Comments on: Jessica Kiang’s Favorite Films Of 2012

By: RP

RP — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

Jess, I felt EXACTLY the same about Looper. However, your thoughts are exactly why I was disappointed by it and it never kinda came close to making my list. I love the 2nd half (or is it really just the last 30-ish minutes). The humanism as you say, is incredible. But for me, as good as it was, it came a little too late for me to give the whole a great grade.

By: Edward

Edward — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

Alan is so insufferable.

By: Alan B

Alan B — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

"Nonetheless, had it been about 15 minutes shorter". A non-criticism criticism. This is something that we parody movie execs for saying, but apparently film critics get off free for making this nonsense assertion. The novel is long and has a very complicated story, which involve multiple character arcs. If you cut out a great deal of the material (i.e. do what a studio exec want, which is to cut scenes that do not involve the main character), you will still get the bare bones of the story, but you'll also lose the other characters' motivations, which need to change and develop over the course of the story. Any film can be cut down, no matter what the length, so your assertion that – because this complicated story also happens to be long – it should be cut down is nonsense. Here's a question: what would YOU have cut? What scene do YOU think could have been left on the cutting room floor, keeping in mind that the scene's deletion shouldn't detract from the film's thematic concerns, character development etc.

By: Christopher Bell

Christopher Bell — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

I wish you wrote more, and I'm not just saying that because we both managed to avoid the manipulative claws of "Beasts."

By: TheoC

TheoC — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

Great list, I completely agree with your take on the unnecessary backlashes for Moonrise Kingdom and yes Rock of Ages was the movie of the year and Russell Brand was born for the big screen.

By: MongooseCmr

MongooseCmr — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:50:35 +0000

Nice to see some Side by Side love. Really great doc, though some call it one sided