardly know where to begin. It doesn't help that I didn't read the book and yet I still didn't love the movie - what I mean is that I was completely new to this story, yet many times I was really bored.

Flight

Robert Zemeckis is not a risk taker. He makes movies that play things safe - animation, ultimately feel good flicks with Tom Hanks, occasional black comedies. Even his thriller What Lies Beneath, while very good, is pretty subtle for the genre. Flight may just be his ballsiest film to date, but it suffers from incredibly messy script - the film, more often than not, feels very strange - it mixes a drama about addiction, dark comedy and thriller. Many times things are so heavy-handed you are rolling your eyes. But damn if it's not worth seeing.

Lincoln

Uneven. That is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. The film has many moments of cinematic brilliance in it, but it also makes you wonder about how much better it would be if they just stuck to one story. It almost seems, that despite 12 years of research, Spielberg didn't have clear a idea of what he wanted to shoot - the story of the man and the president? Or the story of passing one of the most important amendments to American Constitution? The film is genius when it shows the latter. When it shows the former you keep wishing it would get back to politics as soon as possible.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is an adaptation of David Mitchell's novel of the same title, that everyone has always labeled “unfilmable”. Having seen the film I must agree with that statement - they might have made a film, but is it truly a film if most of it is boring, unwatchable string of scenes? Not since The Tree of Life had I seen the movie that collapses on itself in such a spectacular matter. Come to think of it, I'd rather sit through The Tree of Life again, which has one thing Cloud Atlas doesn't - subtlety - than watch this mess. Cloud Atlas has ambition and many layers. The problem is that each of those layers is more uninteresting than the previous one.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Remember high school? Or should I say - hellish nightmare? The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie - young teenager who is just starting high school. Charlie is shy and socially awkward - he doesn't have any real friends and he spends his time writing letters to mysterious person he calls his "friend", who likely doesn't exist. On the first day of school he is bullied and called names but he also catches the eye of his teacher - when his teacher, played by Paul Rudd, who I think is every one's dream teacher, asks who wrote the thing he just quoted no one answers. But he notices that Charlie wrote the correct answer in his notebook. He didn't raise his hand to reveal it, which is, by the way, what I've been doing all the time back in school.

Trouble with the Curve

I'm sure all of you out there, at one point or another, saw a very specific kind of a movie - the film that's isn't bad per se but while everything should work in theory, it's just boring and forgettable. The problem with Trouble with the Curve is just that - it's cliche chasing cliche and though the story is sweet and actors well suited for their job, the film is quite simply the most generic movie of 2012. And no matter how hard Eastwood and Adams are trying, they can only do so much with the mediocre script.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

I was certain I will love Beasts of the Southern Wild - it's set in Louisiana, the place I love, it shows so much nature, which I love as well, and its protagonist is a child - as a sensitive person such movies usually move me to the very core. Unfortunately, even though I shed a tear few times during this movie, it didn't make a lasting impression on me. It's unique and interesting, but it doesn't have enough going for it to make me want to see it again or to leave a lasting memory in my mind, lasting mark on my heart.

Lawless

There were many movies this year that were worse than Lawless, but out of the ones I've seen none had worse pacing. It's a shame too, because there are many great moments in this movie but overall it bored the hell out of me. The film has few really amazing sequences only to turn into misguided snooze fest for several following scenes. The third act is a complete mess and all in all the only thing that keeps you watching is the lovely cinematography and the talented ensemble of actors. I shouldn't be that surprised, though - John Hillcoat's movies aren't exactly gripping. While his sullen and apocalyptic The Road was a fascinating watch, getting through this movie was a real challenge.

But let's get back to Lawless - based on real events the film tells the story of three brothers - Howard (Jason Clarke), Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Jack (Shia Labeouf) Bondurants, famous for running bootlegging operation during the depression. Howard is a drunk and a muscle, Forrest is the quintessential strong but silent type and Jack, the youngest brother, is a loser and a wannabe gangster. Guess which one of them is protagonist?

Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone is one of those movies that tell the story of two wounded people who find each other. She trains killer whales at the aquarium and performs shows with them. He is an amateur boxer who is a single father without any money, forced to move in with his estranged sister. He takes a job as a bouncer in the bar and one night a woman is punched in the face - it is Stephanie. He offers to drive her to house, on the way there being rude to her, saying that she is dressed like a slut. They get to her house, where her boyfriend argues with her in front of him, after which he leaves, having left his phone number.

Some time after that Stephanie suffers a terrible accident, when the platform at the aquarium collapses - the result is the loss of both of her legs. Helpless and vulnerable, she calls Ali and invites him over. That is how their peculiar relationship begins, as gradually Stephanie learns how to live her life after the terrible loss and Ali becomes more human and aware of other people's feelings. Well, a little bit more human, but still not good enough for me.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

What would you do if you knew that the world will be over in 21 days? Would you have crazy parties where you would do drugs and have a lot of sex? Would you finally go to the places you wanted to see? Would you try to spend as much time as possible with your loved ones? Seeking a Friend for the End of the World shows us the world which is about to end - asteroid Matilda is heading for collision with Earth and it will hit in 21 days.

Argo

In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries - 56 Americans were taken hostage. Six others managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA is ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) devises a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez creates the ruse and proceeds to Iran as its associate producer. However, time is running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House have grave doubts about the operation themselves.

Skyfall

James Bond - probably the most famous secret agent in cinema, womanizer, fan of fancy cars and shaken martinis. The series is 50 years old and Skyfall is 23rd movie in it. James Bond movies have become an iconic series - sequels happen, prequels happen, different franchises appear, but for decades now there was one certainty - that there will be new 007 movie. Hugely successful series, where gigantic amount of money comes not only from movies but also from commercials, contracts and the appeal of the things 007 uses on screen has had its ups and downs. Skyfall belongs in later category.