Another awards season week draws to a close, and another poll drops, this time from Film Comment. And a few cinephile favorites feature in the top ten of a fifty strong list.
Leos Carax's oddball love letter to the movies, "Holy Motors," has topped the list with Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" and Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" coming in second and third, with Michael Haneke's "Amour" helping to round out the top ten. But with fifty slots available, this end-of-the-year survey of film critics, journalists, film section editors, and past and present contributors runs in danger of basically just being a list of every good movie that came out in 2012. But, a closer look is a reminder of how much great cinema is happening on the fringes, in arthouses and other corners of the cinematic world. It certainly makes us want to catch up with the movies that have passed us by.
So, take a look below and as always, let us know your thoughts in the comments. And in case you're wondering, "The Dark Knight Rises" came in 49th.For all The Playlist's year-end coverage make sure to follow all our Best Of 2012 features.
Film Comment Top 50 Films Of 2012
1. Holy Motors
2. The Master
3. Moonrise Kingdom
4. This Is Not A Film
5. Amour
6. The Turin Horse
7. The Kid With A Bike
8. Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
9. Lincoln
10. Zero Dark Thirty
11. Tabu
12. The Deep Blue Sea
13. Bernie
14. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
15. Cosmopolis
16. Barbara
17. The Loneliest Planet
18. Silver Linings Playbook
19. Oslo, August 31
20. Neighboring Sounds
21. Django Unchained
22. Almayer's Folly
23. Magic Mike
24. Argo
25. Attenberg
26. The Color Wheel
27. Rust & Bone
28. Killer Joe
29. Looper
30. Life Of Pi
31. A Man Vanishes
32. Skyfall
33. The Gatekeepers
34. Elena
35. Haywire
36. Damels In Distress
37. Abendland
38. Two Years At Sea
39. How To Survive A Plague
40. Keep The Lights On
41. A Burning Hot Summer
42. Miss Bala
43. Footnote
44. Compliance
45. Alps
46. Kill List
47. Farewell, My Queen
48. In Another Country
49. The Dark Knight Rises
50. The Day He Arrives
if so many hundreds of movies are being released every year..TL494
Argo #24?? Ridiculous!
Why is The Master on this list. Its awful.
The fact that Django Unchained is only at 21 shows that most critics hadn't seen the film or didn't have time to process it. Rendering the list meaningless. If people aren't given enough time to see all of the films and spend some time considering them, of what use is the list?