-Hugo - Martin Scorsese's ode to silent cinema is the year's most magical movie. Adapted from the novel by Brian Selznick, Hugo is a charming tale of the titular orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a train station and befriends precocious word-lover Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her godfather, the enigmatic Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley). As Hugo attempts to finish the automaton he worked on with his late clock-maker father (Jude Law), he finds himself pulled into a mystery surrounding the automaton's abilities and the birth of narrative cinema.
Hugo is a huge tonal departure for Scorsese, who tends to make movies that explore the darker corners of the human psyche, but - as I mentioned in my post about the NBR - it is a perfect fit for the acclaimed director. Scorsese is a champion of preserving film history, and here he pays homage to the beginning of the art form that he loves so much, and that has led so many others to love him so much. Hugo is an exploration of what makes Scorsese tick, and we're fortunate to get such a glimpse.
The film is a masterful piece of art. The sets are gorgeous, detailed, and subtly larger than life. Howard Shore's score is among the year's best, both bouncy and contemplative, exciting and solemn. The 3-D effect is put to its best use (arguably its only worthwhile use) since How to Train Your Dragon. Scorsese and cinematographer Bob Richardson manage to make you forget you're watching the movie with an extra dimension, so seamless and right is the effect.
As Hugo watches the various patrons and station workers go about their business from afar, life itself becomes something of a silent film for our diminutive (there's a word Isabelle would approve of) hero. Hugo, as well as the audience, is constantly reminded of what makes the movies so magical, and that theme is carried through the entire film with perfect pitch and clarity. It's the sort of movie that makes one feel lucky to get to go to the theater regularly, to escape into magical worlds where orphans build robots and rockets crash into the moon. From its aesthetic pleasures to the touching story to the wonderful performances from the entire ensemble, Hugo is one of the year's most thoroughly satisfying films.
-The Skin I Live In - Pedro Almodovar is one of modern cinema's most singular, exciting auteurs. Though his movies always are so clearly his, with his colorful, loud stamp all over them, he also manages to make each stand on its own as a unique entry in his ever-surprising oeuvre. The Skin I Live In is one of Almodovar's finest films, his best work since Bad Education. 
The Skin I Live In follows a surgeon, Roberto (Antonio Banderas at his finest), who seeks revenge for his daughter's rape at a wedding party. To divulge more of the plot would be a crime, since this melodrama-horror pastiche is full of surprises, many of which concern Roberto's relationship with his live-in patient/test subject/love interest Vera, played by the stunning Elena Anaya. The film, an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet's novel Tarantula, features plenty of Almodovar's signatures, with gorgeous photography, a complex narrative structure, and just enough surrealism to give all the proceedings an uneasy, dreamlike feel. This is a movie of monsters, where you feel guilty supporting anyone but can't help feeling for everyone. 
-The Descendants - Alexander Payne's latest is already considered one of the frontrunners for awards season, and in the few groups that have announced so far, it has already figured prominently. And for good reason. The Descendants is a beautifully wrought story of grief featuring one of the year's best screenplays and a cast of talented actors delivering their best work. George Clooney has never been better. With his good looks and copious charisma, Clooney often plays characters who are put-together and sure, even when in the midst of messy situations. When I picture Clooney, I see him wearing a suit, casually smiling, and generally being awesome. That isn't the Clooney we see here. This is Clooney getting the chance to put on a real human character, full of doubt and barely managing to keep his head above water. Clooney's Matt is the self-proclaimed "back-up parent" who has to cope with a pair of unruly daughters and a massive impending real estate deal in the wake of his wife's hospitalization, and the way his character finds a center is a subtle, authentic journey.
I'd be remiss not to mention the film's amazing breakthrough performance by Shailene Woodley, who plays eldest daughter Alex and is best known for her work on the ABC Family show The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Hopefully that show will end soon so Woodley will be freer to pursue more serious projects, because she's a sure Oscar contender for her nuanced, utterly believable performance.
-My Week With Marilyn - Much in the vein of Me and Orson Welles, My Week With Marilyn is a jaunty, finely crafted look at the old days of show business that brings screen icons to life. The film is largely, and obviously, dominated by Michelle Williams' performance as the ultimate screen siren, Marilyn Monroe. If Williams isn't a dead ringer for the star physically, she captures her bubbly magnetism with flair. It's another great turn by one of the most talented young actresses working today, as she embodies both the onscreen va-va-voom and the offscreen insecurities that plagued Monroe. Williams finds her match in Kenneth Branagh's delightful Laurence Olivier. Judy Dench, Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, Toby Jones, and Dominic Cooper round out the talented cast. 
If the story is somewhat limp, the characters make up for it. Arthur Christmas borrows the high-tech reimagination of Santa's workshop that has become commonplace in today's holiday special parlance (just look at the superb Prep & Landing for another example) and litters the scenario with a great cast, including Arthur's martial brother Steve (Hugh Laurie), the riotously old-school Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), and loyal elf companion Bryony (Ashley Jensen, delivering her second great voice performance of the year, after Gnomeo and Juliet). Aardman Animation does a wonderful job populating a somewhat-familiar world with fresh characters and whip-smart, gut-bustingly funny writing. It's the rare holiday movie that doesn't require a bit of extra good cheer to make it through; Arthur Christmas is a bonafide treat. -Midnight in Paris - To mark awards season beginning and just weeks before its retail release, Woody Allen's wonderful literary romance has returned to some theaters, and if you missed it on its first go around, you owe it to yourself to catch it while you can. Allen has been notoriously hit-and-miss in recent years, countering hits like Vicky Cristina Barcelona with star-studded dreck like You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Midnight in Paris belongs to the former category, and I'd go so far as to place it among Allen's best work, deserving of a spot alongside Hannah and Her Sisters and Manhattan, just a little bit below Annie Hall.
With a great cast delivering unforgettable performances (standouts include Adrien Brody and the hysterical Corey Stoll), this is a film that is as rewarding as it is penetrating. Its message of yearning for bygone times is one I know well, and that I usually experience during moments of cinematic contemplation, so how fitting that a film from one of the all-time greats addresses such an attitude in such a refreshing, funny way.
-Like Crazy - I've already raved about this fantastic romance in my review, but I can't recommend this movie enough. If you've yet to see it and need a little coaxing, please consider this a hearty shove.
On DVD
-Another Earth - This indie sci-fi drama came and went with little fuss this summer, which is a shame, because it's quite an interesting flick. Brit Marling stars as a girl who becomes obsessed with visiting the second Earth that appears in the sky one night, causing her to take her eyes from the road and kill a man's wife and child in a car accident. There's perhaps a need to suspend one's disbelief a little more than usual, but it's worth it for the film's memorable moments, including one of the best endings of the year.
-Super 8 - J.J. Abrams' nostalgic sci-fi coming of age tale wasn't the masterful throwback that the trailer suggested it might be, but it still proved to be an enjoyable alternative to more bombastic blockbusters. Before the movie derails into typical action-y drivel, it's a sweet story of kids who love movies, anchored by a talented young cast including the ever-rising Elle Fanning. If the movie itself is uneven and too long, it's all worth it for the hilarious homemade film that plays during the credits.
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