Film Round Up #1: January 2013

In 2012, I lost track of the number of films I watched. I'll tweet or keep notes in a notebook, but this marks the first time I've published anything regularly. My plan is to publish a film round up every month.

When it comes to picking movies to see, I'm very selective. Generally, I prefer movies that find audiences in film festivals, documentaries, foreign films, independent films and films by trusted and innovative filmmakers.

Emmanuelle Riva in Amour

Here are the films I saw in January 2013:

Les Miserables, Directed by Tom Hooper
B-. A film adaptation of the msuical. I would have given this a lower mark if it weren't for the gorgeous design and costumes. The perfomances in a musical of this calibre must MUST be stellar.

Django Unchained, Directed by Quentin Tarrintino
A-. An entertaining Tarrintino film. Jamie Fox is very good. Christoph Waltz is excellent.

Amour, Directed by Michael Haneke
A. A lyrical meditation on love and marriage at the end of one's life. Excellent script, direction and performances.

Zero Dark Thirty, Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
A. A film that tracks the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Bigelow can direct the hell out of action/war movies. Many subtle touches in the film that make it a distinct film made with Bigelow's empathy -- children's faces, character development, etc.

Goldfinger, Directed by Guy Hamilton
A-. A very entertaining Agent 007 film with Sean Connery as Bond. Gorgeous production design. Excellent villains.

Rebelle (The War Witch) by Kim Nguyen
A-. A very harrowing yet lyrical look at a child soldier's life. The film couldn't have been made without its star Rachel Mwanza.