Best of 2012

2012 is gone - 2013 is upon us. As usual, time to make a list... These are, as usual, drawn from films that received a commercial release in the Boston area - which as of today does not, I fear, include Zero Dark Thirty - to name a prominent example. That's the problem with doing these things at the beginning of the year. But what can I say.

Like last year, I thought this was a pretty soft year while it was happening. I saw a shockingly low number of films this year, new and old - but looking back at it now, it's not half bad. Look at the list down below - 6 of the top 10 are from this year, as of January 1. That's reverse of the last couple years - usually, for the type of films I like, it takes a while for the best ones to turn up in the theaters. And there are still quite a few highly regarded films to open in Boston - where will Zero Dark Thirty land? Amour? Tabu? By the time it is done, this year could go down as a pretty significant one. And the two at the top - are very solidly the best fo the decade so far... 2010 was a very deep year - but 2012 might come close to it, in the long run.

Enough - here goes:

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. The Master
...these two are in front by a significant margin
3. Barbara
4. Oslo: August 31
5. The Kid With the Bike
6. This is Not a Film
7. Damsels in Distress
8. Killing them Softly
9. Lincoln
10. Django Unchained
11. Compliance
12. Hara-Kiri Death of a Samurai
13. The Central Park Five
14. Keep the Lights on
15. How to Survive a Plague
16. In Darkness
17. Argo
18. We Need to Talk About Kevin
19. The Deep Blue Sea
20. Beasts of the Southern Wild
21. Alps
22. The Secret World of Arietty
23. Bernie
24. Holy Motors
25. Keyhole

And the made in 2012 first cut:

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. The Master
3. Barbara
4. Killing them Softly
5. Lincoln
6. Django Unchained
7. Compliance
8. The Central Park Five
9. Keep the Lights On
10. How to Survive a Plague

and 2011 in Retrospect - first, the top 10 from the beginning of last year:

1. Melancholia
2. Le Havre
3. Meek's Cutoff
4. Take Shelter
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene
6. The Skin I Live in
7. Jane Eyre
8. The Descendants
9. Rango
10. Page One: Inside the New York Times

And now, an updated list...

1. Melancholia
2. Oslo: August 31
3. A Separation
4. The Kid With the Bike
5. This is Not a Film
6. Meek’s Cutoff
7. Take Shelter
8. Le Havre
9. Damsels in Distress
10. Martha Marcy May Marlene
11. The Skin That I Live In
12. Jane Eyre
13. Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai
14. Rango
15. Page One
16. Hugo
17. The Descendants
18. A Dangerous Method
19. In Darkness
20. Cedar Rapids
21. The Guard
22. Weekend
23. Contagion
24. We Need to Talk About Kevin
25. The Deep Blue Sea

Halfway Through the Year - 2012

All right - I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with writing about films, but I've seen enough... rather unfortunate misadventure today - tried to see Beasts of the Southern Wild - the projector broke, so I ended up seeing To Rome With Love instead. That did not turn out well - I'm inclined to go back to seeing Woody Allen films every seven years... Anyway, that's not why I'm here - this is to sum up the Year So Far. So with no further ado - here is what I think - first, top 10 films released in the states so far in 2012:

1. Moonrise Kingdom - far and away... might be the best of the decade (though 2010 was an awful strong year)
2. The Kid With the Bike
3. This is Not a Film
4. Damsels in Distress
5. In Darkness
6. We Need to Talk About Kevin
7. The Deep Blue Sea
8. The Secret World of Arietty
9. Keyhole
10. Bernie

and - I'd do the best 10 made in 2012, but I don't think I have seen 10 films made this year yet. Specifically, 9:

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Bernie
3. The Five Year Engagement
4. Safety Not Guaranteed
5. Mirror Mirror
6. The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists
7. Wanderlust
8. Dark Shadows
9. To Rome With Love

I know I haven't seen as many films new as some years, and I know I've seen a few of this years films multiple times.... but that's rather sad. I'd better do something about that.

Finally - with half a year gone, and the chance to see quite a few stragglers from last year - an updated list of the best of 2011 - with notes on when I saw them and where they came in at the beginning of the year, if they did...

1. Melancholia - #1 last year
2. A Separation (seen in 2012)
3. The Kid With the Bike (ditto)
4. This is Not a Film (ditto)
5. Meek's Cutoff - 3
6. Take Shelter - 4
7. Le Havre - 2 (seems like some meaningless shifting around these films...)
8. Damsels in Distress (released this year - though I think I might be underrating it - I enjoyed this as much as anything short of Moonrise Kingdom, this year and last year together.)
9. Martha Marcy May Marlene - 5
10. The Skin I Live In - 6

Film Posts 2012

This post is meant for the sidebar, as an index of my film posts in a given year. A little more flexibly than the tags.

Long Form:

2/18 - Hugo and the Artist, and neo-silent movies (from Luimiere and cCompany to Heart of the World.)
12/7: Zep and the Mats: More music and nostalgia than film - but based around two DVDs - Celebration Day and Color Me Obsessed

Occasional Pieces:

1/2: Best Films of 2011 list.
2/5: Ben Gazzara obits and screen shots.
2/26: My Oscar picks.
4/28: Dennis Cozzalio's Spring Quiz - Nuns!
5/21: 1930s Polls - my votes from the 30s for Wonders in the Dark
6/20: Andrew Sarris
7/8: Halftime Report
7/30: Chris Marker obit.
8/5: my votes for films of the 1940s on Wonders in the Dark.
8/7: Reflections on Sight & Sound's Poll, and my top 10.
10/13 - Fall Quiz...
10/15: 1950s Films Voting record

Screen Grabs:

1/1: Happy New Year! - Husducker Proxy
1/8: Desert Island DVDs
1/15: Shopping Report - Godard's Histoire(s) du Cinema, and Tokyo Drifter.
2/12: WWII films: Mrs. Miniver
2/19: WWII: Cranes Are Flying
3/4: WWII: Fighting Elegy
3/18: WWII: Cross of Iron
4/1: WWII: Fires on the Plain - long essay, with pictures
4/8: WWII: Christ imagery, for Easter
4/15: WWII: The Pianist
4/22: WWII: Das Boot
5/13: WWII: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
6/4: John Ford's Midway
6/6: D-Day Sam Fuller shot
8/26: Fassbinder's Lola
10/31: Re-Animator, for Halloween

Reviews:

1/17: Recent Films - Carnage, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Descendants, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Le Havre and Outrage.
1/28: Catch up from 2011 - Week End and Weekend, Tales from the Golden Age, Rum Diary, Gainsbourg and Mill and the Cross.
3/26: In Darkness and Free Men - two new WWII films.
6/19: Big Roundup - Chico and Rita, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Mirror Mirror, Kid With the Bike, Deep Blue Sea, Five Year Engagement, This is Not a Film, Dark Shadows, Bernie, The Pirates...
6/24: Moonrise Kingdom
8/18: Summer Film Roundup - Keyhole, Safety Not Guaranteed, Your SIster's Sister, To Rome With Love, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai, Brave, The Campaign, Dark Horse.
9/27: The Master, with comments on For Ellen
12/3: Fall Roundup #1 - Restless City, Two Days in NY, Cosmopolis, Oslo: August 31, Lawless, Compliance, Paranorman
12/16: Fall Roundup #2 - Silver Linings Playbook, My Worst Nightmare, The Sessions, Argo, Alps, How to Survive a Plague, Keep the Lights On, Looper
12/18: Fall Roundup 3 - Killing them Softly, Holy Motors, Cloud Atlas