Ruby Sparks (2012)

A "one novel wonder" young writer is suffering from writer's block and keeps seeing a girl in his dreams. Instigated by his shrink he stumbles on the idea of writing a novel about the girl making her a part of his life. Suddenly to his astonishment he finds that girl, in his apartment, in flesh and blood. This movie documents his journey from plain surprise, to a picture perfect love story to several complications and finally rediscovering his love.

This movie deals with the idea of materializing an idea and how the protagonist deals with it, inter-spread with several funny and moving moments. Nobody can be perfect, and nothing in life can be tailor-made, keeping this basic ideology in mind, Jonathan Dayton (the man behind the gem "Little miss sunshine") takes the viewer to a roller coaster ride of emotions and tries to keep our mind off the "impossible" and focus on the human angle.

The acting in the film was quite mediocre from the female lead, Zoe Kahan and she seemed quite irritating at some parts, that maybe intended; but Paul Dano gave a brilliant performance as the emotionally disturbed writer with only his brother as a friend dealing with all the strange events occurring in his life.

Characters coming to life or authors controlling creations in real life has been earlier seen in movies like "stranger than fiction" , "Deconstructing Harry" or "purple rose of cairo". What separates this film from the others is it's inclination towards revealing the vulnerabilities of the characters rather than only fixating on the funny side, which makes this film darker and to be critical a little boring. But if you enjoy a movie just for the emotional drama and a decent story-line, you should give this a watch. 

Les Miserables (2012)

Les Misérables -- The stage musical based on the Victor Hugo all time classic found a dynamic dimension packed with powerhouse performances by Anne Hathaway , Hugh Jackman Russell Croweand almost the entire cast. Jean Valjean, convicted of stealing a bread is released after 19 years of jail and breaks parole to become the Mayor. Inspector Javert is always at his pursuit and catches up with him several times during the course of the film. Both of them face existential crisis, while trying to establish their true identities and facing their inner demons during those. Set against the backdrop of the political unrest of the French revolution, several emotions mix together in the already overflowing pot and makes this a truly extravagant endeavor.

Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Fantine, A factory worker turned prostitute with an illegitimate daughter takes the emotional quotient to a whole new level and her rendition of "I dreamed a dream" is sure to moisten the eyes of the viewer. She's a definite forerunner in this years academy awards for best supporting actress. 

The idea of everyone speaking in terms of songs may seem strange and the stretching of the last syllable of each sentence even funny those not accustomed to musicals but the style grows on the viewer and soon we notice the emotions behind the words rather the words themselves. All in all this was a grand accomplishment in terms of turning a stage musical into a beautifully photographed and acted movie and deserves all the accolades it's receiving.

Skyfall(2012)

Skyfall -- Bond goes "classic" in his newest mission where M's past comes back to haunt(hunt) her and Bond himself has to confront his past to fight the villain who is not only an ace hacker but also a previous MI6 super-spy.. The action set-pieces were brilliant as usual but what made this film different from most others was it's character development and considerable inclination towards giving an emotional background to the story, a phenomenon silently put forth to action ever since Daniel Craig donned the Bond suit. A special mention to the Adele number and opening sequence, which really set the momentum of the film. Overall the sound effects and the cinematography were brilliant too.

If anyone watches the last part of the film isolated, it would be very difficult for him/her to associate it with any other previous Bond film. Here we sympathize for the villain, doubt the capabilities of the hero, feel the vulnerability of the whole situation while the feelings try to sink in midst the usual bullet fires and humongous blasts. All in all, this was an action thriller with an emotional edge, making it arguably the best Bond film ever.