Everybody has to make a top movies in 2012 list, especially me.  This list is based of the 33 movies I saw this year that was released in 2012.  Most notable exclusions include Hitchock, Life of Pi, and Flight.  I must still see those movies.

Honorable Mentions:
The Raid: Redemption - Rated R, Safe House - Rated R, Men In Black 3 - Rated PG-13, The Expendables 2 - Rated R

10. The Grey - Rated R

I saw The Grey in the same day as Taken 2.  Both are thrillers which sees Liam Neeson fight for his life.  But The Grey was much more then action.  It was a great story about finding something to fight for after you have lost everything.  Yes, the wolves seem a bit unnatural in their stalking of Neeson’s group.  But the redemption of Neeson’s Ottaway was an experience I will soon not forget.

9. Moonrise Kingdom - Rated PG-13

Wes Anderson’s tale of teenage outcast love was well acted.  I expected great performances from Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and the rest of the adult cast.  But the child actors are the reason this was good.  Big props to male lead Jared Gilman who just never really seemed to belong to anything.  He came off as natural and gave real depth to Sam.  Without Gilmam this would have been mediocre at best.

8. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Rated PG-13

I was very excited about our return to Middle Earth.  The characters, the setting, the directing all was on point with the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  Martin Freeman did a very good job leading this movie as Bilbo Baggins.  However I thought there were more pacing issues with the first installment of the Hobbit then the original Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.  I am optimistic the next two movies will get better from here.

7. Cabin In The Woods - Rated R

Joss Whedon’s quasi spoof on Horror Movies was fun to watch.  The teens getting killed one by one was fun but this movie went to another level when the last two teens found the facility that was controlling everything.  This movie also will make it impossible for me to ever go in a cabin again.

6. Prometheus - Rated R

Most people went into Prometheus wanting a definite origin to the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies.  They did not get that.  Instead Prometheus is a story about finding the origins of man in not as cute and cuddly as one would think.  While some of this movie felt like Alien, I am glad they went out and did their own thing.  The surgery scene still creeps me out to this day.

5. Django Unchained - Rated R

Quentin Tarantino out does Inglorious Bastards with Django Unchained.  The biggest surprised was just how funny it was.  Great performances from Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson give amazing performances.  There wasn’t as much action as I would have hope for, Django Unchained was bloodier than Kill Bill Vol. 1.

4. Skyfall - Rated PG-13

I love Daniel Craig as James Bond.  Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale were good movies.  Skyfall finally gave Daniel Craig a bond worthy villain in Javier Bardem.  Raoul Silva reminds me of villians of the 70’s but he had an edge.  Judi Dench’s M had tons of screen time and that only made Skyfall better.  I greatly looking forward to the next chapter for James Bond.

3. The Avengers - Rated PG-13

I first saw the Avengers in a marathon with every other Marvel movie made at that time.  The Avengers is the best of them all.  Each member of the Avengers had a story to tell.  Each character had time to grow.  While I felt there could have been more for Chris Evans’s Captain America, thats what 2014’s Winter Soldier is for.  The next stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be interesting.  

2. The Dark Knight Rises - Rated PG-13

For me the difference between 3 & 2 is personal preference.  I prefer the gritty story of The Dark Knight Rises to the more epic story of the Avengers.  Time has not been kind on my view of The Dark Knight Rises.  While initially I thought this 3rd movie was better than The Dark Knight, I know now the truth.  This is a tad long.  And more horribly, Christopher Nolan has strayed too far away from my vision of Batman.  Everything from Gotham being taken over by terrorists, to the ending is not how I vision Batman.  That in turn hurts my view of this movie.  I hope that Warner Brothers decides to reboot Batman and have someone create middle ground between Tim Burton’s and Christopher Nolan’s Batman films.

1. Argo - Rated R

Only the best movie in 2012 could be ⅔ great, gritty spy thriller and ⅓ hilarious satire on the movie industry.  Ben Affleck is an amazing director.  He kept me at the edge of my seat even though I knew what the outcome was.  Alan Arkin and John Goodman are great as the film producers but Ben Affleck steals the show keeping us reeled in to the story and not get lost in the humor.  It is weird to think of Ben’s early work and then watch Argo.  Ben Affleck as matured and is looking to show everyone he is the real deal.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!

Credit - IMDB.com