Making top 10 lists for anything at the end of the calendar year is often tricky business. Movies, like all forms of art, require time to digest and ponder. Unfortunately, this requires multiple viewings of films and re-evaluation. This process is time consuming and could take several years to fully gestate. Some films that appear to have immediate value in some years are soon revealed as little more than shallow entertainment that is actually less memorable over the long-run. The opposite also happens. Furthermore, no one gets a chance to watch every single film that comes out during a calendar year. As a result, films watched during the ensuing year alter the perspective easily.
We recently published a list of our top 10 movies of 2013, but now we'll engage in a different exercise by going back another year and revisiting the top 10 films for 2012.
Top 10 films from 2012
10. "The Forgiveness of Blood" (Directed by Joshua Marston)
9. "Life of Pi" (Directed by Ang Lee)
8. "Declaration of War" (Directed By Valerie Donzelli)
7. "Les Miserables" (Directed By Tom Hooper)
6. "Argo" (Directed By Ben Affleck)
5. "The Master" (Directed By Paul Thomas Anderson)
4. "Moonrise Kingdom" (Directed by Wes Anderson)
3. "Zero Dark Thirty" (Directed by Kathryn Bigelow)
2. "Amour" (Directed by Michael Haneke)
1. "Silver Linings Playbook" (Directed By David O. Russell)
(For a full analysis of that list, click HERE.)
Here is how the list has changed one year later. As with all lists, it is essential to remember that the viewer's taste and preference plays a major part in the decisions employed and in no way is this an attempt to create a definitive list of the best films of the year. As this exercise shows, this is a transitory process that could likely undergo changes in another context or time.
Here is a revised list for the Best Films of 2012.
10. "Les Miserables" (Directed By Tom Hooper)
The film is unwieldy in more ways than one, but Victor Hugo's epic story coupled with Claude-Michel Schönberg's gut-wrenching musical score creates a memorable film. Anne Hathaway's brief performance features a piercing musical performance that is the highlight of the film, while Hugh Jackman (whose voice can be a bit exasperating at times) still manages a complex portrayal of Jean Valjean.
9. "Flight"
Another unwieldy film that features a potent performance from Denzel Washington. Despite its rather chaotic structure and its questionable anti-hero, the viewer cannot help but feel hooked. The final scenes in this film are delivered with unabashed tension and Washington rises to the occasion with some of the best moments of his career.
8. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (Directed by Stephen Chbosky)
Teenage love flourishes in this tender and complex work about finding one's identity. The themes have been tackled before, but few have managed the sense of discovery that Stephen Chbosky creates. Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Emma Watson are terrific in the film, with Watson managing what is arguably her strongest turn to date.
7. "The Forgiveness of Blood" (Directed by Joshua Marston)
A terrific look at isolation and its emotional and psychological consequences. Marston's film is racked with tension from start to finish and the film's decision to showcase the differing reactions to adversity by its two lead actors makes for a compelling analysis and really pierces into the fragile psyche of the adolescent looking to find his and her identity.
6. "Life of Pi" (Directed by Ang Lee)
After a 2013 season filled with survival films, it is impossible to overlook the film that seemingly jumpstarted the trend in 2012. "Life of Pi" is the complete package in every sense of the word. A high-end production with glorious cinematography and unrivaled visual effects is held together by an intimate journey between a young boy and his tiger companion.
5. "Moonrise Kingdom" (Directed by Wes Anderson)
Anderson's films are all quirky in their own right, but they are always filled with a tremendous sense of humanity. Nowhere is this more present than in "Moonrise Kingdom," which features a star-studded cast and two breakout performances from young stars Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. Anderson's use of Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" is absolutely witty in its execution. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" could not arrive any sooner.
4. "Zero Dark Thirty" (Directed by Kathryn Bigelow)
Kathryn Bigelow's controversial film is fearless and remains compelling during repeat viewings. The final sequence, in which the soldiers attack the compound that houses Osama Bin Laden, never ceases to amaze with its terrific cinematography and mounting tension. Jessica Chastain carries the film with a terrific performance.
3. "The Master" (Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)
Anderson's film is a tough view, but it grows and grows in stature upon repeat viewings. Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman enact one of the most ambiguous "romances" in cinematic history while Amy Adams is simply stunning as a Lady Macbeth-like figure that would surely astound the Bard himself. The processing scene is arguably the most powerful scene in a film from 2012.
2. "Silver Linings Playbook" (Directed by David O. Russell)
Alas, second place. It was truly hard to pick a top film as both of the top movies on this list bring different depths of humanity. "Silver Linings" was the top pick a year ago and repeat viewings have certainly not diminished the film's stature. Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper are terrific together in the most compelling romance of the last few years; even Russell fails to top this effort with his latest work "American Hustle." As with his other recent films, "Silver Linings" creates a wondrous world in which every character is crazy in some way (obviously without being inconsiderate toward those with major mental illnesses). The jokes and laughs are fresh every time while the optimistic heart and soul that carries the film makes this the feel-good movie that you want to keep returning to time and again.
1. "Amour" (Directed by Michael Haneke)
Haneke's masterwork is a hard film to watch and endure. The movie is slow in its pacing and rather dry in its most of its tone and content; one cannot help but feel that death itself pervades the atmosphere throughout as another character. Haneke has always been a violent director who aims to communicate directly and intimately with the viewer and it is no different in "Amour." One of the opening images in the film features an audience staring right at the screen, serving as a mirror for the viewer. From this moment on, the viewer cannot help but feel that every scene in this film is a reflection of our current or future states; through this old couple, the viewer is watching what will eventually be his or her fate. The resulting experience is cruel to be sure (and Haneke constantly has one character turn away from the camera as if she were afraid to face death) but it is a transcendent one to be sure.