I know what you're thinking. Twenty is cheating. Twenty is the coward's way out. Fifteen is masturbatory; twenty beyond indulgence. And to a large degree, I would agree with you.
My retort would be that there is an extremely and unapologetically Philish top ten contained in here; I take my numbering very seriously(-ish). But it's been such a quality year, that I wanted to highlight a few of the outlier choices.
And I must say, I really haven't hated anything I've seen this year. Even films that would end up at the bottom of my list, such as BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, are not films that I would dissuade people from watching, and thereby forming their own opinions on. They've all been interesting failures, at worst.
A few notable films that I didn't have time or opportunity to see include AMOUR (Which, quite honestly, I'm pretty sure would have ended up on here. Just feel free to ignore the last place film; it's getting bumped. Fuck that movie.), THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, MISS BALA, ARGO (fuck yourself?), THIS IS NOT A FILM, THE TURIN HORSE, and a bunch of documentaries that I'm sure I wouldn't care about.
Counting up/down
20. REDLINE
A fairly common (and accurate) criticism laid against anime is for its often cheap-looking and static animation. Not so here, in this beautifully hand-drawn, outer space drag racing epic. Released in Japan in 2009, and possibly having had a teeny-tiny theatrical release in the States in 2011 (too lazy to find more accurate sources than IMDB), but for mass public availability I'm counting it for 2012. Don't bother doing any hallucinogens before watching this; it would be completely redundant.
19. GOON
The story of an amiable bouncer turned hockey player, who's terrible at playing hockey but great at beating the shit out of people, was surprisingly hilarious and touching. Fully aware of, and willing to embrace, genre convention, but with a smarter than average script, and some memorable dialogue. "Give me your phone number, and I promise I'll never call you."
18. THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT
This Ann Arbor, Michigan set romantic comedy hit close to home in too many ways to count, but even beyond biographical connections, it's just a fun, sweet film, with a game cast. Gets bonus points for not being outright dismissive of the Mid-West as simply a cultural wasteland (despite the completely fair jabs at Michigan hunting culture).
17. THE RAID
Q: Y'all ready for this?
A: No.
After viewing this film, whatever assertion you previously had regarding what is the most bad-ass, unrelenting, balls-to-the-wall action film you've ever seen may have to be reassessed. This Indonesian martial arts/shooter, written and directed by a Welsh expat, may not have much in the way of depth, but you'll feel the impact of every blow. This movie is meant to be played LOUD!
16. OSLO, AUGUST 31ST
A recovering drug addict wakes up in rehab, makes a half-hearted suicide attempt, then spends the rest of the day interacting with former friends, lovers, and ghosts of the past. Few films have so beautifully captured the warmth, and coldness, of that final stage; acceptance. And that bitter, stabbing pang of hope.
15. PARIAH
Outside of the protagonist being a butch black lesbian, there's nothing conceptual to differentiate this from innumerable other films that deal with misunderstood teens rebelling against their oppressive parents. So when I say that I loved this movie, I mean that they did the familiar very, very well. Solid performances all around, and a beautiful look and feel that belies its modest budget.
14. LOOPER
Like all other time travel films ever made, this movie makes no sense. Once you're past that (or before it), you can truly dig into this quiet little character piece, which happens to feature an angry Bruce Willis mowing people down with a machine gun. I'm not as enamored with the script as some people were, but I will say this; at no point did I accurately predict what would happen next, or where the story would take me. For me, that alone was worth the price of admission.
13. LINCOLN
The true star of any Steven Spielberg movie is, in fact, Spielberg himself; the biggest film director celebrity of all time. So it came as a bit of a shock that, for one of his long-in-gestation dream projects, he steps slightly back from center stage; allowing for a true collaboration between himself, screenwriter Tony Kushner, and star Daniel Day-Lewis (and, by extension, quite possibly the best ensemble cast of the year). Not the story of a moral victory won through might, but one obtained through acts of compromise and deception. This is the year's best heist film, with Lincoln in the role of Danny Ocean.
12. SKYFALL
Every few years, they threaten/promise to take Bond "back to his roots", but this is the first time that has been successfully accomplished, both in-story and out. We peel back the layers, both chronological and affected, of this uber-serious Bond, until we are left with nothing but the very core of a character that I love to death. The oedipal love triangle is only matched in intensity by the love between the man and his car.
11. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
Yes, it's really long. And, if you're not a hardcore Lord Of The Rings fan, perhaps a test of your patience. But really. . . Why aren't you a hardcore Lord Of The Rings fan? I think this is a promising start to what could end up being a fantastic trilogy.
10. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Silly, over-the-top, and ridiculous, Christopher Nolan brings out the big guns of Bane for the conclusion of his personalized take on The Batman. Nolan goes Full Neo-Con with this installment, which features an impoverished populace, who have concerns about the distribution of wealth in Gotham, being used as pawns of foreign terrorists who attempt to kill everyone with green energy. Bully for having the balls to actually "end" a highly successful franchise that isn't based on a set series of novels.
9. THE GREY
Liam Neeson may have aged out of his opportunity to portray Lincoln for Spielberg, but he landed one of his best performances this year in this critically underrated adventure film. It's Jack London meets Jean-Paul Sarte, as a group of weary plane crash survivors trudge helplessly to their early graves. Recently widowed Neeson, as the recently widowed main character, cuts to the bone as he rants against an unseen, and unfeeling, God. "Fuck faith! Earn it!"
8. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA
An all night search for an unceremoniously buried corpse becomes a dreamlike rumination on the nature of truth between a group of disparate characters. The most Bergman-esque film of the year, both in beauty and sentiment.
7. DREDD
Nothing more than a B action film, but featuring a smarter than average script by Alex Garland, and beautiful photography by the world class Anthony Dod Mantle. It retains much of the satire of its comic book source material, but with slightly less bite. The downtrodden, tenement-dwelling villains are portrayed with considerably more sympathy than a director like Nolan would have afforded them. It doesn't seem accidental that the drug POV scenes are transcendently beautiful, in stark contrast to the grim-and-gritty reality of everyday life.
6. PROMETHEUS
Yeah, this movie doesn't offer much in the way of answers, and the characters act in stupid/nonsensical ways. . . but more so than in other Ridley Scott films? ("Here, kitty kitty!") As impressive visually as it was in storytelling scope, watching this in IMAX 3D was my most immersive film experience of the year. Michael Fassbender's performance, and character, elevate this film to a whole other level. It's great to have Sir Ridley back to doing what he does best.
5. ZERO DARK THIRTY
"Where does the bag go?"
Much like their Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker, director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal take you into a world that analyses the consequences of fanaticism, without ever doing the audience the disservice of providing pat answers to complex moral conundrums. Big movies are rarely this smart. When film fans point to the 1970's as the true golden age of Hollywood, these are the types of films that they're talking about. A slow burn that builds to an incredibly tense climax.
4. THE MASTER
Phoenix, much like Day-Lewis in Lincoln, isn't acting. He truly becomes this character, and it's impossible to take your eyes off him whenever he's on screen. I think it was a misstep on Paul Thomas Anderson's part to parallel this story so closely with the rise of Scientology; the controversy that erupted over historical basis masks what a brilliantly intimate and fascinating character piece this film is.
3. LIFE OF PI
A wonderful story, and a wonderful story about stories. Ang Lee is telling one narrative, but many, in this delightful boy's adventure tale.
2. DJANGO UNCHAINED
This is by far the most fun I've had at a movie all year. Tarantino more often than not leaves me slightly cold, but he manages to reign in his traditional disjointed storytelling style long enough to tell an earnest, straight-forward, epic love/adventure story. He's finally learned that metatextuality works better as a spice, than as the main course.
1. MOONRISE KINGDOM
I'm more surprised than anyone to find a Wes Anderson film at the top of my list. I had a strong attachment to his early films Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, but since then he's been losing my interest as he descended deeper and deeper into a sea of forced quirkiness. But, like Tarantino, by making an earnest love story he has recaptured my attention, and my heart.
