Last year, The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo and Midnight in Paris topped virtually everyone’s critical lists. For me, they topped my critical and personal top tens. This year was quite different, and ranking my critical top 10 films for the Southeast Film Critics Association ballots proved a bit of a challenge. What wasn’t a challenge was assembling my top ten favorite films of the year, and for the first time in a long time the two lists bore little resemblance to one another.
Turns out the good Professor Kaufmann was suffering the same dilemma. In comparing our critical and personal top tens, Chip and I agreed that our favorite films definitely made for more interesting lists. Besides, you’ll hear all about the best films of the year, the award contenders, and our votes for the best of the best, in the February issue of Reel Takes.
We’ve tried not to let our lists overlap too much, and we could certainly add more titles to the line-up (see our runners up). Some of the films included in our lists are pure entertainment, while others push boundaries, but all of them earned a place in our hearts in one way or another. We hope you enjoy them too.
Michelle Keenan’s Favorite Films of 2012
In Alphabetical Order
1. Argo – Ben Afleck’s latest turn behind the camera turns the now declassified story of the extrication of six Americans, during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, into nail bitingly suspenseful, crowd-pleasing entertainment.
2. Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – A lovely ensemble piece about a group of British pensioners who outsource their golden years to India. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson lead the stellar cast.
3. Hitchcock – Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins star in an utterly entertaining and enjoyable film about the legendary director and his wife Alma during the chapter of their lives during the production of Pyscho.
4. The Impossible – Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in the suspenseful and moving true story of one family’s struggle to survive the 2004 tsunami and its aftermath.
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – A touching and thoughtful film of friendship, fear, loss and coming of age, with wonderfully raw performances from its young cast.
6. Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson’s kitschiest film to date tells the tale of two oddball adolescents in the summer of 1965 who fall in love and run away together with parental units and the assorted authorities in tow.
7. Safety Not Guaranteed – It may not be the best movie you see this year, but it will be one of the most special. Three Seattle Magazine writers decide to track person who placed a classified ad for someone to time travel with him.
8. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – Ewan McGregor is at his lovable best as a fisheries expert who gets a lesson in life, love and politics when tasked with making a sheikh’s dream come true by bringing the sport of fly fishing to the desert.
9. Seven Psychopaths – Irish playwright, screenwriter and director Martin McDonough has done it again – walking the fine line between blood-splattered macabre and brilliant comedy. This one isn’t for everyone; if the title is off-putting to you, you best put this one off.
10. Skyfall – Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are reunited as 007 and M for the 23rd film of the franchise. Bond’s power to protect M are stretched to the limit when her past comes back to haunt her.
Runner Ups: The Intouchables, Killing Them Softly, Monsieur Lazhar, Silver Linings Playbook, The Woman in Black, and Zero Dark Thirty.
Chip Kaufmann’s Favorite Films of 2012
In Alphabetical Order
1. A Late Quartet – Remarkable film about the members of a string quartet and the challenges they face after one of their members (Christopher Walken) is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
2. Anna Karenina – Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice) elevates another 19th century literary classic into a 21st century masterpiece thanks to typically stylish direction and strong central performances from Keira Knightley and Jude Law.
3. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – A diverse group of British retirees headed up by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson decide to outsource their retirement to a budget friendly hotel in India where their lives are forever changed.
4. The Dark Knight Rises – The last film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy turns out to be the best of the lot thanks to a storyline that has plenty of heart to balance out Nolan’s typically heavy head games.
5. Hitchcock – A simply delightful yet critically misunderstood look at the fabled director (Anthony Hopkins), his wife Alma (Helen Mirren), and their trials and tribulations during the making of Psycho.
6. Les Miserables – An outstanding adaptation of the long running musical with a marvelous cast (Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway) and remarkable direction from Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech).
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green – A charming and fragile fantasy about lonely parents (Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton) who are unable to conceive and the magical child (C.J. Adams) who grows in their garden.
8. Take This Waltz – Director Sarah Polley’s bittersweet story of what happens when one partner (Michelle Williams) in a marriage falls out of love with the other (Seth Rogan) and the repercussions it has for them both.
9. Trouble With the Curve – A surprisingly effective sports drama about an estranged daughter (Amy Adams) trying to reconnect with her baseball scout dad (Clint Eastwood) who has come to the end of his career.
10. The Woman in Black – Vividly atmospheric, old school horror film about a young lawyer (Daniel Radcliffe) who has recently lost his wife and his encounter with a vengeful spirit in a small English village.