Well, another year is in the books. Like everyone else has said, 2012 was a pretty great movie year. Coming up with a Top 10 was relatively easy -- although I'm sorry I couldn't find room for Only the Young, Tabu or 28 Hotel Rooms. So here we go ....
1. The Turin Horse
2. Elena
3. The Master
4. Compliance
5. It's Such a Beautiful Day
6. Room 237
7. Zero Dark Thirty
8. Detropia
9. Amour
10. Holy Motors
I go into more detail about my Nos. 10-6 here. And I write about movies Nos. 5-1 here.
What else? Well, there's my Village Voice ballot, where I lay out my picks for Best Actor, Actress and so on and so forth. (If that isn't enough to tempt you, I also reveal my vote for the year's worst film.)
As for my fondest personal movie memories of 2012, this was a year that started with me attending the first public screening of Compliance at Sundance -- yeah, that one -- and ended with a last-minute viewing of the remarkable It's Such a Beautiful Day the night before the LAFCA awards vote. In between, I was proud to bring director Andrei Zvyagintsev's The Banishment to the Los Angeles Film Festival as part of its invaluable "Films That Got Away" series. (I thank Nicholas Bell for his sharp and perceptive review from the festival.) In my own life, 2012 was not without its challenges, but the movies helped keep me going. I'm grateful to them -- and for you for reading. Here's to a healthy and prosperous 2013.
