Top 10 films of 2012 (+ five honorable mentions, and five worst)
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- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsJoaquin PhoenixPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.A new signpost for which I can hope Hollywood can progress
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDaniel Day-LewisSally FieldDavid StrathairnAs the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.Spielberg's best since "Schindler's List". DDL perhaps outdoes himself here; its like watching a ghost
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.Of all the many movies about aging to come out this year, Haneke's chamber piece is the only one worthy of immense attention and a genuine shelf-life
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsMatthew McConaugheyTye SheridanJacob LoflandTwo young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the vigilantes that are on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.Further proof that Jeff Nichols is a serious talent. Matthew Mcconaughey deserves a statue for 'most improved' with this movie which plays like "Night of The Hunter" shot through the lens of a new-school optimist
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiZiyi ZhangJin ZhangThe story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.Fans of "Crouching Tiger" and "Hero" will be blown away by WKW's newest--the most striking and artistic kung fu film ever made
- DirectorBenh ZeitlinStarsQuvenzhané WallisDwight HenryLevy EasterlyFaced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.What hasn't been said about this critical breakout hit--its the film we all wished the horrid adaptation of "Where The Wild Things Are" was. A must for fans of Terrence Malick and anyone who appreciates poetic and original movies
- DirectorPhilippe GarrelStarsMonica BellucciLouis GarrelCéline SalletteThe once-happy marriage between brooding painter Frederic and his movie-star wife Angele hits the rocks when another couple joins them on a Roman holiday.Garrel's latest exploration of how a life in the movies can so often lead to martial infidelity, the film feels savagely personal and lived in, much like the work of his North American meta-contemporaries Guy Maddin and Abel Ferrara.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJessica ChastainJoel EdgertonChris PrattA chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.What on first note seems like another sub-standard popcorn flag-waver like "Act of Valor", quickly turns to one of the ballsiest films of the year with Bigelow's slant that Bin Laden was hunted down and taken out by a fiercely determined woman..Take that!, Bill O'Reilly!
- DirectorMiguel GomesStarsTelmo ChurroMiguel GomesHortêncílio AquinaA restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.An unusual movie set in what appears to be a reconstruction of the third-world on an old studio sound stage, it slowly unfolds into a baffling journey into the history and mystery of cinema itself
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsDenis LavantEdith ScobEva MendesA man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: nine mysterious "appointments."An enigmatic, exuberant anti-mind twist by a director who can't seem to figure out what his movie's about, so he makes it about nothing, anything and everything
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsKaya ScodelarioJames HowsonSolomon GlaveA poor boy of unknown origins is rescued from poverty and taken in by the Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister, Cathy.honorable mention-Arnold adds fresh blood to an adapted-to-death story, drably returning it to mud and candlelight
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJared GilmanKara HaywardBruce WillisTwo 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.honorable mention-It's not the best summer camp movie (that would be "Wet Hot American Summer"), but its Anderson's best movie since "Rushmore" and that's saying alot
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellWoody HarrelsonSam RockwellA struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu.honorable mention-C'mon!? With a cast like that, how could it not be great. Really!?!
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNoomi RapaceLogan Marshall-GreenMichael FassbenderFollowing clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.honorable mention-Despite some jarring plot holes and narrative moments that suspend all belief, its easily the best "Alien" movie since "Aliens". And is very well directed
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsFreida PintoRiz AhmedMita VashishtThe story of the tragic relationship between the son of a property developer and the daughter of an auto rickshaw owner.honorable mention-Sure it pales in comparison to Polanski's more masterfully streamlined adaptation of Hardy's "Tess", but Winterbottom's choice to move the famous British tale to modern day India gives it a remarkable new relevance
- DirectorGary RossStarsJennifer LawrenceJosh HutchersonLiam HemsworthKatniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.one of the worst films of the year-What do you get when you remake the infamous Japanese masterpiece "Battle Royale" with Team Twilight? You get this slab of Walmart commercial s***
- DirectorSimon WestStarsSylvester StalloneLiam HemsworthRandy CoutureMr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.one of the worst films of the year-They took away Mickey Rourke and replaced him with Van Damme, Chuck Norris and the Abercrombie-model-guy from "The Hunger Games". What do you get? A movie that's impossibly worst than the first
- DirectorRob CohenStarsTyler PerryMatthew FoxRachel NicholsA homicide detective is pushed to the brink of his moral and physical limits as he tangles with a ferociously skilled hired killer who specializes in torture and pain.one of the worst films of the year-Tyler Perry as an action hero....please, kill me now
- DirectorMcGStarsReese WitherspoonChris PineTom HardyC.I.A. operatives wage an epic battle on each other when they discover they are dating the same woman.one of the worst films of the year-Memo to Tom Hardy: If you want to keep your status as one of the most promising new actors of your generation, you need to stay away from films helmed by incompetent morons like McG
- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsSean PennFrances McDormandJudd HirschCheyenne, a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the man responsible for a humiliation suffered by his recently deceased father during W.W.II.one of the worst films of the year-One would think 2 Oscars and a warm embrace from his peers would keep Sean Penn from his more self-indulgent tendencies. But no. First there was "I Am Sam", now there's this "I Am Sam part 2: the Smith version"