The year in pop culture: Movies

At the cinema, what’s old was new again – and we’re not just talking about the cast of The Expendables 2 or The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Movie-goers could see Hitchcock and Tolkien on the big screen as well as The Three Stooges, two movies about Snow White and one about the Iran hostage crisis.

It
was also the first time since 1865 that Abraham Lincoln fared well in a
theatre. There were two movies about the bearded president: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Lincoln – both earning more than $100 million but only one likely to be recognized on Oscar night.

The top-grossing movies of 2012 were about comic book characters from 1939, 1962 and 1963 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers respectively); a British spy from 1953 (Skyfall); and a children’s book published in 1971 (The Lorax). Throw in two movies featuring the 50,000-year-old sport of archery (The Hunger Games and Brave), a sequel to a 2005 movie (Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted) and an adaptation of a book published in 2008 (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2).

Here are some cinematic moments of 2012:
 

Blame Canada…

Hollywood
North didn’t exactly pump out blockbusters in 2012. One of the
biggest-budget flicks ever made in Toronto, the remake of Total Recall, flopped. So did Silent Hill: Revelation 3D,
which was shot in Toronto. Robert Pattinson proved once again that his
box office appeal bites unless he’s playing a vampire – the drama Cosmopolis, filmed in Toronto, tanked. Ditto Take This Waltz, a Toronto-made drama that fizzled.

The buzz around Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence wasn’t enough to save The House at the End of Street, which was shot in Ottawa. Vancouver-made The Cabin in the Woods failed to catch fire.

Montreal-made movies that did merde at the box office in 2012 include Julia Roberts’ Mirror Mirror and the Bradley Cooper drama The Words.

There were some reasons to celebrate, eh. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 was made in Vancouver. The Vow,
starring St. Thomas, Ont. native Rachel McAdams and filmed primarily in
Toronto, raked in nearly $200 million worldwide, as did the
made-in-T.O. flick Resident Evil: Retribution. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, directed by Gander’s Brad Peyton, earned more than $325 million. And Life of Pi, based on a Canadian novel and mostly shot in Montreal, has raked in more than $300 million worldwide.

Taylor’s is still bigger than Ryan’s…

Kelowna, B.C. actor Taylor Kitsch earned the dubious honour of starring in the most big screen duds in 2012. John Carter, Savages and Battleship
were slammed by critics and largely ignored by audiences, earning a
combined $185 million in the U.S. and Canada. Still, according to
BoxOfficeMojo.com, Kitsch’s career average is a little more than $70
million – far greater than Ryan Gosling’s $24 million average.

Who’s uptight now?…

Ottawa-born star Jay Baruchel got some free publicity for his made-in-Winnipeg hockey comedy Goon
in February when 40 posters showing him striking a sexually suggestive
pose with his tongue and fingers were stripped from Toronto bus
shelters. At the Toronto premiere of the movie, Baruchel called the city
“uptight.”

In September, Baruchel’s fiancée, Toronto actress
Alison Pill, accidentally tweeted a topless photo of herself to all
13,587 of her followers.

They grow up so fast…

Little Miss Sunshine
herself, Abigail Breslin, celebrated her 16th birthday in Toronto in
April with lunch at Flo’s Diner, shopping at Over the Rainbow and then
an evening party with friends in the Minto Yorkville apartment she was
staying in while in the city filming Haunter.

Then, 15-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz arrived in Toronto to make two films back-to-back: a remake of the bloody classic Carrie and a sequel to the ultra-violent Kick-Ass.

Coming to a theatre near you… 

There were a few movies in 2012 whose titles could easily have been confused with adult films: Underworld
Awakening, Jack Reacher, The Hole, Coriolanus, The Dictator, The Lucky
One, Conception, Frankenweenie, The Last Ride, That’s My Boy, Extremely
Loud and Incredibly Close, The Devil Inside, The Master, Albert Nobbs,
In Deep, The Man with the Iron Fists, Here Comes the Boom, Fun Size, The
Paperboy, Rust and Bone, Trouble with the Curve, All In, For a Good
Time Call…, Hitchcock, Part of Me, Robot and Frank and Your Sister’s Sister.

Only his hairpiece knows for sure… 

John
Travolta probably wants to forget 2012. He faced allegations of hanky
panky from several men, including a masseur and a cruise ship attendant.
Travolta denied all. But there was no denying his only movie of the
year, Savages, flopped with only $47 million at the box office.
Travolta wrapped up the year by appearing in a cringe-inducing music
video with his Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John.

Stars are just like us, only way more dramatic… 

It was a year of high-profile hook-ups, engagements, nuptials, and split-ups in Hollywood.

Presumably
tired of fighting over who gets to wear the pumps, Katie Holmes ditched
Tom Cruise. She filed for divorce on June 29 and by mid-July it was
finalized. Johnny Depp split from his baby mama Vanessa Paradis after 14
years together.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got engaged and
Pitt’s ex Jennifer Aniston got engaged to Justin Theroux; Liam Hemsworth
looked past those teeth and into the eyes of Miley Cyrus to pop the
question (she said yes); and Canada’s Ryan Reynolds got married again,
this time to Blake Lively.

Twilight
stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson broke up after her fling
with a married director went public – but the split was temporary.

Montreal
model Gabriel Aubry’s battle with ex Halle Berry over custody of their
daughter Nahla came to blows in November when Berry’s new man, actor
Olivier Martinez allegedly threatened to kill Aubry if he didn’t allow
Nahla to move to France.

The year’s movie star marriages included:
Kate Winslet and Ned Rocknroll; Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell; Amber
Tamblyn and David Cross; Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman; Stanley Tucci
and Felicity Blunt; Zach Galifianakis and Quinn Lundberg, Natalie
Portman and Benjamin Millepied, Alex Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas,
Giovanni Ribisi and Agyness Deyn, Rosie O’Donnell and Michelle Rounds,
Matthew McConaughey and Camilla Alves, Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman,
Cynthia Nixon and Christina Marinoni, Carey Mulligan and Marcus
Mumford, Chris Noth and Tara Wilson, and Josh Lucas and Jessica.

Cue Celine Dion and the video montage… 

Big
screen stars who passed on in 2012 include Ben Gazzara, Richard Dawson,
Ernest Borgnine, Michael Clarke Duncan, Charles Durning and filmmakers
Nora Ephron and Tony Scott.