2012 Films In-Review...

2012 wasn't exactly a bumper year for cinema trips. I used to go as many as thirty times in a year, but with the rising cost of fuel (it's a 70 mile round trip to our nearest decent multiplex), and the piss-take ticket prices, not-to-mention the devolving abilities of multiplex staff, I've reduced my cinema attendance to only what needs to be seen immediately and on the big screen. Otherwise, the money you would have spent on a cinema ticket can pay for half-or-most of a DVD or Blu-Ray (replete with extra content and available for repeated viewings).

Anyway, here was my 2012 at the cinema in-review:

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Flavours of the Month: December 2012...

LOOKS:

Married With Children: Seasons 8, 9, 10 & 11 - the last four seasons were on sale, so I snatched them up. It was about time to finish this up after a decade of very slowly catching up on the box sets. Season 8 got off to a very shaky start (the first episode was damn-near laugh free, and the second episode was only marginally better), but they soon rediscovered their footing. The show got zanier throughout season 9 and 10 (even breaking the fourth wall numerous times), but the plots remained interesting, and the inclusion of a larger cast of regular side characters (such as Al's "No Ma'am" buddies) opened up some great new avenues for humour. The 11th and final season was a touch weak in certain ways - the structure of the show was changed, introducing a "cold open" and a "tag" at the end of the episode, rather than a straight-shot Act I and Act II, as had been the case for the previous ten seasons.
Click "READ MORE" below for more Looks, Sounds, Vibes & Flavours for December 2012...

The Dark Knight Rises (Spoiler-Free) Review...

What's it about?

The closing chapter in Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed blockbusting trilogy of Batman films, which began with 2005's Batman Begins, and continued with 2008 phenomenon The Dark Knight. It's now eight years since the events of the previous film, and we find Gotham to be on an even keel at last. Bruce Wayne is now a shut-in, and Batman is no more ... that is until Bane, a muscle-bound brute of superior intelligence, seeks to turn the city over to its people in his own inimitable way.

Who would I recognise in it?

Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cottilard, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and more.

Great/Good/Alright/Shite?

Following the success and iconography of The Dark Knight was always going to be a tall order, but in the hands of Christopher Nolan & Co, it was always going to be a safe bet that this closing chapter in his Batman trilogy was going to rock a fair amount of socks - and make no mistake, socks are indeed rocked.

On a personal note I have to say that while I was always going to see this movie, the trailers leading up to its release - for some reason - didn't inspire all that much anticipation in me. Perhaps I was spoiled by those fantastic trailers for Prometheus, however in a way this helped with my viewing experience. I knew I'd enjoy the flick, and I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't walk in with my anticipation set so high, that no movie imaginable could ever conquer such a height. Instead, having sought to avoid spoilers and temper my excitement, I had a better viewing experience as a result.

Bruce Wayne, having hung up his Batman gear after the events of The Dark Knight, has become the stuff of Gotham rumour and gossip - imagined as a deranged Howard Hughes-like hermit, he hides away on his vast estate as the rest of the city enjoys the tranquillity of Gotham's now-safe streets after a law enacted in the name of Harvey Dent has locked thugs and crime lords alike behind bars. Enjoying this new-found freedom more-so than anyone, are the city's rich, whose only real worry is Anne Hathaway's cat burglar (aka Selina Kyle), who seeks a golden ticket out of her life of crime. Long gone are the sly puns and purring of Michelle Pfeifer, and whatever the hell Halle Berry was thinking ... no, here, much like with Heath Ledger's Joker, comes a more realistic adversary based more in reality and less in theatricality. Rest easy, the early fears of discovering that Nolan's trilogy closer was to feature Cat Woman, are to be found nowhere within the confines of this film - Hathaway absolutely knocks the role out of the park.

Click "READ MORE" below for the rest of this spoiler-free review...