- Skyfall: I wasn’t sure if Sam Mendes would be the right director for Bond, how wrong was I! After seeing a Bond film I have said “that was a great Bond film” on many occasions, its rare to say that’s a great film. That’s why Skyfall makes the top of my list, its simply a great film.
- The Dark Knight Rises: Both the most intimate and the biggest in scale of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Elevated by great casting particularly Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway. A fitting conclusion to what is possibly the best trilogy ever that like all great movies leaves you wanting more.
- Argo: A spy story based on real events is going to be a hard sell but Ben Affleck has done it again. As both star and director Affleck has given us a film completely different to but as good as if not even better than his first two films. Tense and funny in equal measure and at the right times, a future classic.
- Haywire: Possibly the controversial choice on the list certainly the “Marmite” choice on the list. Steven Soderbergh has crafted a B movie with an A list cast held together by Gina Carano, a former cage fighter with no acting experience. The antidote to modern action movies with frenetic editing an too much CGI.
- The Avengers: Joss Whedon has done the impossible. Bringing a disparate group of characters together to create an exciting and entertaining movie with just the right blend of action and comedy. Making good use of all the characters and giving the franchise a future, its far more than I expected from the movie. And he gave The Hulk the best like of 2012.
- Killer Joe: William Friedkin’s tale of murder set around a dysfunctional Texas family is often violent and repugnant, but it is also brilliant mainly because of a star turn from a resurgent Matthew McConaughey.
- Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson has turned his unique quirky bittersweet eye on a coming of age drama. It is as funny as you would expect from Anderson, but it is more engaging and endearing thanks to fantastic performances from both the recognisable established actors and the unknown kids.
- Life of Pi: I was a little sceptical about seeing this movie, I had heard it was a bit preachy and how interesting can a film about a boy in a boat be? I also hate 3D. I shouldn’t have worried, as previous mentioned; the 3D is the best I have ever seen, the story is great as well as being stunning to look at.
- Rust and Bone: Jacques Audiard follows up A Prophet with a bruising and brutal melodrama. Marion Cotillard is as great as ever as is her co star Matthias Schoenaerts. Sometimes oppressive and hard to watch, at others uplifting but always emotional. A film that needs to find a worldwide audience.
- End of Watch: Written and directed by David Ayer,. Made up of little snippets of the daily life of a pair a of cops (perfectly cast Jake Gylleenhaal and Michael Pena) working one of the roughest beats in South Central LA. A tough, brutal and believable cop film like nothing that has been made in a generation.
A note on my selection: I have only included movies from this year. 2011 movies that didn’t reach the UK until this year have been excluded. I will probably do a redux version when I have seen all the 2013 movies in early 2013.
Don’t forget, this isn’t a best of 2012 list, it is it is simply my favourite 10 of the year. So don’t tell me the list is wrong but feel free to share your favourite films of the year.
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Just did my top films of 2012 as well. I haven’t even seen quite a few on your list. Agree on Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. I couldn’t get into Argo for some reason, though, even though I know it’s “worthy” and probably should be much higher on my list.
Thanks for stopping by. Just had a look at your list. Can’t argue with any of your top ten.
Nice list. Good to see End of Watch on there as well.
Nice list. Working on our top 10 of 2012 and will include several on your top 10 list. Also including Argo, Lincoln and Les Miserables.
I can obnly comment on DKR, but I feel it was a fabulous send off to the trilogy. I agree about Hathaway and Hardy as well as the established members like Freeman and Oldman. A terrific cast can bring any movie from a strong picture to a blockbuster event.
It’s been great to see some recognition of the sleek storytelling in Skyfall as the Oscar nominations have come out. My only regret was that the whole Quantum plot was dropped, as I thought that could have been easily blended into the movie that we ultimately saw and tie the three movies neatly together. That said, it was awesome.
I’m not sure the quantum plot has been dropped, I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes back again. I think shoehorning it into skyfall could have been to the detriment of the movie and would have been a bad thing.
The important thing now, is to follow it up with an enqually good movie with s great cast and director and not a formulaic and lazy one.