Independent Cinema writes: The world we live in today is infatuated with the spotlight, with the notion of being captured on camera at all points in time an ideal for some. We have television shows dedicated to this idea of ‘reality’, which people digest even when they know it’s not completely improvised. But imagine a world now where the cameras cannot be seen, and people are paid to merely be in the spotlight. Given a script, a character, and detailed outline, they take to the outside world and deliver the scenes that general audiences crave: a monster movie; a romance that can never be; a music video; the last words of a dying man; a murder gone wrong; an absurd piece of performance art; a person struggling to survive; and the relationship between man and animal. These are all things that occur in the almost-2 hour feature film from Leos Carax, Holy Motors. It’s a piece of avant-garde cinema that will likely never be matched, serving as a reminder of the diversity of cinema and just how obsessed society is with being in the spotlight.
His first feature film after a 12-year-long hiatus, Leos Carax’s directorial return to French cinema landed like a brick through a greenhouse. Holy Motors (2012) is the utterly insane tale of a man in a limousine, ferried between different ‘appointments’ where he dons costumes and prosthetics to play different roles.
Colton of The Daily Rotation wrote, "As 2012 comes to a close, now is a perfect time to reflect on the films that have inspired, excited, or disappointed us. There’s no doubt in my mind that 2012 was a great year for cinema, but I can’t help but think about those films that have disappointed me greatly."
The Amazing Spider-Man could have been a lot better, but as for the rest of the films: I don't know if anyone had much of any type of expectations for them, so it's hard to say if they disappointed the most compared to other anticipated big box-office films. I think The Bourne Legacy could earn a spot on that list.
The 2012 movie season was hoping to save some of the best entries for last, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was destined to be one of them. Or is it? Also coming over to play stateside, are Best Foreign Pic hopefuls Amour and Holy Motors. And a few other indie flicks found their way into the coveted rankings as well.
