The American Film Institute, one of the US's top film organizations, has submitted their opinion on the top 10 films of 2012. And they have included a few surprises.
This year's films included Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty. But it was Django Unchained and The Dark Knight Rises that are the biggest winners on the list.
For starters, the list is always a good indicator of what the final Oscar Best Picture List will look like. The list only includes American made films which make up the bulk of the Oscar nominated film every year. Last year, the organization got seven of the final ten with only Bridesmaids, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and J. Edgar missing the Oscar cut. In place of those films The Artist and Extremely and Incredibly Close made up the list. The Artist did not qualify because it was not an American film and therefore was not included. In 2010 nine of the ten were nominated for the best film. The Town which was included on the list was replaced by the Oscar winner The King's Speech. Like The Artist, The King's Speech did not qualify because it was a British film. However both The Artist and The King's Speech received special awards by the AFI in their respective years. This year no special awards were awarded.
The film benefited most by this list is The Dark Knight Rises. While eight of the films on the list have gotten tons of buzz with critics, TDKR has been consistently overlooked. However, this pick, which is made by some Academy members, essentially puts it back on the map in the awards race.
Django Unchained has had an up and down road with many critics embracing it but others avoiding on their respective lists. There has not been a rock solid status for the film but the inclusion on this list helps increase its profile in awards season as well.
Some films that were expected on the list included Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Robert Zemeckis' Flight. While the former has won at some prominent critics' circles, the latter seems headed for a quiet awards season. Sam Mendes' Skyfall was also expected on the lsit, but was no eligible since it is considered a British film.
The Academy award nominations will be announced January 15th.