Compare Your Top Films of 2012 With Roger Ebert’s

December 28, 2012

By Tom Blunt

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Ben Affleck in ‘Argo’/Photo © Claire Folger/Warner Bros

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Of all the end-of-the-year lists, Roger Ebert’s is the most poignant. A recent injury (unrelated to his cancer) has kept him from being able to expound on his top ten films of 2012 the way he’d like to, but you can still see the list and read a few of his thoughts. Not surprising to see “Argo” and “The Life of Pi” among his top picks, but I was bowled over to see “End of Watch” ranked so highly. I’ll have to circle back and check that one out…

While we’re looking back, it seems like a timely occasion to revisit 2011′s “New Year’s Eve.” Nathan Rabin has devoted his most recent “My World of Flops” column to the lackluster charms of this festive little film, which he describes as “a heart-shaped Mylar balloon of a movie from which no humanity, reality, or authentic emotion can emerge.” You know 2013 will be better than 2012, because we’ll have all put that much more distance between ourselves and this dud.

Yet another reason the future’s looking brighter: Robert Zemeckis is giving up on his motion-capture animated remake of “Yellow Submarine.” The technology has come a long way since the creepy, dead-faced children in “The Polar Express,” but based on his latest attempt (“A Christmas Carol“) you can’t really say that Zemeckis has learned how to wield it.

In an interview with Deadline, comic actor extraordinaire Sacha Baron Cohen recalls auditioning for the chorus of “Les Miserables” when he was fresh out of college. Unable to learn the choreographed steps, Cohen ended up doing “some very bad breakdancing in the corner.” Suffice to say he was not cast, but I’ll bet that director is having second thoughts now.

Tags: Argo, Les Miserables, Robert Zemeckis, Roger Ebert, Sacha Baron Cohen, The Life of Pi