Chronicle (2012)

Title: Chronicle
Release Date: 3 February 2012
Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, Alex Russell
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706593/
My Rating: (7/10) ★★★★★★★✩✩✩

Josh Trank creatively and comically weaves together a found footage tale of teenage angst that, under less visionary leadership, could have been a confusing mess. But here, with complete commitment to the aesthetic and adequate time spent developing major far-fetched plot devices, Chronicle does what most found footage films can only hope to do: make you believe both the impossible scenarios and the implausible camera set ups. Couple this with Dane DeHaan's spot-on performance (making you feel for the character even though most of the time he is relegated to off camera VO's or extreme closeups), and you got a winning combo.

Haywire (2012)

Title: Haywire
Release Date: 20 January 2012
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Antonia Banderas, Michael Fassbender
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506999/
My Rating: (5/10) ★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩

Maybe I wanted to hate it the moment I found out they digitally altered Gina Carano's voice to be lower because they wanted the actress to have more depth. Or maybe I wanted to hate it because it was the biggest waste of an all-star male cast since The Departed (if Michael Douglas had more than two lines I didn't hear them). But if you can overlook the fact that the lead character sounds like she's speaking in a vacuum the whole time (which does NOTHING for immersion), or the fact that Ewan McGregor bears a striking resemblance to Kiefer Sutherland, then you'll be pretty entertained with a few of the ass-kicking sequences...even though the film was a poor man's SALT in terms of production value. I do regard it as also a rich man's SALT in the fact that I didn't have to sit through two hours of Angelina Jolie. And you know this script went to her first. Maybe then I would have paid more attention to Michael Douglas.

Man On A Ledge (2012)

Title: Man on a Ledge
Release Date: 27 January 2012
Directed by: Asger Leth
Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568338/
My Rating: (6/10) ★★★★★★✩✩✩✩

My legs felt stiff every time the camera exploited the fact that Sam Worthington was on a ledge. Which, as it is the central device of the film, was quite often. But we're not here to discuss my fear of heights or my fear of ever seeing Elizabeth Banks in a lead role ever again (love you on 30 Rock girl). Since it is, on the surface, a movie about a man trying to prove his innocence I find it to be a gaping, overlooked plot hole that he had to go about proving that innocence in many illegal ways. But whatever, it's a jewelry heist film. But it's also a quirky buddy comedy in which the Latin girlfriend is actually referred to as a Chihuahua at one point and says spanish curse words a lot (because, hey that's what Latinas do when they're emotional). But don't you dare take her hot pink bra and panties away from her in the middle of a jewel bust or shit is gonna go down.

Jamie Bell is cute though.

The Woman in Black (2012)

Title: The Woman in Black
Release Date: 3 February 2012
Directed by: James Watkins
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596365/
My Rating: (5/10) ★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩

It's a curious situation to be completely on edge during a film in which absolutely nothing is happening. Sometimes the mark of a good director, if discussed in terms of his ability to build tension out of thin air. But in this case, where nothing was happening in terms of plot and character development, I can't help but cast the blame on the frequent jump cuts for exposing that nothing was actually happening while casting a furrowed brow at the man at the helm. So James Watkins, consider this my personal correspondence. In your next film, I hope you steer clear of the jump cut + loud clang method of scaring an audience. You've used up all your freebies for years to come. May your next effort rely on a subtler, more psychological approach. I bet you'd be good at it, as there were hints throughout this film. But too much is too much and the next film you direct I'm bringing ear muffs just in case.