THE BEST MOVIES OF 2012
by explorer801 | created - 24 Feb 2013 | updated - 06 May 2013 | PublicSome are obvious, others are not. But here are my favorites!
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1. Les Misérables (2012)
PG-13 | 158 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 346,188 | Gross: $148.81M
The one movie that has it all this year! It is a triumph. Though it won't win Best Picture at the Oscars, it IS the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!
2. Life of Pi (2012)
PG | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Votes: 667,273 | Gross: $124.99M
Outstanding visuals, acting, direction, and a wallop of an ending, more profound than I ever could have imagined. The type of movie you think about for days after viewing it. Most claimed it was an impossible film to adapt from the novel. Wow--did they prove that wrong!
3. The Impossible (2012)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama, History, Thriller
The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast
Votes: 244,282 | Gross: $19.02M
The most entrancing, heartfelt movie of the year. Great acting by Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and young newcomer Tom Holland. Undoubtedly terrifying and horrifying with a shining message of hope and the importance of family. Naomi Watts deserved her Oscar nomination for sure, but Ewan McGregor SHOULD have received a nomination for Supporting Actor as his performance is as desperate, strong, and anguishing as Watts'!
4. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 743,143 | Gross: $132.09M
The subject matter (bipolar, depression) is part of my own life. It is handled subtly, honestly, and it's cast is astonishing. It is true to the subject matter & shows how families deal with mental illness. A true dream cast!
5. Argo (2012)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin
Votes: 639,395 | Gross: $136.03M
Love, love, love! The most intense, nail-biter of the year.
6. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,955 | Gross: $162.81M
7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 548,418 | Gross: $17.74M
8. Amour (2012)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama
Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud
Votes: 105,742 | Gross: $6.74M
9. Lincoln (2012)
PG-13 | 150 min | Biography, Drama, History
As the Civil War rages on, U.S President Abraham Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on his decision to emancipate the slaves.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Votes: 272,766 | Gross: $182.21M
10. The Sessions (2012)
R | 95 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.
Director: Ben Lewin | Stars: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood
Votes: 43,994 | Gross: $6.00M
11. Pitch Perfect (2012)
PG-13 | 112 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Director: Jason Moore | Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp
Votes: 330,937 | Gross: $65.00M
12. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Five college friends head out to a remote cabin for a getaway, but things don't go as planned when they start getting killed. They soon discover that there is more to the cabin than it seems.
Director: Drew Goddard | Stars: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz
Votes: 451,090 | Gross: $42.07M
13. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
PG-13 | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Two 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray
Votes: 366,876 | Gross: $45.51M
14. The Master (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, History
A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons
Votes: 186,315 | Gross: $16.38M
15. Prometheus (I) (2012)
R | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Following clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron
Votes: 644,648 | Gross: $126.48M
16. Hope Springs (2012)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.
Director: David Frankel | Stars: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart
Votes: 44,343 | Gross: $63.54M
17. Quartet (2012)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
At a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean (Dame Maggie Smith), an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.
Director: Dustin Hoffman | Stars: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly, Tom Courtenay
Votes: 21,211 | Gross: $18.39M
18. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than advertised, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.
Director: John Madden | Stars: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 99,525 | Gross: $46.41M
19. Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011)
R | 83 min | Comedy, Drama
Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his widowed mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his unhappily married brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
Directors: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass | Stars: Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon
Votes: 65,590 | Gross: $4.24M
20. Frankenweenie (2012)
PG | 87 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
When a boy's beloved dog passes away suddenly, he attempts to bring the animal back to life through a powerful science experiment.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau
Votes: 117,180 | Gross: $35.29M
21. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
PG-13 | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.
Director: Benh Zeitlin | Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes
Votes: 85,097 | Gross: $12.80M
22. Magic Mike (2012)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A male stripper teaches a younger performer how to party, pick up women, and make easy money.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, Matthew McConaughey
Votes: 147,272 | Gross: $113.72M
23. Anna Karenina (I) (2012)
R | 129 min | Drama, Romance
In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen
Votes: 106,605 | Gross: $12.82M
24. Arbitrage (2012)
R | 107 min | Drama, Thriller
A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help.
Director: Nicholas Jarecki | Stars: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth
Votes: 54,865 | Gross: $7.92M
25. Flight (I) (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, Thriller
Troubling questions arise after airline pilot Whip Whitaker makes a miracle landing after a mid-air catastrophe.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Denzel Washington, Nadine Velazquez, Don Cheadle, John Goodman
Votes: 376,369 | Gross: $93.77M
26. The Hunger Games (2012)
PG-13 | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 1,004,389 | Gross: $408.01M
27. Dark Shadows (2012)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter
Votes: 280,590 | Gross: $79.73M
28. Brave (2012)
PG | 93 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell | Stars: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters
Votes: 442,641 | Gross: $237.28M
29. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong
Votes: 319,112 | Gross: $95.72M
This is good. But overrated. Recommended for the intense last 30 minutes, and for Jessica Chastain's AMAZING performance.
30. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 67,137 | Gross: $9.03M
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