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(FROM THE ARCHIVE) BEST MOVIES OF 2012

  • Writer: Thomas
    Thomas
  • Dec 19, 2019
  • 6 min read

To kind of fill up my blog thing before I really start kicking, and centralize my stuff, I am going to be posting my best of lists from the past few years. I am going to copy and paste them froom my Facebook Notes, without editing. So some opinions have definitely changed, but these were my thoughts at the time. Enjoy!


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For those of you that wonder what I do in my spare time:


Best Movie of the Year

  1. The Master

  2. Beasts of the Southern Wild

  3. Looper

  4. Silver Linings Playbook

  5. Amour

  6. Moonrise Kingdom

  7. Argo

  8. Lincoln

  9. The Dark Knight Rises

  10. The Avengers

  11. Django Unchained

  12. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  13. The Sessions

  14. Zero Dark Thirty

  15. Paranorman

  16. The Life of Pi

  17. Cloud Atlas

  18. Cabin in the Woods

  19. This is 40

  20. Smashed

Honourable Mentions in no particular order: Killing Them Softly, John Carter, Wreckit-Ralph, Brave, Anna Karenina, The Rise of the Guardians, The Impossible, Dredd, Killer Joe


Best Performance by a Lead Actor

  1. Jean Louis-Trintignant - Amour

  2. Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

  3. Bradley Cooper – The Silver Linings Playbook

  4. Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

  5. John Hawkes – The Sessions

  6. Denis Lavant – Holy Motors

  7. Suraj Sharma – The Life of Pi

  8. Matthew McConaughey – Killer Joe

  9. Mattias Schoenaerts – Rust and Bone

  10. Tom Holland – The Impossible

Honourable Mentions: Joseph Gordon Levitt – Looper , Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sean William Scott – Goon, Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,  Daniel Craig – Skyfall, Denzel Washington – Flight


Best Performance by a Lead Actress

  1. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

  2. Emmanuel Riva – Amour

  3. Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  4. Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

  5. Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Smashed

  6. Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone

  7. Rachel Weisz – The Deep Blue Sea

  8. Naomi Watts – The Impossible

  9. Dreama Walker – Compliance

  10. Helen Mirren – Hitchcock


Best Performance by a Supporting Actor

  1. Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

  2. Dwight Henry – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  3. Christophe Waltz – Django Unchained

  4. Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

  5. Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook

  6. Ewan McGreggor – The Impossible

  7. Tanir Birsel – Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

  8. Samuel L. Jackson – Django Unchained

  9. Simon Russel Beale – The Deep Blue Sea

  10. Hal Holbrook – Lincoln


Honourable Mentions: Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike, Firat Tanis – Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Aaron Paul – Smashed,  James Gandolfini – Killing them Softly, David Strathairn – Lincoln, Domhall Gleeson - Anna Karenina, Jason Clarke – Zero Dark Thirty, Tom Hiddleston – The Deep Blue Sea, Michael Fassbender – Prometheus, Tom Hardy – The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Willis – Looper, Scoot McNairy – Both Argo and Killing Them Softly, Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained, Jude Law – Anna Karenina


Best Performance by a Supporting Actress

  1. Amy Adams – The Master

  2. Helen Hunt – The Sessions

  3. Isabelle Huppert  – Amour

  4. Gina Gershon – Killer Joe

  5. Anne Hathaway – The Dark Knight Rises

  6. Jackie Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

  7. Anne Dowd – Compliance

  8. Alicia Vikander – Anna Karenina

  9. Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

  10. Judy Dench – Skyfall


Honourable Mentions:  Juno Temple – Killer Joe, Emily Blunt – Looper, Clea Duvall – Argo, Gina Montana – Beasts of the Southern Wild


Best Director

  1. Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master

  2. David O’Russel – Silver Linings Playbook

  3. Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  4. Michael Heneke – Amour

  5. Ang Lee – The Life of Pi

  6. Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

  7. Ben Affleck - Argo

  8. Rian Johnson – Looper

  9. Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight Rises

  10. Katherine Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty


Honourable Mentions: Juan Antonio Bayona – The Impossible, Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Joss Whedon – The Avengers, Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom


Best Original Screenplay

  1. The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson

  2. Looper – Rian Johnson

  3. Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson

  4. Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino

  5. Paranorman – Chris Butler

  6. Amour – Michael Haneke

  7. Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal

  8. Smashed – James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke

  9. Cabin in the Woods – Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

  10. This is 40 – Judd Apatow


Honourable Mentions: The Sessions  – Ben Lewin, Brave – Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi and Michael Arndt


Best Adapted Screenplay

  1. Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russel

  2. Beasts of the Southern Wild – Luci Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

  3. Lincoln – Tony Kushner

  4. The Life of Pi – David Magee

  5. Argo – Chris Terrio

  6. The Dark Knight Rises –  Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer

  7. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro

  8. Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbotsky

  9. The Avengers – Zak Penn and Joss Whedon

  10. Goon  - Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg


Honourable Mentions: Cloud Atlas – Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, Tom Stoppard – Anna Karenina, John Carter – Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon, The Rise of the Guardians – David Lindsay-Abaire


Best Animated Film

  1. Paranorman

  2. Wreck-It Ralph

  3. Brave

  4. Rise of the Guardians


Best Cinematography

  1. Mihai Malamaire Jr. – The Master

  2. Ben Richardson – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  3. Seamus McGarvey – Anna Karenina

  4. Roger Deakins – Skyfall

  5. Claudio Miranda – The Life of Pi

  6. Janusz Kaminski – Lincoln

  7. Gokhan Tiryaki – Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

  8. Rodrigo Pietro – Argo

  9. Wally Pfister – The Dark Knight Rises

  10. Andew Lesnie – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  11. Steve Yedlin – Looper


Honourable Mentions: Greig Fraser – Killing them Softly, Darius Wolski – Prometheus, Seamus McGarvey – The Avengers, Daniel Mindel – John Carter, Bobby Shore – Goon


Best Editing

  1. Leslie Jones and Peter McNulty – The Master

  2. William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor – Zero Dark Thirty

  3. William Goldenberg – Argo

  4. Jabez Olsson – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  5. Stuart Baird – Skyfall

  6. Jeffrey Ford and Lisa Lassek – The Avengers

  7. Bob Ducsay – Looper

  8. Melanie Oliver – Anna Karenina

  9. Crocket Doob, Affonso Gonclaves – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  10. Greig Fraser – Killing them Softly


Honourable Mentions: Lee Smith – The Dark Knight Rises, Eric Zumbrunnen – John Carter


Best Original Score

  1. Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  2. Johnny Greenwood – The Master

  3. Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek and Tom Tykwer – Cloud Atlas

  4. Dario Marianelli – Anna Karenina

  5. Howard Shore – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  6. Michael Danna –  The Life of Pi

  7. Hanz Zimmer – The Dark Knight Rises

  8. Alexandre Desplat – Argo

  9. Alexandre Desplat – Zero Dark Thirty

  10. Fernando Velasquez – The Impossible


Honourable Mentions:  Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson – Smashed, Alan Silvestri – The Avengers, Michael Giachino – John Carter, Patrick Doyle – Brave, Nathan Johnson - Looper


Best Music (non-Original, non-Score) (One I made-up because the Academy Awards should drop the best original song Oscar for it)

  1. Silver Linings Playbook

  2. Moonrise Kingdom

  3. Amour

  4. The Master

  5. This is 40

  6. Paranorman

  7. Killing them Softly

  8. Argo


Best Make-Up and Hair

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  2. Amour

  3. Lincoln

  4. The Impossible

  5. Cloud Atlas

  6. The Life of Pi

  7. The Master

  8. Prometheus

  9. Les Miserables

  10. Anna Karenina


Honourable Mentions: Holy Motors, Goon


Best Costume

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  2. Anna Karenina

  3. Lincoln

  4. Les Miserables

  5. The Master

  6. Cloud Atlas

  7. The Dark Knight Rises

  8. The Avengers

  9. John Carter

  10. Holy Motors

Honourable Mentions: Dredd


Best Art-Direction and Set-Decoration

  1. Anna Karenina

  2. Beasts of the Southern Wild

  3. Lincoln

  4. The Master

  5. Prometheus

  6. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  7. The Impossible

  8. Les Miserables

  9. Zero Dark Thirty

  10. Argo

Honourable Mention: John Carter, Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Dredd


Best Collaborative Performance (A Performance that is Not Entirely One Person's Work)

  1. The Life of Pi Sound and VFX Team behind Richard Parker - The Life of Pi

  2. Andy Serkis – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  3. Sarah Silverman – Wreck-it Ralph

  4. Alan Tudyk – Wreck-it Ralph

  5. Barry Humphries  – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  6. Willam Dafoe – John Carter

  7. Kodi-Smit McPhee – Paranorman

  8. Jude Law – Rise of the Guardians

  9. Mark Ruffalo – The Avengers

  10. Kelly Macdonald – Brave

Honourable Mentions:  Tucker Albrizzi – Paranorman, Samantha Morton – John Carter


Best Visual Effects

  1. The Life of Pi

  2. The Impossible

  3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  4. The Avengers

  5. Chronicle

  6. The Dark Knight Rises

  7. Prometheus

  8. Flight

  9. Looper

  10. Dredd

Honourable Mention: John Carter


Best Sound Effects and Sound Editing

  1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  2. The Life of Pi

  3. The Impossible

  4. The Avengers

  5. Prometheus

  6. Anna Karenina

  7. The Dark Knight Rises

  8. Argo

  9. The Amazing Spiderman

  10. Goon

Honourable Mentions: Dredd, John Carter


Best Ensemble Performance

  1. The Master: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, Madisen Beaty, Laura Dern, Christopher Evan Welch, W. Earl Brown and Kevin J. O’Connor

  2. Lincoln: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Bruce McGill, Tim Blake Nelson, Joseph Cross, Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Peter McRobbie, Gulliver North, Gloria Reuben, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Costabile and Walton Goggins

  3. Silver Linings Playbook: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kehr, John Ortiz, Shea Wigham and Julia Stiles

  4. Amour: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emannuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud, William Shimell, Ramon Agirre and Rita Blanco

  5. Django Unchained: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, James Remar, Dennis Christopher, Walton Goggins, Ato Essandoh, Laura Cayouette, Don Johnson, Franco Nero, Escalante Lundy, MC Gainey and Bruce Dern

  6. The Sessions: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Adam Arkin, Rhea Perlman, W. Earl Brown, Blake Lindsley, Ming Lo, Rusty Schwimmer, Jennifer Kymiyama,  and Robin Weigert

  7. The Impossible: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGreggor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Marta Etura, Sonke Mohring, Douglas Johansson and Geraldine Chaplin

  8. The Life of Pi: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Aysh Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain, Tabu, Mohd Abbas Khaleeli, Vibish Sivakumar, Rafe Spall and Gérard Depardieu

  9. Smashed: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Kyle Gallner and Mary Kay Place

  10. Anna Karenina: Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law, Kelly McDonald, Domhnall Gleeson, Matthew MacFayden, Kelly MacDonald, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams, Ruth Wilson, David Wilmot and Emily Watson


Honourable Mentions:

Looper: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels, Pierce Gagnon, Qing Xu, Tracie Thomas and Garret Dillahunt


Argo: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Titus Welliver, Bob Gunton, Richard Kind, Sheila Vand and Zeljko Ivanek


The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Aidan Turner, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Barry Humphries, Brett McKenzie, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis


This is 40: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Albert Brooks, Maude Apatow, Iris Apatow, Jason Siegel, Annie Mumolo, Robert Smigel, Megan Fox, Charlyne Yi, Graham Parker, Chris O’Dowd, Michael Ian Black, Lena Dunham, Tim Bagley, John Lithgow, Ryan Lee and Melissa McCarthy

 
 
 

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