11 Biggest Crowd Pleasing Film Moments Of 2012

10. The Final Battle - ChronicleChronicle Found footage films have really worn on the public in the still developing history of the genre. Sure, The Blair Witch Project had truly kickstarted the craze, but it wasn't until Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity that it would really get its wings and take off into the land of popularity and diminishing returns. And yet, Max Landis (son of legendary director John) wrote an entry in the genre that not only made it all seem so new again, he also created a project that crossed a superhero film with a found footage movie. A film where it finally made sense that the camera could film all sorts of cinematic angles a normal handheld camera wasn't able to get. A movie where emotions actually were backed up by effects, and vice versa. That movie was Chronicle. Throughout the whole film Dane DeHaan's Andrew is abused, tormented, and just generally not having a good life. Gaining superpowers and hanging out with two more popular guys is the best thing that's ever happened to him, and in any other movie we might see him go full on Peter Parker and turn into a shining hero. Not this time. Andrew is so consumed with the power he's recently acquired that upon his mother's death, he fully turns to the dark side...and he's taking the whole city with him. This moment is iconic not only because of the fact that we finally see Andrew go full fledged supervillain, but also because a film that costs $12 million had no right looking this good. Trank seriously worked some sort of dark magic to make a film that cheap look that good, and yet films with thrice his budget still manage to look less impressive than this. In fact, this film itself was so impressive that it managed to secure Trank the Fantastic Four reboot gig over at Fox. Here's hoping he can work the same magic he had here in the context of a major franchise picture.

 
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Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.