The Best Films of 2012

Instead of going with the usual speech about the subjective nature of film criticism and how one might see this as a weak year, another as a strong year– I'll just say that it was a great year. Perhaps me getting into the swing of life as a critic helped me feel this way. Perhaps we just lucked out with a lot of great films being released in 2012. I can't say, really, but I'm thankful to have seen so many good motion pictures. 

I'm particularly grateful that so many of them featured at festivals in Georgia. "Rabies" and "Restoration" were screened at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. "Welcome to Pine Hill" showed at the Atlanta Film Festival. "Amour," "Rust and Bone" and "Silver Linings Playbook" all featured in Savannah. If you aren't checking out your local film festivals, you are missing out! Sure, you caught plenty of these at your local cinema at some point. But an energy is present at festivals that you can't find elsewhere. You never know when a film is going to come out of nowhere and slap you in the face.

Review: "Robot & Frank" (****)

Frank Langella, a robot and Liv Tyler star in "Robot & Frank"

Despite the fact that Frank Langella has been acting for nearly half a century, I only first noticed him in 2005's "Good Night and Good Luck." In 2007, Langella almost made my personal ballot for his performance in "Starting Out in the Evening." That performance was better than the film, and the same could probably be said for his Oscar nominated work in 2008's "Frost/Nixon." He mostly pops up in supporting roles, but occasionally a tailor-made lead role presents itself. "Robot & Frank" is a prime example, and Langella dominates.