The Most Overrated Movies of 2012

There were some good movies this pasty year, some great ones (emphasis on the word "some"), and some bad ones. Unfortunately, there were some that we were told were good, but actually were quite bad. How easy it is to pick on those which were destined to be bad; I only wish more critics would call out those movies that were truly bad even though they received such high reviews. Here's a look at some of those such films:

Brave
Educator and writer Herb Kohl noted in a review of books written for elementary school students that the literature sections included classic European tales like Snow White and Cinderella, "tales of royalty and wealth filled with passive or wicked females, evil step-parents, pure and handsome princes...Young women need to be rescued from older women, purified for marriage into royalty or sacrificed to save their fathers." Pixar's "Brave" offered an opportunity to break away from this typical Disney portrayal of princesses. At first it seemed it would be true. Not only is the princess portrayed in the movie a lot tougher than the male characters but also is up against her mother, who is both un-evil and her actual parent. Unfortunately, that's where the opportunity ends. This movie is dull, and disappointingly so. What could have been a unique moment for tough princesses shies away into an unfortunate mess.

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Angry that Ben Affleck wasn't nominated for Best Director?  You can blame A) the Academy, B) the critics who for some reason adored "Beasts of the Southern Wild," and C) director Benh Zeitlin, who was for some odd reason nominated for Best Director instead of Affleck. Admittedly, Zeitlin has a talent, and I hope I enjoy his future work more than this one, but "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is interesting and appealing only if you've never seen "Whale Rider," "Where the Wild Things Are," and a whole host of other surreal movies about children.

The Cabin in the Woods
What a joy it was to see Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins in such wonderful roles. Unfortunately, the focus of the movie is on the "horror" scenes, which are not only un-scary but ridiculous. But that's the point, some will say. It's a joke, they will say. If it's a joke, then the joke's on me.

Killing Them Softly
Director Andrew Dominik and star Brad Pitt tried to recreate what worked so well in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." They failed. They would have us believe that in the world of "Killing Them Softly," angry thugs and murderers sit around watching C-SPAN and talking politics. At different points, Pitt's character goes on diatribes about Jefferson and different current events. "America's not a country," he says, "it's a business." Wow. That's deep.

Pitch Perfect
You've seen "Mean Girls" and "Bridesmaids," so skip "Pitch Perfect," because it's basically the musical version of these two movies, stripped of any enjoyment.

The Avengers
Can somebody please, please tell me what's so fantastic about this movie? Is it the silly dialogue? The annoying characters? The orgy of CGI effects? The headache-inducing fight scenes? The wooden dialogue? The bad acting to match the wooden dialogue? What a terribly overrated movie.  


I don't have the energy to complain any more, but I'd also like to issue a hiss to "Oslo, August 31st," "Gayby," and "The Master."  Hopefully, next year will feature less overrated movies.




Movies, movies, theater, cinema, watch, watching, watches, view,  see, saw, celluloid, cine, cinema, cinematics, cinematograph, feature, film, flick, motion picture,moving picture, photoplay, picture, screenplay, show, silent*, silver screen, talkie,talking picture, videotape, Brave, Cabin in the Woods, Pitch Perfect, Avengers, Killing Them Softly, Beasts of the Southern Wild