Sometimes it is only when you take a moment to survey the past that you start to realize how enjoyable the journey has been. It’s been an incredibly good year for movies and that has made it difficult to narrow down a top ten. So I’ve cheated a bit by including an additional 15 titles (and created an entire separate list for documentary films) that could have, maybe should have, made my top 10 films.
My top ten films, in alphabetical order, are:
Argo
Ben Afflack’s third feature film is a wild ride filled with
the sort of suspense that will keep you on edge until the credits roll. That’s
pretty impressive considering we all know exactly how the film is going to end.
Yes, Affleck is supported by a tremendous cast that includes Oscar worthy turns
from Alan Arkin and John Goodman, but it’s Afflack’s relentless pacing and
ability to lampoon Hollywood without disrupting the tone of the film that makes
“Argo” special. 
Beasts of the Southern Wild
One of the first films I saw this year was Benh Zeitlin’s
“Beats of the Southern Wild” at the Sundance Film Festival. The story mixes the
fantasy of a child’s wild imagination with the gritty life that comes with
living in the Bayou on the wrong side of the levees. Some films you watch and others
you experience. “Beast of the Southern Wild” will take you to a place you never
thought to visit and leave you all the wiser as the credits roll.
The Dark Knight Rises
I know that I’ll raise a few
eyebrows by including “The Dark Knight Rises” over “Marvel’s The Avengers” or
James Bond’s return in “Skyfall,” but it’s the one action film that I’ve kept
returning to and one of the few films that was better the second, third and
fourth time I saw it. It’s dark, unrelenting and ultimately a fitting ending to
what will be remembered as the film that changed the way audiences and critics
look at movies based on comic books. Frankenweenie
Some preferred “ParaNorman” and “Wreck-It-Ralph,” but my
favorite animated film of 2012 was the one that had me the most worried. I
adored Tim Burton’s original short film and feared that stretching it out into
a feature would weaken the story; it didn’t. Burton expanded on the basic
themes of “Frankenstein” and created a movie that not only pays tributes to the
classic Universal monster films, but also delivers a wise message about how
greed and ambition can turn good science into a catastrophe.
Holy Motors
This year featured two films that centered on characters who
used stretch limos as their offices: David Cronenberg’s somewhat disappointing
“Cosmopolis” and Leos Carax’s brilliantly bizarre “Holy Motors.” Actor Denis
Lavant transforms himself in and out of a variety of characters as he travels
around a city. His performance and Carax’s direction turn chaos into a film
that not only dazzles, but ultimately has meaning hidden within it’s absurdity.
Besides, who can say no to a film that utilizes pop starlet Kylie Minogue’s
talent in a way that doesn’t feel like stunt casting? 
Lincoln
Stephen Spielberg’s biopic on Abraham Lincoln features a
phenomenal performance from Daniel Day-Lewis as the revered president and a
supporting cast that boasts scene-stealing talent like James Spader, Joseph
Gordon-Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones in his best role in years. Had it ended 10
minutes earlieAr that it does the film would be a five-star masterpiece.
Looper
Rian Johnson’s stunningly smart and original twist on the
time travel subgenre benefited from a great script, fantastic art design and a
great cast that included familiar faces like Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levit,
Emily Blunt and Paul Dano as well as fresh talent like Pierce Gagnon and Summer
Qing. The Utah Film Critics voted “Looper” as the second best film of 2012. It
easily makes my top five.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Once or twice a year I stumble upon a film that feels like
it was made specifically for me. In years past it has been films like “(500)
Days of Summer,” “Beginners,” “Let the Right One In” and “Never Let Me Go” and
this year no other film held a mirror up to my life like Stephen Chbosky’s “The
Perks of Being a Wallflower.” If you look close enough you’ll see my dearest
high school friends and me scattered between the various characters. There have
been many films about adolescent outcasts and this film is one of the finest.
Ezra Miller is simply fantastic.
Silver Linings Playbook
Somehow David O. Russell (“The Fighter”) manages to make Pat
and Tiffany (Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence), two completely
dysfunctional people, into the sort of characters that you can’t help but fall
in love with. You accept their faults and root for their success, no matter how
illogical and impossible that might initially seem. It’s also nice to see
Robert De Niro following up “Being Flynn” with another quality role.
Zero Dark Thirty
Yes, “Zero Dark Thirty” is destined to divide the masses and
there will be those that claim that the film somehow glorifies torture or
promotes a particular political agenda. For me Mark Boal’s script and Kathryn
Bigelow’s direction did a remarkable job of not playing to the left or the
right and torture in presented as being mostly ineffective, not the key to
unlocking the mystery of Osama bin Laden’s location. Should “Zero Dark Thirty”
be viewed as the absolute truth? No, of course not. Should it be considered as
one of the year’s best films? Absolutely. Jessica Chastain gives a wonderful
performance as Maya, a woman operating in a man’s world. She’s confident,
stubborn, relentless and determined to prove herself and Jason Clarke reiterates
that he’s an actor with more range than he’s often given credit for.
Films also worthy of consideration: Amour, Cabin in the Woods, Django Unchained,
Headhunters, The Impossible, Les Misérables, Marvel’s The Avengers, The Master,
Moonrise Kingdom, Prometheus, The Raid: Redemption, Rust and Bone, Safety Not
Guaranteed, Skyfall, Sleepwalk with Me, Smashed
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