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1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Zero Dark Thirty
3. The Master
4. Amour
5. Lincoln
6. Django Unchained
7. Holy Motors
8. Looper
9. Argo
10. The Kid with a Bike

The Next Ten: Silver Linings Playbook, Damsels in Distress, Bernie, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, ParaNorman, The Central Park Five, Compliance, West of Memphis, Searching for Sugar Man, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last update: 3-2-13

01 The Kid with a Bike (Dardennes)
02 Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson)
03 Holy Motors (Carax)
04 The Turin Horse (Tarr)
05 Damsels in Distress (Stillman)
06 Michael (Schleinzer)
07 Tabu (Gomes)
08 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Scafaria)
09 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Ceylan)
10 Oslo, August 31st (Trier)

Last edited Jun 01, 2021

01 Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
02 Detention (Joseph Kahn)
03 Starlet (Sean Baker)
04 Bachelorette (Leslye Headland)
05 the Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
06 Killer Joe (William Friedkin)
07 Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman)
08 the Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry)
09 Celeste and Jesse Forever (Lee Toland Krieger)
10 Sound of My Voice (Zal Batmanglij)

UPDATED 02/03/2020

01 Faust (Sokurov)
02 The Turin Horse (Tarr)
02 A separation (Fahradi)
03 The Kid with a Bike (Dardennes)
03 Hors Satan (Dumont)
05 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Ceylan)
06 A Danderous Method (Cronenberg)
06 Elena (Zvyagintsev)
07 Guilty of romance (Sono)
08 Carnage (Polanski)
10 Polisse (Maïwen)

01. The Master (Anderson)
02. Django Unchained (Tarantino)
03. Holy Motors (Carax)
04. Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson)
05. Killer Joe (Friedkin)
06. Michael (Schleinzer/Resetarits)
07. Wuthering Heights (Arnold)
08. Killing Them Softly (Dominik)
09. Magic Mike (Soderbergh)
10. Amour (Haneke)

LAST UPDATED: 1/3/2018

1. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr)
2. Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland)
3. London - The Modern Babylon (Julien Temple)
4. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
5. Rose (Wojciech Smarzowski)
6. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)
7. Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki)
8. Hugo (Martin Scorsese)
9. Melancholia (Lars von Trier)
10. The Descendants (Alexander Payne)

New films seen during 2012: The Artist, Best Laid Plans, The Descendants, Drive, Goon, Hugo, In Darkness, Le Havre, Melancholia, A Separation, The Turin Horse, The Woman in the Fifth
Old films seen during 2012: Bigger Than Life, Cellulose, Chung Kuo - China, The Conformist, Dersu Uzala, FUBAR, Goodbye See You Tomorrow, Gran Torino, Hamlet (1921), It's All Gone Pete Tong, Liverpool, Loving Memory, Mandingo, Marketa Lazarová, Night Train (1959), One of the Missing, The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Revolution, Revolution Revisited, Slap Shot, Superbad, Take Me Home Tonight, Under the Phrygian Star, Winter's Bone, Zift.

(Definition of "new film": something that had its world premiere during 2011 or later).

1) Tabu (2012)
2) Drug War
3) The Master
4) Leviathan
5) Django Unchained
6) Berberian Sound Studio
7) Looper
8) Moonrise Kingdom
9) Beyond The Hills
10) Lincoln

Disappointments: Holy Motors, Amour, Prometheus, Killing Them Softly, To The Wonder,

Liked: Dredd, The Angel's Share, Skyfall, Premium Rush, Amour, To The Wonder, Barbara, The Hunt

Whatever: The Dark Knight Rises, Holy Motors, Cosmopolis, Zero Dark Thirty,

On the Shame List: Killing Them Softly, Prometheus, The Hobbit

1. Argo
2. Killing Them Softly
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Looper
5. Wuthering Heights
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
7. Shut Up and Play the Hits
8. It's Such a Beautiful Day
9. Damsels in Distress
10. Moonrise Kingdom

List includes 2012 releases only per IMDb date.

1. Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson)
2. The Dark Knight Rises (Nolan)
3. Silver Linings Playbook (Russell)
4. Looper (Johnson)
5. Lincoln (Spielberg)
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin)
7. Savages (Stone)
8. Cloud Atlas (Wachowski & Tykwer & Wachowski)
9. Anna Karenina (Wright)
10. Amour (Haneke)

The inner circle:
1. In a Foreign Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012
2. Two Years at Sea, Ben Rivers, 2011
3. Tabu, Miguel Gomes, 2012
4. Isn't Anyone Alive?, Ishii Sogo, 2012
5. Abendland, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2011
6. The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011
7. Damsels in Distress, Whit Stillman, 2011
8. Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh, 2012
9. The Ambassador, Mads Brügger, 2011
10. It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve - Masao Adachi, Philippe Grandrieux, 2011

Auxiliaries and satellites:
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson, 2012
The Color Wheel, Alex Ross Perry, 2011
Petrel Hotel Blue, Wakamatsu Kôji, 2012
4:44 Last Day on Earth, Abel Ferrara, 2011
Jiro Dreams of Sushi, David Gelb, 2011
Norwegian Wood, Tran Anh Hung, 2010
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011
Robinson in Ruins, Patrick Keiller, 2010

Not awful:
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell, 2012
Amour, Michael Haneke, 2012
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino, 2012
Anna Karenina, Joe Wright, 2012
The Loneliest Planet, Julia Loktev, 2011
Bernie, Richard Linklater, 2011
Cloud Atlas, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski, 2012
Trishna, Michael Winterbottom, 2011
Haywire, Steven Soderbergh, 2011
Holy Motors, Leos Carax, 2012
Bestiaire, Denis Côté, 2012
Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg, 2012
The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012
Killer Joe, William Friedkin, 2011
The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan, 2012
Neil Young Journeys, Jonathan Demme, 2011
I Wish, Kore-eda Hirozaku, 2011
Le gamin au vélo, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011
The Turin Horse, Tarr Béla, 2011
21 Jump Street, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, 2012
Let the Bullets Fly, Jiang Wen, 2010
Post Mortem, Pablo Larraín, 2010
Matière grise, Kivu Ruhorahoza, 2011
Almayer's Folly, Chantal Akerman, 2011
Crazy Horse, Frederick Wiseman, 2011

Good grief:
Skyfall, Sam Mendes, 2012
The Bourne Legacy, Tony Gilroy, 2012
Palaces of Pity, Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt, 2011

1. The Master
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Django Unchained
4. Wuthering Heights
5. Amour
6. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
7. Michael
8. Killer Joe
9. Argo
10. Compliance

Also good: Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Killing Them Softly, Bernie, Magic Mike, Middle of Nowhere, Looper, Pariah, Haywire, Monsieur Lazhar, The Grey, The Cabin in the Woods, Anna Karenina, Lincoln

1. The Master
2. The Turin Horse
3. Holy Motors
4. Django Unchained
5. Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
6. The Comedy
7. Alps
8. Beyond the Hills
9. Amour
10. Cosmopolis

1. Moonrise Kingdom (W. Anderson, 2012)
2. Zero Dark Thirty (Bigelow, 2012)
3. Amour (Haneke, 2012)
4. Argo (Affleck, 2012)
5. Lincoln (Spielberg, 2012)
6. The Master (PT Anderson, 2012)
7. Killer Joe (Friedkin, 2011)
8. Silver Linings Playbook (Russell, 2012)
9. Django Unchained (Tarantino, 2012)
10. Holy Motors (Carax, 2012)

Haywire (Soderbergh, 2012)
Looper (Johnson, 2012)
Bernie (Linklater, 2012)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Gelb, 2011)
Killing Them Softly (Dominik, 2012)
Magic Mike (Soderbergh, 2012)
The Kid with a Bike (Dardennes, 2011)
21 Jump Street (Lord and Miller, 2012)
John Carter (Stanton, 2012)
Cabin in the Woods (Goddard, 2012)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012)
The Avengers (Whedon, 2012)
Prometheus (Scott, 2012)
The Grey (Carnahan, 2011)
Skyfall (Mendes, 2012)
Damsels in Distress (Stillman, 2011)

Worst of 2012
Hick
Butter

1. The Master. (PT Anderson)
2. In the Fog. (Loznitsa)
3. Holy Motors. (Carax)
4. Post Tenears Lux. (Reygadas)
5. Like Someone in Love. (Kiarostami)
6. In Another Country. (Sang-soo)
7. This is not a Film. (Mojtaba Mirtahasebi & Jafar Panahi)
8. Amour. (Haneke)
9. Beyond the Hills. (Mungiu)
10. Paradise: Love. (Seidl)

Good films just missing out:
No (Larraín)
Neighbouring Sounds (Filho)
Berberian Sound Studio (Strickland)
Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson)
Le Havre(Kaurismäki)

Didn't like:
American Translation (Pascal Arnold & Jean-Marc Barr)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher)
The Iron Lady(Lloyd)
Punk (Sauvaire)
Tey (Gomis)
Rust and Bone (Audiard)

Really Bad: (Golden Turkey award)
The Dark Knight Rises (Nolan)

Top Ten films distributed in the U.S. in 2012:

1. The Turin Horse
2. Holy Motors
3. Moonrise Kingdom
4. Bernie
5. The Kid with a Bike
6. This Is Not a Film
7. The Master
8. Zero Dark Thirty
9. The Deep Blue Sea
10. Tabu

1. Lincoln
2. Killer Joe
3. Cave of Forgotten Dreams
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. A Separation
6. Argo
7. Django Unchained
8. Searching for Sugarman
9. Life of Pi
10. Take This Waltz

Enjoyed, but not top 10 material (in a rough order of preference, i.e. #11 on)....
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
The Invisible War
The Sessions
Marvel's The Avengers
End of Watch
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Michael
Killing Them Softly
Sleepwalk With Me
Your Sister's Sister
Safety Not Guaranteed
Looper
Magic Mike
Wreck it Ralph
Hitchcock
Queen of Versailles
Rashida and Jesse Forever
Liberal Arts
Arbitrage
In Darkness
Bernie
Robot & Frank
Cabin in The Woods
Premium Rush
The Grey
Prometheus
Hobbitses
7 Psychopaths
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
The Campaign
Chronicle
The Innkeepers
Skyfall
The Master
Lawless
Thin Ice
Friends With Kids
Flight
21 Jump Street
Pitch Perfect
Smashed
Dredd
The Raid: Redemption
Woman in Black
Haywire
Damsels in Distress
Ted
Wanderlust

Indifferent...
The Impossible
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Margaret
The Dead
Salmon Fishing In the Yemen
Safe House
Savages
Stand Up Guys
The Bourne Legacy
Silent House
Contraband
We Need to Talk About Kevin (only kept from the lowest category because of Tilda Swinton's amazing work)

Did not like...
American Wedding
Shame (Fassbender is brilliant, McQueen is vapid - strike two for him)
Perfect Family
Coriolanus

Oh, the Joys of Parenthood...
Journey 2: Electric Boogaloo
Mirror, Mirror
Hunger Games
Twilight Part whatever

1. Wuthering Heights
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. Damsels in Distress
4. Killer Joe
5. Bernie
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Sound of my Voice
8. On the Road
9. The Clown
10. Frankenweenie


11. Heleno
12. The Kid with a Bike
13. Chronicle
14. 2 Rabbits
15. 21 Jump Street
16. The Hunger Games
17. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
18. Paranorman
19. The Pirates: Band of Misfits

1. The Artist (30/12/11 release date in the UK)
2. Death of a Man in the Balkans
3. Tabu
4. Amour
5. Cabin in the Woods
6. The Master
7. Holy Motors
8. This is Not a Film
9. Wadjda
10. Silver Linings Playbook

1. Tabu (Miguel Gomes)
2. Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu)
3. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel)
4. Starlet (Sean Baker)
5. Museum Hours (Jem Cohen)
6. Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
7. Looper (Rian Johnson)
8. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow)
9. Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh)
10. Our Children (Joachim Lafosse)

The Turin Horse
Holy Motors
Moonrise Kingdom
The Dark Knight Rises
Silver Linings Playbook
Argo
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Prometheus
Life of Pi
Django Unchained

Official Top 10:

1. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
2. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
4. Argo (Ben Affleck)
5. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)
6. Looper (Rian Johnson)
7. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)
8. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow)
9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Jackson)
10. Skyfall (Sam Mendes)

1. The Turin Horse (Tarr)
2. Margaret (Lonergan)
3. Melody for a Street Organ (Muratova)
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Dreileben - Don't Follow Me Around (Graf)
6. Goodbye, My First Love (Hansen-Love)
7. Hors Satan (Dumont)
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Ceylan)
9. Turn Me On, Goddamnit! (Jacobsen)
10. Slow Action (Rivers)

Also rans (in order of preference):
Un été brûlant (Garrel), The Kid with a Bike (Dardenne Brothers), Magic Mike (Soderbergh), Elena (Zvyagintsev), Damsels in Distress (Stillman), Oslo, August 31st (Trier), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Gelb), Bernie (Linklater), Haywire (Soderbergh), A Dangerous Method (Cronenberg), Le Havre (Kaurismaki), Whore's Glory (Glawogger), The Cabin in the Woods (Goddard), Michael (Schleinzer)

1. THIS IS NOT A FILM
2. MOONRISE KINGDOM
2. THE MASTER
4. SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
5. 21 JUMP STREET
6. MAGIC MIKE
7. KEEP THE LIGHTS ON
8. COSMOPOLIS
9. GOON
10. THE KID WITH A BIKE

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Moonrise Kingdom
The Descendants
The Grey
The Avengers
21 Jump Street
The Artist
Haywire
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Wanderlust