My favorite movies of 2012:
1. Atlas Shrugged. They really did this one right. I am surprised that it was not more popular at the box office. A must-see for objectivists and libertarians. Don't bother to see Part One though, it was not nearly as good. Atlas Shrugged Part Two stands by itself, and was very impressive.
2. The Avengers. The first truly incredible 3-D action movie. As a lifelong Buffy fan, it was nice to have another chance to see Joss Whedon work his magic. I wonder how long it will be before all movies and TV shows are in 3-D. Probably only a matter of time.
3. Batman. Surprisingly this movie had a very libertarian, anti-socialism message in the end, and it was a fun film with great action and some unexpected twists. Implausible at times, but well thought out and good execution by good actors.
4. Skyfall. Finally, the producers have decided to return James Bond to what made the classic 007 films great. Enough of all that new stuff, the last two Bond movies were horrible! This one was better, and may have saved the franchise. Implausible, but fun.
What I am looking forward to seeing: The Hobbit. Need I say more? Although I wish they would have done the entire novel as one 9 hour-long movie. I would have watched it from start to finish.
What I have no interest in seeking: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two. I absolutely LOVED the original Twilight movie, but each sequel was worse than the one before. Breaking Dawn Part One was sheer propaganda for the pro-life movement, with the whole Bella's baby thing. I have no problem with a movie having a message, but there has to actually be some sort of entertainment injected into the movie to carry you along with the ideas. By the way, on the subject of Twilight, Twilight is Pride and Prejudice with vampires, and New Moon is Romeo and Juliet with vampires. Well-written and clever, but these are plots borrowed from the classics, these were not original inventions. Also it seems somehow dishonest to make a movie franchise based around hot teenage guys and then build it as a message about the wrongness of sex before marriage. The message isn't necessarily bad, it's just inconsistent and self-contradictory with the appeal of the movies.
