Argo

In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans are taken hostage. However, six manage to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA is eventually ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devises a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez creates the ruse and proceeds to Iran as its associate producer. However, time is running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House have grave doubts about the operation themselves. (© IMDb)

The story is a dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation, and this one is the best example of a situation when the real life story is much richer and much more fascinating than what film plots can offer you. And having the story ready to use, the suspense is the king. It is extremely easy to fall into the trap of retelling the story rather than giving an interesting spin to it, leading to a boring and difficult-to-watch-without-falling asleep kind of film.

Cloud Atlas

6 stories spanning into the distant past and even more distant future. The people who shape their present, not realizing that they actually shape the future for many years and generations to come. An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. And simply a new movie from Wachowski, who gave birth to the Matrix, which became philosophical thought for many film-goers for years to come just as Star Wars did.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

One day, a curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, meets wandering wizard, Gandalf, who persuades him to share an adventure. Bilbo embarks on a journey to the Lonely Mountain with a vigorous group of Dwarves to reclaim a city stolen from them by the dragon Smaug.

Anyone who has read Tolkien’s beautifully crafted books might recall that “The Hobbit” is incredibly thin, especially compared to the classic trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. Thus I found it hard to believe hat Peter Jackson, the acclaimed director behind 3 Lord of the Rings movies, which won lots of different awards and made New Zealand famous, managed to collect enough material to make 3 movies out of “The Hobbit” book. Honestly, this looks more like a filthy attempt to steal the money from Tolkien fans around the world than a diligent way to condense the book which sets the scene for the LotR trilogy which still is the golden standard in fantasy writing. 

Amour

Georges and Anne are two retired music teachers in their eighties. Their daughter, Eva, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.

This is probably the most concise plot outline of the year.  Behold; there are no master plots to deceive or give a spin to some weird relationship; there are no unnecessary complexities of the modern drama; there is a pure emotion flying, that is, love. The plot outline, however concise, actually tells it all – and says nothing at the same time. Yes, it is the story of struggle. It is the story of a man who watches his love fading away. It is the story of a woman who suffers even more as she helplessly waits for her consciousness to leave her. It is the story of a woman who witnesses tragedy of love and can do absolutely nothing to help, forced to the sidelines to observe her parents in the battle against death which they are waging alone.