Best of 2012

Happy New Year Everybody! Time for my Movie Best-of and Worst-of 2012 Lists….
BEST PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY FILM, RUNNER UP – Precious Images – A fantastic collage of great scenes from great movies.
BEST PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY FILM – Days of Heaven – Malick’s best film: beautiful images and very little navel-gazing.
BEST NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY FILM SEEN IN 2012, RUNNER UP – Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Spielberg’s Americana blends wonder & fright
BEST NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY FILM SEEN IN 2012 – The Conversation – Better than The Godfather, this eerie thriller is Coppola’s masterpiece
BEST NON-NFR VINTAGE FILM SEEN IN 2012, RUNNER UP – Stalker – Andrei Tarkovsky’s minimalist SF tale is haunting yet fascinating
BEST NON-NFR VINTAGE FILM SEEN IN 2012 – Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick’s highly underrated period piece is a spectacular piece of filmcraft
BEST UNRELEASED FILM SEEN IN 2012, RUNNER UP – Much Ado About Nothing – Joss Whedon’s playful modern adaptation of the Bard’s comedy
BEST UNRELEASED FILM SEEN IN 2012 – Sightseers – This wickedly funny dark dark dark comedy is a violently amusing road trip.
MOST OVERLOOKED 2012 FILM, RUNNER UP – Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – An apocalyptic romantic comedy, what’s not to like?
MOST OVERLOOKED 2012 FILM – Bernie – Jack Black gives a great (atypical) performance in this hidden gem, with authentic East Texas flavor
MOST DISAPPOINTING 2012 FILM, RUNNER UP – The Master – PT Anderson’s winning streak ends with this hit-and-miss (but mostly miss) drama
MOST DISAPPOINTING 2012 FILM – Prometheus – Might have been an amazing SF film without the constant shoehorning into the Alien franchise
WORST 2012 FILM, RUNNER UP – The Moth Diaries – This insipid and lifeless vampire story simply remains bland bland bland
WORST 2012 FILM – Killer Joe – This repugnant dark comedy tries desperately to be irreverently amusing, & utterly fails each and every time
BEST 2012 MOVIE TRAILER, RUNNER UP РLes Mis̩rables РPerfectly merges emotional highs of I Dreamed A Dream with gritty, beautiful vistas
BEST 2012 MOVIE TRAILER – Cloud Atlas – An ambitious six minute masterpiece that in some ways is more satisfying than the actual film.
BEST 2012 HORROR FILM, RUNNER UP – Kill List – Humorous, gruesome, and deeply disturbing. What more do you want in a horror film?
BEST 2012 HORROR FILM – Cabin in the Woods – Tears apart & reconstructs the essence of a horror film; then those elevator doors open…
BEST 2012 COMEDY, RUNNER UP – Bernie – Darkly comic & peopled with humorously eccentric characters that feel plucked out of real life
BEST 2012 COMEDY – Silver Linings Playbook – An utterly winning romantic comedy. Excelsior!
BEST 2012 ACTION FILM, RUNNER UP – The Avengers – Whedon’s mix of humor & genre sensibilities make this romp more than the sum of its parts
BEST 2012 ACTION FILM – The Grey – Not just Liam Neeson punching wolves, it packs unexpected emotional depth and genuine thrills as well.
BEST 2012 ANIMATED FILM, RUNNER UP – ParaNorman – A stop motion zombie film for kids; inventive playful & with an unusually deep message
BEST 2012 ANIMATED FILM – Wreck-It Ralph – Not simply a Toy Story clone, this love letter to videogames of yore is also a blast to watch
BEST 2012 FOREIGN FILM, RUNNER UP – A Royal Affair – Fascinating romantic portrait of the 18th century doctor Johann Struensee
BEST 2012 FOREIGN FILM – Amour – A heartbreaking love story chronicles the painful decline of an ailing woman and her devoted husband
BEST 2012 SCENE, RUNNER UP – Prometheus never again reaches the heights of the simple sequence of Michael Fassbender roaming the corridors
BEST 2012 SCENE – Riddles in the Dark, The Hobbit – Two plus hours in, this masterful scene arrives and suddenly makes it all worthwhile
BEST 2012 SCREENPLAY, RUNNER UP – Looper – This original time travel tale is always two steps ahead, zigging where you think it would zag
BEST 2012 SCREENPLAY – The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Perks hits all the right notes with vibrant characters and crackling dialogue
BEST 2012 DOG IN FILM, RUNNER UP – Sparky in Frankenweenie – His Family Dog DNA perfectly encapsulates all that a dog should be
BEST 2012 DOG IN FILM – Bonny the Shih Tzu in Seven Psychopaths. The central figure in this dognapping tale is positively endearing. Paw!
BEST 2012 ACTRESS, RUNNER UP – Emmanuelle Riva, Amour – It is incredibly tragic to watch her joyous spark be slowly extinguished
BEST 2012 ACTRESS РAnne Hathaway, Les Mis̩rables РShe fully commits to the role and exposes every raw, emotional nerve in the process
BEST 2012 ACTOR, RUNNER UP – Tom Holland – Not since Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun has a child actor commanded the screen like this.
BEST 2012 ACTOR – Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln – No one will ever be able to think of Lincoln again without picturing him in this role.
BEST 2012 FILM, RUNNER UP – Anna Karenina – Bold and daring, this unconventional adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel is stunningly gorgeous.
BEST 2012 FILM – The Impossible – This moving & terrifyingly realistic disaster drama is a powerful tale of the triumph of the human spirit

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