Year-End Lists

Wesley Morris: Top 25 Movies of 2012, as published by The Boston Globe

[see also 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
2. How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
   David France
3. The Paperboy
   Lee Daniels
4. Amour
   Michael Haneke
5. Django Unchained
   Quentin Tarantino
6. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
7. Polisse
   Maïwenn
8. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
9. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
10. 21 Jump Street
    Phil Lord and Chris Miller

15 More Excellent Moves in No Particular Order

• Elena
  Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Barbara
  Christian Petzold
• Miss Bala
  Gerardo Naranjo
• The Gatekeepers
  Dror Moreh
• Magic Mike
  Steven Soderbergh
• Where Do We Go Now?
  Nadine Labaki
• The Turin Horse
  Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
• Zero Dark Thirty
  Kathryn Bigelow
• The Loneliest Planet
  Julia Loktev
• Gayby
  Jonathan Lisecki
• Sister
  Ursula Meier
• The Color Wheel
  Alex Ross Perry
• Silver Linings Playbook
  David O. Russell
• Lincoln
  Steven Spielberg
• Argo
  Ben Affleck

Keith Uhlich: 10 Best Movies of 2012, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2011]

1. Almayer’s Folly
   Chantal Akerman
2. Not Fade Away
   David Chase
3. Domain
   Patric Chiha
4. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
5. Killer Joe
   William Friedkin
6. This is Not a Film
   Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
7. Girl Walk // All Day
   Jacob Krupnick
8. Damsels in Distress
   Whit Stillman
9. Zero Dark Thirty
   Kathryn Bigelow
10. Cosmopolis
    David Cronenberg

Joshua Rothkopf: 10 Best Movies of 2012, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2011]

1. Bernie
   Richard Linklater
2. Zero Dark Thirty
   Kathryn Bigelow
3. How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
   David France
4. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
5. Keep the Lights On
   Ira Sachs
6. Elena
   Andrey Zvyagintsev
7. Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
   Matthew Akers
8. The Imposter
   Bart Layton
9. Silver Linings Playbook
   David O. Russell
10. Django Unchained
    Quentin Tarantino

David Fear: 10 Best Movies of 2012, as published by Time Out New York

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2011]

1. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Compliance
   Craig Zobel
3. Bestiaire
   Denis Côté
4. Zero Dark Thirty
   Kathryn Bigelow
5. Magic Mike
   Steven Soderbergh
6. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
7. The Raid: Redemption
   Gareth Evans
8. Amour
   Michael Haneke
9. Keep the Lights On
   Ira Sachs
10. Wuthering Heights
    Andrea Arnold

Dennis Cooper: 16 Favorite Films of 2012 (as numbered on Cooper’s site, but note that he precedes the list with “in no order”)

[see also 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
2. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
3. The Cabin in the Woods
   Drew Goddard
4. Oslo, August 31st
   Joachim Trier
5. Amour
   Michael Haneke
6. Take Shelter
   Jeff Nichols
7. The Second Cabin: Stemple Pass
   James Benning
8. All Divided Selves
   Luke Fowler
9. Free Radicals
   Pip Chodorov
10. Middle of Nowhere
    Michael Salerno and Marcus Whale
11. Shitty Youth
    Adam Humphrey
12. My Best Thing
    Frances Stark
13. Stand in the Stream
    Stanya Kahn
14. The Wilding
    Grant Scicluna
15. This is Not a Film
    Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
15. ParaNorman
    Chris Butler & Sam Fell

Ben Sachs: 20 Favorite Films of 2012, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Life Without Principle
   Johnnie To
2. Possession (1981)
   Andrzej Zulawski
3. A Simple Life
   Ann Hui
4. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Sack Barrow
   Ben Rivers
6. We Have a Pope
   Nanni Moretti
7. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
8. The Paperboy
   Lee Daniels
9. This is Not a Film
   Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
10. Cosmopolis
    David Cronenberg
11. Outside Satan
    Bruno Dumont
12. Silver Linings Playbook
    David O. Russell
13. Magic Mike
    Steven Soderbergh
14. Moonrise Kingdom
    Wes Anderson
15. Unforgivable
    André Téchiné
16. Paradise: Love
    Ulrich Seidl
17. The Grey
    Joe Carnahan
18. A Burning Hot Summer
    Philippe Garrel
19. The Secret World of Arrietty
    Hiromasa Yonebayashi
20. Bernie
    Richard Linklater

J.R. Jones: 22 Favorite Movies of 2012, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
2. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
3. In the Family
   Patrick Wang
4. God Bless America
   Bobcat Goldthwait
5. Le Grand Amour (1969)
   Pierre Etaix
6. The House I Live In
   Eugene Jarecki
7. Beyond the Hills
   Cristian Mungiu
8. Rust and Bone
   Jacques Audiard
9. Compliance
   Craig Zobel
10. The Color Wheel
    Alex Ross Perry

Runners Up (alphabetical)

• Beasts of the Southern Wild
  Benh Zeitlin
• Bernie
  Richard Linklater
• The Deep Blue Sea
  Terence Davies
• Detropia
  Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
• Elena
  Andrey Zvyagintsev
• End of Watch
  David Ayer
• The Invisible War
  Kirby Dick
• The Master
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Take This Waltz
  Sarah Polley
• Ted
  Seth MacFarlane
• This is Not a Film
  Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
• Your Sister’s Sister
  Lynn Shelton

Glenn Kenny: 25 Best Films of 2012

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013]

1. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
2. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
3. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
4. Zero Dark Thirty
   Kathryn Bigelow
5. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
6. Cosmopolis
   David Cronenberg
7. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
8. Looper
   Rian Johnson
9. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
10. Tabu
    Miguel Gomes
11. This is Not a Film
    Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
12. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
    Nuri Bilge Ceylan
13. ParaNorman
    Chris Butler & Sam Fell
14. Hello, I Must Be Going
    Todd Louisa
15. Amour
    Michael Haneke
16. Flight
    Robert Zemeckis
17. Bernie
    Richard Linklater
18. Not Fade Away
    David Chase
19. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Benh Zeitlin
20. Skyfall
    Sam Mendes
21. The Dark Knight Rises
    Christopher Nolan
22. Damsels in Distress
    Whit Stillman
23. Goodbye First Love
    Mia Hansen-Løve
24. Prometheus
    Ridley Scott
25. Red Hook Summer
    Spike Lee

Darren Hughes: 10 Best Films of 2012 (as published at Long Pauses, where he also has lists of favorite unreleased films, favorite discoveries, and “Movie Recommendations for People Who Don’t Like the Kinds of Movies I Like”)

[see also 2021 • 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014]

1. The Loneliest Planet
   Julia Loktev
2. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
3. Barbara
   Christian Petzold
4. Almayer’s Folly
   Chantal Akerman
5. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
6. The Day He Arrives
   Hong Sang-soo
7. A Burning Hot Summer
   Philippe Garrel
8. Haywire
   Steven Soderbergh
9. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
10. Neighboring Sounds
    Kleber Mendonça Filho

Film Comment: 50 Best Films of 2012

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011]

1. Holy Motors
   Leos Carax
2. The Master
   Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Moonrise Kingdom
   Wes Anderson
4. This is Not a Film
   Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
5. Amour
   Michael Haneke
6. The Turin Horse
   Béla Tarr & Agnes Hranitzky
7. The Kid with a Bike
   Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
   Nuri Bilge Ceylan
9. Lincoln
   Steven Spielberg
10. Zero Dark Thirty
    Kathryn Bigelow
11. Tabu
    Miguel Gomes
12. The Deep Blue Sea
    Terence Davies
13. Bernie
    Richard Linklater
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Benh Zeitlin
15. Cosmopolis
    David Cronenberg
16. Barbara
    Christian Petzold
17. The Loneliest Planet
    Julia Loktev
18. Silver Linings Playbook
    David O. Russell
19. Oslo, August 31st
    Joachim Trier
20. Neighboring Sounds
    Kleber Mendonça Filho
21. Django Unchained
    Quentin Tarantino
22. Almayer’s Folly
    Chantal Akerman
23. Magic Mike
    Steven Soderbergh
24. Argo
    Ben Affleck
25. Attenberg
    Athina Rachel Tsangari
26. The Color Wheel
    Alex Ross Perry
27. Rust and Bone
    Jacques Audiard
28. Killer Joe
    William Friedkin
29. Looper
    Rian Johnson
30. Life of Pi
    Ang Lee
31. A Man Vanishes
    Shohei Imamura
32. Skyfall
    Sam Mendes
33. The Gatekeepers
    Dror Moreh
34. Elena
    Andrey Zvyagintsev
35. Haywire
    Steven Soderbergh
36. Damsels in Distress
    Whit Stillman
37. Abendland
    Nikolaus Geyrhalter
38. Two Years at Sea
    Ben Rivers
39. How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
    David France
40. Keep the Lights On
    Ira Sachs
41. A Burning Hot Summer
    Philippe Garrel
42. Miss Bala
    Gerardo Naranjo
43. Footnote
    Joseph Cedar
44. Compliance
    Craig Zobel
45. Alps
    Yorgos Lanthimos
46. Kill List
    Ben Wheatley
47. Farewell, My Queen
    Benoît Jacquot
48. In Another Country
    Hong Sang-soo
49. The Dark Knight Rises
    Christopher Nolan
50. The Day He Arrives
    Hong Sang-soo