Top 10 Films in 2012

I think 2012 should and will be remembered as a quality year for film. The entire year was chock full of amazing movies from start to finish. The number six film on my Top 10 list debuted on January 27^th, and the number three film saw wide release on December 25^th. It would have been pretty easy to pick one film per month for a Top 12 of 2012 list. Practically every weekend had at least one film worthy of a trip to the local movie theater. Given that quality, narrowing down all the movies from the year into my Top 10 list was pretty difficult. After a long internal debate, I managed to select and order the ones I consider the Top 10 Films of 2012.

My criterion for selecting these films was pretty simple. Which films of 2012 do I think all of my friends should see? Which films do I think give the most entertainment for your hard-earned money? If you saw any or all of these films, then I bet you were happy you did.

Ready? Let’s go!

10. The Master

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The Master is on this list simply for the fantastic performances of the leads. Director Paul Thomas Anderson captures amazing performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman that simply must be seen. The story itself is an overly long and meandering tale of two lost souls looking for new directions in life, but watching Phoenix and Hoffman bring their characters to life make the long runtime enjoyable. Plus, some of the cinematography will leave your jaw on the floor. It might take a few viewings to figure out what is going on, but you’ll enjoy watching Phoenix and Hoffman enough to endure it's length.

9. 21 Jump Street

How is this movie so funny? I don’t normally go for comedies, but something about this movie just kills me. It is pure fun from the title screen to the end credits.

It has a great story that flips the script on the “dumb jock” and “brainiac” character stereotypes. I loved the role reversal that sees the jock, Channing Tatum, fall in with the science nerds and smart guy, Jonah Hill, fall in with the popular crowd. The film acknowledges and references the Fox drama from which it is adapted with playful winks and nods, including a fantastic cameo appearance near the film’s climax (no spoilers here, of course). And, it features standout comedic performances from the two leads, Hill and Tatum. Seriously, those two guys are hilarious, whether as newly appointed bicycle cops, as high school students tripping on acid, or as buddy dates to the prom.

8. The Cabin in the Woods

Forget what you know about horror movies, this one does something completely different. Actually, belay that. Take everything you know about horror movies and have fun with the genre.

The Cabin in the Woods is one of the most original and fun-filled horror films in years not because it tries to be completely different. Instead, it takes horror movie conventions that fans know by heart and weaves a unique and entertaining story around and through them. It has a smart, funny, and scary script that has you squirming one moment and laughing out loud the next. While a few movies were more brutal (The Collection comes to mind), this was the most entertaining horror film of the year that had a ton of fun references for fans of the genre. Learned horror fans should absolutely love it, and even those without an encyclopedic knowledge of 80’s slasher flicks and Z-grade horror films should find plenty to enjoy.

7. The Raid: Redemption

Want to see the craziest film of 2012? Here it is. It’s an Indonesian martial arts flick whose noble intention is to break every bone in every actor silly enough to sign up for this film. It is insane with a capital “I”.

The story is pretty simple. A drug lord controls a housing block full of criminals, and a group of crack, special-forces police officers go in to take him down. What follows is a floor-by-floor beatdown with crazy shootouts and bone-crunching fights. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how these guys pulled off some of these fights without breaking each other in half. It’s awesome. Plus, there is a great story of love and redemption in the movie, when the actors aren’t kneeing each other in the face that is. Pure, glorious, crazy action.

6. The Grey

Liam Neeson is a mighty fine actor, one of the best in the business these days. Here he puts in another characteristically strong performance in this Joe Carnahan-directed, man-versus-wild tale set in the Alaskan wilderness. A group of men returning home from a remote Alaskan work camp find themselves half-dead and stranded when their airplane crashes. They must fight the elements, wolves, each other and themselves if they ever want to reach home alive. The Grey easily was one of the most intense theatrical experiences of the year. It is impeccably paced to ratchet up the tension every step of the way. These guys find themselves in ever-greater danger with each step they take. You will be on the edge of your seat until the final gripping scene, which sums up the themes of the film quite nicely. I literally had a headache from clenching my jaw so hard during this film.

5. Looper

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It’s hard to do science fiction films properly, particularly when they involve time travel. In fact, I wrote a little article about the impossibilities of time travel in response to the first trailer for Looper. It turns out I was wrong to hate on this film. I mean, I still think time travel is impossible, but this film shows some of the amazing things that could happen if it were.

The premise is cool: what would happen if a hit man from the present was tasked to kill the older version of himself who was sent from the future? Apparently, a lot of soul-searching and violence. How messed up is it to have to track yourself down and shoot yourself in the chest with a blunderbuss? If you answered “Very messed up”, then congrats!

The excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as “Young Joe” and the excellent Bruce Willis stars as “Old Joe” in this excellent Rian Johnson-directed film. Really, it’s quite good! The themes of the film – youth, old age, sacrifice, redemption, and the possibility of changing your future – are depicted with a sure hand from a tight script that zings from one fantastic moment to the next. It is one of the richest and deepest sci-fi films in a long, long time where every detail fits into place. And, the final resolution of the film is fantastic. I never expected the world of Looper to be this detailed or for the story to pack such a strong emotional punch, but they killed it with this one. This is how science fiction should be done.

4. Skyfall

One of the best James Bond films ever – some are claiming it IS the best – came out in November of 2012. Not having seen each of the 22 other James Bond films, I can’t say for sure if number 23 is the best, but I can say that Skyfall is amazing regardless of the films that came before it. The Bond films with Daniel Craig as the titular character each have been entertaining action films. However, there are a few big differences between those other Craig-led films and Skyfall.

The script here tells a very personal story for Bond – Skyfall references his ancestral home – that sees him and the rest of British spy agency MI6 attacked by an inside threat. Even his beloved M is a victim. Everything he knows about the agency he has dedicated himself to comes under fire, and it reaches an epic conclusion on the grounds of his old homestead. None of the recent Bond films have had such high stakes, which gives a weight and importance the others lacked. The action set pieces we have come to expect from Bond films are all there, but this time they are directed by the sure-handed Sam Mendes and framed by outstanding cinematographer Roger Deakins. This is one of the most beautiful films of the year, no lie. It just happens to be a James Bond film. It looks beautiful, the action is fantastic, the story is compelling, and it’s a crowd-pleaser – yeah, Number 4 on this list sounds about right.

3. Django Unchained

Thank you Quentin Tarantino. You make some of the most outrageous (in a good way), original, and technically brilliant films of anyone working in Hollywood today. You tackle the genres we love with a unique vision and use your encyclopedic knowledge of cinema to craft something new and fun for we, the humble audience.

With Django Unchained, Tarantino presents a spaghetti western unlike any that has come before it. It is a crackling story of revenge and redemption for Django that sees him battling slave owners in Mississippi in his quest to earn the freedom of his wife. Sharp writing, fantastic acting from Jamie Foxx, Cristoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson, and superb direction make this yet another masterpiece in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography. It is funny and shocking and over-the-top and compassionate and brutal and so, so fun.

2. Lincoln

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In my review, I called Lincoln the most important film of 2012, and it is a solid choice for Number 2 on this list. It is a joy to watch on many, many levels.

A Lincoln biopic has long been a passion project for master director Steven Spielberg. He uses all the tools in his arsenal to deliver a focused and powerful film that honors the man and the legend that is Abraham Lincoln.

The film features an intelligent story that focuses on the final months of Lincoln’s life, during a time when he was trying to ensure the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With a devastating civil war grinding along, you can imagine that freeing a bunch of slaves was not high on many politician's priority list. By limiting the time frame to a few important and dramatic months of Lincoln’s life, the film is able to tell a richly layered and detailed story. It’s light on violence (the Civil War is a backdrop for the real story) and heavy on character. It reminds me of The West Wing in that it’s all about the characters and their interactions with one another.

And, the acting! Daniel Day-Lewis has made a name for himself as one of the greatest living actors, and he shows it once again here as the titular character. His performance as Lincoln shows 100% immersion into the character. He literally becomes Lincoln during the film. Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field also put in great performances, though nobody else in the film comes close to Day-Lewis. In fact, the only people in film this year to approach Day-Lewis’ mastery were Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (see Number 10 in this list).

When you put it all together – a powerful and meaningful story, mesmerizing acting, and masterful direction – you get my Number 2 film of the year.

1. The Avengers

A domestic box office haul of $623 million ($1.5 billion globally) doesn’t necessarily elevate a film to the Number 1 spot on any Top 10 list. In this case, it’s the quality of the film that puts The Avengers at Number 1. The Avengers is a fantastic payoff for years of planning by Marvel Studios. We’ve seen Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man in their own films for years and gotten to know and love the characters. This summer, we saw them team up with each other, and a bunch of other Marvel superheroes, to thwart an alien invasion that threatened to destroy Earth. Writer/director Joss Whedon gave us a delightful movie filled to the brim with exciting action, sharp writing, likeable characters, and spectacular effects.

I said in the intro that I’m big on movies with high entertainment value. That’s why The Avengers is here. Simply put, no other film in 2012 was as much fun as The Avengers. It was amazingly entertaining, and it delivered on years of promise set up by the previous Marvel films. For that, it’s my top film of 2012.

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): Argo, Cloud Atlas, End of Watch, ParaNorman, Premium Rush, Wreck-It Ralph

Not Seen: Zero Dark Thirty, Holy Motors, Armour

Did your favorite film in 2012 make the cut? Disagree with one or more of my choices? Let me hear about it in the comments or on Twitter!