Eric's 2012 Movie list

Yes, I make the same disclaimer every year, but again, this is not necessarily the best or worst films of the year, just my favorites. For instance, Hyde Park on Hudson has been almost universally panned and I get that, but the subject matter and Bill Murray just happen to be right in my wheelhouse. Sue me. These are just the flicks I enjoyed the most this year. And just because a film is near the bottom of the list doesn't mean I hated it (except for the bottom 5). Since I try to avoid movies I know I'm not going to like in the first place, it turns out that I enjoy most of what I see. I think you'd be fine selecting just about anything at random in the top 50 and be glad you did...the top 40 or 30 especially.

At any rate here is the list. This year provided me with a wider variety of enjoyable fare than in years past. There were a few great studio releases, lots of great indie and festival films, some really cool documentaries and something that's rare for me to find...comedies that were actually funny (e.g. The Campaign, Bernie, Klown, Ted, God Bless America) Please add your comments whether you agree or disagree (especially the latter).

1 Moonrise Kingdom
2 Django Unchained
3 Lincoln
4 Zero Dark Thirty
5 Looper
6 The Fitzgerald Family Christmas
7 The Master
8 Jayne Mansfield's Car
9 Hyde Park on Hudson
10 Beasts of the Southern Wild
11 Argo
12 Beauty is Embarrassing
13 Come Morning
14 Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters
15 Searching for Sugar Man
16 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da)
17 Oslo, 31 August
18 Holy Motors
19 Game Change
20 Charles Bradley: Soul of America
21 The Campaign
22 Bullhead (Rundskop)
23 Bernie
24 The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo)
25 Killer Joe
26 God Bless America
27 Klovn: The Movie
28 Ted
29 The Sessions
30 The Grey
31 Silver Linings Playbook
32 Seeking Asian Female
33 Free Samples
34 Sleepwalk With Me
35 Finding Mercy
36 The Imposter
37 Jiro Dreams of Sushi
38 Deep Blue Sea
39 5 Broken Cameras
40 I do
41 Ruby Sparks
42 Les Miserables
43 Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
44 Black Pond
45 Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
46 Bay of All Saints
47 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
48 Pilgrim Song
49 The Queen of Versailles
50 Your Sister's Sister
51 Hysteria
52 See Girl Run
53 Electrick Children
54 How to Survive a Plague
55 Savages
56 Eating Alabama
57 Safety Not Guaranteed
58 Take This Waltz
59 Beware of Mr. Baker
60 The Cabin in the Woods
61 Dollhouse
62 The Three Stooges
63 America's Parking Lot
64 A Bag of Hammers (#74 on 2011 list - SXSW film)
65 The Invisible War
66 Jeff, Who Lives at Home (#67 on 2011 list - AFF film)
67 The Secret World of Arriety
68 Whores' Glory
69 Booster
70 The Woman in the Fifth (#57 on 2011 list - SXSW film)
71 Too Big to Fail
72 Wreck-It Ralph
73 Butter
74 Girl Model
75 Craigslist Joe
76 Missed Connections
77 The Hunger Games
78 Fat Kid Rules the World
79 Liars Fires and Bears
80 Natural Selection (#89 on 2011 list - SXSW film)
81 Wanderlust (the 15 minutes I saw was awful)
82 The Babymakers

There are some movies I wish I had gotten around to seeing: The Hobbit, Compliance, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Amour, Wake in Fright and Life of Pi. When I see them, I will come back and add them to the list.