Amy’s 2012 Movies Revisited

We’re nearly 3 months away from the end of the year, and though 2013 still seems to be a rather lackluster year (again), I had some time to  look back at last year reminding myself that I HATE to make up my “best of” lists right when the year ends. I blame, most of all, distribution — OF COURSE! — Distribution, be it traditional via local distributors or online, has always been a nightmare of mine.

Your list of bests and mine probably should differ a lot. Some look for innovative techniques, others innovative storytelling… some go for the art and others for the entertainment. My list has no specific theme, but I generally go for feelings.

Surprisingly — or unsurprisingly — Girlfriend & Boyfriend remains my favorite movie of last year.

Rank Favorite 2012 Movies as Seen in 2012 Status Favorite 2012 Movies Seen by 2013 Status
1 GF*BF (女朋友*男朋友) (2012, Taiwan) = GF*BF (女朋友*男朋友) (2012, Taiwan) =
2 Le Tableau (2011, France) / Barfi! (2012, India) *
3 Argo (2012, USA) The Hunt (Jagten) (2012, Denmark) *
4 Shokuzai (贖罪) (2012, Japan — TV Series) / Cloud Atlas (2012, Germany, USA, HK, Singapore) +
5 Cloud Atlas (2012, Germany, USA, HK, Singapore) + The Master (2012, USA) *
6 The Avengers (2012, USA) / Argo (2012, USA)
7 Call Me Kuchu (2012, USA, Uganda) / Drug War (毒戰) (2012, China, Hong Kong) *
8 Looper (2012, USA, China) / Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪 ) (2012, Japan) *
9 Brave (2012, USA) / Blancanieves (2012, Spain) *
10 Love in the Buff (春嬌與志明) (2012, Hong Kong) / The Concubine (후궁: 제왕의 첩) (2012, Korea) *

Of course, this whole list may have changed by next year. ;P

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

8 Responses

  1. mirella says:

    Forgive if it is a stupid question but… what do those symbols mean in this context? / + – * ?

    • amy says:

      @mirella, nej. No prob, it’s a bit sketchy. / are films no longer ranking, * are new films and + and – are whether the movies moved up or down.

  2. Distribution can be a problem even if you want to see things as legal as possible in the States but don’t have much entertainment budget. I know that the DVD of Drug War is coming to my library, but I hope my library picks up Wolf Children and Blancanieves too. Sometimes Asian movies from the past year (like The Land of Hope and Romancing in Thin Air) make it to free Hulu as well.

    • amy says:

      @Diandra Rodriguez, distribution is the #1 reason probably down here. There aren’t many online content streamers (I don’t think Hulu is available, and Netflix has a relative smaller selection because they just started out). Amazon video or mp3 isn’t available outside the US, and iTunes has a relatively limited library for movies.

      Distributors aren’t too keen on the non-big-Hollywood type of movie. but if it’s big on the awards, they’d eventually bring them down… maybe a couple of months later. Same with some European arthouse- though there have been instances that they put a 2/3-year-old movie in theaters just as it’s broadcast on cable. Asian movies aren’t all that big. I don’t think they ever brought Mother, but they did eventually bring The Host. I hope they increase their business of Asian commercial films coz we really don’t have that “it’s subtitled” problem since Hollywood movies are subbed anyway.

      They did join the world premier of Chennai Express though, so that was my first.

      A few years ago, I thought I was so posh with my taste in commercial entertainment. LOL, it just turns out that I have the taste of “the people” here xD Not the boring upscale ones. The only thing I haven’t gotten into is Chicha music haha

      • @amy, the entertainment industry should look into the distribution woes of fans across the planet who are willing to spend money instead of pirating if only the titles were available within a reasonable amount of time. Even with more obscure works, there can be micro-releases online or limited DVD runs or such, some way that’s not a major financial investment but able to sate the interest of niche markets.

        haha, funny that over here I’m into a few of the ’60’s and ’70’s chicha songs on some of the compilation CDs released in the States.

  1. December 31, 2013

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