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My 12 for ’12: The Raid (Redemption) & An Action Aesthetic…

I’m counting down my top twelve films of the year between now and January, starting at #12 and heading to #1. I expect the list to be a little bit predictable, a little bit surprising, a little bit of everything. All films released in the UK and Ireland in 2012 qualify. Sound off below, and let me know if I’m on the money, or if I’m completely off the radar. And let me know your own picks or recommendations.

This is #12

It’s a bit of a stereotype that critics don’t like action movies. It’s one of those handy clichés that gets trotted around whenever some mega-blockbuster brings in a ridiculously large number at the box office after a thrashing from the pundits. I can’t speak for the critics, of course, but I can tell you that the reason I disliked The Bourne Legacy or Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon had nothing to do with an innate dislike of action movies as a genre. I’m a big fan of action movies. However, like any other genre, an action movie needs to be done right.

The Raid does an action movie right.

theraid1

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Haywire Geography: Soderbergh’s Dublin…

It’s rare to see Ireland in a big American film. Of course, I mean the real Ireland, as opposed the “begosh and begorrah” nonsense that we’re treated to in crap like Leap Year, where we’re all a bunch of hicks with silly accents and farmer’s caps. While Ireland has made itself an attractive filming location for films like Braveheart or television shows like The Tudors, I am more referring to movies sit in and around our country in the present day. So not only was it a joy to see Steven Soderbergh set his espionage thriller Haywire in the city where I live and work, it was even better to see it so perfectly released and efficiently captured.

Going back the Hueston...

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