Top 10 Films of 2012

10. KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Andrew Dominik continues his streak of brilliant, under-appreciated films with this deeply angry, bitter evisceration of the American way, backed up by outstanding performances from Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ben Mendelsohn. It's never subtle, but it's a film that will only grow in your estimation the more time you have to think about it. And you will be thinking about it. Fascinatingly, it received an CinemaScore of 'F' from American film-goers (the lowest possible), suggesting that maybe Dominik is scratching at a wound nobody wants exposed.

The rest of the Top Ten after the jump...


9. 21 JUMP STREET

If I'd had to predict which films would be on my Top Ten list at the end of the year, 21 Jump Street wouldn't have been within striking distance of the Honourable Mentions list. Comedies don't get a lot of love on lists like these, though, and you have to give credit to a film as clever as it is funny. As has been widely covered, the real surprise of 21 Jump Street is the fantastic performance from Channing Tatum. He was a punchline in 2011, he's a superstar come 2012. Welcome to Hollywood, folks. Nicely calibrated performances from Jonah Hill, Brie Larson and Dave Franco plus a few choice cameos complete the picture: the funniest comedy of 2012.

8. SKYFALL

One of the major financial successes of 2012, Skyfall was an interesting beast: a distinctly non-traditional Bond film that rejects many elements of past instalments of the series with an epilogue that seems to place Bond in a re-imagined version of his status quo. The 23rd film in the franchise gains significant boosts from an expanded role for Judi Dench, a terrific villain in Javier Bardem's Silva and some outstanding cinematography from Roger Deakins. (The silhouette fight in particular is breathtaking.) We still may not have the Bond film to transition out of the genre to become a solid-gold classic, but in Skyfall, we've got one of the best attempts yet.

7. LOOPER

For all the time travel permutations and futuristic settings, the best twist in Looper comes one third of the way through, when the action shifts to a location barely mentioned in any of the promotional material and the themes shift to a universal question we've all grappled with at some point or other. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis are both great, but the real stars are Emily Blunt (with a pitch-perfect American accent) and director Rian Johnson, whose third film only makes me more excited for his fourth.

6. THE MUPPETS

I thought long and hard about whether to include The Muppets on this list, not because it isn't deserving, but because it was released so early in the year (and last year in the US) it almost feels like a 2011 film. It would be criminal to leave The Muppets off an end-of-year recognition piece on a technicality, though, because this is a film filled with things we don't get a lot of in cinema any more: things like joy, fun, music and laughter. It's an awesome family film with superb music from Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) and fantastic performances from Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit, Miss Piggy et al. Watch it. Smile. It's a beauty.

5. THE IMPOSTER

The only documentary on my list is an incredible story expertly told. One of the best parts about The Imposter is the way the mystery unfolds, so I'm reticent to say much about it except that you should watch it, and it's not like any documentary you've ever seen before. It's chilling, compelling and confronting in equal measure. I'm not a documentary aficionado, but this is a belter.

4. THE AVENGERS

So. Much. Fun. I've written about it in more detail here, but just one more thing: plenty of time has passed since The Avengers now, and I'm starting to look towards Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2 and The Avengers 2. Cue untold levels of comic book nerd anticipation.

3. LES MISERABLES

Sure, Tom Hooper does some crazy things with his camera and it's a pity they burnt the role of Javert on Russell Crowe, who has a mediocre musical ceiling, but the reason Les Miserables sits at number three on my list is the sheer amount of superlative highs. Hugh Jackman is completely deserving of an Oscar nomination as Jean Valjean, Anne Hathaway is phenomenal as Fantine and Eddie Redmayne is the most likeable Marius I've ever seen. It's not perfect (few films are), but when enough time has passed we'll look back and reflect on Les Miserables for its high points. And the high points are astronomical.

2. ARGO

Another film I've written about in more detail, Argo is a superb exercise in how to build suspense. I know there's a debate about whether it's a little xenophobic or not, on which I fall heavily on the not side, but no one could argue director Ben Affleck doesn't know how to build the tension. Avoid the stupid levels of white noise around Argo and just go experience it.

1. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

In all my time as a Batman super-fan, one thing has frustrated me: Bruce Wayne has never really had a chance to have a happy ending. The comics have to keep going, so Bruce never really gets a chance to retire and go live on his piles of money like a twisted Scrooge McDuck. Something in every Batman fan wants to see that, and that's why The Dark Knight Rises is so valuable to me: it basically has a happy ending. Also, the whole movie is an awesome thrill ride from start to finish.

I've got plenty of honourable mentions, and I'll be talking about the best parts of those movies in a separate post, but for what it's worth:

11. The Master
12. The Sessions
13. The Grey
14. Moonrise Kingdom
15. Ruby Sparks
16. The Amazing Spider-Man
17. Frankenweenie
18. Brave
19. Prometheus
20. The Sapphires