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'The Impossible,' 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Holy Motors' are the best films of 2012

Generally a passionless but very good year for movies

By Gregory EllwoodTuesday, Dec 18, 2012 6:52 PM

If you were to have asked me last June if 2012 was a good year for movies my answer would have been a definitive "no." Sure, "The Avengers," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and the long delayed "Cabin the Woods" provided some refuge, but for the most part the first half of this year was full of forgettable films. This isn't necessarily anything new. The better prestige films always tend to begin their roll outs in September. By December - all of a sudden - there are seemingly enough great movies for people to champion. The difference with 2012 is that while there were a lot of very good movies, there weren't necessarily a significant number of great movies.

In 2011, I chose "Shame," "Drive" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" as my top three films of the year. Those pictures would easily land the same slots in 2012. More disappointingly, there has been a glut of films that have been severely overrated by my critical and media peers. Unfortunately, sometimes you want something to be so good you overlook is obvious weaknesses. But, I digress…

My personal top 10 took quite awhile to settle on. Luckily, the top four films were pretty set. The bottom six were not and I'm honestly less passionate about them than I have been regarding films from recent year-end lists. The biggest challenge was picking no. 1. In theory, I would make it a tie, but that's a cop out and I decided to chose the picture that moved me more. To each, his own. So, without further delay...

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2012

10. "Skyfall"
Not just the best Bond ever, but one of the best thrillers in the past 24 months. It also features, thanks to Javier Bardem, three of the most memorable scenes from a movie this year. 1. Silva's entrance. 2. Bond and Silva's island shooting competition and 3. M and Silva's reunion at Mi-6. A classic.

9. "Moonrise Kingdom"
Longtime Wes devotees may disagree, but "Kingdom" has to be ranked as the best film of Anderson's career. It perfectly captures his voice in an entertaining confection as an island of unhappy adults deal with the sweet indiscretions of young love.

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Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.

anonymous

Nice to see someone echo Drews comments about The Master. The film makes absolutely no sense. Theres nothing there.
December 18, 2012 at 8:09PM EST Reply to Comment
- Alex God forbid you aren't spoon fed a story.
  December 18, 2012 at 9:12PM EST
One For The Ages!

Is Greg the first critic to complain about how weak this year's movies were and yearn for the glorious year of film that was 2011?

December 18, 2012 at 8:16PM EST Reply to Comment
- Mitt Romney lol He's no critic...
  December 18, 2012 at 8:24PM EST
- Guy Lodge On balance, I preferred 2011 too -- though that's taking into account a lot of outstanding 2011 festival premieres that only opened theatrically this year.
  December 18, 2012 at 9:10PM EST
- It's not that 2011 was a better overall year. It probably wasn't, but the films at the TOP of the list were much better overall. Commercially, studio-wise, 2012 is likely better.
  December 19, 2012 at 4:00AM EST
Casey Fiore

I think your take on the reaction to the Master is as confused as the critics' and only because you all wanted it to be more confusing than it was. I don't even think it was subtle in stating its thematic focus to be the struggle between man's animalistic instincts and the socializing influence of civilization. To be crude, nature vs nurture, and the tactics we use to keep our instincts at bay and the price we pay for this.

Obviously its an incredibly complicated film and I think the idea that its a rorschack has more to do with its many thematic undercurrents and its opaqueness opening it to myriad interpretations, but you're overthinking it the same way they are
December 18, 2012 at 8:45PM EST Reply to Comment
- anonymous you explained things better than the movie ever did.
  December 18, 2012 at 8:52PM EST
- Kristopher Tapley This was my precise reading of the film.
  December 18, 2012 at 10:56PM EST
- Casey Fiore What do you think it is Kris, is everyone just running in circles around something that is far more clear than they want it to be or do our great minds just think alike?
  December 19, 2012 at 12:39AM EST
- Kristopher Tapley I think it's just the nature of the film. It's a Rorschach. It yields complex reactions. That's part of its brilliance. In and of itself, however, it's relatively simple.
  December 19, 2012 at 3:14AM EST
- velocityknown I love how people praised Tree of Life, but The Master is all of a sudden too confusing and lacks a proper message/story.
  December 19, 2012 at 12:42PM EST
- JLPatt I fail to see what the two films have in common...
  December 19, 2012 at 1:45PM EST
- velocityknown Both lack a traditionally structured story and a clear message, but one was praised for that and the other seems to be punished for that.
  December 20, 2012 at 12:57PM EST
- JLPatt Wow, what a striking resemblance. I'm sure you couldn't find ANY other films with nontraditional narratives and unclear messages...
  December 20, 2012 at 6:05PM EST
Chuck

I was thoroughly underwhelmed walking out of Skyfall and the more I've thought on it, the more I genuinely dislike it. The shooting contest scene is utterly contemptible and repugnant while the movie seems to what to pander to Bond aficionados without truly understanding what makes a Bond film click. The best I can say for it is that the opening chase and credits sequence are both pretty good. Everything after that is either subpar or gross.
December 18, 2012 at 8:55PM EST Reply to Comment
- sosgemini Here here!!! Or for us Mel Brooks enthusiasts, "Reverend"!
  December 19, 2012 at 2:23AM EST
george

I think Rust and Bone should be in top 10 list
December 18, 2012 at 9:04PM EST Reply to Comment
Duddi

Nice to have HOLY MOTORS, BEASTS in here... AND ALSO BRAVE AND good choice to have "the under-fire" CLOUD ATLAS"
December 18, 2012 at 9:46PM EST Reply to Comment
KB

So happy to see "The Impossible" at the top of your list. Despite the current snubs, this film will surprise come Oscar time. The actors will get this nominated.
December 18, 2012 at 9:49PM EST Reply to Comment
jpwebb

How can Lincoln be omitted from any mention on this list??

December 18, 2012 at 10:05PM EST Reply to Comment
- Grubi I'm guessing it was one of the films he was referring to as "overrated."
  December 18, 2012 at 10:37PM EST
- Lincoln has a fantastic performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. The rest? I'm not in love with.
  December 19, 2012 at 3:57AM EST
- Freddy I agree, Lincoln, beside part from Daniel Day Lewis's fantastic performance, is nothing more than a preaching pamphlet.
  December 19, 2012 at 11:35AM EST
Augusta

Lovely to see another very personal list. It makes it a lot more fun when people share what they actually liked themselves. Loved your top 4- I've only seen Cloud Atlas of those but look forward to seeing the others.
December 19, 2012 at 12:01AM EST Reply to Comment
weed4504

"and no, Anderson didn't intend for it to be a rorschach test for moviegoers"

I don't think you can state that at all. I just watched an interview with PTA over in Australia, I believe. The interviewer asked him about the reception of the film. PTA's answer was how when the reviews started coming in, the thing that thrilled him most was how every review was different. He complained that most reviews have a general structure (brief thoughts on the film, a bunch of words explaining the plot, wrap up their thoughts on the film) and he said he was extremely happy that every viewer seemed to be getting something completely different from it.

And I agree with the previous poster that people are twisting themselves into knots making the film way more complicated than it actually is. At no point is the story hard to follow. The film's themes are dense and do open themselves up to multiple readings, but shouldn't that be encouraged? Isn't that a lot more exciting than a film that says "HERE'S WHAT I AM ABOUT!!"? Clearly no one can deny that the craft of the film is impeccable. I never for a moment felt like I was being taken into a fog where the filmmaker had no idea where he was headed.

And I'm especially confused by your love of Holy Motors within the context of your feelings for The Master. Holy Motors is just as, if not more, open to a wide array of interpretations. It's just as dense thematically and, if anything, the main character is more unknowable than Phoenix or Hoffman ever are.

I think The Master had it's backlash for a bit, but just as with There Will Be Blood, there will be a time when people approach the film for what it is instead of what their expectations made them think it would be. At that point, I think the praise will only increase and more and more people will fall in love with it.

December 19, 2012 at 1:29PM EST Reply to Comment
JMC

Nice to see Cloud Atlas. A classic for years to come.

Ditto your thoughts on Moonrise Kingdom.

That said, I think Argo is indeed the critically well reviewed film this year that's more of a dud while your exclusion of Lincoln, one of Spielberg's best in my view, is where we disagree.
December 19, 2012 at 4:28PM EST Reply to Comment
Wozzaseds

Must say I didn't like the dismissal of your 'fellow critics' views on some of this years films. Pretty Arrogant statement old chap, even if I agree with your conclusion about last years top 3 based on what I have seen so far this year. But good list all the same.
December 19, 2012 at 6:36PM EST Reply to Comment
Patryk

Happy to see the "Keep the Lights On" love. I think it is surely one of the 10 best of the year.
December 19, 2012 at 7:29PM EST Reply to Comment
OI

YES! I loved The Impossible and couldn't agree more. Great list!
December 20, 2012 at 2:45AM EST Reply to Comment
S

What do you mean about Kate Winslet being Anna? Do you think the film would've been better and that Knightley was miscast? Personally, I thought she was exceptional and it's arguably her best performance, which is saying something since she's been doing great work the past few years (Last Night, Never Let Me Go, A Dangerous Method).
December 20, 2012 at 4:01PM EST Reply to Comment
movieguy223

It's funny, I was trying to organize a top 10 for 2012 and I was instinctively going to put Drive in the #1 spot. As good a year, overall, as 2012 was, Drive is still better than any movie I've seen in the last 14 months and at that time - opening day in September, 2011 - it was the best movie I had seen since The Wrestler in 2008. I loved some of the films this year (Cloud Atlas, Django, The Master, Zero Dark Thirty, Skyfall) but Drive is still on a whole other level by itself. Shame is in a similar situation, and We Need To Talk About Kevin
December 24, 2012 at 1:56AM EST Reply to Comment
movieguy223

Also, The Impossible was wildly harrowing, the intensity of that 10-15 flood sequence is nearly the same as the 30 minute raid on Bin Laden's compound in Zero Dark Thirty. We are going to see some phenomenal work in the future from Mr. J.A. Bayona
December 24, 2012 at 1:58AM EST Reply to Comment

'The Impossible,' 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'Holy Motors' are the best films of 2012

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

anonymous Nice to see someone echo Drews comments about The Master. The film makes absolutely no sense. Theres nothing there.

Alex God forbid you aren't spoon fed a story.

One For The Ages! Is Greg the first critic to complain about how weak this year's movies were and yearn for the glorious year of film that was 2011?

Mitt Romney lol He's no critic...

Guy Lodge On balance, I preferred 2011 too -- though that's taking into account a lot of outstanding 2011 festival premieres that only opened theatrically this year.

It's not that 2011 was a better overall year. It probably wasn't, but the films at the TOP of the list were much better overall. Commercially, studio-wise, 2012 is likely better.

anonymous you explained things better than the movie ever did.

Kristopher Tapley This was my precise reading of the film.

Casey Fiore What do you think it is Kris, is everyone just running in circles around something that is far more clear than they want it to be or do our great minds just think alike?

Kristopher Tapley I think it's just the nature of the film. It's a Rorschach. It yields complex reactions. That's part of its brilliance. In and of itself, however, it's relatively simple.

velocityknown I love how people praised Tree of Life, but The Master is all of a sudden too confusing and lacks a proper message/story.

JLPatt I fail to see what the two films have in common...

velocityknown Both lack a traditionally structured story and a clear message, but one was praised for that and the other seems to be punished for that.

JLPatt Wow, what a striking resemblance. I'm sure you couldn't find ANY other films with nontraditional narratives and unclear messages...

sosgemini Here here!!! Or for us Mel Brooks enthusiasts, "Reverend"!

george I think Rust and Bone should be in top 10 list

Duddi Nice to have HOLY MOTORS, BEASTS in here... AND ALSO BRAVE AND good choice to have "the under-fire" CLOUD ATLAS"

KB So happy to see "The Impossible" at the top of your list. Despite the current snubs, this film will surprise come Oscar time. The actors will get this nominated.

jpwebb How can Lincoln be omitted from any mention on this list??

Grubi I'm guessing it was one of the films he was referring to as "overrated."

Lincoln has a fantastic performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. The rest? I'm not in love with.

Freddy I agree, Lincoln, beside part from Daniel Day Lewis's fantastic performance, is nothing more than a preaching pamphlet.

Augusta Lovely to see another very personal list. It makes it a lot more fun when people share what they actually liked themselves. Loved your top 4- I've only seen Cloud Atlas of those but look forward to seeing the others.

JMC Nice to see Cloud Atlas. A classic for years to come. Ditto your thoughts on Moonrise Kingdom.That said, I think Argo is indeed the critically well reviewed film this year that's more of a dud while your exclusion of Lincoln, one of Spielberg's best in my view, is where we disagree.

Wozzaseds Must say I didn't like the dismissal of your 'fellow critics' views on some of this years films. Pretty Arrogant statement old chap, even if I agree with your conclusion about last years top 3 based on what I have seen so far this year. But good list all the same.

Patryk Happy to see the "Keep the Lights On" love. I think it is surely one of the 10 best of the year.

OI YES! I loved The Impossible and couldn't agree more. Great list!

movieguy223 Also, The Impossible was wildly harrowing, the intensity of that 10-15 flood sequence is nearly the same as the 30 minute raid on Bin Laden's compound in Zero Dark Thirty. We are going to see some phenomenal work in the future from Mr. J.A. Bayona

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anonymous

Nice to see someone echo Drews comments about The Master. The film makes absolutely no sense. Theres nothing there.

One For The Ages!

Is Greg the first critic to complain about how weak this year's movies were and yearn for the glorious year of film that was 2011?

george

I think Rust and Bone should be in top 10 list

Duddi

Nice to have HOLY MOTORS, BEASTS in here... AND ALSO BRAVE AND good choice to have "the under-fire" CLOUD ATLAS"

KB

So happy to see "The Impossible" at the top of your list. Despite the current snubs, this film will surprise come Oscar time. The actors will get this nominated.

jpwebb

How can Lincoln be omitted from any mention on this list??

Augusta

Lovely to see another very personal list. It makes it a lot more fun when people share what they actually liked themselves. Loved your top 4- I've only seen Cloud Atlas of those but look forward to seeing the others.

JMC

Nice to see Cloud Atlas. A classic for years to come.

Ditto your thoughts on Moonrise Kingdom.

That said, I think Argo is indeed the critically well reviewed film this year that's more of a dud while your exclusion of Lincoln, one of Spielberg's best in my view, is where we disagree.

Wozzaseds

Must say I didn't like the dismissal of your 'fellow critics' views on some of this years films. Pretty Arrogant statement old chap, even if I agree with your conclusion about last years top 3 based on what I have seen so far this year. But good list all the same.

Patryk

Happy to see the "Keep the Lights On" love. I think it is surely one of the 10 best of the year.

OI

YES! I loved The Impossible and couldn't agree more. Great list!

movieguy223

Also, The Impossible was wildly harrowing, the intensity of that 10-15 flood sequence is nearly the same as the 30 minute raid on Bin Laden's compound in Zero Dark Thirty. We are going to see some phenomenal work in the future from Mr. J.A. Bayona

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Awards Campaign is updated