The 10 Best, No, The 100 Best Films Of 2012: Kam’s Annual Assessment Of The Cream Of The Cinematic Crop

It’s impossible for me to limit my favorite films of 2012 to just 10 of the year’s 1,000 or so releases After all, it feels unfair even to compare most of them to each other, since they represent so many different genres, countries and cultures, and enjoyed such a range in budgets.

Therefore, as per usual, this critic’s annual list features 100 entries in order to honor as many of the best offerings as possible. And despite the cloud of controversy swirling around Kathryn’s Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty for its depiction of torture and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained for its violence and use of the N-word, both of these movies are nevertheless deserving of high accolades in my humble opinion.

 

10 Best Big Budget Films

1. 1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. 2. Silver Linings Playbook
3. 3. Django Unchained
4. 4. Looper
5. 5. Argo
6. 6. Life Of Pi
7. 7. 21 Jump Street
8. 8. Cabin In The Woods
9. 9. Flight
10. 10. Magic Mike

 

Big Budgets Honorable Mention

1. 11. The Hunger Games
2. 12. Skyfall
3. 13. The Amazing Spider-Man
4. 14. Safe House
5. 15. The Sessions
6. 16. Savages
7. 17. The Avengers
8. 18. Think Like A Man
9. 19. Hitchcock
10. 20. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
11. 21. Mirror Mirror
12. 22. Anna Karenina
13. 23. Lincoln
14. 24. Sparkle
15. 25. Promised Land

 

10 Best Foreign Films

1. 1. Amour (France)
2. 2. Turn Me On, Dammit! (Norway)
3. 3. Nobody Else But You (France)
4. 4. Let The Bullets Fly (China)
5. 5. The Other Son (Israel)
6. 6. Putin’s Kiss (Russia)
7. 7. Sound Of Noise (Germany)
8. 8. Attenberg (Greece)
9. 9. I Wish (Japan)
10. 10. The Fairy (Belgium)

 

Foreign Films Honorable Mention

1. 11. The Well Digger’s Daughter (France)
2. 12. Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (Japan)
3. 13. Ikland (Uganda)
4. 14. Elles (France)
5. 15. Simon And The Oaks (Sweden)
6. 16. The Intouchables (France)
7. 17. Unforgivable (Italy)
8. 18. Dolphin Boy (Israel)
9. 19. Oslo, August 31st (Norway)
10. 20. A Royal Affair (Denmark)
11. 21. Busong (Philippines)
12. 22. Gerhard Richter Painting (Germany)
13. 23. Somewhere Between (China)
14. 24. Crazy Horse (France)
15. 25. 360 (Brazil)

 

10 Best Independent Films

1. 1. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
2. 2. The Deep Blue Sea
3. 3. Quartet
4. 4. Take This Waltz
5. 5. Middle Of Nowhere
6. 6. Safety Not Guaranteed
7. 7. Compliance
8. 8. Restless City
9. 9. Goon
10. 10. Changing The Game

 

Independent Films Honorable Mention

1. 11. God Bless America
2. 12. Ginger & Rosa
3. 13. Yelling To The Sky
4. 14. Nobody Walks
5. 15. V/H/S
6. 16. Tim & Eric’s Billion-Dollar Movie
7. 17. Model Minority
8. 18. The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best
9. 19. 28 Hotel Rooms
10. 20. Velvet Elvis
11. 21. Deadfall
12. 22. Mosquita Y Mari
13. 23. Happy New Year
14. 24. 96 Minutes
15. 25. Jack & Diane

 

10 Best Documentaries

1. 1. The Central Park Five
2. 2. Head Games
3. 3. Chasing Ice
4. 4. Bully
5. 5. The Loving Story
6. 6. The Queen Of Versailles
7. 7. Hoodwinked
8. 8. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel
9. 9. 65_RedRoses
10. 10. Heist

 

Documentaries Honorable Mention

1. 11. Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story
2. 12. The Revisionaries
3. 13. Six Million And One
4. 14. Marley
5. 15. High Ground
6. 16. Bonsai People
7. 17. Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story
8. 18. Soul Food Junkies
9. 19. Brooklyn Castle
10. 20. Chimpanzee
11. 21. Detropia
12. 22. Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment
13. 23. Never Stand Still
14. 24. 5 Broken Cameras
15. 25. Samsara