Ben Sachs: 20 Favorite Films of 2012, as published by The Chicago Reader
- Life Without Principle — Johnnie To
- Possession (1981) — Andrzej Zulawski
- A Simple Life — Ann Hui
- The Master — Paul Thomas Anderson
- Sack Barrow — Ben Rivers
- We Have a Pope — Nanni Moretti
- Holy Motors — Leos Carax
- The Paperboy — Lee Daniels
- This is Not a Film — Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
- Cosmopolis — David Cronenberg
- Outside Satan — Bruno Dumont
- Silver Linings Playbook — David O. Russell
- Magic Mike — Steven Soderbergh
- Moonrise Kingdom — Wes Anderson
- Unforgivable — André Téchiné
- Paradise: Love — Ulrich Seidl
- The Grey — Joe Carnahan
- A Burning Hot Summer — Philippe Garrel
- The Secret World of Arrietty — Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Bernie — Richard Linklater