Before getting into the movies that made of 2012 a year to remember, let’s have a look at the dark side of the screen: those other films that didn’t live up to their expectations. On a moment when sequels, prequels and reboots of tried and tested franchises dominated more than ever the box offices, the Cineplex has never looked so boring; so we’ve made a conscientious effort to avoid them , which unfortunately make us unable to comment on the dubious delights offered by the likes of “Pirates Of The Caribbean 4” or “Transformers 3”.
We didn’t really look forward to Jodie Foster’s directorial effort ‘The Beaver’ as the idea of watching Mel Gibson resorting to ventriloquism to exorcize his demons was enough to put us off; nor to Roland Emmerich dropping a conspiracy theory into Shakespeare’s authorship in ‘Anonymous’ or for Catherine Breillat’s third foray into sexing popular children’s tales up with the über pretentious ‘Sleeping Beauty’, so not too much harm done there.
Elsewhere, a few recent efforts by normally dependable directors such as Lorne Scherfig’s romantic flop “One Day’; Steven Sorderbergh’s spy thriller ‘Haywire’; Montxo Armendariz’s parental abuse drama “Don’t Be Afraid’; Michel Gondry’s by the numbers comic adaptation of ‘The Green Hornet’ or Terence Davies adaptation of Rattigan’s play “The Long Day Closes’ weren’t entirely without merit, but none of them reached the level their authors have accustomed us to. There were, however, sadder examples…