Movies I've watched in 2012
Being too busy to complete a full 365 day movie challenge, I decided to do the best I could, and watch as many new movies as I can in 2012, keeping track on this page.
Each movie is given a star rating with five stars being the best.
Click on a movie's poster to view information about that movie, a summary, and a small, personal review.
This page only includes movies seen for the first time, no rewatches. A * next to the title means it was watched in the cinema.
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Key Cast: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum
Run Time: One hour 49 minutes.
Summary: Having known each other since high school, two partners are sent undercover to solve a drug case in a high school.
Date Watched: May 25th, 2012.
Likes: I love any film with Jonah Hill in it, he's just brilliant. Nice mix of their friendship in with how they were treated at high school. I loved that they were in opposite cliques when they were in school, and how thrown Jenko was by it. Also loved Johnny Depp and the link to the TV show at the end, very very clever.
Dislikes: There didn't seem to be much relevance to Channing's character in most of the story, even though it's supposed to be about both cops it was very much more focussed on Schmidt. More opportunities for humour throughout.
Key Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth.
Run Time: One hour 52 minutes.
Summary: Since Bruce Banner's 'incident,' people have become increasingly interested in him and the gamma in his blood stream, and want to use it for developing soldiers.
Date Watched: May 24th, 2012.
Likes: Decent length for a Marvel character movie, usually they are unnecessarily long (but maybe thats just because Sony made this one). Loved the links to The Avengers, especially for the age of this movie. Cameo from Robert Downey Jr made the entire second half of the film worth it.
Dislikes: Not sure if I'm biased towards Ruffalo as Hulk since The Avengers, but Norton just didn't make me feel anything, I wasn't on any one person's side for the whole movie. Also the fact that Tim Roth couldn't seem to decide which accent he was putting on for this movie was just irritating.
Key Cast: Jesse Metcalfe, Brittany Snow, Sophia Bush
Run Time: One hour 29 minutes.
Summary: Kate is a nobody. Until she gets mixed up with John Tucker's ex's and they plan his downfall.
Date Watched: May 23rd, 2012.
Likes: Decent cast, nice amount of laughs.
Dislikes: The main character switches whos side she's on too often, makes it hard to follow/connect to the story in places.
Key Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy.
Run Time: One hours 49 minutes.
Summary: People stop ageing at 25, and time is the new currency. Will sets out to change the way the system works for good.
Date Watched: April 30th, 2012.
Likes: Very, very cleverly thought out movie plot. With the whole 'time zones' and paying for everything with minutes and hours being a really interesting twist. Really good cast also.
Dislikes: I was a bit confused about what Will was hoping to achieve, by the end I agreed with the bad guys as to why time should be kept the way it was...
Key Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston.
Run Time: Two hours 12 minutes.
Summary: When the fate of the world is being threatened by Loki and his army, Dr Fury assembles a group of super humans to defend the earth.
Date Watched: April 26th, 2012.
Likes: Easily the best Marvel movie, ever. Every character had the perfect amount of time spent on their back story. Really, really funny. Brilliantly written. The only superhero movie so far that's managed to keep me entertained for the entire length.
Dislikes: I was a little confused as to how Hulk changed towards the end, but that might just be because I haven't seen all the movies- literally no flaws.
Key Cast: Russell Brand, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren.
Run Time: One hour 50 minutes.
Summary: When uncontrollable Arthur is forced to marry a girl he hates in order to keep his inheritance, he is faced with a difficult decision.
Date Watched: April 22nd, 2012.
Likes: Fantastic writing, hilarious at all the right moments, with really nice, almost poetic dialogue. Perfect cast for the story that was being told.
Dislikes: Towards the end it slowed a little bit, other than that literally brilliant. I didn't expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Key Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman.
Run Time: One hour 55 minutes.
Summary: Thor is banished from his home realm and forced to adapt to life on earth.
Date Watched: April 19th, 2012.
Likes: Really well put together story, definitely one of the best, if not the best avengers film. Not unnecessarily long like a lot of the comic movies.
Dislikes: Like literally all of the Marvel films, it was a little slow towards the end.
Key Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, McFly.
Run Time: One hour 43 minutes.
Summary: Ashley (Lohan) is known to many as the luckiest girl alive, Jake (Pine), however, is the opposite..
Date Watched: April 19th, 2012.
Likes: Chris Pine was still the most attractive man on earth back in '06. Typical teen chick flick with Lindsay Lohan, McFly were brilliant. Very funny.
Dislikes: Wouldn't have been gripping at all with a different cast, could've been a little more exciting/less predictable.
Key Cast: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel.
Run Time: One hour 45 minutes.
Summary: When Peter gets engaged, he comes to the shocking realisation that he doesn't have any friends, and sets out trying to make some.
Date Watched: March 29th, 2012.
Likes: Nice enough story/message, Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are both brilliant.
Dislikes: Could've been a lot funnier for a comedy. The first half was a lot better than the second, it lost its spark a little along the way..
Key Cast: Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon.
Run Time: An hour 37 minutes.
Summary: Two undercover agents end up in competition over who gets the girl they're both dating.
Date Watched: March 27th, 2012.
Likes: Chris Pine is just so attractive it literally makes the entire movie worth watching, decent enough story with a good amount of action. Some good comedy elements too
Dislikes: Had a lot more opportunities for comedy, was no real message in the end... I expected the ending to be different and I can't help but feel I would've preferred my way
Key Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci
Run Time: 2 hours 22 minutes.
Summary: Katniss Everdeen gets thrown into an arena with 23 other teenagers where they must fight to the death.
Date Watched: March 22nd, 2012.
Likes: Perfect cast, amazing adaptation of the book, the cinematography is incredible and the whole film had really good pace.
Dislikes: Next to nothing... the last scene between Katniss and Peeta missed some important info out, but that could easily be in the next one instead.
Key Cast: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paide, Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins
Run Time: One hour 37 minutes.
Summary: Oliver Tate finds himself caught in a mess as he tries to woo the girl he likes, keep his parents together, and remain popular at school at the same time.
Date Watched: March 22nd, 2012.
Likes: Really nice cinematography throughout, generally a really nicely put together film, quite funny in places
Dislikes: Didn't really seem to go anywhere, there weren't any really dramatic moments so it felt like it was lacking something
Key Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Liev Schreiber.
Run Time: One hour 47 minutes.
Summary: The story of Wolverine, and his involvement with the government that lead to his creation.
Date Watched: March 15th, 2012.
Likes: Good casting and story, not too long like some of these movies. Love the foreshadowing/link to First Class.
Dislikes: Got a little slow occasionally.
Key Cast: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann.
Run Time: Two hours 9 minutes.
Summary: A one night stand leads to an unwanted pregnancy, after decided to keep it, the couple decide to try and make it work.
Date Watched: March 1st, 2012.
Likes: Fantastic cast, really nice story with a good amount of comedy vs serious stuff
Dislikes: Not AS funny as a lot of 'these' movies, was a little slow in the middle.
Key Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow
Run Time: Two hours 4 minutes.
Summary: After the success of Iron Man, more people and companies start trying to recreate some armour for themselves.
Date Watched: February 29th, 2012.
Likes: Still a fresh story, it definitely hasn't lost the spark from the first film. Love Rhodey in this one, and the cameos of other Marvel characters and hints towards The Avengers were great.
Dislikes: It wouldn't have hurt to be a bit shorter, not as much Stark sarcasm/comedy in this one.
Key Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin.
Run Time: An hour 28 minutes.
Summary: A group travel across America in search of things close to them, whilst trying to survive Zombieland.
Date Watched: February 23rd, 2012.
Likes: Brilliant cast, really funny, great cameo from Bill Murray, just the right mix of comedy, gore and story.
Dislikes: It ended very suddenly, it felt as if it was building towards something more.
Key Cast: Robert Downey Dr, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Run Time: Two hours 6 minutes.
Summary: Wealthy weapons master is forced to create a metal suit to escape a life-threatening situation. The suit that will later give him the name 'Iron Man.'
Date Watched: February 22nd, 2012.
Likes:Perfect amount of action, really good story.
Dislikes: Was a little slow in the middle, probably could've been shorter.
Key Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Nick Frost
Run Time: An hour 28 minutes.
Summary: A teen gang defend their block when they cross paths with an alien invasion.
Date Watched: February 18th, 2012.
Likes: Really interesting, good cast and story. Very real in the settings and the accents, and nicely funny.
Dislikes: More opportunities for comedy, could've taken a shaun of the dead/hot fuzz route easily and succeeded. Little bit of wasted potential for some of the characters who weren't focussed on more.
Key Cast: Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, Kevin James, Chris Rock
Run Time: An hour 42 minutes.
Summary: After their high school basketball coach passes away, the old team reunite for the funeral and a get together, bringing all their kids along for the ride.
Date Watched: February 17th, 2012.
Likes: Really funny, some hilarious moments, great how everyone's different stories were included in the overall picture.
Dislikes: Didn't really have any real plot or distinct moments, it was just varying jokes one after the other.
Key Cast: Jason Segal, Chris Cooper, Amy Adams.
Run Time: One hour 43 minutes.
Summary:3 fans track down the Muppets in order to get them to reform to save their classic theatre.
Date Watched: February 17th, 2012.
Likes: Cleverly done, the use of cameos is brilliant (i squealed in the cinema when Jim Parsons appeared), and all the 'we're making a movie' jokes are hilarious.
Dislikes: Some of the musical numbers were a little TOO cringe worthy to be funny, little bit of secondhand embarrassment.
Key Cast: Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson, Michael Cane
Run Time: An hour 46 minutes.
Summary: Lightening and Mater travel across the globe for a unique race, and Mater finds himself mixed in some tricky business.
Date Watched: February 13th, 2012.
Likes: Fantastic story, a great choice to follow Mater more in the sequel, brilliantly thought out and unique for a pixar sequel (because lets face it, sequels films like 'Cars' are usually a crash and burn, pun not intended). All the animation on the different cities is so good too, I loved all the London section. Best laugh out loud moments were the earlier scenes with all the Japanese stuff going on, (Mater in that bathroom had me cackling). A fun game to play whilst watching this is definitely 'guess the guest voice artist.'
Dislikes: Literally can find no flaws... if you couldn't already tell.
Key Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds.
Run Time: An hour 35 minutes.
Summary: Struggling after his wife's death, a lawyer travels to an old house to save his job, only to find it and the surrounding village are haunted by its previous owner.
Date Watched: February 12th, 2012.
Likes: Great suspense throughout, the plot wasn't predictable like most horror movies.
Dislikes: Took a little long to get going, perhaps would've benefitted from more gore, even if that meant pushing the rating up to a 15.
Key Cast: Ben Barnes, Robert Sheehan, Martin McCann
Run Time: An hour 54 minutes.
Summary: Two bands grew up together, one grew up to be the world famous U2, whilst the other was left trying to catch up.
Date Watched: February 10th, 2012.
Likes: I'm such a sucker for movies about well known bands, and this was an interesting twist on that, great story and the perfect cast (Bono actually looked like Bono??)
Dislikes: Had more potential for comedy, wasn't exactly 'funny' but still entertaining.
Key Cast: Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Rebecca Hall
Run Time: An hour 52 minutes.
Summary: A man discovers a way to stay young and healthy forever.
Date Watched: February 10th, 2012.
Likes: Good cast, creepy throughout, great story.
Dislikes: Had potential to be a lot scarier/more horror-y, was a little long.
Key Cast: Mae Whitman, Michael C. Allen, John Atwood.
Run Time: An hour 35 minutes.
Summary: The story of a teenager's struggle with choosing and applying for college.
Date Watched: February 9th, 2012.
Likes: Good cast, the lead girl is quirky.
Dislikes: Generally terrible story, the kind of story that should feature in a movie but not be the entire plot.
Key Cast: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O'Connor.
Run Time: An hour 37 minutes.
Summary: In the 1890's, two friends both lie about their names in order to win over women.
Date Watched: February 7th&8th, 2012.
Likes: Considering I watched it in college and it is everything I dislike in movies, it was actually pretty funny, Firth and Everett have brilliant comic timing.
Dislikes: Overwhelming urge to punch Cecily throughout, not a brilliant story. I'm kind of unsure of how it ended up over an hour but it didn't feel too long.
Key Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell.
Run Time: One hour 23 minutes.
Summary: Three high school friends gain superpowers, and after experimenting with them and building up their strengths, things start to take a turn for the worst.
Date Watched: February 6th, 2012.
Likes: Brilliant story, good twists and plots, the handheld camera effect was cleverly done without being the main focus point, strong cast and just the right length for a movie like this.
Dislikes: It had a couple of continuity cracks, but aside from that literally no flaws.
Key Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel.
Run Time: One hour 48 minutes.
Summary: A bellet dancer gets her dream role of the Swan Queen, but it causes her to slowly lose her mind.
Date Watched: February 3rd, 2012.
Likes: Good plot with plenty of twists and creepy moments to keep you interested throughout, great cast.
Dislikes: It was a lot of build up for a very sudden ending, not sure what the last message there was...
Key Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino
Run Time: Two hours 42 minutes.
Summary: Former superhero Rorschach launches his own investigation when a fellow superhero is murdered.
Date Watched: January 28th, 2012.
Likes: Nice special effects, decent cast, interesting way of narration throughout.
Dislikes: About an hour too long, way to slow paced for an action movie. Was essentially boring for the most part.
Key Cast: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters
Run Time: An hour 50 minutes.
Summary: Billy Elliot is forced to make a difficult decision: his love for dance or his family.
Date Watched: January 26th, 2012.
Likes: Such a sweet story, and the little boy is so talented
Dislikes: Takes a decent amount of time to get going, considering how many years it's been of me not getting round to watching it, didn't fully live up to my expectations.
Key Cast: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish
Run Time: An hour 50 minutes.
Summary: A young girl is put into a mental home by her abusive father, and she dreams up an entire alternative reality in which she plans her escape.
Date Watched: January 26th, 2012.
Likes: Great cinematography, general dark tones are really interesting, as are the graphics.
Dislikes: The plot was just terrible, and confusing until the end. The action and fighting scenes, although clever, got boring quickly. It lacked any real depth, I didn't feel anything.
Key Cast: Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey.
Run Time: One hour 45 minutes.
Summary: Viola just wants to play soccer, so when her twin brother leaves town, she pretends to be him in order to make the boys team.
Date Watched: January 21st, 2012.
Likes: Pretty hilarious in places, Amanda Bynes is brilliantly awkward.
Dislikes: Generally a topic that doesn't interest me, some scenes could've been better.
Key Cast: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone.
Run Time: One hour 58 minutes.
Summary: One husband's life changes dramatically when his wife asks for a divorce. He meets new friend Jacob at a bar, who is sure to bring a dramatic change of events.
Date Watched: January 21st, 2012.
Likes: Emma Stone, the scene towards the end with all the men fighting literally had me in tears, it picked up towards the end.
Dislikes: The entire first hour was poor, particularly disappointing for a Steve Carell movie. Generally boring aside from the few scenes with Hannah and Jacob. Seriously lacking in laugh out loud moments considering the cast and the writer.
Key Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence.
Run Time: Two hours 12 minutes.
Summary: The X Men rally troupes of mutants to prevent World War III from breaking out (whilst falling in love wi-what do you mean that isn't the real story?)
Date Watched: January 19th, 2012.
Likes: Great story, amazing cast, loads of action, and more emotions than most superhero/action movies
Dislikes: It was lacking something that's common in superhero movies, not sure what, it just didn't feel like most
Key Cast: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender
Run Time: Two hours 3 minutes.
Summary: 15 year-old Mia's mum get's a new boyfriend, and everything changes.
Date Watched: January 4th&18th, 2012.
Likes: Really nice cinematography throughout
Dislikes: Some of the acting was very dodgy, I was made to watch without knowing the storyline and it made me a little uncomfortable
Key Cast: Chris Evans, Stanley Tucci, Hayley Atwell.
Run Time: Two hours 4 minutes.
Summary: The story of how Captain America came to be.
Date Watched: January 11th, 2012.
Likes: The action and the general story/captain america
Dislikes: Took a while to get started, was probably a little longer than necessary