subota, 23. veljače 2013.

Senses of Cinema - 2012 World Poll





Bilo je već možda i previše lista najboljih filmova 2012., no ovom svjetskom glasanju okupljenom u časopisu Senses of Cinema nije lako odoljeti.


ANTTI ALANEN 

Film programmer, critic, historian, Helsinki.
The best new films I saw January-November 2012
Hiljaisuus (Silence, Sakari Kirjavainen, 2011)
Canned Dreams (Katja Gauriloff, 2011)
Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2011)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011)
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Soundbreaker (Kimmo Koskela, 2011)
Eräänlainen rakkaustarina (My Little Window, Lauri-Matti Parppei, 2011)
Sodankylä ikuisesti 1-4 (Sodankylä Forever, Peter von Bagh, 2010)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Robert Guédiguian, 2011)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (Peter Lord, 2012)
Dark Shadows (Tim Burton, 2012)
The Dictator (Larry Charles, 2012) the speech in defense of dictatorship is a satiric masterpiece
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
Mario Ruspoli, prince des baleines et autres raretés (Florence Dauman, 2011)
Side by Side (Chris Kenneally, 2012)
Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010) the long version in three episodes
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Terraferma (Emanuele Crialese, 2011)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Urbanized (Gary Hustwit, 2011)
1 Plus 1 Plus 1 – Sympathy for the Decay (Ilppo Pohjola, 2012)
Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
Sinivalkoinen valhe (When Heroes Lie, Arto Halonen, 2012)
Palme (Maud Nycander, Kristina Lindström, 2012)
Akkaansilta (The Akkaansilta Bridge, Juha Rinnekari, 2011)
De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard, 2012)
An intriguing year in blockbusters
The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man (Marc Webb, 2012)
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (Bill Condon, 2012)
Striking features: good directors, experimental elements, bleak visuals, dystopian visions, deranged protagonists, anti-heroes. The Twilight Saga is the most desolate of them all, a turning point in the mainstream cinema’s horror fiction: the identification figure is a monster, the plot is about saving the monster child, and there is practically no “normality” in the story.
Epic fraud, social injustice, and “after us, the flood” were recurrent themes, also in films like Arbitrage (Nicholas Jarecki, 2012).
Digital got better
A cold, bleak, and lifeless look was predominant, but there were exceptions. Margaret, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Moonrise Kingdom were shot on 16mm, and the warm photochemical quality was successfully realised in the digital intermediate. Skyfall was the first James Bond film shot digitally, but it had a richer look than the two previous ones, which had gone through a bleak digital intermediate process.
Favourite comedy performance:
Ellen Page as Monica “who knows one line from every poem” in To Rome with Love (Woody Allen, 2012).
Book of the year:
David Bordwell, Pandora’s Digital Box, e-book, Madison, Wisconsin: The Irvington Way Institute Press, 2012
Most memorable discoveries and rediscoveries at retrospectives and festivals:
Universal Pictures Centenary: our tribute was to screen nine Robert Siodmak masterpieces from his film noir cycle
Die Weber (The Weavers, Friedrich Zelnik, 1927) 2012 restoration
Magde dhaka tara (The Cloud-Capped Star, Ritwik Ghatak, 1960) 2012 restoration
Komedie om geld (The Trouble with Money, 1936) newly restored
Kalpana (Imagination, Uday Shankar, 1948) 2012 restoration
Lewat djam malam (After the Curfew, Usmar Ismail, 1954) 2012 restoration
Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre (Paul Decauville, 1900) 2012 restoration
Vor fælles Ven / Our Mutual Friend (A.W. Sandberg, 1921) 2012 restoration
Moi syn (My Son, Yevgenii Cherviakov, Anna Sten, 1928) 2011 study DVD
The Spanish Dancer (Herbert Brenon, 1923) newly restored
The Jiří Trnka 2012 touring show from the Naródni filmový archiv (Prague)
Die freudlose Gasse (Joyless Street, G.W. Pabst, 1925) the 2012 colour print from Filmmuseum München
Kevade (Spring, Arvo Kruusement, 1970) the Estonian Film 100 touring show in 2012
Pohjalaisia (The People from Pohjanmaa / The People from the Plains, Jalmari Lahdensuo, 1925) 2012 restoration
The Descendants

MICHAEL J. ANDERSON

Joint PhD candidate in Film Studies and History of Art at Yale University, and proprietor of blogs Tativille and Ten Best Films.
I am limiting myself this year to 2012 North American commercial releases, out of somewhat unfortunate necessity. This “unfortunate necessity” resulted from my move away from the New York metropolitan area before this fall’s New York Film Festival (where since 2003 I have seen the majority of my annual “best of” choices). This meant that while I saw many of the best 2011 festival premieres in 2011, including the two finest commercial releases of 2012, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia and The Turin Horse, I was unable to see a comparable selection of premieres in 2012, with the latest works by Kiarostami, Resnais, Haneke and a number of others awaiting me (I hope) in 2013. In other words, in 2012, I saw neither many of this year’s best commercial releases – four of the ten titles listed below were on my 2011 World Poll ballot! – nor the festival premieres that undoubtedly will dominate my colleagues’ selections.
In alphabetical order, the best North American commercial releases of 2012:
A torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
In film nist (This Is Not a Film, Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, 2011)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Barbara

GEOFF ANDREW

Head of Film Programme at London’s BFI Southbank and the author of a number of books on the cinema. Regular contributor to Sight and Sound and contributing editor to Time Out London.
25 best new films:
  1. Amour (Love, Michael Haneke, 2012)
  2. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
  3. Toata Lumea din Familia Noastra (Everybody in Our Family, Radu Jude, 2012)
  4. What Is Love (Ruth Mader, 2012)
  5. Silence (Pat Collins, 2012)
  6. Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
  7. V tumane (In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa, 2012)
  8. Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
  9. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  10. L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister, Ursula Meier, 2012)
  11. Al Juma al Akheira (The Last Friday, Yahya Alabdallah, 2011)
  12. Despues de Lucia (After Lucia, Michel Franco, 2012)
  13. Avalon (Axel Petersén, 2011)
  14. După Dealuri (Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
  15. Après mai (After May, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
  16. Io e te (Me and You, Bernardo Bertolucci, 2012)
  17. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  18. No (Pablo Larrain, 2012)
  19. Elefante blanco (White Elephant, Pablo Trapero, 2012)
  20. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  21. On the Road (Walter Salles, 2012)
  22. Everyday (Michael Winterbottom, 2012)
  23. Me and Me Dad (Katrine Boorman, 2012)
  24. Ji yi wang zhe wo (Memories Look at Me, Song Fang, 2012)
  25. Student (Darezhan Omirbaev, 2012)
Three great old films seen for the first time:
  1. Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924)
  2. Gueule d’amour (Lady Killer, Jean Grémillon, 1937)
  3. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1940) – the longer version screened in Bologna at Il Cinema Ritrovato.

SEAN AXMAKER

Parallax View, Videodrone on MSN Movies.
  1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  2. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
  3. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  4. Margaret/Margaret: Director’s Cut (DVD) (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011/2012)
  5. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  6. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  7. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  8. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
  9. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  10. In film nist (This is Not a Film, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi, 2011)
The following could have made the list on another day or with another viewing: Yek Khanévadéh-e Mohtaram (A Respectable Family, Massoud Bakhshi, 2012), Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012), The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011), Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012), Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, 2012), La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raúl Ruiz, 2012), Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012), Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012), Jagten (The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, 2012), Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, 2012).
Hands down the cinematic experience of 2012 for me was the American premiere of the complete restoration of Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927). It had played only four other times anywhere in the world since its debut over a decade ago. The Oakland screenings, with live accompaniment by Oakland East Bay Symphony conducted by Carl Davis, were an experience like no other: magnificent presentation, painstakingly exacting projection, live orchestra booming a dramatic score compiled, arranged and conducted by Davis. The density of Gance’s ideas, the frisson of his images and experiments in cinematic expression, and the complicated perspectives on the legacy of Napoleon have a weight that is undeniable. And watching the full 5 and 1/2 hour Napoleon with a live orchestra in a magnificent theatre elevates the film to a cinematic experience without parallel, and that experience electrifies the storytelling and imagery.
Moonrise Kingdom

MARTYN BAMBER

Contributor to Close-Up Film and Critic’s Notebook.
Favourite new releases premiered in the UK in 2012 (in alphabetical order):
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Chronicle (Josh Trank, 2012)
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, 2011)
Detention (Joseph Kahn, 2011) – straight-to-DVD release in the UK
God Bless America (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2011)
Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
Marley (Kevin Macdonald, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012) – 70mm Version
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh, 2012)
War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011)
Wild Bill (Dexter Fletcher, 2011)

MICHAEL BARTLETT

Freelance film writer and subtitler, London.
Best new(-ish) films of 2012:
  1. Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto (Our Beloved Month of August, Miguel Gomes, 2008)
  2. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  3. A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011)
  4. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
  5. Bir zamanla Anadolu’da (Once Upon A Time In Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  6. Kill List (Ben Wheatley, 2011)
  7. Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid with a Bike, Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, 2011)
  8. Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
  9. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  10. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011)
  11. A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
  12. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
  13. O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonca Filho, 2012)
Some sparkling runners-up…
Kari-gurashi no Arrietti (Arrietty, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2010), La Princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier, Bertrand Tavernier, 2010), The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Guilty Pleasures:
My Amityville Horror (Eric Walter, 2012), Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Most disappointing or massively overrated:
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012), Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012), Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012), The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Two beautiful restorations:
La Grande Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937), Mahanagar (Satyajit Ray, 1964)
Two best discoveries from the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna:
Man’s Castle (Frank Borzage, 1933), How a Mosquito Operates (Winsor McCay, 1912)
Three best re-discoveries from the Masters of Cinema:
Die Nibelungen (Fritz Lang, 1924)
Lifeboat (Alfred Hitchcock, 1944)
Jigokumon (Gate of Hell, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1953)
A Dangerous Method

PAOLO BERTOLIN

Festival programmer, Italy.
In 2012, I turned 36. Very appropriately, a film called 36 is among the 40 features (plus one medium length film) that first came to my mind when I was thinking of the films that meant something to me in the past twelve months or so.
40 Features
36 (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2012)
L’Âge atomique (Atomic Age, Héléna Klotz, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Atambua 39° Celsius (Riri Riza, 2012)
Baekya (White Night, Lee Song Hee-il, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Florentina Hubaldo CTE (Lav Diaz, 2012)
Gangs of वासेपुर (Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
L’Intervallo (The Interval, Leonardo di Costanzo, 2012)
Ixjana (Józef Skolimoski, Michał Skolimowski, 2012)
Ja Tozhe Hochu (Me Too, Alexey Balabanov, 2012)
Jungle Love (Sherad Anthony Sanchez, 2012)
Juvenile Offender (Beongjwi Sonyeon, Kang Yi-kwan, 2012)
Khanéh Pedari (The Paternal House, Kianoosh Ayyari, 2012)
Kibō no Kuni (Land of Hope, Sion Sono, 2012)
Leones (Lions, Jazmín López, 2012)
Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012)
Myeongwangseong (Pluto, Shin Su-won, 2012)
Namyeong-dong 1985 (National Security, Chung Ji-young, 2012)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
Pascalina (Pam Miras, 2012)
Los pasos dobles (The Double Steps, Isaki Lacuesta, 2011)
Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception, Mani Haghighi, 2012)
Reality (Matteo Garrone, 2012)
Rebelle (War Witch, Kim Nguyen, 2012)
Ship of Theseus (Anand Gandhi, 2012)
Şimdiki Zaman (Present Tense, Belmin Söylemez, 2012)
Sinapupunan (Thy Womb, Brillante Mendoza, 2012)
Yokomichi Yonosuke (A Story of Yonosuke, Okita Shuichi, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Television (Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, 2012)
Tepenin Ardı (Emin Alper, 2012)
V tumane (In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa, 2012)
Neukdae sonyeon (A Werewolf Boy, Jo Sung-hee, 2012)
Wo hai you hua yao shuo (When Night Falls, Ying Liang, 2012)
And a medium length film:
Light in the Yellow Breathing Space (Vimukthi Jayasundara, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air)

PAMELA BIENZOBAS

Chilean film critic and journalist, Paris. Co-founder of Revista de Cine Mabuse. Unlike most critics, she hates making these lists.
This is an extremely classic list. I’m sticking to ten films seen in 2012. A couple (Oslo and Wuthering Heights) had their world premiere in 2011 but I only saw them in 2012. They’re in alphabetical order.
Camille redouble (Camille Rewinds, Noémie Lvovsky, 2012)
El muerto y ser feliz (The Dead Man and Being Happy, Javier Rebollo, 2012)
Gloria (Sebastián Lelio, 2012) – I’m cheating here because the film is not finished, but the WIP still makes it to this list!
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Oslo, 31. august (Oslo, August 31st, Joachim Trier, 2011)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill, Emin Alper, 2012)
Wrong (Quentin Dupieux, 2012)
Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold, 2011)

CIS BIERINCKX

Film curator and critic, Belgium.
Miguel Gomes and Leos Carax made my film year with their fantastic and sublime films Tabu and Holy Motors (both 2012) while Michael Haneke’s sensitive chamber play Amour (2012) amazed with its content and his rigid direction. Another surprise of the year was undoubtly the cinematic symphony of light, colour and sound in Leviathan (2012) by Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, while the dreamlike impressionist New Orleans story of one night, Tchoupitoulas by Bill and Turner Ross, delivered a finely tuned mix of staging and found footage. Other films that got me this year are Cate Shortland’s Lore (2012), the posthumously released Age is… by Stephen Dwoskin (2012), Wang Bing’s San zimei (Three Sisters, 2012), Benh Zeitlin’s Beast of the Southern Wild (2012), Joachim Lafosse’s A perdre la raison (Our Children, 2012) and După Dealuri (Beyond the Hills, 2012) by Cristian Mungiu … and finally I got to see Toshio Matsumoto’s Bara no sôretsu (Funeral Parade of Roses, 1969). A treat.

YVETTE BIRO

Professor Emeritus at New York University.
Best recent films for their innovative, restrained storytelling, proving the fullness of minimalism, defying genre canons.
  1. Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, 2011)
  2. Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2011)
  3. Le quattro volte (Michelangelo Frammartino, 2010)
  4. Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami, 2008)
  5. Quelques heures de printemps (A Few Hours of Spring, Stéphane Brize, 2012)
  6. The Time That Remains (Elia Suleiman, 2009)
  7. Ovsyanki (Silent Souls, Aleksei Fedorchenko, 2010)
  8. Restless (Gus Van Sant, 2011)
  9. A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
  10. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  11. Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, 2011)
Remastered: I Giorni Contata (Elio Petri, 1962)
Le Havre

JAMES BROWN

Project manager at Madman Entertainment, Melbourne. 
Kiseki (I Wish, Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2011)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Barfi! (Anurag Basu, 2012)
Correspondencia Jonas Mekas – J.L. Guerín (José Luis Guerín & Jonas Mekas, 2011)
Kahaani (Sujoy Ghosh, 2012)
Mercado de futuros (Futures Market, Mercedes Álvarez, 2011)
Undefeated (Daniel Lindsay & T.J. Martin, 2011)
Dredd (Pete Travis, 2012)

THOMAS CALDWELL

Writes film criticism blog Cinema Autopsy, reviews for the Breakfasters and Plato’s Cave on 3RRR 102.7FM, works on the programming team at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
Favourite ten films with a theatrical release in Melbourne, Australia in 2012:
  1. Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
  2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011)
  3. Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011)
  4. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  5. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
  6. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  7. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
  8. Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)
  9. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
  10. Frankenweenie (Tim Burton, 2012)
Honourable mentions:
  1. Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
  2. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  3. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
  4. The Sessions (Ben Lewin, 2012)
  5. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
  6. Le Gamin au vélo, (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
  7. Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
  8. The Interrupters (Steve James, 2011)
  9. The Grey (Joe Carnahan, 2012)
  10. Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
Favourite ten films that had a public screening in Melbourne, Australia 2012, but not a full theatrical release:
  1. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  2. ParaNorman (Chris Butler & Sam Fell, 2012)
  3. Broken (Rufus Norris, 20121)
  4. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  5. Ernest et Célestine (Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar & Benjamin Renner, 2012)
  6. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, 2011)
  7. Kauwboy (Boudewijn Koole, 2012)
  8. Only the Young (Elizabeth Mims and Jason Tippet, 2011)
  9. Keyhole (Guy Maddin, 2011)
  10. La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, Davide Manuli, 2012)
Favourite ten retrospective screenings and re-releases in Melbourne, Australian 2012
  1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) – re-released at The Astor Theatre
  2. America America (Elia Kazan, 1963) – The Melbourne Cinémathèque, Elia Kazan: The Outsider season
  3. Le temps retrouvé (Time Regained, Raúl Ruiz, 1999) – The Melbourne Cinémathèque, Immortal Stories: The Living Cinema Of Raúl Ruiz season
  4. Great Expectations (David Lean, 1946) – The Astor Theatre, David Lean Tribute
  5. Solyaris (Solaris, Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972) – The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, (ACMI) Space on Film program
  6. Suddenly, Last Summer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1959) – ACMI First Look
  7. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, 1996) – ACMI First Look
  8. Brand Upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin, 2006) – ACMI, Nocturnal Transmissions: The Cinema of Guy Maddin program
  9. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999) – The Melbourne Cinémathèque, Borderlines: Selected Works by Claire Denis season
  10. Hausu (House, Nobuhiko Ohbayashi, 1977) – ACMI, Nocturnal Transmissions: The Cinema of Guy Maddin program
La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser)

MICHAEL CAMPI

Long captivated by the movies with involvement in non-commercial film exhibition in various capacities over the last forty years.
The films that meant the most in 2012
Aynehaye Rooberoo (Facing Mirrors, Negar Azarbayjani, 2011)
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Elena (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2011)
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
Margaret (long version) (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Mata tertutup (The Blindfold, Garin Nugroho, 2012)
Student (Darezhan Omirbayev, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Youzhong (Beijing Flickers, Zhang Yuan, 2012)
It has been a good year for South Korean cinema with such memorable films as:
Gast (Choked, Kim Joog-hyun, 2011)
Jam mot deuneun bam (Sleepless Night, Jang Kunjae, 2012)
Helpless (Byun Youngjoo, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Romaenseu Jo (Romance Joe, Lee Kwangkuk, 2011)
Wan deuki (Punch, Lee Han, 2011)
In the last twelve months, the cinema has seen the passing of two celebrated figures from Japan. Their final works were appropriate testaments: Kaneto Shindo’s Ichimai no Hagaki (Postcard, 2010, made when the director had reached the age of 98) and Yoshimitsu Morita’s Bokukyu: A ressha de iko (Train Brain Express, 2011).
If my year hadn’t been interrupted by an untoward event, new work by the following might have been included as well: Leos Carax, David Cronenberg, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami and Cristian Mungiu.
On the domestic viewing front exciting new disc releases included the Criterion set of three films by Jean Gremillon, just after their screenings at that real Cinema Paradiso, the Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna each year, and also Criterion’s superb Blu-ray tribute to Paul Fejos, especially Lonesome (1928). Other essential new discs included the German release of Ernest Lubitsch’s Das Weib des Pharao (1921).

MICHELLE CAREY

Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), Festival Reports Editor for Senses of Cinema and co-curator of The Melbourne Cinémathèque.
A particularly time-intensive personal and professional year meant I didn’t get to see as many films as I would have liked. As much as these (new) films below blew my mind and cinema remains my first love, I should also give gratitude to these wonderful television shows – TV being a relatively new (re)discovery for me, now that I have actual reception: The Thick of It, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, Veep, Girls, Bored to Death, and Louis Theroux. And to all the festivals and cinema institutions that continue to program older titles on 35mm and within the context of contemporary cinema (Anthology Film Archives, The Melbourne Cinémathèque, Cinémathèque Française, Austrian Filmmuseum, Harvard Film Archive, MOMA etc).
And to the following films (in alphabetical order) and filmmakers, thank you:
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
Bestiaire (Denis Côté, 2012)
The Capsule (Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
Le grand soir (Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, Davide Manuli, 2012)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
La Maladie blanche (The White Disease, Christelle Lheureux, 2011)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Palácios de Pena (Palaces of Pity, Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt 2011)
Seeking the Monkey King (Ken Jacobs, 2011)
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011)
Viola (Matías Piñeiro, 2012)
Walker (Tsai Ming-liang, 2012)
Amour

CELLULOID LIBERATION FRONT

A multi-use(r) name, an “open reputation” informally adopted and shared by a desiring multitude of insurgent spectators.
The biggest enemy of cinema, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – possibly the only country in the world than bans cinema from being made and exhibited – remains a close ally of the democratic western world in its charitable effort to export free speech worldwide. It’s now been a full year that the world of cinema lost its fiercest cinephile whose death was met with the kind of mass hysteria only Princess Diana used to get. The horror of democratic capitalism rages on, showing no signs of self-restraint. Cosmic militants Marker and Wakamatsu were called upon the gods of cinema to raise the level of conflict to heavenly heights. Hasta la victoria Chris & Kôji, siempre!
The unelected central committee of the Celluloid Liberation Front sends all its unconditional love to the whole Locarno Critics Academy brigade.
Films in the meantime continue to be a cruel, unjust and meaningless affair, just like life. The only thing we really have.
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
After decades of sneaky Russians, dirty Muslims and Third World villains, the enemy comes once again from within and it’s aiming at the financial heart of western civilisation. Long live Bane and the People’s Republic of Gotham! Let a thousand of them rise!
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Psychic historical materialism for the silver screen: Anderson continues his fearless exploration of the dark recesses of the American Dream, this time focusing on the lucrative manipulation of weak consciousness.
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Mendonça Filho’s debut feature displays an uncommon ability in registering the equivocal nuances of paranoia and making them visible to the spectator. A psycho-surveillance thriller about the benign dystopia of gentrification and its crime-free ghettoes in which the middle class is imprisoning itself.
O Batuque Dos Astros (The Drumming Beat of the Stars, Julio Bressane, 2012)
Still the wildest visionary (outside) of cinema (not) working today. May his drums beat on for long!
Compliance (Craig Zobel, 2012)
With this alarming tale of blind obedience, director Craig Zobel has realised a capital film on the infinite dangers of compliance, exposing the vicious pliancy authority — “legitimate” or not — relies upon. Good Germans speak English too.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
The 21st century equivalent of Friedrich Engels’ The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Essential.
La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, Davide Manuli, 2012)
A film whose expressive thrust passes through your guts before hitting your head. Moving passages of operatic magnitude – where the epic pulse of techno music inflates the long shots with a visceral evocation – invest the spectator with the sheer force of vision.
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
In Hunger a captive man would enlist his carnality at the service of liberation, in Shame a free man is imprisoned by his own body and neurotic sexuality. Iron discipline chained the Irish militant, addiction controls the free man; inner policing as opposed to repression, these are the themes asserting the topical relevance of Steve McQueen’s second feature.
No (Pablo Larrain, 2012)
It is only by emptying democracy of its assets, the film illustrates, that its successful establishment can be accomplished. The emotional tone of the film (ambiguously dour) and its bitter circularity make for an (un)usual tale of democratic triumph.
Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2012)
Outside the gentrified humanism for “members only” and the gated communities of meritocracy, in the suburbs of a neglected humanity is this utopian archipelago uncontaminated by the toxic sludge of “civilised” living, graced by a Soave breeze of disenchanted hope.
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds)

LESLEY CHOW

Film critic and associate editor of Bright Lights, and arts writer at Artinfo Australia.
Best films:
Elles (Malgorzata Szumowska, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
In the past year several films, from Super 8 (J. J. Abrams, 2011) to The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011), have placed themselves at the beginnings of cinema. The best of them is this extraordinary film, which fuses the history of silent cinema with the rise of the blockbuster in the ‘70s. The surprise is that Hugo is as much an homage to Spielberg as it is to Méliès. Scorsese references not only the thrills of Spielberg’s E.T. (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), but later works such as The Terminal (2004) and A.I. (2001) – the latter most explicitly in the casting of Jude Law as the father of robots.
Like The Terminal, Hugo is a vast apparatus which shifts its ready-made characters from level to level. Almost all of the characters are types: the lonely policeman, the scamp lost in the city, the flower girl with big eyes (Emily Mortimer, channelling Audrey Tautou). By using a blend of fresh imagery and hokey sentiment, Scorsese makes us feel that Spielbergian excitement once again, from the mending of an old man’s heart to the little boy gazing from behind the giant clock (a figure who is as much E.T. as the Happy Prince.)
This boy has an older female love interest, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), who is the most spirited woman in all of Scorsese, never limited to token feisty outbursts like the wives in his Mafia films. In a move reminiscent of Copie conforme (Certified Copy, Abbas Kiarostami, 2010), Isabelle invites the unformed boy into her imagination. She alone knows what kind of plot they are playing out, thanks to a lifetime of reading and adventure games: she has all the fictional maps stored in her brain.
Who would have thought that the masterly Scorsese might be capable of this playful and impish film? It’s a pleasure to see this strict formalist embracing humour and novelty; there is so much delight over the impromptu recreations of Méliès. By restaging cinema from silents to 3D, the director points to his work as a curator, presenting his own version of film history.
Careless Love (John Duigan, 2012)
Why do so many of the best Australian films deal with prostitution? Like Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh, 2011) and Duigan’s own Winter of our Dreams (1981), this film manages to capture both intimacy and exposure, warmth and desolation.
Arcana (Henry Hills, 2011)
Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011)
This Must Be the Place (Paolo Sorrentino, 2011)
Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
Best performances:
  1. Chris New in Weekend
  2.  J. Smith-Cameron in Margaret
  3.  Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea
  4.  Juliette Binoche in Elles
  5.  Jack Black in Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
  6.  Cecilia Cheung in Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, 2012)
    What better way for an actress to come back from a scandal than by playing the sexual manipulator of all time? Cheung returns with a winning new take on Marquise de Merteuil. Doll-faced, with endearing dimples, this woman has the aura of a gentle girl; no-one sees her coming.
  7. Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike (Soderbergh, 2012)
  8.  Sean Penn in This Must Be the Place
  9.  Chris Rock in 2 Days in New York (Julie Delpy, 2012)
  10.  Eryk Lubos in To Zabic bobra (To Kill a Beaver, Jan Jakub Kolski, 2012)
Best puzzles:
  1. W.E. (Madonna, 2011)
  2. Café de Flore (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2011)
  3. This Means War (McG, 2012)
    Constructed by its director as an “ode to Billy Wilder”, this is a surprisingly loving attempt to fuse every genre currently in play. Cut off any slice and you’ll get a cross-section of spy comedy, ‘80s action flick, bromance, straight rom-com, and female sex farce.
Hugo

ROBERTA CIABARRA

Melbourne-based film programmer.
General release and film festival screenings in Melbourne and Sydney:
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Alpeis (Alps, Yorgos Lanthimos, 2011)
Abrir puertas y ventanas (Back to Stay, Milagros Mumenthaler, 2011)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
L’ApollonideSouvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2011)
Les bien-aimés (Beloved, Christophe Honoré, 2011)
Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)
Reality (Matteo Garrone, 2012)
Documentary:
Hiver Nomade (Winter Nomads, Manuel von Stürler, 2012)
Escuela normal (Normal School, Celina Murga, 2012)
Retrospective:
Archangel (Guy Maddin, 1990), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, 2007) and Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) (Guy Maddin Selects), as part of ACMI’s Nocturnal Transmissions: The Cinema of Guy Maddin season*
Venice 2012:
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Bella addormentata (Dormant Beauty, Marco Bellocchio, 2012)
La cinquième saison (The Fifth Season, Peter Brosens & Jessica Woodworth, 2012)
The Weight (Jeon Kyu-hwan, 2012)
Queen of Montreuil (Sólveig Anspach, 2012)
Pieta (Kim Ki-duk, 2012)
Worst:
To Rome with Love (Woody Allen, 2012)
Utterly galling. Allen’s laziest, most cynical “Fall Project” yet. Way to squander the love after the mediocre but infinitely more charming Midnight in Paris.
*Full disclosure: season curated by my ACMI Film Programs colleague, Kristy Matheson.

JOHN CONOMOS

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SYDNEY COLLEGE OF THE ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY AND ARTIST, CRITIC AND WRITER.
These days the ‘waterfront’ that I cover in terms of the cinema is still the movie house, which for me, functions as a communal ‘ribbon dream’ jacuzzi. Festivals these days are increasingly atomising into boutique/niche affairs and the Internet /blogosphere is a Borgesian beehive of cinephilic discoveries and global conversations. But with the proverbial wheat we have much chaff that needs critical discernment, new paradigms of thinking, description and analysis, and new pathways of seeing and hearing how the old and the new and the future inform each other. Questions that are raised in Christopher Kenneally’s documentary Side by Side (2012), produced and narrated by Keanu Reeves, that probes the digitisation of the art and science of cinema and whether in a hundred years from now will these questions be just forgotten echoes. Who knows? One thing is for sure, the cinema we knew and encounter today is asking us: less dogma, nostalgia and binarism, and instead more curiosity, intuition, poetry and patience.
Top 10
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Frank Loesser’s 1947 classic song “On A Slow Boat to China” gets a new surreal life between a battle of will between a maladjusted sailor (Joaquin Phoenix) and a cult leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in this epic post-war narrative of sex, belief and control. Both Phoenix and Hoffman scorch the screen with their mesmeric performances.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Nothing less than cinema being re-born in this unpredictably unclassifiable ‘cabinet of wonders’ of Monsieur Oscar (Denis Lavant), a strange shadowy character, who travels between different parallel lives. Carax’s first film since 1999. The question is: are we ready for it?
Cosmopolis (David Croenberg, 2012)
Croenberg’s adaption of Don Delillo’s novel is a cyber-minimalist ‘ road movie’ that illustrates the stakes and costs of living in these post-humanist times. A ‘book end’ movie to Croenberg’s McLuhanesque Videodrome (1982).
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Jack Black as the lovable, neatly dressed and manicured undertaker in a small Texan town is right on the money. A beautifully rendered performance by Black in this absorbing black comedy. Still waters run deep.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
Kentucky Fried Chicken will have a totally new nasty meaning from now on.  Matthew McConaughey is brilliant as the rogue cop, as is Gina Gershon as the evil stepmother in this Southern dark gothic tale of debt, drugs and retribution. No one does ‘nasty’ as Friedkin does. This time with Russ Meyer in mind.
Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
A riveting documentary about the 70s rock ‘n roll singer Rodriguez who ‘disappears’ from cult critical acclaim to retreat to his savagely depleted home town of Detroit sticking to his uncompromised view of the world. Like Richard Press’s 2010 documentary Bill Cunningham New York this documentary is also about someone who creates not for fame and fortune – ‘the carnivore world of celebrity’ (Edna O’Brien) – but out of personal necessity.
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Davies’s rewarding adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s 1952 same-named play of obsessive love, agony and attempted suicide. Davies’s characteristically deft cinema-savvy storytelling is always dramaturgically potent to observe.
A Royal Affair (Nikolaj Arcel, 2012)
A historical costume drama that tells of the court of Christian V11 of Denmark in the 18th century that is rocked by adultery, insanity, sadomasochism and politics. Young Princess Caroline Maltida (Alicia Vikander), sister to the insane George 111 of Britain, and married to the mad king Christian V11 at 15 years old starts an affair with his chief minister Johann Struensee (Madds Mikkelsen). Mikkelsen is typically magnetic as the commoner who with the young Caroline start an “Age of Enlightenment” revolution across the nation.
The Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012)
Think Little Britain or the “Carry On” comedies meet Georges Bataille and you have this very droll, wicked black comedy of sightseeing across old Merry England today. David Cameron’s ‘broken society’ in full view if you will. Our “Natural Born Killers” couple Chris (Steve Oram) and Tina (Alice Lowe), who mainly wrote the film, and who do their multiplying ghastly deeds is yet one more instance of a fundamental surreal impulse that informs English life.
Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (Matthew Akers, 2012)
One of the more interesting documentaries of late that deals with an artist. Who will blink first in this exploration of audience and performer, mind and body? This documentary focuses on the pioneering Serbian performance artist getting ready for her survey show at New York’s MOMA in 2010.
Finally, one more selection: Georges Franju’s La tête contre les murs (Head Against the Wall, 1958). I saw this very recently on DVD. Anything by Franju and I am cauterised to the spot. Surreal cinema at its best (along with Luis Bunuel, of course). A teenager is institutionalised in a mental asylum because he defies his wealthy father. To listen to Jean-Pierre Mocky on how this masterpiece came about (DVD supplement) is to see how we are indebted to him for commissioning the project! Oh, to see a Franju retrospective: perhaps too utopian a wish these days but you never know what mysteries this world of ours contains.

JESÚS CORTÉS

Spanish film writer for magazines and cinema sites such as Un blog comme les autres, Foco, Détour.
25 best new and relatively recent films I have seen during the past year
  1. Kærestesorger (Aching Hearts, Nils Malmros, 2009)
  2. 38 témoins (38 Witnesses, Lucas Belvaux, 2012)
  3. Restless (Gus Van Sant, 2011)
  4. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  5. Les Chants de Mandrin (Smugglers’ Songs, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, 2011)
  6. O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012)
  7. Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Robert Guédiguian, 2011)
  8. Rapt (Lucas Belvaux, 2009)
  9. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
  10. La Guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War, Valèrie Donzelli, 2011)
  11. Un été brûlant (That Summer, Philippe Garrel, 2011)
  12. Fais-moi plaisir! (Please, Please Me!, Emmanuel Mouret, 2009)
  13. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  14. Iti Mrinalini: An Unfinished Letter (Aparna Sen, 2010)
  15. Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012)
  16. Avé (Konstantin Bojanov, 2011)
  17. Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
  18. Ang ninanais (Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song, John Torres, 2010)
  19. Indigène d’Eurasie (Eastern Drift, Sharunas Bartas, 2010)
  20. Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
  21. Stake Land (Jim Mickle, 2010)
  22. Il gemello (The Triplet, Vincenzo Marra, 2012)
  23. Espion(s) (Nicolas Saada, 2009)
  24. The Lebanon Rocket Society (Khalil Joreige & Joana Hadjithomas, 2012)
  25. Trouble with the Curve (Robert Lorenz, 2012)
75 best older films seen for the first time in 2012
Paroma (The Ultimate Woman, Aparna Sen, 1982), Karin Ingmarsdotter (Karin, Daughter of Ingmar, Victor Sjöström, 1920), Banka (Elegy of the North, Heinosuke Gosho, 1957), Chances (Allan Dwan, 1931), Kundskabens træ (Tree of Knowledge, Nils Malmros, 1981), Viagem a os seios de Duília (Journey to Duília’s Breasts, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1964), Wakare-gumo (Dispersed Clouds, Heinosuke Gosho, 1951), Kiiroi karasu (Yellow Crow, Heinosuke Gosho, 1957), Entotsu no mieru basho (Where Chimneys are Seen, Heinosuke Gosho, 1953), Ima hitotabi no (Heinosuke Gosho, 1947), Osaka no yado (An Inn at Osaka, Heinosuke Gosho, 1954), At kende sandheden (Facing the Truth, Nils Malmros, 2002), In jenen tagen (Those Days, Helmut Käutner, 1947), La Certosa di Parma / La Chartreuse de Parme (Mauro Bolognini, 1982), Setouchi munraito serenade (Moonlight Serenade, Masahiro Shinoda, 1997), Razzia in St. Pauli (Raid in St. Pauli, Werner Hochbaum, 1933), Onna no za (A Woman’s Place, Mikio Naruse, 1962), Casta diva (Carmine Gallone, 1956), Too Late for Tears / Killer Bait (Byron Haskin, 1948), Tall Man Riding (Lesley Selander, 1955), Civilization (Thomas H. Ince, Reginald Barker & Raymond B. West, 1916), Ani to sono imotô (A Brother and His Younger Sister, Yasujiro Shimazu, 1939), Tomorrow is Another Day (Felix E. Feist, 1951), Escape (Mervyn LeRoy, 1940), Haha wa shinazu (A Mother Never Dies, Mikio Naruse, 1942), The Sky’s the Limit (Edward H. Griffith, 1943), La strada lunga un anno / Cesta duga godinu dana (The Year Long Road, Giuseppe de Santis, 1958), The Eternal Sea (John H. Auer, 1955), Young Romance (George Melford, 1915), Bourbon Street Blues (Douglas Sirk with Hans Schonhërr and Tilman Taube, 1978), State Secret (Sidney Gilliat, 1950), Skønheden og udyret (Beauty and the Beast, Nils Malmros, 1983), That’s My Man (Frank Borzage, 1947), The Lion and the Horse (Louis King, 1952), Smoky (Louis King, 1946), This Woman is Dangerous (Felix E. Feist, 1952), La nave delle donne maledette (Ship of Lost Women, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1953), Un baiser, s’il vous plait (Shall We Kiss?, Emmanuel Mouret, 2007), Changement d’adresse (Change of Address, Emmanuel Mouret, 2006), Aarhus by Night (Nils Malmros, 1988), Ansel Adams: A Documentary Film (Ric Burns, 2002), The Enchanted Cottage (John S. Robertson, 1924), O canto do mar (Song of the Sea, Alberto Cavalcanti, 1952), L’ultima violenza (The Latest Violence, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1957), Trooper Hook (Charles Marquis Warren, 1957), When Strangers Marry (William Castle, 1944), Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, 1985), Poto and Cabengo (Jean-Pierre Gorin, 1979), Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947), Smelje ljudi (The Horsemen, Konstantin Yudin, 1950), Cavale (On the Run, Lucas Belvaux, 2002), Schleppzug M 17 (Tugboat M 17, Werner Hochbaum & Heinrich George, 1933), La fracture du myocarde (Cross My Heart, Jacques Fansten, 1990), El canto del cisne (Swan Song, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1943), Khandhar (The Ruins, Mrinal Sen, 1984), Le lait de la tendresse humaine (The Milk of Human Kindness, Dominique Cabrera, 2001), The Spoilers (Jesse Hibbs, 1955), Après la vie (Afterlife, Lucas Belvaux, 2002), Aki tachinu (Approach of Autumn, Mikio Naruse, 1960), Green Grass of Wyoming (Louis King, 1948), A Dangerous Profession (Ted Tetzlaff, 1949), Lebenszeichten (Signs of Life, Werner Herzog, 1968), Zemestan (It’s Winter, Rafi Pitts, 2006), Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2007), Schastye vechnoy nochi (The Happiness of Eternal Night, Yevgeníi Bauer, 1915), Lettre d’un cinéaste à sa fille (Letter from a Filmmaker to His Daughter, Eric Pauwels, 2001), Mulberry Street (Jim Mickle, 2006), O menino e o vento (The Child and the Wind, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1963), Crashout (Lewis R. Foster, 1955), Einleitung zu Arnold Schoenbergs Begleitmusik zu einer Lichtspielscene (Introduction to Arnold Schoenberg’s Accompaniment to a Cinematic Scene, Jean-Marie Straub, 1972), Nie wieder liebe! (No More Love!, Anatole Litvak/Litwak, 1931), Zur chronik von Grieshuus (Chronicles of the Grey House, Arthur von Gerlach, 1923/25), Poet (Boris Barnet, 1955), Panhandle (Lesley Selander, 1948), Los traidores (The Traitors, Raimundo Gleyzer, 1973).
50 best among revisited
Advise and Consent (Otto Preminger, 1962), Anne of the Indies (Jacques Tourneur, 1951), Akasen chitai (Street of Shame, Kenji Mizoguchi, 1956), The Reckless Moment (Max Ophüls, 1949), The New Centurions (Richard Fleischer, 1972), The Greatest Show on Earth (Cecil B. DeMille, 1952), Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932), The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961), Liberté, la nuit (Philippe Garrel, 1983), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941), The Fall of the Roman Empire (Anthony Mann, 1963), The Glass Menagerie (Paul Newman, 1987), Big Wednesday (John Milius, 1978), Efter repetitionen (After the Rehearsal, Ingmar Bergman, 1983), L’etrangleur (The Strangler, Paul Vecchiali, 1972), Babae sa breakwater (Woman of Breakwater, Mario O’Hara, 2002), Sången om den eldröda blomman (Song of the Scarlet Flower, Mauritz Stiller, 1918), American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973), The Chapman Report (George Cukor, 1962), O passado e o presente (Past and Present, Manoel de Oliveira, 1971), Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951), Ekstase (Ecstasy, Gustav Machatý, 1933), Soliaris (Solaris, Andrei Tarkovskíi, 1972), An American Tragedy (Josef von Sternberg, 1931), The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978), While Paris Sleeps (Allan Dwan, 1932), Dyn amo (Stephen Dwoskin, 1972), Filming “Othello” (Orson Welles, 1978), Un lugar en el mundo (A Place in the World, Adolfo Aristarain, 1991), Stolen Holiday (Michael Curtiz, 1937), Naked Alibi (Jerry Hopper, 1954), Identificazione di una donna (Identification of a Woman, Michelangelo Antonioni, 1982), Ljubavni slucaj ili tragedija sluzbenice P.T.T. (Love Affair, or The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator, Dusan Makavejev, 1967), Leo (José Luis Borau, 2000), Love Tapes (Wendy Clarke, 1979), Irezumi (Tattoo, Yasuzo Masumura, 1966), I walk alone (Byron Haskin, 1947), Garden of evil (Henry Hathaway, 1954), Tormento (Torment, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1950), Barbara (Nils Malmros, 1997), Who’s Minding the Store? (Frank Tashlin, 1962), Il regista di matrimoni (The Wedding Director, Marco Bellocchio, 2006), Now, Voyager (Irving Rapper, 1942), Gentleman’s Agreement (Elia Kazan, 1947), O Quinto Imperio – Onten como hoje (The Fifth Empire, Manoel de Oliveira, 2004), So Dark the Night (Joseph H. Lewis, 1946), The Mothering Heart (David W. Griffith, 1913), Maya darpan (Mirror of Illusion, Kumar Shahani, 1972), Río abajo / On the Line (José Luis Borau, 1984), Martin (George A. Romero, 1976), Voici le tems des assassins (Deadlier than the Male, Julien Duvivier, 1956).
Tabu

FERGUS DALY

Writer of a piece on film noir in issue 10 of online journal Experimental Conversations.
Best films seen in 2012
Dark Shadows (Tim Burton, 2012)
Faust (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2011)
The Future (Miranda July, 2011)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
“Lotus Community Workshop” (Harmony Korine) segment of The Fourth Dimension (2012)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergen, 2011)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Post-Fordlandia (Megs Morley & Tom Flanagan, 2011)
Silence (Pat Collins, 2012)
Take this Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)
This Must Be the Place (Paolo Sorrentino, 2011)
The Three Stooges (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, 2012)
Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham, 2010)
Overall, an improvement on 2011 and a confirmation that, not for the first time in history, most of the great filmmaking is coming from North America.

TONI D’ANGELA

Founder and editor-in-chief of La Furia Umana.
4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara, 2011)
Legs open to the vertigo.
Jajouka, quelque chose de bon vient vers toi (Eric & Marc Hurtado, 2012)
The world is greater than our ideas.
The Girl with Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher, 2012)
Capitalism is the killer.
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
The light of the soul.
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel)
Sea song.
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
The wound that bleeds… to open.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Vive le cinema!
Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
Love is coming and it will be a storm.
Seeking the Monkey King (Ken Jacobs, 2012)
Modulations and distortions produced by the flexible accumulation that requires further flexibility and versatility.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
Hell is never full.

MICHAEL DA SILVA

Graduate of the University of King’s College.
Creating the list below was very difficult. Unlike past years when paring down the list seemed impossible, I had difficulty finding 10 films to fill the slots this year. I lived in three different locations this year, two of which offered limited film selection. As a result, I saw fewer new releases this year than in most years of my adult life. The following list can thus be read as an educated film viewer’s guide to the mainstream English language films of 2012. Hollywood-averse readers may find it useful to know which Hollywood films are worth viewing.
A further limitation comes from the earlier World Poll deadline this year. I often watch many of the year’s awards contenders during the finals weeks of the year, so I am certain that I have yet to watch many of my favourite films released in 2012. In early 2012, for instance, I saw two very good 2011 releases, A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011), Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011). I did not see Footnote (Joseph Cedar, 2011) until mid-2012. I expect to likewise see some very good to great films in the final weeks of 2012 and early 2013.
There is a wide gap between the first film on my list and those that follow it. I only saw one 2012 release that I can unequivocally deem an instant classic that transcends its moment in time. Well-made action movies and political films otherwise dominate my list.
My list of the top ten (primarily English) films of 2012 is as follows:
  1. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  2. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
  3. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
  4. The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)
  5. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  6. Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
  7. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  8. Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
  9. The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
  10. Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
The worst new non-sequel film I saw this year was Savages (Oliver Stone, 2012). While I generally enjoy David O. Russell’s work, I thought Silver Linings Playbook (2012) was the year’s most overrated film. To Rome with Love (Woody Allen, 2012) was the most disappointing new release of 2012.
The Master

ADRIAN DANKS

Director of Contextual Studies (including Cinema Studies), School of Media and Communication, RMIT University. Co-curator of the Melbourne Cinémathèque and co-editor of Senses of Cinema.
12 favourite “new films” screening somewhere in Melbourne in 2012:
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paulo and Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Entre temps (Ana Vaz, 2012)
Hail (Amiel Courtin-Wilson, 2011)
Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, 2011)
Mad Men series 5 (2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Mercado de futuros (Futures Market, Mercedes Álavrez, 2011)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Patience (After Sebald) (Grant Gee, 2011)
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
3 honourable mentions:
The second half of Miguel Gomes’ Tabu (2012) – the often droll, surprising and even moving combination of Raúl Ruiz and Wes Anderson (though such easy comparisons are unfair to Gomes) did not make up for the listless and drab opening 50 minutes (even if retrospectively justified); Le sommeil d’or (Golden Slumbers, Davy Chou, 2011); We Were Here (David Weissman and Bill Weber, 2011)
Highly overrated (by some, anyway):
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
Worst film of the year (by a country mile):
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011) – that first name leaves open so many opportunities for critical affirmation or despair. I’ll take the latter.
Retrospective highlights:
Wild River (Elia Kazan, 1960)
Seen in a wonderful 35mm print at the Melbourne Cinémathèque (admission: I’m co-curator), this now qualifies for me as the director’s greatest film and one of the most sensitive, vulnerable and remarkable works of the transition between classical and post-classical cinema.
William Kentridge: Five Themes at ACMI
I was always fairly underwhelmed by Kentridge’s earlier animations (and still am). But the larger scale works presented in this beautifully presented exhibition profiled an artist who has moved far beyond those somewhat sophomoric early works.

DUSTIN DASIG

Professor, writer, Training Director, Philippines.
Best film of the year:
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Runner-up: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Best performance-actor:
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Runner-up: Eddie Garcia, Bwakaw (Jun Robles Lana, 2012)
Best performance-actress:
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour (runner-up: Rachel Mwanza, Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, 2012)
Best direction of a film:
Leos Carax, Holy Motors 
Runner-up: Michael Haneke, Amour
Best screenplay:
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) Runner-up: Joseph Cedar, Hearat Shulahim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011)
Notable films:
  1. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)
  2. Bwakaw (Jun Robles Lana, 2012)
  3. Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
  4. Chico and Rita (Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, & Fernando Trueba, 2010)
  5. The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
  6. Hearat Shulahim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011)
  7. Kiseki (I Wish, Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2011)
  8. Las acacias (Pablo Giorgelli, 2011)
  9. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  10. Rebelle (War Witch, Kim Nguyen, 2012)
Best politically themed film:
Rebelle (War Witch, Kim Nguyen, 2012)
Best use of music (original song or revival) in a film:
Chico and Rita (Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, & Fernando Trueba, 2010)
Worst film of the year:
Arirang (Kim Ki-duk, 2011) & Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Holy Motors

WHEELER WINSTON DIXON

Ryan Professor of Film Studies, Coordinator of the Film Studies Program, Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Editor in Chief, with Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, of the Quarterly Review and Film and Video.
Ten films that really impressed me, all released in 2012, in no particular order:
In film nist (This is Not a Film, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi, 2011)
The Queen of Versailles (Lauren Greenfield, 2012)
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
How to Survive a Plague (David France, 2012)
The Invisible War (Kirby Dick, 2012)
Wild Bill (Dexter Fletcher, 2011)
Side by Side (Christopher Kenneally, 2012)
Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell, My Queen, Benoît Jacquot, 2012)
There were a lot of excellent documentaries this year – as there were last year – and all of the films on my list certainly had their moments. I found myself drifting back though, to Lars von Trier’s Melancholia or J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call (both 2011), films that, for me, were really transcendent experiences. None of the films above, with the possible exception of the mesmeric Tabu, really came up to that level. That said, This is Not a Film signals a new era in do-it-yourself cinema, smuggled out of Iran on a flash-drive hidden in a birthday cake, proving that you don’t need much in the way of physical materials to make a compelling film; all it requires is genius and a talent for improvisation under pressure. Killing Them Softly is perhaps the most conventional film here, but it still packs a punch. Side by Side, though also veering towards the quotidian, nevertheless addresses the most central issue facing cinema today; film or digital. Really, it isn’t a contest any more; digital has won. Film is gone.
But just last week, I was running a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) in my film history class, which looked sharp, hard and glossy; and then a 35mm print of another film, which seemed, in comparison, warm, romantic and inviting. There’s no use bemoaning the death of film, though; it’s an accomplished fact. Christopher Nolan is still carrying the torch for celluloid, but it won’t be long before 35mm vanishes completely – something I predicted as far back as 2000 in a lecture in Stockholm, when one theatre in New York switched, even back then, to all digital projection. The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927) opened in one theatre, as well; within two years, silent films were gone. It’s taken digital longer to gain market dominance, but when one looks at the cost savings for the studios in shipping, storage and print costs, as well as the level of control DCPs give the majors – DCPs must be unlocked by KDMs (Key Delivery Messages) for each screening, so studios always know where and when their films are being screened – the shift was ultimately inevitable.
So it’s a digital world, and film – as we knew it – is no longer part of the landscape. That’s the major story for 2012, and a host of aesthetic and pictorial values vanish with the switch. But sheer economics drive the process, and film is above all a very costly medium. So with distribution and advertising costs rising, to say nothing of above-the-line budgets, mainstream fare will continue to rule the multiplex, while most of the films listed here played only “selected theaters”, and never reached the general public. That’s another problem, and for that, there seems no solution in sight.

DENNY DREHER

Toledo, Ohio, USA.
  1. Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu – Son of Adam, Salim Ahamed, 2011)
  2. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  3. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  4. Comme si nous attrapions un cobra (As If You Were Catching a Cobra, Hala Alaballa, 2012)
  5. English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, 2012)
  6. Francis Ha (Noah Baumbach, 2012)
  7. Gaosu tamen, wo cheng baihe qu le (Fly With the Crane, Rui Jun Li, 2012)
  8. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson 2012)
  9. Rundskop (Bullhead, Michael Roskan, 2011)
  10. Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh, 2012)
  11. Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011)

Frances Ha

DZONDUNKELLICHT

Dzondunkellicht’s work engages with the intersecting qualities of cinema, philosophy and aesthetics.
  1. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
  2. Seeking the Monkey King (Ken Jacobs, 2011)
  3. La Madre (Jean-Marie Straub, 2012)
  4. The Extravagant Shadows (David Gatten, 2012)
  5. Age Is… (Stephen Dwoskin, 2012)
  6. Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
  7. 11·25 jiketsu no hi: Mishima Yukio to wakamono-tachi (11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012)
  8. Perret in Frankreich und Algerien (Perret in France and Algeria, Heinz Emigholz, 2012)
  9. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  10. Peleh Akhar (The Last Step, Ali Mosaffa, 2012)
  11. Sueño y silencio (Dream and Silence, Jaime Rosales, 2012)
  12. Monument Film (Peter Kubelka, 2012)
  13. Bestiaire (Denis Côté, 2012)
  14. San zimei (Three Sisters, Wang Bing, 2012)
  15. Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Aint Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
  16. La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raúl Ruiz, 2012)
  17. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  18. A última vez que vi Macau (The Last Time I Saw Macao, João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata, 2012)
  19. View From the Acropolis (Lonnie van Brummelen & Siebren de Haan, 2012)
  20. The Fiercer The Fire The Longer The Spoon (Bruce McClure, 2012)
Honorable mentions
  1. O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012)
  2. Los ultimos christeros (The Last Christeros Matias Meyer, 2012)
  3. A vingança de uma mulher (A Woman’s Revenge Rita Azevedo Gomes, 2012)
  4. Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (Lav Diaz, 2012)
  5. Malaventura (Michel Lipkes, 2011)
  6. Nana (Valérie Massadian, 2011)
  7. Ensayo final para utopía (Dress Rehearsal for Utopia, Andrés Duque, 2012)
  8. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
  9. Silence (Pat Collins, 2011)
  10. Walker (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2012)
  11. Low Life (Nicolas Klotz & Elisabeth Perceval, 2011)
  12. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
  13. Sudoeste (Southwest, Eduardo Nunes, 2012)
  14. De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Through Sunday, Dominga Sotomayor Castilla, 2012)
  15. Los salvajes (The Wild Ones, Alejandro Fadel, 2012)
  16. Corta (Cut, Felipe Guerrero, 2012)
  17. La Lapidation de Saint Étienne (Pere Vilà i Barceló, 2012)
  18. V tumane (In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa, 2012)
  19. Csak a szél (Just the Wind, Bence Fliegauf, 2012)
  20. După dealuri (Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
  21. Canicula (Jose Alvarez, 2011)
  22. The War (James Benning, 2012)
  23. Küf (Mold, Ali Aydin, 2012)
  24. Lal gece (Night of Silence, Reis Çelik, 2012)
Best Retrospectives
  1. Peter Nestler @ Goethe Institut London
  2. Werner Schroeter @ the HFA
  3. Jean Epstein @ IFFR 2012 & MIFF 2012
  4. Jean Rouch @ Anthology Film Archives & FIAF NYC
  5. Marcel Hanoun @ Cinéma Saint-André des Arts, Paris.

RUSSELL EDWARDS

Film Critic, SBS On-line, Metro Contributing Editor, Sydney.
  1. Tsui no shintaku (A Terminal Trust, Masayuki Suo, 2012)
  2. Accession (Michael J. Rix, 2012)
  3. Compliance (Craig Zobel, 2012)
  4. Kahaani (Sujoy Ghosh, 2012)
  5. Pieta (Kim Ki-duk, 2012)
  6. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  7. Vulgaria (Pang Ho-Cheung, 2012)
  8. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  9. Hwacha (Helpless, Byun Young-joo, 2012)
  10. Namyeong-dong 1985 (National Security, Chung Ji-young, 2012)
Leos Carax’s Holy Motors just misses inclusion in my best of 2012 list for those moronic talking cars which appear in its last moments. However, I’m willing to accept the cars is a clever joke I just didn’t get… as soon as someone explains it to me.
Worst Films: Miguel Gomes’ Tabu (2012) and Im Sang-soo’s Donui mat (The Taste of Money, 2012).
Pieta

WILLIAM EDWARDS

Long time film fanatic who lives in Sydney.
  1. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  2. The Sessions (Ben Lewin, 2012)
  3. Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Robert Guediguian, 2011)
  4. The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
  5. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  6. Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Sedil, 2012)
  7. Dead Europe (Tony Krawitz, 2012)
  8. Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)
  9. Outing (Sebastian Meise & Thomas Reider, 2012)
  10. Hitler’s Children (Chanoch Zeevi, 2012)
Overrated films of the year
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)
Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
Worst of the Year
To Rome with Love (Woody Allen, 2012)
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
Lawless (John Hillcoat, 2012)
The Raven (James McTeigue, 2012)
Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
Machine Gun Preacher (Marc Forster, 2011)

DAVID EHRENSTEIN

Author of The Martin Scorsese Picture, Open Secret: Gay Hollywood, and Masters of Cinema: Roman Polanski.
  1. Keep the Lights On (Ira Sachs, 2012)
  2. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  3. Un été brûlant (That Summer, Philippe Garrel, 2011)
  4. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2012)
  5. How To Survive A Plague (David France, 2012)
  6. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  7. Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2012)
  8. Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)
  9. United in Anger: A History of ACT-Up (Jim Hubbard, 2012)
  10. The Sessions (Ben Lewin, 2012)
Laurence Anyways


WES FELTON

Freelance film journalist and contributor to Senses of Cinema.
Favourite new theatrical releases from 2012 seen in the USA (in alphabetical order)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Holy Motors (Léos Carax, 2012)
The Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012)
Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (Matthew Akers & Jeff Dupre, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
In film nist (This is Not a Film, Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, 2012)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2012)
Favourite video releases from 2012 in the USA (in alphabetical order)
Jean Grémillon During the Occupation (Remorques, 1941; Lumière d’été, 1943; Le ciel est à vous, 1944) Eclipse Series 34, Criterion Collection
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (Hollis Frampton, 1966-1979) Criterion Collection
Les Vampires (Louis Feuillade, 1915) Kino Classics
Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès, 1902) Flicker Alley
Moses und Aron (Moses and Aaron, Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, 1975) New Yorker Films
Cinematic Experience of the Year
Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927)
In March of 2012 the San Francisco Silent Film Festival presented Kevin Brownlow’s 5 ½ hour restoration of Abel Gance’s masterpiece, which was the American premiere of the score conducted by Carl Davis at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California. Gance’s “Polyvision” three-screen finale is something truly extraordinary.
Beasts of the Southern Wild

TED FENDT

Translator, occasional critic, filmmaker, New York.
In no particular order, all seen in cinemas for the first time in 2012.
The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, 2012)
Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
Nana (Valérie Massadian, 2011)
anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
East Hastings Pharmacy (Antoine Bourges, 2012)
Itchkeri Kenti: Les fils de l’Itchkerie (Florent Marcie, 2006)
The Happy Years (William A. Wellman, 1950)
Paths to Paradise (Clarence G. Badger, 1925)
Grandeur et décadence d’un petit commerce du cinéma (Jean-Luc Godard, 1986)
Geronimo: An American Legend (Walter Hill, 1993)

DONAL FOREMAN

Irish filmmaker and critic living in New York City. Currently in post-production on his first feature film, Out of Here.
For a few reasons, 2012 is a hard year for me to appraise in cinematic terms. Firstly, I didn’t get to see as many new movies as usual because I was busy making my own first feature. Secondly, having shot that film, I feel more acutely John Cassavetes’ generous assertion, “Anyone who can make a film, I already love”. But, thirdly, and on the other hand, my increasingly palpable sense of time’s scarcity and fragility has me seeing movies that are just “good” as just not good enough. I want cinema as event – not the IMAX 3D kind of event, but one that marks a subjective rupture in some way, that redraws the map, opens up new possibilities, and reminds me of why I should bother making films and how I might try to do so differently.
So here’s a list of ten movies/projects/experiences that – even if just for me, just for a moment – redefined, revived or re-ignited the concept of cinema and its possible futures.
Tell Me Lies (A Film About London) (Peter Brook, 1968) – restored and re-released as part of MOMA’s To Save and Project festival
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
The Comedy (Rick Alverson, 2012)
The online critical journal La Furia Umana.
Open Five 2 (Kentucker Audley, 2012)
No Budge Films website
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
The Youtube accounts of bidsprinkhaanII, whateverhte, Rick Petaccio and Kurt Walkur, among others.
“Anatomy and Destiny: Sex in the Future/Sex in the Past”, a media-performance talk by Tom McCormack at Spectacle Theatre.
Serge Daney: Itinéraire d’un “Ciné-fils” (Pierre-André Boutang & Dominique Rabourdin, 1992)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Cosmopolis

JEAN-MICHEL FRODON

Film critic at slate.fr and professor at Paris Sciences Po.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Both an accomplishment and a step forward, rooted in the love for cinema and defying the coming times, as dark and as promising they may be. 
Lawrence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)
Bold and emotional, unpredictable and perfectly true to its characters and their motivations, supported by extraordinary acting. 
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
If the word “groundbreaking” ever meant something, it applies to this reinvention of cinema power to poeticise relation between men, animals, ocean, sky and the invisible, in a completely revolutionary way.
Saudade (Tatsuya Tomita, 2012)
From the local to the universal, an extraordinary complex yet easily accessible cinematic translation of the forces that reshape and threaten contemporary societies.
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Poetry and politics, romanticism, infinite love for characters and a sharp vision of a self-destructive world.
Also Hong Sang-soo, Olivier Assayas, Brillante Mendoza, David Cronenberg, Abbas Kiarostami, Marco Bellocchio, Benoît Jacquot, Alexandr Sokurov, Manoel de Oliveira…


GEOFF GARDNER

Blogs away on matters of film interest.
New Films
Ai de tishen (All Apologies, Emily Tang, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Khers (The Bear, Khosro Masumi, 2012)
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
Kriegerin (Combat Girls, David Wnendt, 2011)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Gangs of वासेपुर (Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Soog (Mourning, Morteza Farshbaf, 2011)
No (Pablo Lorraín, 2012)
Los pasos doble (The Double Steps, Isaki Lacuesta, 2011)
Ren shan ren hai (People Mountain People Sea, Cai Shangjun, 2011)
Sharqiya (Ami Livne, 2012l)
Arekara (Since Then, Shinozaki Makoto, 2012)
Neukdae sonyeon (A Werewolf Boy, Jo Sung-hee, 2012)
Wu xia (Dragon, Peter Ho-sun Chan, 2011)
Plus, revealing a late age conversion, TV on DVD
Luther, series 1&2, Downtown Abbey series 1,2 & Christmas Special, Treme, series 2, The Killing, series 1&2, Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Hour, Sherlock series 2, State of Play and Cambridge Spies
Plus, old films (some seen for the first time, some in gorgeous new restorations in cinemas or on DVD)
Bedevil (Tracey Moffatt, 1993), Black Jack (Ken Loach, 1979), Bonjour Tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958), La Grande Guerra (The Great War, Mario Monicelli, 1959), The Hitler Gang (John Farrow, 1944), Ningen no joken (The Human Condition, Masaki Kobayashi, 1957-61), The More the Merrier (George Stevens, 1943), O slavnosti a hostech (The Party and the Guests, Jan Nemec, 1966), Pursued (Raoul Walsh, 1947), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Robert Aldrich, 1977), Wild Girl (Raoul Walsh, 1932)
The fact that the only Australian film mentioned anywhere was made a couple of decades ago by a director who was never given the opportunity to make another feature film speaks volumes for the current miserable circumstances in which our national cinema finds itself.
Margaret

ANTONY I. GINNANE

Producer, distributor and commentator, Melbourne / Los Angeles. President of FG Film Productions (Australia) Pty Ltd / IFM World Releasing Inc.; currently producing Patrick and Blowback in Australia.
Top 10 (Eligibility: 2012 theatrical, festival or premiere DVD first release in the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand – listed alphabetically by title)
Jodaelye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
Extraordinarily stylish thriller – elegantly balancing passion and pain in an alien landscape.
The Grey (Joe Carnahan, 2012)
Man against the elements. Man against animals. A taut Cornel Wilde piece that grows progressively bleaker and nihilistic.
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Surprisingly gentle, emotional and heartfelt tale of death and grief told with the clinical, but never cynical Haneke eye.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2012)
Friedkin’s obsession with pathological excess reaches new heights in this cocktail of decadence and perversity blended with a macabre sense of humour.
Polisse (Maïwenn, 2011)
Melville meets Giovanni with a feminist Hawksian edge. Cops under pressure in a tough job. 
Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
Affleck is well on his way to assuming Eastwood’s mantle as the last classicist. A blend of ‘70s political thriller, procedural and Hollywood inside joke.
End of Watch (David Ayer, 2012)
Modernist Richard Fleischer / Richard Brooks update filtered through a cinema-verite style.
Serbuan maut (The Raid: Redemption, Gareth Edwards, 2011)
A reverse of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959) (with the heroes on the outside). Pitch perfect low budget action thriller.
Trouble with the Curve (Robert Lorenz, 2012)
Eastwood’s shadow looms long over this work by his acolyte Lorenz. Ruminations on old age, father-daughter relationships and the Eisenhower American past consume this simple yet moving tale.
Haywire (Steven Soderberg, 2012)
Kinetic pop art sparking off a balletic performance by Gina Carano and Soderberg’s weary post Contagion (2011) worldview.
Other titles that have excited or inspired me during the year include:
  1. Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie, 2011)
  2. Hodejegeme (Headhunters, Morten Tyldum, 2011)
  3. Underworld Awakening (Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein, 2012)
  4. Savages (Oliver Stone, 2012)
  5. Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
  6. Margin Call (J.C Chandor, 2012)
  7. Vous n’avez pas rien vu (You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
  8. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  9. Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)
  10. Lawless (John Hillcoat, 2012)
  11. Man with the Iron Fists(RZA, 2012)
  12. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
  13. Magic Mike (Steve Soderberg, 2012)
  14. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
  15. The Dark Knight Rises(Christopher Nolen, 2012)
  16. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
  17. In Darkness (Agnieszka Holland, 2012)
  18. Arbitrage (Nicolas Jarecki, 2012)
  19. Seven Psychopaths (Michael McDonagh, 2011)
  20. Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter (Timur Beckmambetov, 2012)

CHIRANJIT GOSWAMI

Resides in Winnipeg, Canada, where a number of notable 2012 movies have yet to arrive, so he regrets not being able to attend TIFF this past fall.
Best Films of 2012
  1. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  2. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  3. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
  4. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  5. Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
  6. Looper (Johnson, 2012)
  7. Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
  8. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
  9. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)
  10. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (David Gelb, 2011) & Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Honourable Mentions:
Surprisingly Hilarious, Discreetly Perceptive
21 Jump Street (Phil Lord & Chris Miller, 2012)
Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)
Dependable Delivery
Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
Captivating Debut
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
Fascinatingly Forsaken
John Carter (Andrew Stanton, 2012)
Mesmerising Misfires
Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Looper

JAIME GRIJALBA

Chilean wanna-be screenwriter and filmmaker that wastes his time reviewing films and watching them, not in that order.
Films released this year in any part of the world and that were made available to me in some way, either theatrically, festivals, DVDs, etc.
1. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
At this moment, this is my favourite Haneke film of those I’ve seen, mainly because he is not afraid to show feelings, which undoubtedly affect the audience. A sensation that makes you empathise with the main characters, and not just regard them with shock at their actions (as in earlier Haneke films). The two leads easily bestow the best acting of the year and the finest examples of ‘senior’ acting, surpassing any young people with expectations, while trying to overcome their own limits. Beautiful and tear-worthy, this is the best film of the year in its script, direction, acting and framing, and easily the best movie of the decade that just began.
2. The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
One of the biggest movies that came out this year, it also happened to be one of the best that I saw. Maybe it is the weakest link of the three films, but it’s like saying that one of the stars in the sky shines less than the others… in the end it’s still a star. Having a thematic consistency has been a great thing for Christopher Nolan and his films, and the theme of rising and resurrection of the characters in the film is one that is followed visually, musically and in the script, giving it a powerful message and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats through the entire runtime. The last hour is so suspenseful that one better check one’s body before seeing it, for they may have a hard time sitting down after being so tense about how the situations will play out. Batman is indisputably now out of our lives and I’m ready for something completely different.
3. Indie Game: The Movie (Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky, 2012)
How can a documentary so specific in its world- and subject-matter be so inspiring and great? How have two first-time directors managed to create one of the best edited, best shot and most beautiful documentaries of recent years? Here is a commentary on modern art and, more broadly, on the way creativity works, indifferent to the actual subject matter: video games. It looks good, it sounds good, it has a narrative, it makes you care and love the people that are in it, you are immersed in their problems and you celebrate their triumphs. It’s been a while since a debut film has blown me out of the water so profoundly and greatly. Truly, this is a masterpiece and one of the films that may start the debate on the subject of “why are we debating whether video games are art when they so obviously are?”
4. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Magic was the only word that I could come up with when the film finished playing and the applause was heard from the audience. What is the reasoning behind all that is happening? Who cares, really? There is this character played to perfection by Denis Lavant transiting and playing different roles in a world that seems to be ours but at the same time isn’t, as doubles and doppelgängers roam the city in white limousines conducted by ghostly figures who seem to be connected to God, while their talking cars are as holy as their motors. Does it make sense to you? No? Well, it is an experience to be felt in your mind and body and for your own pleasure. A great love letter to cinema, as much as Leos Carax doesn’t want it to be.
5. Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow, 2012)
Sometimes a film just blindsides you, and that is the case with this indie comedy with elements of science fiction. The plot and the characters initially seem simple, but then the film begins to narrate something much more profound, something relating to the relationship between ourselves as human beings. We are taught to understand people’s emotions and reasons, no matter how crazy they are, if you have a passion you must follow it all the way to the other side of the world if you need to. This is a film that surprises with its ending, its superb acting and more than anything, its feelings.
6. Gyakuten saiban (Ace Attorney, Takashi Miike, 2012)
Video game adaptations aren’t at the top of the list in anyone’s mind, but here comes Takashi Miike to shut us up, because here we have a great and emotional adaptation of a video game, that feels like one and looks like one. It is funny and suspenseful, following the beats and tropes of Japanese gaming culture as well as the world that was created for the Ace Attorney series of games. One marvels at the images, the colours, the special effects and the style in every frame.
7. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
As Wes Anderson moves closer to the world of children, he moves closer to my heart. It is true that Fantastic Mr. Fox was his first film that I actually liked, and with this one he comes across as a wonderful filmmaker who knows his audience and his tropes. On this occasion however he utilises them within an emotional storyline about true love and emotional connection at an innocent age. There are some unforgettable moments in this one. Great, great, great.
8. Where the Eagles Fly (Carlos Klein, 2012)
It is a strange and awkward sensation when you find a “making-of” (sorta) of another film to be better than the film itself, well, that is the case in this film directed by the Chilean director Carlos Klein, who followed Victor Kossakovsky through the shooting of his latest film Vivan las Antipodas! (2011), and in some way makes up for the failings of that latest film, by splitting time between narrative and character-based moments and the beautiful imagery of the world. Here we find out that Kossakovsky is one odd fellow, a character one could watch on a reality show and never be bored of (now, that is something I never thought I’d say).
9. The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
The biggest, loudest, most incredible film of the summer deserves those adjectives, mainly because it’s a dream come true. It’s better than all the other Marvel movies because the direction manages to give each character substantial screen time. Also, the personal narratives are present in a story that tries to encapsulate everything that they represent as a team trying to defend the world at every moment. A movie for the fans and for people who like movies as spectacle.
10. Las cosas como son (Things as They Are, Fernando Lavanderos, 2012)
Chilean cinema has come into its own this year, in terms of films appearing in festivals and winning prizes internationally, and this is one of the best narrative Chilean films in a year more dominated by documentaries. Directed in a personal and economical way, this film tells the simple story of a young house owner, who rents his rooms to foreign students who have come to Chile for short-term stays. Summer comes and he is left alone with a Norwegian woman who is taking summer classes. Their relationship and how it builds is a thing of discovery of acting and great moments. Truly, one of the best moments at the cinema this year.
11. La chica del sur (The Girl from the South, José Luis García, 2012)
A documentary from Argentina that twists around and finds trouble in South Korea regarding one of the most famous people in the country: the girl of unification, who is still alive today.
12. Ruby Sparks (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, 2012)
A fantasy that works, feels and looks like a fairytale that comes from the most beautiful and at the same time the darkest place of our minds. Greatly acted.
13. Gyo (Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack, Takayuki Hirao, 2012)
Mainstream Japanese anime has never been this gross and unsettling. A film that manages to make you feel sick, as the smell of dead fish gets into your nose.
14. [REC]³ Génesis (Paco Plaza, 2012)
A complete diversion from the first two films in the best way possible. This is good handling of the franchise, entertaining, gory and intelligent in its script and characters.
15. Pieta (Kim Ki-duk, 2012)
Strong Korean drama from one of the country’s master directors. Acted and framed amazingly, a tour de force from all the characters, and a marvellous choice for a main character.
16. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
This film won me over when it inserted me in the process of the production of a fake film and how it related to the issues of Iran. The last half hour is superb and a lesson in editing.
17. Las mujeres del pasajero (The Women of the Passerby, Patricia Correa & Valentina MacPherson, 2012)
An impressive short documentary about the women who work at a motel in Santiago de Chile: their stories, their loves, their experiences with the clients in this place.
18. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
One must be blind to notposit this as one of the best examples of cinematography today. The colours and the action alone make it worth watching.
19. De jueves a domingo (From Thursday to Sunday, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, 2012)
Winner of the Rotterdam Film Festival’s Tiger competition, this film is in this list because it reminds me of my life and my travels with my parents. Nostalgic.
20. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Hong Sang-ZOOM! 
The Dark Knight Rises

LEE HILL

Writer based in London, England. Author of A Grand Guy: The Art and Life of Terry Southern and a BFI book on Easy Rider.
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
The Kid With A Bike (Le Gamin au vélo, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
Aqui y alla (Here and There, Antonio Mendez Esparza, 2012)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
V tumane (In The Fog, Sergei Loznitsa, 2012)
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012)
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (Drew DeNicola, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
For No Good Reason (Charlie Paul, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Reissues
F For Fake (Orson Welles, 1975), End of the Road (Aram Avakian, 1970), Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962), Heaven’s Gate (Michael Cimino, 1980), In the Year of The Pig (Emile Antonio, 1968), Bonjour Tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958)
Overrated
Skyfall (Sam Mendes), the career of Christopher Nolan (who was given, God help us, a retrospective at the BFI Southbank this year…a programming low in an otherwise strong year. The Dark Knight Rises will ultimately be remembered for showing Anne Hathaway can kick ass with the best catwomen) and the notion of “serious” blockbusters in general.
Notes
A distinct dropping off in terms of quality and variety from the previous year. With the New York Film Festival celebrating its 50th Anniversary and Sight & Sound publishing its once in a decade Critics/Directors poll, it seemed the greatest pleasures I had were in watching non-2012 films. Whether it was Marnie on DVD or F For Fake at an arthouse in Bloomsbury, pouring over the results of the S&S poll or marvelling at the eclectism of the NYC programmers, the best of 2012 was more likely to be found in another part of the time/space continuum that is Cinema History. Opinions differ.
Damsels in Distress

ALEXANDER HORWATH

Director of the Austrian Film Museum, Vienna.
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Anton tut ryadom (Anton’s Right Here, Ljubov Arkus, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Csak a szél (Just the Wind, Bence Fliegauf, 2012)
All Divided Selves (Luke Fowler, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Amour (Love, Michael Haneke, 2012)
For Ellen (So Yong Kim, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl, 2012)

FLORENT HOUDE

Teacher and writer of Princecranoir blog, France.
I’ve not seen so many films but these are the most exciting to me:
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011)
Twixt (Francis F. Coppola, 2011)
Adieu Berthe – l’enterrement de mémé (Granny’s Funeral, Bruno Podalydès, 2012)
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Dans la maison (In the House, François Ozon, 2012)

PETER HOURIGAN

Leads film discussion groups with the Centre for Adult Education, Melbourne.
With the vagaries of film distribution some of my best films for 2012 appeared on other people’s 2011 lists.
Especially when you’re thinking about the best films of the year, it’s anathema to me to try to rank one film over another. So here are the new films that had the biggest impact on me in the last 12 months, in the order in which I saw them.
Akunin (Villain, Lee Sang-il, 2010)
An amour fou with power and sympathy.
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
Its acclaim is well deserved.
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
I could wallow in this wonderful film over and over and over.
Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)
Not a joyous viewing experience, but powerful.
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
A procedural can be so much more than just a whodunit.
Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
The tribute to Ozu that rings true not in style but in humanity.
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
A fascinatingly rich and complex exploration of different ways of telling a story.
Patience (After Sebald) (Grant Gee, 2011)
In description it sounds like a set of study notes for a book, but it transcends that to be a rich experience in its own right.
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paulo and Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
A performance explores Shakespeare with depth and incredible contemporary relevance.
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
This masterpiece will get richer with each viewing, I am sure.
I should also note Werner Herzog’s humane achievement with both Into the Abyss (2011) and the related four-part documentary series On Death Row (2012).
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation)

CERISE HOWARD

Freelance writer, peregrine film critic, and Artistic Director of the Czech and Slovak Film Festival, debuting in Melbourne in 2013.
Screen cultural highlights for the year that was 2012
Best seen in, or shortly to be in, general release in Melbourne:
Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Exhausting, with barely a misstep. For a film with the hunt for Osama Bin Laden as its principal narrative concern, it’s a powerful, unexpected rejoinder to all those who carped about Bigelow’s becoming the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar, for the very boysy The Hurt Locker (2008), as being only a qualified triumph for feminism.
Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012)
It peaks far too early, but what a peak! Anne Hathaway’s performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” is a wrenching revelation.
Highly honourable mentions:
Chronicle (Josh Trank, 2012), The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011); La source des femmes (The Source, Radu Mihăileanu, 2011), Hearat Shulayim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011), Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012), Polisse (Maïwenn, 2011), Hail (Amiel Courtin-Wilson, 2011), I Am Eleven (Genevieve Bailey, 2011), Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012), All The Way Through Evening (Rohan Spong, 2011), Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011), The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2011)
Best (first) seen at the Melbourne International Film Festival:
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
As magnificently surreal a piece of hand-wringing fence-sitting over the whole analogue-digital cusp period clusterfuck we are all of us surprised to find has so suddenly caught up with us, as one could possibly ever hanker for. Absolutely, singularly brilliant.
Highly honourable mentions:
Kiseki (I Wish, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2011), Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012), Poulet aux prunes (Chicken with Plums, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 2011), Alois Nebel (Tomáš Luňák, 2011), Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012), Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012), Love Story (Florian Habicht, 2011), Call Me Kuchu (Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, 2012)
Best animated works:
Romance (Georges Schwizgebel, 2011)
Bobby Yeah (Robert Morgan, 2011)
Tram (Michaela Pavlátová, 2012)
Tatsumi (Eric Khoo, 2011) 
Best seen elsewhere, in the wider world:
Histórias Que Só Existem Quando Lembradas (Found Memories, Júlia Murat, 2011)
Countdown (Huh Jong-ho, 2011)
Xiao Shi Da Kan (Honey PuPu, Chen Hung-I, 2011)
Serbuan maut (The Raid: Redemption, Gareth Evans, 2011)
Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo, 2011)
Keep the Lights On (Ira Sachs, 2012)
In Search of Avery Willard (Cary Kehayan, 2012)
Not least for the anthropological work performed in the fictionalised-yet-actual documentary film-within-the-film.
Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)
Hors les murs (Beyond the Walls, David Lambert, 2012)
Best retrospectives:
Nocturnal Transmissions: The Cinema of Guy Maddin at ACMI
Already a glorious, unexpected feast for a Maddin devotee such as myself, Maddin’s co-curation of the event led to some truly inspired, delirious double bills, like his Keyhole (2011) running back-to-back with, if anything, the even more gleefully demented Hausu (House, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, 1977).
Highly honourable mentions:
Jean Epstein: Bonjour Cinema at MIFF and, all courtesy of The Melbourne Cinémathèque: Immortal Stories: The Living Cinema of Raúl Ruiz; Elia Kazan: The Outsider; The Power of Desire: The Decadent Visions of Josef von Sternberg; Borderlines: Selected Works by Claire Denis.
Everything is cinema, more or less: Greatest extra-cinematic happenings of 2012:
Jan Švankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue – Between Film and Fine Art in the House at the Stone Bell in Prague’s Old Town Square (26 October 2012 – 3 February 2013)
Room after Rudolphinian room a-glut with Švankmajeriana. Magical, obsessive, capital-S Surrealist objects abound, all riffing on relationships, direct or indirect, with Švankmajer’s 48-year-long filmic output. Featured one film, whether long or short form, looping in its entirety in each room, and with the exhibition’s great plenty of uncanny objects organised correspondingly. Magnificent!
Yet, an even bigger, albeit far more fleeting, personal Švankmajer highlight for 2012 was finding myself locking eyes with the man himself as he disembarked from a tram immediately before me early one chilly November morning in Prague, ahead of promptly scuttling into the Malostranská metro station, thence, one can only presume, to undergo some sort of Archimboldo-esque transformation, to transmutate into an oversize marionette, or somesuch…
Slovanská epopej (The Slav Epic, Alfons Mucha, 1912-1928), now hanging permanently, if not without controversy, at Veletržní Palace, a campus of the National Gallery in Prague
I was struck, over the necessary three hours of my first viewing and attempted digestion of the Art Nouveau titan’s 20-colossal-canvas-strong magnum opus, how much “The Slav Epic” has, in fact, in common with the particular art form to have been the most nouveau of all in its time.
The years of its production largely correspond with that in which cinema’s vocabulary was being established. Is it any coincidence, then, that Mucha’s masterwork, spanning 20 big screens and several hundred years of historical narrative, is full of visual devices recognisable from the cinema, from extreme close-ups and expressionistic lighting effects, through to direct addresses “to camera” and vignetted elements superimposing phantastical elements upon scenes rooted in reality (if a reality with which Mucha is acknowledged to have taken a few liberties)?
OK – it might be a stretch to press a claim for “The Slav Epic” as cinema, per se, but, nonetheless, Mucha’s breathtaking masterpiece is my big screen event of the year.
William Kentridge: Five Themes at ACMI
Five Themes was, for me, ACMI’s best exhibition since Eyes, Lies & Illusions back in 2006-07, with which it had quite a bit more in common than I had anticipated. Kentridge’s three model theatres prepared for his 2005 production of the Mozart opera The Magic Flute, replete with film projections, automata and interrogations of the worst excesses of colonialism, were especially magnificent.
Georges Schwizgebel exhibition in the Cantonal and University Library, Fribourg, Switzerland
A fascinating, treasured look behind-the-scenes at the methodology employed by the Swiss supremo in producing his gorgeous, painterly, Escherian animations.
Goblin during Melbourne Music Week
Goblin, best known for their prog rock soundtracks to several of Dario Argento’s best films, graced Melbourne with two shows, one an out-and-out greatest hits rock package at the Melbourne Town Hall using, if not as heavily as the hype might have suggested, the Grand Organ, and the other a live score to Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977). I had never imagined I’d ever witness either.
With Suspiria, the liveness of the music, the sheer improbable, unprecedented actuality of its being Goblin performing that extraordinary score beneath the big screen of ACMI Cinema 2, more than countered the diminution of the experience brought about by a projection of a quality which sadly didn’t do the extraordinary visual beauty of the film justice. Still: Goblin! In Melbourne!
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – Q&A with Stuart Grant of the Primitive Calculators at ACMI, courtesy of Speakeasy Cinema
A fascinating, consciousness-raising discussion and promotion of pandrogyny, featuring a perfect match of interviewee and interlocutor in the wake of a screening of Marie Losier’s marvellous documentary, The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (2011).
2012’s greatest triumph for film culture in Melbourne:
The social media-led campaign ensuring that Melbourne’s sole remaining single-screen picture palace of yesteryear, St Kilda’s grand Art Deco Astor Theatre, is still with us and, indeed, even flourishing! May it ever be so.
Best filmmaker parody account on Twitter:
No contest. With throwaway gold like this effort from 4 December, “i 1ce bet terruns malick a bag of skitles that he cudnt film 2 hours of twigs and win a parms dorz 4 it. i owe him skitles lol #teamhaneke”, the winner is, of course, @Michael_Haneke.
Zero Dark Thirty

CHRISTOPH HUBER

Film critic for Die Presse, Vienna.
2012: Ten startling standouts
Sennen no Yuraku (The Millennial Rapture, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012) & 11.25 Jiketsu no hi, Mishima Yukio to wakamonotachi (11.25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012) & Kaien Hoteru – burû (Petrel Hotel Blue, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Angriff auf die Demokratie – Eine Intervention (Romuald Karmakar, 2012)
Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl, 2012) & Paradies: Glaube (Paradise: Faith, Ulrich Seidl, 2012) & Paradies: Hoffnung (Paradise: Hope, Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
La madre (Jean-Marie Straub, 2012)
Das unsichtbare Mädchen (Dominik Graf, 2011) & Lawinen der Erinnerung (Dominik Graf, 2012)
Gangs of वासेपुर (Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
A Messenger from the Shadows (Notes on Film 06/Monolog 01) (Norbert Pfaffenbichler, 2012)
Dracula 3D (Dario Argento, 2012) & Dredd 3D (Pete Travis, 2012) & Resident Evil: Retribution 3D (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012) & Piranha 3DD (John Gulager, 2012)
The treasure trove
a) Three jolly journeys
Der Fahnder: Nachtwache (Dominik Graf, 1993) & Bittere Unschuld (Dominik Graf, 1999) & München – Geheimnisse einer Stadt (Dominik Graf, Michael Althen, 2000) & Hotte im Paradies (Dominik Graf, 2002) & Der Weg, den wir nicht zusammen gehen (Dominik Graf, 2009)
9 dnej odnogo goda (Nine Days in One Year, Michail Romm, 1962) & Zastava Ilijča (Marlen Chuciev, 1963) & Pered sudom istorii (Facing the Judgment of History, Fridrich Ėrmler, 1965) & Vremja, vpered! (Time, Forward!, Michail Švejcer, Sof’ja Mil’kina, 1965) & Rabočij poselok (Workers’ Quarters, Vladimir Vengerov, 1965)
Kommunikation – Ton der Verständigung (Edgar Reitz, 1961) & Vormittag eines alten Herrn (Peter Pewas, 1962) & Es muß ein Stück vom Hitler sein (Walter Krüttner, 1963) & Der heiße Frieden (Friedrich Khittl, 1965) & Für meine Kinder – von Vati (Ulrich Schamoni, 1969)
b) Ten delicious double features
Black Moon (Roy William Neill, 1934) & The Woman in Green (Roy William Neill, 1945)
Cesta duga godinu dana (The Year Long Road, Giuseppe De Santis, 1958) & Tre ipotesi sulla morte di Pinelli (Elio Petri, 1970)
The Big Trail (Grandeur Version) (Raoul Walsh, 1931) & Sailor’s Luck (Raoul Walsh, 1933)
Poslednyaya noch (The Last Night, Julij Raizman, 1937) & Kommunist (Julij Raizman, 1958)
The Last Horror Film (David Winters, 1982) & Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie (Buddy Giovinazzo, 1986)
The Maggie (Alexander Mackendrick, 1954) & Sammy Going South (Alexander Mackendrick, 1963)
Forever Amber (Otto Preminger, 1947) & The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (Otto Preminger, 1955)
Skazanie o zemle Sibirskoj (Song of the Siberian Earth, Ivan Pyr’ev, 1948) & Kubanzkie Kazaki (Cossacks of the Cuban, Ivan Pyr’ev, 1950)
The Real Glory (Henry Hathaway, 1939) & Brigham Young – Frontiersman (Henry Hathaway, 1940)
Incubo sulla città contaminata (Nightmare City, Umberto Lenzi, 1980) & Return of the Living Dead III (Brian Yuzna, 1993)
c) 20 enduring ecstasies
The Fearmakers (Jacques Tourneur, 1958)
Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa I doktora Vatsona: Dvadtsatyy vek nachinaetsya (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The 20th Century Begins, Igor Maslennikov, 1986)
Himala (Miracle, Ishmael Bernal, 1982)
The Traveling Executioner (Jack Smight, 1970)
¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (Who Can Kill A Child?, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, 1976)
Norman Mailer’s Untitled (Norman Mailer, 1947)
Trás-os-montes (Antonio Reis, Margarida Cordeiro, 1976)
Dai Chushingura (The 47 Ronin, Kinugasa Teinosuke, 1932)
Friese-Greene Biocolor – Poster On Hoarding (1912)
S’Margritli und d’Soldate. Ernstes und Heiteres aus der Grenzbesetzung (August Kern, 1940)
Tell Me Lies (Peter Brook, 1968)
Tourist Trap (David Schmoeller, 1979)
Oflag XVII A (prisoners collective, 1954)
India (Armando Bó, 1960)
Un uomo in ginocchio (Damiano Damiani, 1980)
Penetration Angst (Wolfgang Büld, 2003)
Chôju giga (The Satirical Animal Scrolls, Yasuo Matsukawa, 1966)
This Love of Ours (William Dieterle, 1945)
Triptih Agate Schwarzkobler (Triptych of Agate Schwarzkobler, Matjaž Klopčić, 1997)
Miliz in der Früh (Hans Scheugl, 1966)
Delírios de um Anormal (Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind, José Mojica Marins, 1978)

DOMINIK KAMALZADEH

Film critic and journalist, Vienna.
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Reality (Matteo Garrone, 2012)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Du zhan (Drug War, Johnny To, 2012)
Starlet (Sean Baker, 2012)
Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
15 older films (on DVD and in retrospectives)
Mistérios de Lisboa (Mysteries of Lisbon, Raul Ruiz, 2010)
De la guerre (Bertrand Bonello, 2008)
Na srebrnym globie (On the Silver Globe, Andrzej Zulawski, 1987)
Kill List (Ben Wheatley, 2011)
La faute de l’abbé Mouret (The Demise of Father Mouret, Georges Franju, 1970)
Thomas l’imposteur (Thomas the Imposter, Georges Franju, 1965)
Donovan’s Reef (John Ford, 1963)
Anna (Alberto Grifi & Massimo Sarchielli, 1975)
Recordacoes da cas amarela (Recollections of the Yellow House, João César Monteiro, 1989)
Trás-os-Montes (Antonio Reis & Margarida Cordeiro, 1976)
Spione (Spies, Fritz Lang, 1928)
Walden (Jonas Mekas, 1969)
Bunny Lake is Missing (Otto Preminger, 1965)
Whirlpool (Otto Preminger, 1949)
Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945)
Leviathan

DANIEL KASMAN

Editor of MUBI, New York.
NEW / NEW – premiering films first seen in 2012
11·25 jiketsu no hi: Mishima Yukio to wakamono-tachi (11/25 The Day Mishima Chose His Fate, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012)
Ai to makoto (For Love’s Sake, Takashi Miike, 2012)
anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
August and After (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2012)
Bella addormentata (Dormant Beauty, Marco Bellocchio, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
Perret in Frankreich und Algerien (Perret in France and Algeria, Heinz Emigholz, 2012)
Burning Star (Josh Solondz, 2012)
Che sau (Motorway, Soi Cheang, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Departure (Ernie Gehr, 2012)
The Extravagant Shadows (David Gatten, 2012)
Flight (Robert Zemeckis, 2012)
Gangs of वासेपुर (Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, 2012)
O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012)
Il se peut que la beauté ait renforcé notre résolution ­– Masao Adachi (It May Be That Beauty Has Reinforced Our Resolve – Masao Adachi, Philippe Grandrieux, 2011)
In the Stone House (Jerome Hiler, 2012)
Jai Bhim Comrade (Anand Patwardhan, 2011)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
The Man Phoning Mum (John Smith, 2012)
Monument Film (Peter Kubelka, 2012)
Never a Foot Too Far, Even (Daichi Saito, 2012)
Nervous Magic Lantern (Ken Jacobs, Flo Jacobs & Aki Onda, 2012)
La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raúl Ruiz, 2012)
Orpheus (Outtakes) (Mary Helena Clark, 2012)
Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
Passion (Brian De Palma, 2012)
Point de Gaze (Jodie Mack, 2012)
Resident Evil: Retribution 3D (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012)
San zimei (Three Sisters, Wang Bing, 2012)
Saudade (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2012)
Student (Darezhan Omirbayev, 2012)
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (John Hyams, 2012)
The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, 2012)
View from Acropolis (Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan, 2012)
Viola (Matías Piñeiro, 2012)
Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
Walker (Tsai Ming-liang, 2012)
the war (James Benning, 2012)
NEW / OLD – films that premiered in past years but were released in the US in 2012
4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara, 2011)
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
Dyut meng gam (Life without Principle, Johnnie To, 2011)
In film nist (This Is Not a Film, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi, 2011)
Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
The Hole (Joe Dante, 2009)
Two Years at Sea (Ben Rivers, 2011)
Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo, 2011)
Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011)
Whores’ Glory (Michael Glawogger, 2011)
OLD / OLD – retrospective films theatrically screened in 2012 not previously seen
The Painted Lady (D.W. Griffith, 1912)
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (D.W. Griffith, 1914)
Straight Shooting (John Ford, 1917)
Cœur fidèle (The Faithful Heart, Jean Epstein, 1923)
Aelita (Aelita: Queen of Mars, Yakov Protazonov, 1924)
Tsukigata Hanpeita (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1925), digest version with sound-on-disc benshi narration
Moana (Robert Flaherty, 1926), with 1981 soundtrack by Monica Flaherty
La Glace à trois faces (The Three-Sided Mirror, Jean Epstein, 1927)
Napoléon (Abel Gance, 1927) 5 ½ hour Kevin Brownlow version
Finis terrae (Jean Epstein, 1929)
Young Eagles (William A. Wellman, 1930)
Ledolom (Thaw, Boris Barnet, 1931)
Mor vran (Sea of Ravens, Jean Epstein, 1931)
Call Her Savage (John Francis Dillon, 1932)
The Conquerors (William A. Wellman, 1932)
L’or des mers (Jean Epstein, 1932)
Wild Girl (Raoul Walsh, 1932)
Central Airport (William A. Wellman, 1933)
L’homme à l’Hispano (The Man with the Hispano Car, Jean Epstein, 1933)
The President Vanishes (William A. Wellman, 1934)
Two Alone (Elliott Nugent, 1934)
She Married Her Boss (Gregory La Cava, 1935)
Zolotoye ozero (The Golden Lake, Vladimir Shnejderov, 1935)
Secret Agent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1936)
Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock, 1936)
Les bâtisseurs (Jean Epstein, 1938)
La femme du bout du monde (Jean Epstein, 1938)
HA. WEI. March 14, 1938 [archival title] (Anonymous, 1938)
Northwest Passage (King Vidor, 1940)
The Face Behind the Mask (Robert Florey, 1941)
Reaching for the Sun (William A. Wellman, 1941)
Unfinished Business (Gregory La Cava, 1941)
Aventure malgache (Alfred Hitchcock, 1944)
Buffalo Bill (William A. Wellman, 1944)
His Sister’s Secret (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1946)
Le tempestaire (Jean Epstein, 1947)
Ruthless (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1948)
Westward the Women (William A. Wellman, 1951)
La macchina ammazzacattivi (The Machine that Kills Bad People, Roberto Rossellini, 1952)
Oflag XVII A (prisoners collective, 1954)
Symphonie mécanique (Jean Mitry, 1955)
The Cry of Jazz (Edward Bland, 1959)
Das magische Band (The Magic Ribbon, Ferdinand Khittl, 1959)
Kommunikation – Technik der Verständigung (Technology of Communication, Edgar Reitz, 1961)
Die Parallelstraße (The Parallel Road, Ferdinand Khittl, 1961)
Two Rode Together (John Ford, 1961)
Machorka-Muff (Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, 1962)
Donovan’s Reef (John Ford, 1963)
Es muß ein Stück vom Hitler sein (That Must Be a Piece of Hitler, Walter Krüttner, 1963)
Kino 1. Geschwindigkeit (Cinema 1. Speed, Edgar Reitz, 1963)
Lehrer (Teacher, Alexander Kluge, 1963)
Os verdes anos (The Green Years, Paulo Rocha, 1963)
The Cavern (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1964)
Der heiße Frieden (The Hot Peace, Ferdinand Khittl, 1965)
Porträt einer Bewährung (Portrait of a Probation, Alexander Kluge, 1965)
Ming Green (Gregory J. Markopoulos, 1966)
Black TV (Aldo Tambellini, 1968)
Massnahmen gegen Fanatiker (Measures Against Fanatics, Werner Herzog, 1969)
Ryakusho renzoku shasatsuma (AKA Serial Killer, Masao Adachi, 1969)
Hong se niang zi jun (The Red Detachment of Women, Pan Fu Jie, Pan Wenzhan, 1970)
Proverka na dorogakh (Trial on the Road, Aleksei German, 1971)
UFOs (Lillian Schwartz, 1971)
Le cousin Jules (Cousin Jules, Dominique Benicheti, 1972)
Enigma (Lillian Schwartz, 1971)
Googolplex (Lillian Schwartz, 1971)
The Girl Chewing Gum (John Smith, 1973)
FM/TRCS (Coleen Fitzgibbon, 1974)
Jaime (António Reis, 1974)
Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Palo Pasolini, 1975)
11 x 14 (James Benning, 1976)
Epileptic Seizure Comparison (Paul Sharits, 1976)
Trás-os-Montes (António Reis, Margarida Cardoso, 1976)
Le berceau de cristal (Phlippe Garrel, 1976)
Dvadtsat dney bez voyny (Twenty Days without War, Aleksei German, 1977)
One Way Boogie Woogie (James Benning 1977)
A Opção (The Option, Ozualdo Ribeiro Candeias, 1981)
Arabic Numeral Series 13-19 (Stan Brakhage, 1981-82)
American Dreams (Lost and Found) (James Benning, 1984)
The Egyptian Series (Stan Brakhage, 1984)
Starman (John Carpenter, 1984)
Tortured Dust (Parts 3 & 4) (Stan Brakhage, 1984)
Runaway Train (Andrey Konchalovskiy, 1985)
Le soulier de satin (The Satin Slipper, Manoel de Oliveira, 1985)
The Loom (Stan Brakhage, 1986)
Night Music (Stan Brakhage, 1986)
The Dante Quartet (Stan Brakhage, 1987)
Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy (Tony Buba, 1988)
Na srebrnym globie (On the Silver Globe, Andrzej Zulawski, 1988)
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité et puis après (Jean Rouch, 1990)
Xavier (Manuel Mozos, 1991)
Village of the Damned (John Carpenter, 1995)
The Belly of America (Luc Moullet, 1996)
The Present (Robert Frank, 1996)
NS-Trilogie (Linda Christanell, 1997)
Khrustalyov, mashinu! (Khrustalyov, My Car!, Aleksei German, 1998)
Routemaster – Theatre of the Motor (SFO Mix) (Ilppo Pohjola, 2000)
Mosaik Mécanique (Norbert Pfaffenbichler, 2008)
Dernier soupir (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2011)
I apologise, after you scrolled through (or past) the above list that it was so long. There are two reasons: one is that inevitably films that fall into the NEW/NEW category will include a disproportionately higher number of films that have not yet gotten (or, mostly likely, never will get) a theatrical run in the US. This is either because they are festival features too risqué for whatever reason, or they are shorts in some form or another – usually “avant-garde” or “experimental” shorts, which essentially have no official popular release outlet in theatres in the States and can therefore never make “official” critics’ polls for the year at more conservative and unadventurous venues than this one. The second reason, and an easy and simple one, is that 2012 was a banner year for repertory viewing in New York, where I’m based. These included Anthology’s silent and sound Epstein program, IFC Center’s John Carpenter program (to get a large 35mm Carpenter retro in NYC now it has to be shown in a “Midnight” series!), Film Forum’s William A. Wellman series, the collaborative project on Jean Rouch between French Institute Alliance Française and Anthology, David Phelp’s short but essential program putting together a small salvo of filmmakers neglected in the city (Rousseau, Moullet), the as-luck-would-have-it appearance of Soviet films not directed by Eisenstein and Tarkovsky (MoMA’s limited but still new to me Mezhrabpom program; Film Society of Lincoln Center’s nearly unattended but nevertheless complete Aleksei German retrospective); and MoMA’s ever more vital To Save and Project series, which is essentially (and should be marketed as such, like Bologna and Pordenone) a festival of retrospective restorations and preserved prints. This local repertory scene was combined with my festival travels: a good sign of a good film festival is that it features a healthy retrospective element; the sign of a really good one is when the retrospective program is so strong that it actively competes with the new films for everyone’s attention. The Oberhausen, New York and Vienna film festivals all revealed new, wonderful things to me that were “old”. As film viewing shifts more and more to downloads, on demands, and streams, the majority of popular moviewatching and access to movies will be (and certainly already is via hard software like DVDs and Blurays) “retrospective,” and so while I do want to apologise for the length of this list and particularly of titles that seem to have no relevance, perhaps, to you in 2012, I think it is indicative of a shift of the zeitgeist towards individuals accessing cinema of the past more and more often. Except, because I am very lucky, I got to see these almost exclusively projected on film – an experience more and more regarded as something passed. Yet when engaged on film itself, that past is always present, both “live” and “alive”. So woe-be any reader who finds a list of the films I first saw and discovered on home video or digitally at home this year!
anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia)

CHRISTOPHER KEARNEY 

Independent screenwriter and teacher of TV Production and English at George M. Steinbrenner High School, Lutz, Florida.
  1. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  2. Hearat Shulayim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011)
  3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky, 2012)
  4. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  5. Kari-gurashi no Arietti Kari-gurashi no Arietti (Arrietty, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2010)
  6. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
  7. Polisse (Maïwenn, 2011)
  8. Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
  9. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
  10. Serbuan maut Serbuan maut(The Raid: Redemption, Gareth Evans, 2011)

SIMON KILLEN

Melbourne-based distributor.
Ten films that rocked my world in 2012:
1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Morning premiere at Cannes this year, I stopped in to see what Kylie Minogue was doing in there, and had my hair blown backwards by the sheer audaciousness of this epic piece of WTF??
2. Wish You Were Here (Kieran Darcy-Smith, 2012)
We Australians have a very odd relationship with Asia, and this film tugs at that oddness brilliantly. Everything looks bright and shiny whether in Sydney or Cambodia, but what lurks beneath is consistently disturbing. Smart cinema this, a firecracker.
3. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Took forever to be released, looks snapping fresh. Smart and in love with Manhattan, fills the space that Woody Allen used to inhabit, while being nothing like a Woody Allen film.
4. Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Effortlessly fascinating, sympathetic and plain funny at times. Jack Black in an underneath-the-radar performance that I dug.
5. The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
I think the screen I saw this one was four inches wide, but it’s so well constructed that I never felt it. The best distillation of the spirit of Marvel Comics yet. Iron Man to Thor: “Does thou mother knoweth thou wear her drapes?”!!!
6. Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
Took the kids to see this at The Astor Cinema in Melbourne, the best decorative, vintage cinema in Australia. Marty would have liked that. Great love letter to cinema and childhood by Scorsese.
7. Side By Side (Christopher Kenneally, 2012)
Hosted by Keanu Reeves (no, come back…), this documentary on the transition from celluloid to digital just floored me with what I DIDN’T know about the medium in which I work. It’s a consistently entertaining feast of details about cinema that no-one can afford to miss.
8. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
I’ve never really had a whole lot to say after watching a Haneke film. They just percolate over the weeks, months and years. This one feels better and better in my mind, I can’t wait to go see it again. Unforgettable acting too, if you like that kind of thing – Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the house. Literally.
9. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
This and The Master tussled for the “man, that’s a dense film that’s clearly a work of genius, but does it connect in the end?” section of my year’s 10. And this one made it, cause the characters absolutely did convey the themes that Dominik was shooting for. Well, I reckon they did, and this is my list.
10. Journal de France (Raymond Depardon & Claudine Nougaret, 2012)
Admission: I bought this film at Cannes, but I’ve seen it four times now, and am no less thrilled each time I see it. Depardon and his producer/wife Claudine Nougaret give us a widescreen view of France, past and present, and a great working model of an effective creative relationship.
And a word on films I caught this year, which would have made last year’s list if I had been a little quicker:
L’exercice de l’État (The Minister, Pierre Schöller, 2011)
Rango (Gore Verbinski, 2011)
and one more note before going back into my cave:
Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods is an absolute blast, and my # 11.
Bernie

RAINER KNEPPERGES

Filmmaker, Cologne, Germany.
My 50 favourite films seen in 2012 for the first time or again after years, in cinemas in Bologna, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Istanbul or simply at home.
In chronological order, my momentary mini-history of film
Barcelonne (Segundo de Chomón, 1912)
Det Hemmelighedsfulde X (The Mysterious X, Benjamin Christensen, 1914)
Male and Female (Cecil B. DeMille, 1919)
The Penalty (Wallace Worsley, 1920)
The Extra Girl (F. Richard Jones, 1923)
Visages d’enfants (Jacques Feyder, 1925)
Gardiens de phare (Jean Grémillon, 1929)
Wild Girl (Raoul Walsh, 1932)
Back Street (John M. Stahl, 1932)
Four Frightened People (Cecil B. DeMille, 1934)
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936)
L’étrange Monsieur Victor (Strange M. Victor, Jean Grémillon, 1938)
Letter of Introduction (John M. Stahl, 1938)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (William Dieterle, 1939)
It Started with Eve (Henry Koster, 1941)
Quattro passi fra le nuvole (Four Steps in the Clouds, Alessandro Blasetti, 1942)
Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942)
Son of Fury (John Cromwell, 1942)
The Immortal Sergeant (John M. Stahl, 1943)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Sam Wood, 1943)
Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944)
The Eve of St. Mark (John M. Stahl, 1944)
Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (Lewis Allen, 1944)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (Roy Rowland, 1945)
Lady on a Train (Charles David, 1945)
Panique (Panic, Julien Duvivier, 1947)
Blanche Fury (Marc Allégret, 1948)
Father Was a Fullback (John M. Stahl, 1949)
Rawhide (Henry Hathaway, 1951)
Traité de bave et d’éternité (Venom and Eternity, Isidore Isou, 1951)
Return to Paradise (Mark Robson, 1953)
The Tall Men (Raoul Walsh, 1955)
From Hell to Texas (Henry Hathaway, 1958)
Lonelyhearts (Vincent J. Donehue, 1958)
Never Take Sweets From A Stranger (Cyril Frankel, 1960)
The Savage Innocents (Nicholas Ray, 1960)
Bonanza: Dark Star (Lewis Allen, 1960)
Il demonio (The Demon, Brunello Rondi, 1963)
Sands of the Kalahari (Cy Endfield, 1965)
Brainstorm (William Conrad, 1965)
The Naked Prey (Cornel Wilde, 1966)
Kdo chce zabít Jessii? (Who Wants to Kill Jessie? Vaclav Vorlicek, 1966)
Beach Red (Cornel Wilde, 1967)
Anatahan Anatahan (Martin Müller, 1969)
Popi (Arthur Hiller, 1969)
Die Nacht von Lissabon (The Night in Lisbon, Zbynek Brynych, 1971)
Visions of Eight: The Losers (Claude Lelouch, 1973)
Holocaust (Marvin J. Chomsky, 1978)
The In-Laws (Arthur Hiller, 1978)
JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri, 2008)

Top Ten 2012
Beziehungsweisen (Negotiating Love, Calle Overweg, 2011)
The Five-Year Engagement (Nicholas Stoller, 2012)
Grandma Lo-Fi (Kristín Kristjánsdóttir, 2011)
The Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012)
The Newsroom: “We Just Decided To” (Greg Mottola, 2012)
Sachamanta (Viviana Uriona, 2012)
Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
The Three Stooges (Farrelly Brothers, 2012)
The Watch (Akiva Shaffer, 2012)
Ziehen (Puff, Jutta Riedel, Mirek Balonis, 2012)

BOGNA M KONIOR

Copywriter and a freelance contributor, currently working towards her MA in Film at the University of Amsterdam.
  1. Bunohan (Dain Said, 2011)
  2. Dupa Dealuri (Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
  3. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  4. Kuichisan (Maiko Endo, 2011)
  5. Project Nim (James Marsh, 2011)
  6. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, 2011)
  7. Post Tenenbras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
  8. The Grey (Joe Carnahan, 2011)
  9. Tôkyô pureibôi kurabu (Tokyo Playboy Club, Yosuke Okuda, 2011)
  10. Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, 2012)
  11. Shock Head Soul (Simon Pummel, 2011)
  12. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)

Dupa Dealuri (Beyond the Hills)

JAY KUEHNER

Writer, programmer, contributor to Cinema Scope and Fandor.
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Arraianos (Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro, 2012)
Carne de perro (Fernando Guzzoni, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
Viola (Matías Piñeiro, 2012)
small roads (James Benning, 2011)
Winter, Go Away! (Elena Khoreva, Denis Klebeev, Askold Kurov, Dmitry Kusabov, Nadezhda Leonteva, Anna Moiseenko, Madina Mustafina, Sofia Rodkevich, Anton Seregin, Alexey Zhiriakov, 2012)
O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012)
Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012)
Ji yi wang zhe wo (Memories Look At Me, Song Fang, 2012
Vers Madrid (The Burning Bright!, Sylvain George, 2012)
Inori (Pedro González-Rubio, 2012)
August and After (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2012)
Enjoy Yourself (Gastón Solnicki, 2012)
Highly anticipating in 2013: Manakamana (Pacho Velez & Stephanie Spray).

ADAM KUNTAVANISH

Writer of Top Ten lists for the Toronto-based online publication Next Projection.
2012 World premiere favourites
1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
2012′s whirling dervish of movie love and cinematic excavation, ringmastered by a fearless squad of Denis Lavants.
2. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Wes Anderson marries the literally handcrafted dollhouse aesthetic of his last film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, with the facility for young actors on display in Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums in his most comically poignant evocation of childhood yet.
3. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
The other great limousine film of 2012 finds a perfectly-cast Robert Pattinson as a vacant master of capital surveying the rebellious world his kind created, sleek and digitised but absent of value.
4. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
An enchanting, bifurcated tale of cold post-colonial modernity and wistful erotic passion right under imperialism’s nose, in both glorious black-and-white and veritable silence.
5. ParaNorman (Chris Butler and Sam Fell, 2012)
This stop-motion wonder is gorgeously fluid in style and refreshingly morbid in its outlook, reveling in its protagonist’s outsider status.
6. Tchoupitoulas (Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, 2012)
Three young brothers missing their ferry home from New Orleans is the mere pretext for an affectionate nighttime odyssey of the post-Katrina French Quarter.
7. Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
A fleet genre mash-up with emotion to spare, pitting established newcomer Joseph Gordon-Levitt against Bruce Willis, he of the action firmament.
8. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
As sure and suspenseful as Petzold’s previous movies, with Nina Hoss’s brave visage bringing home the true cost of putting the political ahead of the personal.
9. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
One of the most divisive films of the year, I found it a mysterious and captivating vehicle for two wildly divergent powerhouse performances and PTA’s unerring eye.
10. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
The vagaries of international releasing means that the US received an abundance of Hong riches this year, with In Another Country as the one true “new release” premiere. It embraces its breezy slightness with some new wrinkles in the usual setup, most notably Isabelle Huppert as a cultural outsider and a riotously funny turn by regular Yoo Jun-sang as a horny lifeguard.
A few 2012 US premiere favourites

The following made their non-festival premieres within the US in 2012 (and I didn’t include them in last year’s Senses of Cinema poll):
Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
In film nist (This is Not a Film, Jafar Panahi, 2011)
Oslo, 31. august (Oslo, August 31st, Joachim Trier, 2011)
The Deep Blue Sea

MARC LAURIA

Marc Lauria wrote the screenplay for Dartworth (Andre Seager, 2011), and can say that cinema is not dead!
One-of-a-kind:
  1. Keyhole (Guy Maddin, 2011)
  2. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Beware of false prophets:
  1. Beyond the Hills (Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
  2. Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, 2011)
  3. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Child is father to the man:
  1. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
  2. Hearat Shulayim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011)
  3. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
  4. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  5. No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Happy families:
  1. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  2. Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)

MAXIMILIAN LE CAIN

Experimental filmmaker, Cork, Ireland.
2012 was, quite simply, the year of Carax’s ineffably refreshing, profoundly moving and unpredictably necessary Holy Motors. I was also blown away by A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011) and Dignity (James Fotopoulos, 2012).
Beyond that, I’d like to propose a local list, a postcard from my far-flung corner of cinema. Underground films by people in, or closely related to, the Irish experimental scene. Ten astonishing, mysterious, beautiful works all made over the past year. Something is happening here…
The Gas Works (Esperanza Collado, 2012)
Persistencies of Sadness & Still Days: Take 1 (Rouzbeh Rashidi, 2012)
Light From an Old Town (Dean Kavanagh, 2011)
Indwell Extinction of Hawks in Remoteness (Rouzbeh Rashidi, 2012)
Some Must Watch While Some Must Sleep (Michael Higgins, 2012)
Structures, Machines, Apparatus and Manufacturing Processes (Rouzbeh Rashidi, 2012)
The End of the Earth is My Home (Alan Lambert, 2012)
History of Water (Dean Kavanagh, 2012)
Homo Sapiens Project 126 (Rouzbeh Rashidi, 2011)
Chapter 2 – First Date (Michael Higgins, 2011)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse)

DENNIS LEACHMAN

Film lover in his sixties, addicted to movies since seeing North by Northwest in 1960s and still passionate as he ever was, Reading, UK.
Best films
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
Corpo Celeste (Alice Rohrwacher, 2011)
Atmen (Breathing, Karl Markovics, 2011)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Bela Tarr, 2011)
Ovsyanki (Silent Souls, Aleksei Fedorchenko, 2010)
Nostalgia de la luz (Nostalgia For The Light, Patricio Guzmán, 2010)
L’Oiseau (Yves Caumon, 2012)
Everyday (Michael Winterbottom, 2012)
Wadjda (Haifaa Al-Mansour, 2012)
Zhit (Living, Vasili Sigarev, 2011)
Elena (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2011)
Rampart (Oren Moverman, 2011)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Worst films
Belle du Seigneur (Glenio Bonder, 2012)
Polisse (Maïwenn, 2011)
Berbarian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Best Discoveries
Chocolat (Claire Denis, 1988)
Bhumika (Shyam Benegal, 1976)
La piscine (Jacques Deray, 1969)

KEVIN B. LEE

Founding Editor and Chief Video Essayist of Fandor Keyframe; Video Essayist for Sight & Sound Magazine; Vice President of Programming and Education of dGenerate Films.
My best in alphabetical order
Abendland (Nicholas Geyrhalter, 2011)
Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011)
Consuming Spirits (Chris Sullivan, 2012)
Fei chang yi han (So Sorry, Ai Weiwei, 2012)
Girl Walk // All Day (Jacob Krupnick, 2012)
Girls First Ski Jump (UK2NZ2NC2UT, 2012)
Holy Motors (Léos Carax, 2012)
In film nist (This Is Not a Film, Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb,2011)
In the Family (Patrick Wang, 2011)
Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
Meanwhile (Hal Hartley, 2011)
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
Short Films by the Signatories of the Oberhausen Manifesto (1962,Various Directors – screened at Oberhausen Short Film Festival and released on DVD)
The Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011)
Les trois disparitions de Soad Hosni (The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni, Raina Stephan, 2011)
The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, 2012)
Wo hai you hua yao shuo (When Night Falls, Ying Liang, 2012)
Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives)

DENNIS LIM

Critic, programmer and editorial director of the Museum of the Moving Image, New York.
Top 10 films that premiered in 2012, ranked:
  1. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  2. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
  3. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  4. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  5. anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
  6. Manha de Santo Antonio (Morning of Saint Anthony’s Day, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2012)
  7. O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
  8. Barbara (Christian Petzold)
  9. A Última Vez que Vi Macau (The Last Time I Saw Macao, João Pedro Rodrigues & João Rui Guerra da Mata, 2012)
  10. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
A dozen more, alphabetical: Bestiaire (Denis Côté, 2012), Du zhan (Drug War, Johnnie To, 2012), Easy Rider (James Benning, 2012), O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012), Greatest Hits (Nicolás Pereda, 2012), Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012), Ji yi wang zhe wo (Memories Look At Me, Song Fang, 2012), Museum Hours (Jem Cohen, 2012), Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012), No (Pablo Larraín, 2012), Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012), Student (Darezhan Omirbaev, 2012)
Discoveries: Anna (Alberto Grifi & Massimo Sarchielli, 1972-75), Xavier (Manuel Mozos, 1991/2002)

DAVID MCDOUGALL

Two 2012 film experiences that redefined, for the author, the nature of emotional experience in the cinema
L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2011)
Napoléon vu par Abel Gance (Napoléon as seen by Abel Gance, Abel Gance, 1927, Kevin Brownlow Restoration, 2000, score written and conducted by Carl Davis and performed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, 2012)
A 2012 top 15, in order of approximate preference from first to last, beginning with the essential and moving towards the merely moving
L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2011)
Napoléon vu par Abel Gance (Napoléon as seen by Abel Gance, Abel Gance, 1927, Kevin Brownlow Restoration, 2000, score written and conducted by Carl Davis and performed by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, 2012)
Trás-os-Montes (Margarida Cordeiro & Antonio Reis, 1976)
Ana (Margarida Cordeiro & Antonio Reis, 1984)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry, 2011)
In film nist (This Is Not a Film, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi, 2010)
Titanic 3D (James Cameron, 1997/2012)
Jeonju Digital Project 2012, Raya Martin Message (Raya Martin, 2012)
The Return (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2011)
The Enjoyment of Reading (Lost and Found) (David Gatten, 2001)
The Great Art of Knowing (David Gatten, 2004)
August and After (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2012)
Secret History of the Dividing Line (David Gatten, 2002)
Pastourelle (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2010)
Four contenders for worst film of 2012, or, four films that meant nothing at all, in order of increasing embarrassment to the craft of cinema
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
Sun Don’t Shine (Amy Seimetz, 2012)

JB MABE

A filmmaker, programmer, and librarian living in Chicago.
Newer Work:
I.
35mm Slides (Luther Price, 2012)
Point de Gaze (Jodie Mack, 2012)
Mapang-akit (John Torres, 2011)
Optra Field VII & IX (T. Marie, 2011)
II.
A Party Record Packed with Sex and Sadness (Bobby Abate, 2011)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
III.
Compound Eyes 1-5 (Paul Clipson, 2011)
Light Licks: By the Waters of Babylon: I Want to Paint it Black (Saul Levine, 2011)
Decorations of the Mind II (Shana Moulton, 2011)
American Discotheque Number One (Deron Williams, 2012)
Larry David as Sister Mary-Mengele in The Three Stooges (Farrelly Brothers, 2012)
Finger Dick (Andy Landen, 2012)
Haunted House (Martin Arnold, 2011)
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Life Without Principle (Johnnie To, 2011)
Flying Fish (Tara Nelson, 2012)
Unstoppable (Tony Scott, 2010)
IV.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
gains and losses (Leslie Supnet, 2011)
Sounding Glass (Sylvia Schedelbauer, 2011)
This Must be the Place (Luis Arnias, 2011)
The Dictator (Larry Charles, 2012)
Dueling Banjos (Adam Paradis, 2012)
V.
The Super 8 films of Pablo Marín
The Super 8 films of Pablo Valencia
VI.
Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012)
Older work seen for the first time
Without a doubt, the greatest curators of retrospective titles in Chicago are the folks at The Northwest Chicago Film Society. Julian Antos, Rebecca Hall and Kyle Westphal present films weekly at the (threatened) Portage Theater. I hope they have a long healthy run wherever they end up.
I.
After Tomorrow (Frank Borzage, 1932)
Nightfall (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
Porch Glider (James Herbert, 1970)
Moy drug Ivan Lapshin (My Friend Ivan Lapshin, Aleksei German, 1984)
Conscious (Julie Murray, 1993)
II.
Ventriloquist Cat (Tex Avery, 1950)
Tr’Cheot’My P’y (Julie Murray, 1988)
Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2007)
III.
Old Man of the Mountain (Dave Fleischer, 1933)
Christmas In July (Preston Sturges, 1940)
Josie and The Pussycats (Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, 2001)
IV.
Werewolf of London (Stuart Walker, 1935)
People Near Here (Ron Finne, 1969)
Welt am Draht (World On A Wire, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973)
Jelly Fish Sandwich (Luther Price, 1994)
V.
The Great Gabbo (James Cruze, 1929)
Hallelujah I’m a Bum (Lewis Milestone, 1933)
Thicker Than Water (James W. Horne, 1935)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956)
Deep Westurn (Robert Nelson, 1974)
We Need to Talk About Kevin

FIDEL JESÚS QUIRÓS MAQUEIRA

Film web site editor, Havana, Cuba.
The significant films that I enjoyed in 2012
As is the case every year, it is impossible to list the remarkable films of the year in Cuba without considering the program of Havana Film Festival, which, while I write this, is still running. So this a partial, limited list of films that I considered remarkable in some regard, but which I definitely enjoyed.
And there is no better way to start than by mentioning the first screening in Havana of a definite cinematic gem, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Satan’s Brew (merely another of his films, each of them a masterpiece), a film that delves into the theme of representations in life, art, and beyond. From here I move to the ubiquitous Hollywood share with peaks such as Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and Gary Ross‘s Hunger Games; the first a serious look at humanity’s journey on earth, the second a vision of a dehumanised future society not very far from our own, but both succumbing to the unavoidable action-spectacle pace. Also in Hollywood but within an independent streak: Patricia Riggen’s Girl in Progress and Jason Reitman’s Young Adult reveal respectively the socially and psychologically less favoured corners of the American dream.
Steve McQueen’s Shame, an all-British film that takes place in New York, shows a pair of characters contending with lust, loneliness and themselves. Another British film, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, takes place in the severe environment of the middle class, where nothing but evil grows up lavishly. The French surprised with a variation of The Sleeping Beauty – or The Snow Queen? – that turns out to be director Catherine Breillat’s retelling of the Belle endormie fairytale. With French dialogue, and a setting in bleak northern France, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre tells a quintessential story of human love and solidarity.
Far to the East, Polish films proved to maintain their greatness with Wojciech Smarzowski’s Rose, naturalist and lyrical at the same time, as it passed through the cultural and political turmoil of the aftermath of World Word II. Suicide Room by fellow Pole Jan Komasa turns to new media in an attempt to express the angst of young people in the world today.
The Cuban cinema, in spite of its small number of productions, keeps offering prodigious films – for instance, Juan Carlos Cremata’s Chamaco, a gritty, exemplary fable. Veteran Enrique Pineda Barnet’s Verde verde, a vital immersion of two male characters in the abyss of homophobia, proved his mastery of storytelling. Surprisingly within the subgenre of zombie flicks, Alejandro Brugués’s Juan of the Dead managed to become the most significant and internationally acclaimed Cuban film of recent years. 7 Days in Havana, by a clutch of international directors, promises to become a cult favourite, in spite of its uneven stories.
In the thriving excellence of contemporary Latin American cinema, Brazilians are still able to excel through films of unique artistry, think of this year Cláudio Assis’s Rat Fever or Marcelo Gomes’s Once Upon a Time Was I, Verônica. Argentine cinema showed new aesthetic horizons with the quasi-ethnographic but ultimately poetic look of Alejandro Fadel’s The Wild Ones, 2012. Just before I finished these lines the Havana Festival awarded Pablo Larraín`s No (2012) and Andrés Wood’s Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven, 2011) (which would surely be sure included here if I had managed to see them).
Satansbraten (Satan’s Brew, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1976)
Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)
Hunger Games (Gary Ross, 2012)
Girl in Progress (Patricia Riggen, 2012)
Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
La Belle Endormie (The Sleeping Beauty, Catherine Breillat, 2010)
Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2012)
Róza (Rose, Wojciech Smarzowski, 2011)
Sala samobójców (Suicide Room, Jan Komasa, 2011)
Chamaco (Juan Carlos Cremata, 2010)
Verde verde (Enrique Pineda Barnet, 2012)
Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead, Alejandro Brugués, 2011)
7 días en La Habana (7 Days in Havana, Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabío, Pablo, 2012)
A Febre do Rato (Rat Fever, Cláudio Assis, 2012)
Era uma vez Eu, Verônica (Once Upon a Time Was I, Verônica, Marcelo Gomes, 2012)
Los salvajes (The Wild Ones, Alejandro Fadel, 2012)
Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven)

MIGUEL MARÍAS

Economist; former Director of the Spanish Film Archive (1986-88); wrote for most Spanish film magazines, now for foreign online ones. Author of books on Manuel Mur Oti and Leo McCarey.
A) Great films seen for the first time, made since 2007
38 Témoins (38 Witnesses, Lucas Belvaux, 2011/2), Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Robert Guédiguian, 2011), Kærestesorger (Aching Hearts, Nils Malmros, 2009), Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012), Restless (Gus Van Sant, 2011), O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012), Les Chants de Mandrin (Smugglers’ Songs, Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche, 2011), Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012), Vidros  partidos (Cristales rotos / Broken Glasses, Víctor Erice, 2012), Traduire / Safa achat ve dvarim achadim Israel (Nurith Aviv, 2011), Book chon bang hyang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011), Un été brûlant (That  Summer, Philippe Garrel, 2011), Iti ‘Mrinalini’:An Unfinished Letter… (Aparna Sen, 2010)
P.S. I have not seen yet the latest Kiarostami, Brisseau, Resnais, Gallo or  Jeff Nichols films, nor the last of Dwoskin.
B) Great films seen for the first time, made before 2007
Banka (Elegy, Heinosuke Gosho, 1957), Small Town Girl (One Horse Town, William A. Wellman; collab. Robert Z. Leonard, 1936), Ima hitotabi no (Once More, Heinosuke Gosho, 1947), Osaka no Yado (An Inn at Osaka, Heinosuke Gosho, 1954), Wakare-gumo (Dispersed Clouds, Heinosuke Gosho, 1951), Sati (Suttee / Widow Burning, Aparna Sen, 1989), At kende Sandhende  (To Face the Truth, Nils Malmros, 2002), Kanchanjangha (Kanchenjunga, Satyajit Ray, 1961), Kundskabens Træ  (The Tree of Knowledge, Nils Malmros, 1981), Laugh, Clown, Laugh (Herbert Brenon, 1928), Paroma (Parama, Aparna Sen, 1984), 15 Park Avenue (Aparna Sen, 2005), Kiiroi karasu (Yellow Crow, Heinosuke Gosho, 1957), Razzia in St. Pauli (Raid in St. Pauli, Werner Hochbaum, 1932), While Paris Sleeps (Allan Dwan, 1932), Haha wa Shinazu (Mother Never Dies, Mikio Naruse, 1942), A Lady to Love (Victor Sjöström, 1930), Smoky / Will James’ “Smoky” (Louis King, 1946), L’Ultima Violenza (Raffaello Matarazzo, 1957), Chances (Allan Dwan, 1931), Je pensé à vous (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 1992), Woman on the Run (Norman Foster, 1950), Naked Alibi (Jerry Hopper, 1954), Ani to sono imōto (A Brother and His Younger Sister, Yasujiro Shimazu, 1939), Skønheden og udyret  (The Beauty and the Beast, Nils Malmros, 1983), Scaramouche (Rex Ingram, 1923), Maddalena (Augusto Genina, 1954), The Ace of Hearts (Wallace Worsley, 1921), Too Late For Tears (aka Killer Bait, Byron Haskin, 1949), A Mulher do Desejo  (A Casa das Sombras, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1975), L’Intrusa (The Intruder, Raffaello Matarazzo, 1955), The Mender of Nets (David W. Griffith, 1910), Chistoie nebo  (Clear Sky, Grigori Chukhraí, 1961), Iunóst Maksima (The Youth of Maxim, Grigori Kozintsev, 1935), Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji, Kozaburo Yoshimura, 1951), Dyn Amo (Stephen Dwoskin, 1972),  and Raffaele Andreassi’s shorts: Bambini (1960), Agnese (1961), I maccheroni (1957), Gli animali (1965), Antonio Ligabue pittore (1965).
C) Very good films seen for the first time, made since 2007
Rapt (Abducted, Lucas Belvaux, 2009), Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012), Ang Ninanais (Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song, John Torres, 2010), La Guerre est déclarée (Valérie Donzelli, 2011), Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011), Espion(s) (Nicolas Saada, 2008/9), Au fond des bois (Deep in the Woods, Benoît Jacquot, 2010), Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasekathul, 2012), La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raúl Ruiz, 2012), Twixt (Francis Ford Coppola, 2011), Sport de filles (Patricia Mazuy, 2011),The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011), Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011), Goor Fitt (La Pirogue, Moussa Touré, 2012), Avé (Konstantin Bojanov, 2011), Shotgun Stories (Jeff Nichols, 2007), Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012), Impardonnables (Unforgivable, André Téchiné, 2011), Holmes & Watson: Madrid Days (José Luis Garci, 2012), A Closed Book (Blind Revenge, Raúl Ruiz, 2010), Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold, 2010), Avec Dédé (Christian Rouaud, 2010), Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011), Tous au Larzac (Leadersheep, Christian Rouaud; collab. Clémence Latour, 2011), Mulberry Street  (Jim Mickle, 2007)
D) Very good films seen for the first time, made before 2007
Kapurush (The Coward, Satyajit Ray, 1965), The Great Gatsby (Elliott Nugent, 1948/9), Quantez (Harry Keller, 1957), The Eternal Sea (John H. Auer, 1955), Kid Glove Killer (Fred Zinnemann, 1942), Tall Man Riding (Lesley Selander, 1954/5), Sakasu Gonin-gumi (5 Men in the Circus, Mikio Naruse, 1935), Cavale (On the Run, part two of the Trilogy, Lucas Belvaux, 2002), O Menino e o Vento (The Boy and the Wind, Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1966/7), Schástie viechnoí nochi (Evgenií Bauer, 1915), Une belle garce (Marco de Gastyne, 1930), Spring Offensive (aka An Unrecorded Victory, Humphrey Jennings, 1940), Escape (Mervyn LeRoy, 1940), Girls’ Dormitory (Irving Cummings, 1936), Defiance (John Flynn, 1979/80), The Earth Dies Screaming (Terence Fisher, 1964), The Sergeant (John Flynn, 1968), Café Metropole (Edward H. Griffith, 1937), Cattle Empire (Charles Marquis Warren, 1957), Svinarka i pastuch (Ivan Píríev, 1941), Sekretár rajkoma (Ivan Píríev, 1942), Kubanskie Kazaki (Ivan Píríev, 1949), Welfare of the Workers (Humphrey Jennings, 1940), Días de campo (Journées à la campagne / Country Days, Raúl Ruiz, 2004), Pietà per chi cade (Mario Costa, 1954), Ladies Love Brutes (Rowland V. Lee, 1930), Ōshō (The King / The Grand Master, Daisuke Ito, 1948), Blood Money (Rowland Brown, 1933), Quick Millions (Rowland Brown, 1931), The Stuff (Larry Cohen, 1985), Lilly Turner (William A. Wellman, 1933), Frenchie (Louis King, 1950), The Lion and the Horse (Louis King, 1952), Green Grass of Wyoming / Mary O’Hara’s’Green Grass of Wyoming’ (Louis King, 1948), Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, 1985), Kærlighedens smerte (Pain of Love, Nils Malmros, 1992), The Last of the Fast Guns (George Sherman, 1958), Women In The Wind (John V. Farrow, 1939), Turksib / Stálnoí pút (Kino-ocherk v 5 chastiakh) (Viktor A. Turin, 1929), The Devil Thumbs A Ride (Felix E. Feist, 1947), Jūjiro (Crossroads, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1928), The Sisters (Anatole Litvak, 1938), I’ll Never Forget You (aka The House in the Square, Roy Ward Baker, 1951), Zemestan (It’s Winter, Rafi Pitts, 2006), Crashout (Lewis R. Foster, 1955), Caingangue a Pontaria do Diablo (Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1973), Suddilage Kathawa (Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, 1984), The Wrath of the Gods or The Destruction of Sakura-Jima (Reginald Barker; p. Thomas H. Ince, 1914), The Man From Bitter Ridge (Jack Arnold, 1955), Behind Locked Doors (aka The Human Gorilla, Oscar ‘Budd’ Boetticher, 1948), Wagon Tracks (Lambert Hillyer; s. p. Thomas H. Ince; w. William S. Hart, 1919), The Man With a Cloak (Fletcher Markle, 1951), On the Bowery (Lionel Rogosin, 1956), To Hear Your Banjo Play (Irving Lerner & Willard Van Dyke; collab. Charles Korvin, 1946), La Bête à l’affût (A Beast at Bay, Pierre Chenal, 1959), Wedding Present (Richard Wallace, 1936)
E) Great films rediscovered or re-evaluated by a new vision
The Shining Hour (Frank Borzage, 1938), Nouvelle Vague (Jean-Luc Godard, 1990), You and Me (Fritz Lang, 1938), Roma Ore 11 (Rome 11:00, Giuseppe De Santis, 1951/2), River of No Return (Otto Preminger, 1954), Tōkyō no yado (An Inn in Tokyo, Yasujiro Ozu, 1935), Stranger on Horseback (Jacques Tourneur, 1954), High Green Wall (Nicholas Ray, 1954), Bird of Paradise (Delmer Daves, 1951), La Bohème (Luigi Comencini, 1987), Fūfu (Man and Wife, Mikio Naruse, 1953), The First Days (Humphrey Jennings, Harry Watt & Pat Jackson, 1939), Swamp Water (aka The Man Who Came Back, Jean Renoir; collab. Irving Pichel, 1941), Der Liebe der Jeanne Ney (The Love of Jeanne Ney, G.W. Pabst, 1927), That’s Life! (Blake Edwards, 1986), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (Otto Preminger, 1955), Saint Joan (Otto Preminger, 1957), I Walk Alone (Byron Haskin, 1947/8), Body Snatchers (Abel Ferrara, 1993), The Moon is Blue (Otto Preminger, 1953), Skazanie o zemlie Sibirskoí (Song of the Siberian Land, Ivan Píríev, 1947/8), V 6 chasov vechera posle voiní (At 6 in the Evening After the War, Ivan Píríev, 1944), The Country Doctor (D.W. Griffith, 1909), The Mothering Heart (D.W.Griffith, 1913), Marie-Jo et ses 2 amours (Robert Guédiguian, 2001), The Crowd Roars (Howard Hawks, 1932)
F) Very good pictures rediscovered or re-evaluated by a new vision
Memory of the Camps (Sidney Bernstein, 1945/85), My Name is Julia Ross (Joseph H. Lewis, 1945), Border River (George Sherman, 1953/4), Trooper Hook (Charles Marquis Warren, 1957), Sergeant Madden (Josef von Sternberg, 1939), The Bishop’s Wife (Henry Koster, 1947), A Damsel in Distress (George Stevens, 1937), Storm Warning (Stuart R. Heisler, 1950/1), Thunderbolt (Josef von Sternberg, 1929), One Rainy Afternoon  (aka Matinee Scandal, Rowland V. Lee, 1936), Rogue Cop (Roy Rowland, 1954), So Dark the Night (Joseph H. Lewis, 1946), Riding Shotgun (Andre de Toth, 1952), Beachhead (Stuart R. Heisler, 1953/4), Ossos (Bones, Pedro Costa, 1997), Oblomok Imperii  (Fragment of an Empire, Fridrikh Ermlier, 1929), Kiss The Blood Off My Hands (Norman Foster, 1948), The Bribe (Robert Z. Leonard, 1948/9), The Last Outpost (aka Cavalry Charge, Lewis R. Foster, 1951), This Woman is Dangerous (Felix E. Feist, 1952), The Fallen Sparrow (Richard Wallace, 1943), The Raging Tide (George Sherman, 1951), Nastasia Filippovna (1st part of Idiot) (Ivan Píríev, 1958), Susan Slept Here (Frank Tashlin, 1954), City for Conquest (Anatole Litvak, 1940), Witness to Murder (Roy Rowland, 1954), Daïnah la métisse (Jean Grémillon, 1931), Star in the Dust (Charles F. Haas, 1956), The Nevadan (Gordon Douglas, 1950), The Young In Heart  (Richard Wallace, 1938)

DMITRY MARTOV

Film critic, USA/ Russia.
  1. anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
  2. A Última Vez que Vi Macau (The Last Time I Saw Macao, João Pedro Rodrigues & João Rui Guerra da Mata, 2012)
  3. Demain? (Tomorrow?, Christine Laurent, 2011)
  4. A Vingança de Uma Mulher (A Woman’s Revenge, Rita Azevedo Gomes, 2012)
  5. O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012)
  6. Easy Rider (James Benning, 2012)
  7. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  8. The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry, 2011)
  9. The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, 2012)
  10. Louie Season 3 (Louis C.K., 2012)

ADRIAN D. MENDIZABAL 

Filipino cinephile whose work on Philippine Cinema has been published in the MUBI Notebook.
My top 15 films of 2012:
1. Colossal (Juan Manuel Alcazaren, 2012)
2. Jungle Love (Sherad Anthony Sanchez, 2012)
3. Nang Gabing Maging Sinlaki ng Puso ang Bato ni Darna (Darna: A Stone is a Heart You Can’t Swallow, Jon Lazam, 2012)
4. Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
5. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
6. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
7. Mamay Umeng (Dwein Baltazar, 2012)
8. Ang Prinsesa, Ang Prinsipe at si Marlborita (The Princess, the Prince and Marlborita, Carl Joseph Papa, 2012)
9. Kung Ano Ang Alam ng Manok (What the Chicken Knows (Or, The Eight Stages of Grief), Ramon Raquid, 2012)
10. Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (Lav Diaz, 2012)
11. Diablo (Ramon Mez De Guzman, 2012)
12. Ang Paglalakbay ng mga Bituin sa Gabing Madilim (A Star’s Journey into the Dark Night, Arnel Mardoquio, 2012)
13. Anak Araw (Gym Lumbera, 2012)
14. The Great Cinema Party (Raya Martin, 2012)
15. Mater Dolorosa (Adolfo Alix Jr., 2012)

PETER MEREDITH

Long-time film buff, Sydney.
Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011)
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)
The Sessions (Ben Lewin, 2012)
Lonesome (Pál Fejös, 1928)
Endingu nôto (Ending Note: Death of a Japanese Salaryman, Mami Sunada, 2011)
Dreams of a Life (Carol Morley, 2011)
Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
The Sessions

DAVID W. MILLER

Trustee and Programmer, Keswick Film Club, Programmer Keswick Film Festival, Chairman British Federation of Film Societies 2002 – 2008, Vice President British Federation of Film Societies 2012 – , International Federation of Film Societies Jury Member – Tromso – Tallinn – Kiev – Miskolc- Lucas (Frankfurt) – Galway.
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair, Nikolaj Arcel, 2012)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
Cría cuervos (Raising Ravens, Carlos Saura, 1976) DVD release 2012
Broken (Rufus Norris, 2012)
Xue chan (Little Moth, Peng Tao, 2007)
Ways To Live Forever (Gustavo Ron, 2010)
Serbuan maut (The Raid: Redemption, Gareth Evans, 2011)
Anna Karenina (Joe Wright, 2012)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
And the worst film by a very, very long way was Hodejegerne (Headhunters, Morten Tyldum, 2011)

OLAF MÖLLER

Cinephile, writer, translator and curator, Cologne, Germany.
Eleven Friends 2012
Team Manager Team (Films of the Year)
The Capsule (Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2012)
Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
First Team (Line-up in strictly alphabetical order)
Angriff auf die Demokratie – Eine Intervention (Democracy Under Attack – An Intervention; Romuald Karmakar, 2012)
Anton tut rjadom (Anton’s Right Here, Ljubov Arkus, 2012)
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Far from Afghanistan (John Gianvito, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, Soon-Mi Yoo, Travis Wilkerson, 2012)
11.25 jiketsu no hi: Mishima Yukio to wakamonotachi (11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Kôji, Wakamatsu, 2012)
Paradies: Liebe & Glaube & Hoffnung (Paradise: Love & Faith & Hope; Ulrich Seidl, 2012/13)
Steekspel (Tricked, Paul Verhoeven, 2012)
Syrakus (Klaus Wyborny, 2012)
Tanec Deli (Delhi Dance, Ivan Vyrypaev, 2012)
To the Wonder (Terrence Malick, 2012)
Substitutes
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012); Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (Lav Diaz, 2012); Gegenwart (Consequence, Thomas Heise, 2012); Jai Bhim Comrade (Anand Patwardhan, 2011/12); Lawinen der Erinnerung (Dominik Graf, 2012); Memoria de mis putas tristes (Memories of My Melancholy Whores, Henning Carlsen, 2011); Mitote (Mexican Ritual, Eugenio Polgovsky, 2012); Nebesnye ženi lugovych Mari (Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari, Aleksei Fedorchenko, 2012); Parabeton – Pier Luigi Nervi und römischer Beton (Parabeton – Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete, Heinz Emigholz, 2012); Sennen no yuraku (The Millennial Rapture, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012); Večnoe vozvraščenie (Eternal Homecoming, Kira Muratova, 2012); Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Extended Team
Les Adieux à la Reine (Farewell, My Queen, Benoît Jacquot, 2012); All Sides of the Road 3D (Marc Downie, Shelley Eshkar & Paul Kaiser, 2012); Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012); Bella Addormentata (Dormant Beauty, Marco Bellocchio, 2012); Che sau (Motorway, Cheang Pou-soi, 2012); Dredd 3D (Pete Travis, 2012); Du zhan (Drug War, Johnnie To, 2012); Un Enfant de toi (You, Me and Us, Jacques Doillon, 2012); O Gebo e a Sombra (Gebo and the Shadow, Manoel de Oliveira, 2012); Goltzius and The Pelican Company (Peter Greenaway, 2012); Ins Blaue (Into the Blue, Rudolf Thome, 2012); Ixjana (Józef & Michał Skolimowski, 2012); Kaien Hotel · Blue (Petrel Hotel Blue; Kôji Wakamatsu, 2012); Khāne pedar-i (The Paternal House, Kianoosh Ayari); Die Lage (Condition, Thomas Heise, 2012); La madre (Jean-Marie Straub, 2012); 1 + Plus 1 + Plus 1 – Sympathy for the Decay (Ilppo Pohjola, 2012); Outrage Beyond (Takeshi Kitano, 2012); Perret in Frankreich und Algerien (Perret in France and Algeria, Heinz Emigholz, 2012); Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012); I topi lasciano la nave (Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, Nadia Ranocchi & David Zamagni, 2012); V tumane (In the Fog, Sergej Loznitsa, 2012); the war (James Benning, 2012); Zavtra (Tomorrow, Andrej Grjazev, 2012)
Medical Staff
(Six film/video-based/related installations and/or film/video art projects plus a true crime theatre piece with a one-shot gesture made for the movies):
Kannibale und Liebe (Stadttheater Dortmund, Jörg Buttgereit, 2012) & Ein Moment der Stille am Grab von Ed Gein (A Moment of Silence at the Grave of Ed Gein, Jörg Buttgereit, 2012)
Light and Beliefs: Voices and Sketches of Life from the Vietnam War (Lê Quang Đỉnh [Dinh Q. Lê], 2012)
Muster (Rushes) (Clemens von Wedemeyer, 2012)
The Sovereign Forest (Amar Kanwar, 2012)
Suomen sähköisen kunta (The Most Electrified Town in Finland, Mika Taanila, 2012)
Els tres porquets (The Three Little Pigs, Albert Serra, 2012)
Tristanoil (Nanni Balestrini & Giacomo Verde, 2012)
Eleven Veterans 2012
Team Manager [Team] (Revelation[s] of the Year)
(All films still in existence featuring actress Lia Franca)
Arietta antica (Mario Almirante, 1930)
Corte d’assise (Before the Jury, Guido Brignone, 1931)
Resurrectio (Resurrection, 1930/31; Alessandro Blasetti)
Rivista Cines. Numero speciale dedicato agli Stabilimenti Cines (Carlo Campogalliani [supervising series editor], 1930)
La stella del cinema (Mario Almirante, 1931)
Gli uomini, che mascalzoni… (What Scoundrels Men Are!, Mario Camerini, 1932)
First Team (Line-Up in strictly alphabetical order)
Allons enfants… pour L’Algerie (Karl Gass, 1961)
Documentary Footage (Morgan Fisher, 1968)
La Folle de Toujane ou comment on devient un ennemi de l’interieur (The Madwoman of Toujane, René Vautier & Nicole Le Garrec, 1974)
Die Frage (Muhand ‘Alī Yaḥyā, 1962)
[Friese-Greene Biocolor – Poster on Hoarding] (1912)
Gopak (Michail Cechanovskij, 1931)
Klabautermanden (We Are All Demons, Henning Carlsen, 1968)
Kyō mo matakakute arinan (Thus Another Day, Keisuke Kinoshita, 1959)
Ratavartijan kaunis Inkeri (Hannu Leminen, 1950)
Tell Me Lies (A Film About London) (Peter Brook, 1968)
Tōkyō no eiyū (A Hero of Tōkyō, Hiroshi Shimizu, 1935)
Substitutes
Gli Animali (Raffaele Andreassi, 1965); Come Out (Narcisa Hirsch, 1971); Da Bologna a Stalino. Documentario sul viaggio del convoglio n.1 (Enrico Chierici, 1942); Dai chushingura (The Story of the Loyal 47 Retainers, Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1932); Face (Andy Warhol, 1965); Fuk Fuk à Brasileira (Fuk Fuk Brazilian Style, Jean Garret, 1986); Hypocrites (Lois Weber, 1915); O insigne ficante (The Insig Nificant, Jairo Fereira, 1980); L’Italia con Togliatti (Glauco Pellegrini, Gianni Amico, Giorgio Arlorio, Libero Bizzarri, Carlo Lizzani, Francesco Maselli, Lino Miccichè, Elio Petri, Sergio Tau, Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Marco Zavattini, Valerio Zurlini, 1964); Lewat Djam Malam (After the Curfew, Usmar Ismail, 1954); The Maggie (Alexander Mackendrick, 1954); Marée noire, colère rouge (René Vautier, 1978); Matango (Fungus of Terror, Ishiro Honda, 1963); Mennesker mødes og sød musik opstår i hjertet (People Meet and Sweet Musik Fills the Heart, Henning Carlsen, 1967); Pasifik 231 simfoničeskaja poėma o paravoze Artura Oneggera (Pacific 231: A Symphonic Poem About the Steam-Engine Locomotive of Arthur Honegger, Michail Cechanovskij, 1931); As-Salām al-walīd (So Young a Peace, Jacques Charby, 1964); Sekishunchō (Farewell to Spring, Keisuke Kinoshita, 1959;); Suuri sävelparaati (Jack Witikka, 1959); Taḥīyā yā Dīdū (Viva Didou!, Muḥammad Zīnāt, 1971); Te o tsunagu kora (Children Hand in Hand, Inagaki Hiroshi, 1948); Velikaja sila (The Great Force, Fridrich Ėrmler, 1950); L’ultima avventura (The Last Adventure, Mario Camerini, 1932); [Untitled] (Norman Mailer, 1947); Vintik-Špintik (Little Screw; Vladislav Tvardovskij, 1927)
Extended Team
Ahora te vamos a llamar hermano (Now We’re Going to Call You Brother, Raúl Ruiz, 1971); Les Ajoncs (René Vautier, 1970); The Angry Red Planet (Ib Melchior, 1959); Atentát (The Assassination, Jiři Sequens, 1964); Bambini (Raffaele Andreassi, 1960); Blėk ėnd uajt / Černoe i beloe (Black and White, Leonid Amalrik & Ivan Ivanov-Vano, 1932); Bouquets de fleurs dans un vase (Société des établissements Gaumont, 1912); Camicie rosse (Red Shirts, Goffredo Alessandrini & Francesco Rosi [& Luchino Visconti], 1952); Caterina da Siena (Oreste Palella, 1947); Čemi bebja (My Grandmother, Kote Mikaberidze, 1929); Chị Tư Hậu (Ms. Tu Hau, Phạm Kỳ Nam, 1962); Chronik eines Mordes (The Story of a Murder, Joachim Hasler, 1965); Cirk (The Circus, Aleksandr Sinicyn & Vitalij Sjumkin, 1940); O convinte ao prazer (Invitation to Pleasure, Walter Hugo Khouri, 1980); Deauville – La Plage (Société des établissements Gaumont, 1912); O despertar da bestia (Awakening of the Beast, José Mojica Marins, 1970); Dieu a besoin des hommes (God Needs Men, Jean Delannoy, 1950); La distribution de pain (ex: Réfugiés algériens en Tunisie) (Cécile Decugis, 1957/2011); Dva okeana (Two Oceans, Vladimir Šnejderov & Jakov Kuper, 1933); East Side West Side (Allan Dwan, 1927); Em bé Hà Nội (The Little Girl from Hanoi, Hải Ninh, 1974); Festa na Boca (Party at the Boca, Ozualdo Ribeiro Candeias, 1976); Free at Last (Gregory Shuker, James Desmond & Nicholas Proferes, 1968); Genoveffa di Brabante (Primo Zeglio, 1947); Ginevra degli Almieri (Guido Brignone, 1935); Le Homard (Léonce Perret, 1912); Hør, var den ikke en, som lo? (Did Somebody Laugh?, Henning Carlsen, 1978); Hototogisu yori Namiko (Namiko, Eizo Tanaka, 1932;); Hyakunengo no aru hi (A Day After a Hundred Years, Ogino Shigeji, 1932); L’Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman, Marcel L’Herbier, 1924); [Ivory Elephant Tusk Carving] (1912?); Joriku dai’ippo (First Steps Ashore, Yasujiro Shimazu, 1932); Kagayaku ai [katsuben-Version] (Shining Love, Hiroshi Shimizu & Yoshio Nishio, 1931); Kathleen und Eldrige Cleaver in Algier (Claudia von Alemann, 1970); Katok (Skating Rink, Jurij Željabužskij, 192;); Kattorna (The Cats, Henning Carlsen, 1963); Kello (The Clock, Anssi Mänttäri, 1984); Me and My Gal (Raoul Walsh, 1932); Me tulemme taas (Armand Lohikoski, 1953); Moj syn [Fragment] (My Son, Evgenij Červjakov, 1928); Mocart i Sal’eri (Mozart and Salieri, Vladimir Gorikker, 1962); Oh! Rebuceteio (Cláudio Francisco Cunha, 1984); Onna (Woman, Keisuke Kinoshita, 1948); A opção (ou: As rosas da estrada) (The Option (or: The Roses on the Highway), Ozualdo Ribeiro Candeias, 1981); Paulo Roberto Cotechiño centravanti di sfondamento (Nando Cicero, 1983); Pesn o gerojach (Komsomol) (Komsomol, Joris Ivens, 1933); The Petrified Dog (Sidney Peterson, 1948); Počta (The Post, Michail Cechanovskij, 1929); Polet k tysjačam solnc (Aleksej Erin, 1963); Poslednjaja noč’ (The Last Night, Julij Rajzman, 1936); [Procédé Versicolor] (1910); La promessa (Valerio Zurlini, 1970); Pytel blech (A Bag of Fleas, Věra Chytilová, 1963); Rachmaninoff’s Prelude (Castleton Knight, 1927); Regeneration (Raoul Walsh, 1915); Rumi (Narcisa Hirsch, 1999); Scandal Mongers (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley, 1915); Skazka o glupom myšonke (The Tale of the Dumb Little Mouse, Michail Cechanovskij, 1940); Skazka o pope i rabotnike ego Balde [Fragment] (The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda, Michail Cechanovskij, 1936); Ski Patrol (Lew Landers, 1940); SKMP2 (Luca Maria Patella, 1968); Springet (The Leap, Henning Carlsen, 2005); La storia del Caffè Hag (Joop Geesink‘s Dollywood, 1957); Sunshine Molly [Fragment] (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley, 1915); Techniquement si simple (René Vautier, 1971); This Love of Ours (William Dieterle, 1945); The Trollenberg Terror (Quentin Lawrence, 1958); Tsukigata Hanpeita [katsuben digest] (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1925); Valtakunnan sydän (Heart of the Nation, Antti Peippo, 1989); The Velvet Underground in Boston (Andy Warhol, 1967); [Venetian Glass Ware] (Société des établissements Gaumont, 1912); Das weiße Stadion (The White Stadium, Arnold Fanck & Othmar Gurtner, 1928); Yīge gūpì de rén (One Recluse, Ai Weiwei, 2010); Ztracenci (Lost People, Miloš Makovec, 1956); Zwischen Mond und Sonne (Recha Jungmann, 1981)
Berberian Sound Studio

BRENT MORROW

Cinephile and infrequent keeper of the blog Technicolor Red, Melbourne.
I am one of those strictly premiere/IMDb dates list makers, and as such beautiful gems like Goodbye First Love, The Color Wheel, and Girl Walk // All Day, to name just a few, probably (hopefully) admitted by other cinephiles here are not applicable. Following that, this list is barely reflective of 2012 as a year in cinema since the finest tend to trickle down for months after the year ends. And though currently screening, I have yet to see The Master.
  1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  2. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  3. Ai to makoto (For Love’s Sake, Takashi Miike, 2012)
  4. Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012)
  5. La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raúl Ruiz, 2012)
  6. The Comedy (Rick Alverson, 2012)
  7. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  8. Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl, 2012)
  9. Dredd (Pete Travis, 2012)
  10. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  11. Student (Darezhan Omirbayev, 2012)
  12. Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2012)
  13. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
  14. Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
  15. Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
  16. No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
  17. A Running Jump (Mike Leigh, 2012)
  18. O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
  19. Step Up Revolution (Scott Speer, 2012)
  20. Bestiaire (Denis Côté, 2012)
  21. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (John Hyams, 2012)
  22. Tiger Tail in Blue (Frank V. Ross, 2012)
  23. Frankenweenie (Tim Burton, 2012)
  24. Swimmer (Lynne Ramsay, 2012)
  25. Vamps (Amy Heckerling, 2012)
Also noteworthy:
Ashes (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012)
Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
Che sau (Motorway, Cheang Pou-soi, 2012)
Escuela Normal (Normal School, Celina Murga, 2012)
Gao hai ba zhi lian II (Romancing in Thin Air, Johnnie To, 2012)
La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser (The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, Davide Manuli, 2012)
Lockout (James Mather & Stephen St. Leger, 2012)
Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)
“Lotus Community Workshop” (Harmony Korine) segment of The Fourth Dimension (2012)
Marfa Girl (Larry Clark, 2012)
ParaNorman (Chris Butler & Sam Fell, 2012)
Pitch Perfect (Jason Moore, 2012)
Premium Rush (David Koepp, 2012)
Wild and Precious (Bill Mousoulis, 2012)
Not much point in listing least favourites but I will say Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta was atrocious and Beasts of the Southern Wild nauseating.

JORGE MOURINHA

Film critic at Portuguese daily newspaper Público and blogs about cinema at The Flickering Wall.
For professional reasons, I have been spending the past few weeks thinking and talking about lists and canons; thinking just how unfair it is to list films according to possible orders of merit when really all I can order them by are by themed or emotional resonance. So, 2012 for me was made of these films that I saw between January 1 and December 10.
It’s necessarily a different, and more inclusive, list from my ten best released in Portugal in 2012, a ranked list restricted to commercial releases between Jan 1 and Dec 31 (for the record, #1 was Joachim Trier’s Oslo August 31, #2 Béla Tarr’s Turin Horse, both of which I saw in 2011).
The 30 titles below, shorts and features alike, are films I saw, enjoyed, admired, appreciated; films that engaged, questioned, intrigued, challenged, disturbed, delighted me; films that for one or another reason stuck like glue.
Ranked in alphabetical order
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
L’Anabase de May et Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi et 27 années sans images (The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years without Images, Éric Baudelaire, 2011)
Anna Karenina (Joe Wright, 2012)
L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2010)
Bellamy (Inspector Bellamy, Claude Chabrol, 2008)
Bin zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
Bonsái (Bonsai, Cristián Jiménez, 2011)
The Cabin in the Woods (Joss Whedon, 2012)
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 2011)
Cloud Atlas (Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer & Andy Wachowski, 2012)
Después de Lucía (After Lucía, Michel Franco, 2012)
Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Black God, White Devil, Glauber Rocha, 1964)
Elena (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2011)
Flamingo Pride (Tomer Eshed, 2011)
Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, 2011)
Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
O Que Arde Cura (As the Flames Rose, João Rui Guerra da Mata, 2012)
Pythagasaurus (Peter Peake, 2011)
The Radiant (The Otolith Group, 2012)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2012)
O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Stilleben (Still Life, Sebastian Meise, 2011)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011)
Terra em Transe (Entranced Earth, Glauber Rocha, 1967)
Toata Lumea din Familia Nostra (Everybody in Our Family, Radu Jude, 2011)
Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011)
Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold, 2011)
Young Adult (Jason Reitman, 2011)
L'Anabase de May et Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi et 27 années sans images (The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years without Images)

BILL MOUSOULIS

Australian independent filmmaker now based in Europe and founding editor of Senses of Cinema.
Alas, I haven’t seen many films this year, so this is a limited list – no Léos Carax, Abbas Kiarostami, Chantel Akerman and others have passed before my eyes. But I believe the first film I list, Joy, is a masterpiece that still would have landed at no. 1 on this list no matter what else I would have seen. It is clearly the best Greek film of this Greek film renaissance of recent years, and a very striking and original film all-round. It deserves recognition.
Best Films of the Year
Hara (Joy, Ilias Yannakakis, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
“Sygharitiria stous aisiodoxous?” (A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant, Constantina Voulgari, 2012)
Imerologia Amnisias (Amnesia Diaries, Stella Theodoraki, 2012)
A gap in quality, then …
Eden (James Howard, 2012)
Amour (Love, Michael Haneke, 2012)
Student (Darezhan Omirbayev, 2012)
To agori troi to fagito tou pouliou (Boy Eating the Bird’s Food, Ektoras Lygizos, 2012)
Alpeis (Alps, Yorgos Lanthimos, 2011)
Retrospective discovery
Turkish director Reha Erdem, especially his most recent film Kosmos (2010)


PETER NAGELS

Cinephile, librarian and dream researcher, Melbourne.
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Road to Nowhere (Monte Hellman, 2010)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Schakale und Araber (Jackals and Arabs, Jean-Marie Straub, 2011)
Correspondencia Jonas Mekas – J. L. Guerín (Jonas Mekas and José Luis Guerín, 2011)
La Glace à trois faces (The Three-Sided Mirror, Jean Epstein, 1927)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Liberal Arts (Josh Radnor, 2012)
Seven Psychopaths (Martin McDonagh, 2012)
Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow, 2012)
Skyfall

BRAD NGUYEN

Film critic and editor of Screen Machine.
  1. No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
  2. Kiseki (I Wish, Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2011)
  3. Himizu (Sion Sono, 2011)
  4. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  5. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  6. Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney, Takashi Miike, 2012)
  7. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  8. Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012)
  9. Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
  10. Kokuriko-zaka Kara (From Up on Poppy Hill, Gorō Miyazaki, 2011)
There’s no doubt about it. The film of 2012 that provided the most piercingly accurate gauge of our current ideologico-aesthetic situation was Kony 2012 with its canny manipulation of youth culture, the drive for a global community, child-like whimsy and Apple Inc. utopianism — all as part of a project that has less to do with real social activism and more to do with the self-interested exploitation of our common desire for a better world. (Beasts of the Southern Wild might well come second after Kony 2012.)
The mystification of social relations by the aesthetics of the advertising industry provides the backdrop for viewing Pablo Larraín’s No, the funniest and savviest of recent political satires. How perfect for 2012 to give us both Kony 2012 and No, the latter of which functions as a critical analysis of the problematic politics of the former. Its story of the role of an advertising executive (played by Gael García Bernal) in the 1988 campaign to oust Pinochet from power in Chile poses the question: What is at stake for the Left in adopting the language of Hollywood, MTV and the advertising industry? It provocatively suggests that righteously disavowing this language is not necessarily the correct choice and it follows that we cannot completely disavow Kony 2012 for all its insidious manipulations.
No may not resolve the question it poses (one of the film’s strengths), but what it does do is renew our attention to the question of aesthetics and how they are and might be deployed.

ANDY NORTON

Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Anderson delivers a beautifully quirky romantic comedy drama, in what is destined to become one of his best films in recent years. This boosts stellar performances from the leading child roles amongst the big names like Bruce Willis and Bill Murray, as well as some of the most innovative cinematography from an American film for a very long time.
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
The iconic spy James Bond returns in what can be easily one of the best spy thrillers of the year, let alone one the best Bond films in this popular franchise. Mendes delivers an excellent concoction of thrills, suspense, and some comic drama, with an excellent performance from Javier Bardem.
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
Despite some confusing plot-holes, this remains an excellent ending to what has been one of the most acclaimed super hero trilogies. Fans of Batman will appreciate the refreshing take on Bane, and Catwoman, amongst this spectacle of an action crime drama.
2 Days in New York (Julie Delpy, 2012)
This is one of the most refreshing and rewarding comedies in recent years. This boosts a stellar cast, with some real laugh-out moments that does not really on contemporary gross out humour to gain a cheap laugh.
The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
Marvel delivers one hell of a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, which certainly aims to please both old and new fans of these Marvel superheroes. With the right balance of action, and comic moments, this top-notch superhero film delivers the right kind of action-packed entertainment.

DARRAGH O’DONOGHUE

Top 5:
Damsels in Distress (2011, Whit Stillman)
“Sensible” people are irritated that Stillman films seem to be aimed solely at readers of the New Yorker. In fact, they belong to a radical, comic tradition of rigorous mise en scène, formalised talk and philosophical heft that includes Oliveira, Rohmer, Rivette and Eugène Green. 
Into the Abyss (Werner Herzog, 2011)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
Rowdy Rathore (Prabhu Deva, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Sui generisi:
The Thick of It, season 4, episode 6 [“Goolding Enquiry”] (Armando Iannucci, 2012)
With respect to:
The Angels’ Share (Ken Loach, 2012)
L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2010)
Bad 25 (Spike Lee, 2012)
Bill Cunningham New York (Richard Press, 2010)
Betipul (2005-)
Borgen (2010-)
Chronicle (Josh Trask, 2012)
Hatufim (Prisoners of War, Gideon Raff, 2009)
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, 2011)
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011)
New Girl (2011-)
Patience (After Sebald) (Grant Gee, 2011)
Revenge (2011-)
Silence (Pat Collins, 2012)
Some Girls (Adam Miller, 2012)
A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse; 2011, Béla Tarr)
La vida útil (A Useful Life, Federico Veiroj, 2010)
In memoriam:
It would have been nice if Yash Chopra, the Indian cinemas’ most important and influential director, had ended his career with another flawless masterpiece, but the last third of Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) gets bogged down in the plot mechanics it was so blithely ignoring. Nevertheless, the first part (in particular Chopra’s staging of the Tube station scene), A. R. Rahman’s score, and Anushka Sharma are outstanding, while the credit reel of Yashji on set had me in tears.
Duds and disappointments:
Un amour de jeunesse (Goodbye First Love, Miriam Hansen-Løve, 2011)
The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
From the Sea to the Land Beyond (Penny Woolcock, 2012)
Les hommes libres (Free Men, Ismaël Ferroukhi, 2011)
Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
Murder (Birger Larsen, 2012)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Swimmer (Lynne Ramsay, 2012)
Keep the faith:
At the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s Time Out of Mind exhibition (Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, 31 May-2 September 2012), most of the moving image exhibits were projected in bad DVD transfers from film or video. Tacita Dean, however, insists that her films are shown on 16mm. Presentation Sisters (2005) revealed how degraded my vision had become under modern projection. It throbs with light, like stained-glass on a summer’s day. The grained images projected from a film strip were alive, sensual, moving. It confirmed that, for too long recently, going to the cinema was like looking at TV from outside someone’s window.
Best performance:
Matthew McConaughey has always been undervalued, but he gives a slinky display of physical and verbal menace in the otherwise schlocky Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011). He’s a treat too in the fabulous Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012).
Fond hope:
Hasn’t the Firefly crew done well? The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012), Cabin in the Woods (2011, Drew Goddard; written by Whedon), Castle (Rob Bowman et al., 2009; starring Nathan Fillion and guest starring Adam Baldwin), Homeland (Michael Cuesta et al., 2011; starring Morena Baccarin) and Suburgatory (Alex Hardcastle et al., 2011; starring Alan Tudyk) all made 2012 a lot brighter than it should have been. But seriously guys, when are we getting Serenity 2?
Magic Mike

MICHAEL PATTISON

Writer for idFilm and Front Row Reviews.
  1. The Central Park Five (Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, 2012)
  2. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  3. Aurora (Cristi Puiu, 2011)
  4. Elena (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2011)
  5. Jagten (The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg, 2012)
  6. Dupa dealuri (Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
  7. Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die, Gabriela Pilcher, 2012)
  8. También la lluvia (Even the Rain, Icíar Bollaín, 2010)
  9. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (Alex Gibney, 2012 USA)
  10. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)
High points
Enjoying Fred Kelemen’s 1990s trilogy, on 35mm, at the AV Festival (north-east England); enduring Lav Diaz’s Melancholia and Century of a Birthing at the same event; Lawrence of Arabia‘s restoration; covering the London Film Festival with press accreditation for the first time.

DAVID PEARSON

Film, music and game blogger.
  1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  2. Samsara (Ron Fricke, 2011)
  3. Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011)
  4. Le Havre (Aki Kaurismäki, 2011)
  5. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
  6. Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, 2011)
  7. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  8. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  9. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
  10. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, 2011)
  11. Beautiful 2012 (Kim Tae-Yong, Tsai Ming Liang, Gu Changwei & Ann Hui, 2012)

ANTONI PERIS

Writer for Miradas de Cine and Transit.
  1. The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011)
  2. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  3. L’Apollonide – Souvenirs de la maison close (House of Tolerance, Bertrand Bonello, 2011)
  4. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
  5. Sangue do Meu Sangue (Blood of My Blood, João Canijo, 2011)
  6. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
  7. Sueño y silencio (Dream and Silence, Jaime Rosales, 2012)
  8. The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)
  9. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  10. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
  11. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
  12. Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
  13. Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland, 2012)
  14. Homeland (TV series) (Various directors, 2011 –)

Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)

DAVID PHELPS

Writer and translator who has contributed to numerous publications, including MUBI Notebook, Cinema Scope and Film Comment.
Best
Fratelli (Gabriel Abrantes & Alexandre Melo, 2011)
La Folie Almayer (Almayer’s Folly, Chantal Akerman, 2011)
Sin Titulo (Carta para Serra) (Lisandro Alonso, 2011)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012)
The Forgotten Space (Noël Burch & Allan Sekula, 2012)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Louie: Season Three (Louis C.K., 2011-12)
Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
The Hole (Joe Dante, 2009)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2012)
April (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2012)
August and After (Nathaniel Dorsky, 2012)
Singing Photos (Silvia das Fadas, 2012)
The Three Stooges (Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly, 2012)
The Extravagant Shadows (David Gatten, 2012)
Departure (Ernie Gehr, 2012)
Whore’s Glory (Michael Glawogger, 2011)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
History Lessons By Comparison (Luisa Greenfield, 2010)
10,000 Coisas (João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, 2012)
Hahaha (Hong Sang-soo, 2010)
Blankets for Indians (Ken Jacobs, 2012)
Cyclopean 3D (Ken Jacobs, 2012)
Nervous Magic Lantern (Ken Jacobs & Aki Onda, 2012)
Monument Film (Peter Kubelka, 2012)
South Park: Season 16 (Trey Parker & Matt Stone, 2011-12)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Wolfram, a saliva do lobo (Rodolfo Pimenta & Joana Torgal, 2009)
Saudade (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2012)
anders, Molussien (differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
La noche de enfrente (The Night Across the Street, Raul Ruiz, 2012)
The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, 2012)
Deste lado da ressurreição (This Side of Resurrection, Joaquim Sapinho, 2011)
The Man Phoning Mum (John Smith, 2011)
1971-74 (Andreia Sobreira, 2011)
Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
48 (Susana de Sousa Dias, 2009)
La Madre (Jean-Marie Straub, 2011)
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
Physical Instincts (Gina Telaroli, 2012)
Sp(eye) Gam3z (Gina Telaroli, 2012)
Dyut meng gam (Life Without Principle, Johnnie To, 2012),
Ici, là-bas, et Lisboa (João Vieira-Torres, 2012)
Walker (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2012)
Crazy Horse (Frederick Wiseman, 2011)
Flight (Robert Zemeckis, 2012)
Worst
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
Manhã de Santo António (Morning of Saint Anthony’s Day, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2012)
Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
Retrospectives I’m very grateful to have been able to see – and am grateful to the programmers for seeking film wherever possible:
Bitomsky/Ford (Hartmut Bitomsky & Cinemateca Portuguesa)
Jean Rouch (Jamie Berthe & Sam Di Iorio)
Internationalist Film (Nicole Brenez, Anthology Film Archives)
William Wellman (Bruce Goldstein, Film Forum)
School of Reis (Haden Guest, Harvard Film Archives/Anthology Film Archives)
Film After Film (J. Hoberman, MoMI)
To Save and Project (J. Hoberman and Josh Siegel, MoMA)
Jean Epstein (Sarah Keller & Jed Rapfogel, Anthology)
Aleksei German (Lincoln Center)
Robert Bresson (James Quandt, Toronto Cinémathèque/Film Forum/BAM)
Carmelo Bene (Jed Rapfogel, Anthology Film Archives)
Edgar Ulmer (Jed Rapfogel, Anthology Film Archives)
United We Stand, Divided We Fall (Federico Rossin, docLisboa)
Werner Schroeter (Josh Siegel, MoMA)
Next year is not looking so promising in New York, where exactly two institutions (Anthology & BAM) remain devoted to film on film and simply showing non-canonical auteurist series. Which is what makes the genuinely critical confrontations between works in the Bitomsky, Brenez, Guest and Hoberman programs exciting, and:
Alexander Horwath’s The Clock: or, 89 Minutes of ‘Free Time’
A pinnacle of that phantom art of film curation.
La noche de enfrente (The Night Across the Street)

JIT PHOKAEW

Cinephile, Bangkok, Thailand. 
Favourite foreign films
1. A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
2. Aarakshan (Prakash Jha, 2011)
3. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
4. Jean Speck (1860-1933) (Rouzbeh Rashidi & Jann Clavadetscher, 2011)
5. Himizu (Sion Sono, 2011)
6. Au fond des bois (Deep in the Woods, Benoît Jacquot, 2010)
7. Aje aje bara aje (Come Come Come Upward, Im Kwon-taek, 1989)
8. La fin du silence (The End of Silence, Roland Edzard, 2011)
9. Coupable (Guilty, Laetitia Masson, 2008)
10. The Great Cinema Party (Raya Martin, 2012)
11. Boule du suif (Ball of Fat, TV film from the series Chez Maupassant, Philippe Bérenger, 2011)
12. Return Ticket (Teng Yung-shing, 2010)
13. Guide (Vijay Anand, 1965)
14. Corporate (Madhur Bhandarkar, 2006)
15. Tusen gånger starkare (A Thousand Times Stronger, Peter Schildt, 2010)
16. Tin shui wai dik ye yu mo (Night and Fog, Ann Hui, 2009)
17. Yi ngoi (Accident, Cheang Pou-soi, 2009)
18. Walkower (Walkover, Jerzy Skolimowski, 1965)
19. Blue Notes (Bill Mousoulis, 2006)
20. Ekmeğim (My Profit, Hakan Ün, 2011)
21. Pa negre (Black Bread, Agustí Villaronga, 2010)
22. Nachmittag (Afternoon, Angela Schanelec, 2007)
23. Parts of the Heart (Paul Agusta, 2012)
24. Villa Marguerite (Denis Malleval, 2008)
25. Razzia sur la Chnouf (Henri Decoin, 1955)
26. Sinister (Scott Derrickson, 2012)
27. Home Work (Ho Fan, 1966)
28. La Résidence (Laurent Jaoui, 2010)
29. Cartouches gauloises (Summer of ’62, Mehdi Charef, 2007)
30. Student of the Year (Karan Johar, 2012)
31. Giulias Verschwinden (Julia’s Disappearance, Christoph Schaub, 2009)
32. A Formal Film in Nine Episodes, Prologue & Epilogue (Mario Pfeifer, 2011)
33. La mauvaise rencontre (The Traumatic Encounter, Josée Dayan, 2011)
34. Canh dong hoang (The Wild Field, Nguyen Hong Sen, 1979)
35. Unter dir die Stadt (The City Below, Christoph Hochhäusler, 2010)
Favourite Thai films
1. Dao tee mai fai (The Burnt-Out Star, Teeranit Siangsanoh, 2012)
2. Rahtree Sawasdi (Soraya Nakasuwan, 2012)
3. Karuehard sorn plearng (The Nervous, Warit Deepisuti, 2012)
4. Portrait of the Universe (Napat Treepalawisetkun, 2012)
5. Tam ka kon na moen (S.I.C.K, Pitchayakorn Sangsuk, 2012)
6. Mekong Hotel (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012)
7. Padang Besar (I Carried You Home, Tongpong Chantarangkul, 2011)
8. Rug pa la (Is This Love, Tharinthorn Chenvanich, 2011)
9. Rug chan ya kid tueng chan (I Miss U, Monthon Arayangkoon, 2012)
10. Mai dai kho hai ma rug (It Gets Better, Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, 2012)
11. Yes or No 2 rug mai rug ya gug leoi (Yes or No 2, Sarasawadee Wongsompetch, 2012)
12. 9-9-81 (Suthat Phawilairat, Pitak Ruangrojsin, Adirek Photong, Siriphon Prasatthong, Oliver Wolfson, Seri Lachonnabot, Nuttorn Kungwanklai, Thanyawan Hempanom, Pirun Anusuriya, Rapeepimol Chaisena, Disspong Sampattavanich, Kiattisak Wibunchat, 2012)
13. 36 (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, 2012)
14. Tae peang phu deaw (P-047, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, 2011)
15. Sin maysa fon tog ma proiproi (In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire, Wichanon Somumjarn, 2012)
Favourite foreign short films
1. Coming Attractions (Peter Tscherkassky, 2010)
2. Cross (Marina Vroda, 2011)
3. Intet kan røre mig (Nothing Can Touch Me, Milad Alami, 2011)
4. Explorer (Pramod Pati, 1968)
5. Pasos (Steps, Lorena Zilleruelo, 2011)
6. Cagey Tigers (Aramisova, 2010)
7. Nang gabing maging singlaki ng puso ang bato ni Darna (Darna: A Stone is a Heart You Can’t Swallow, Jon Lazam, 2012)
8. Pulsation (Pieter Geenen, 2011)
9. Life Continued (Zhuang Ling, 1966)
10. Roghieh (Alysse Stepanian, 2009)
11. The Garden (Ann Steuernagel, 2010)
12. Praxis-8 (Dietmar Brehm, 2010)
13. Star (Alternative Version) (Choi Sai-ho, 2011)
14. Utama – Every Name in History is I (Ho Tzu Nyen, 2003)
15. Haikus for Karaoke (Roberto Santaguida, 2010)
16. Dust (Ivan Sen, 1999)
17. Einstein était un réfugié (Einstein Was a Refugee, Solange Cicurel, 2010)
18. 14-40 (Chu Meichun, 2011)
19. La gran carrera (The Great Race, Kote Camacho, 2010)
20. Snow White (Anca Oproiu, 2011)
Favourite Thai short films
1. Pimarn arkard (Celestial Space, Ukrit Sa-nguanhai, 2012)
2. Chingchung (Detest, Wachara Kanha, 2012)
3. Military Soldier Student the Military (Theeraphat Ngathong, 2011)
4. Sawan dudplang (A Posteriori, Kasiti Sangkul, 2012)
5. Induce Influences (Nutthatida Tohchoodee, 2011)
6. Madang Bo Sai (Phaisit Phanphruksachat, 1999)
7. Buntueg rug khong boongom (Memory of Love Boongom, Somghad Meyen, 2011)
8. Wannaporn Suenghiranyapruek (Methat Suenghiranyapruek, 2012)
9. Film from Lampang (anonymous, approximately 1971)
10. Kwam wang (Hope, Prasit Subjaksa, 2011)
11. Yindee tee dai roojug (Nice to Meet You, Watcharapol Saisongkroh, 2012)
12. Ying glai ying glai (So Close But So Far, Ranita Tintalay, 2012)
13. Dek nang Part 2 (Happy Time, Sarayut Vannagool, 2011)
14. Sud tang rug (Enfin, Sitthipong Wong-ard, 2012)
15. Level (Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Wachara Kanha, 2012)
16. The Void (Fari Tesprateep, 2012)
17. Krung rag (First Love, Teera Prachumkong, 2012)
18. Proverbs (Chompunutt Mayta, 2011)
19. Dubiety (Banyong Phoonsap, 2012)
20. Dites lui que je ne veux pas etre sous-titre (Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, 2011)
21. Sanam deg len (Playgrounds, Weerapong Wimuktalop, 2012)
22. Fon ha fai (Time of the Last Persecution, Taiki Sakpisit, 2012)
23. On the Way (Teeraponk Panyakam, 2012)
24. Time Up (Jiraporn Saelee, 2012)
25. Ashes (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2012)
26. Jin (The Imagination, Sinsupa Treesungsuwan, 2012)
27. Off Scene (Eakarach Monwat, 2012)
28. Ngao fad (Twin Shadow, Amonsak Chatratin, 2012)
29. Rug rag pob (…Every Minute on the Street, Benjaphan Rungsubhatanond, 2012)
30. Pie nai jai (Inside of Me, Nattaphan Boonlert, 2011)
31. Harg boon mee jing (My Mother Folk Tale Part 1, Eakalak Maleetipawan, 2011)
32. Dust (Manasak Khlongchainan, 2012)
33. Reminisce (Thai Pradithkesorn, 2011)
34. Behind Behind Behind and Behind (Setthasiri Chanjaradpong, 2012)
35. Tang lueg khong Ja Daw (Ja Daw’s Choice, Tanit Jamroensuksakul, 2012)
Favourite documentaries
1. Jaroenporn mahadhamma nai sam loke: Chan ja pen chao naive (Develop Blessing Giant Dhamma in 3 Worlds: I’m Gonna Be a Naive, Viriyaporn Boonprasert, 2012)
2. Unter Schnee (Under Snow, Ulrike Ottinger, 2011)
3. Garn torsoo khong gammagorn ying rongngarn Hara (The Hara Woman Workers Struggle, Jon Ungpakorn, 1975)
4. Puisque nous sommes nés (Because We Were Born, Jean-Pierre Duret & Andrea Santana, 2008)
5. Forever (Heddy Honigmann, 2006)
6. Valentijn (Hetty Nietsch, 2007)
7. Cheonggyecheon Medley (Kelvin Kyung Kun Park, 2010)
8. Barn mai mee lektee (House Without Address, Abhichon Rattanabhayon, 2012)
9. Ter mai kho chun gor ja hai (I Will Give You What You Don’t Ask For, Meathus Sirinawin, Wachara Kanha, 2012)
10. Roti Man (Kittipat Knoknark, Napasorn Limchaiyawat, 2012)
11. Songhwan (Repatriation, Kim Dong-won, 2003)
12. Pleng one gerd (My Noon, Tossaphon Riantong, 2012)
13. An Escalator in World Order (Kim Kyung-man, 2011)
14. Muay (Boxing, Taraphong Ratchadawan, 2012)
15. Halleluyah kum sunya jarg prajao (Halleluyah, Uthaiwan Saragool, 2012)
16. World Without End (Basil Wright, Paul Rotha, 1953)
17. Sentang utogapai (Flood Way, Preecha Srisuwan, 2012)
18. Cities on Speed: Cairo Garbage (Mikala Krogh, 2009)
19. Burmese Butterfly (Hnin Ei Hlaing, 2011)
20. The Monkey Whisperer and His Dream (J. Michael Schumacher, 2011)
21. The Documentary of Cosplayer (Krittaporn Petchnamkeow, 2012)
22. Sop Buntut (Oxtail Soup, Deden Ramadani, 2010)
Favourite animations
1. Bobby Yeah (Robert Morgan, 2011)
2. Fables (Sina Wittayawiroj, 2012)
3. The Factory (Ekarach Kaewmahing, 2012)
4. Chienne d’histoire (Barking Island, Serge Avedikian, 2010)
5. The Pub (Joseph Pierce, 2012)
6. Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, 2001)
7. Okami kodomo no ame to yuki (Wolf Children, Mamoru Hosoda, 2012)
8. Jez Jerzy (George the Hedgehog, Tomasz Lesniak, Jakub Tarkowski, Wojtek Wawszczyk, 2011)
9. Haru no shikumi (The Mechanism of Spring, Atsushi Wada, 2010)
10. L’illusionniste (The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet, 2010)
Favourite video installations
1. Class Room (Sutee Kunavichayanont, 2012)
2. You Were in My Dream (Isobel Knowles & Van Sowerwine, 2010)
3. Dance (Nipan Oranniwesna, 2012)
4. Re: Looking (Wong Hoy Cheong, 2002-2003)
5. Seventy Times Seven (Bindi Cole, 2011)
6. The Gaze (Julia Burns, 2007/2011)
7. Eye (of a Cyclist) (Wit Pimkanchanapong, 2012)
8. Home Delivery (Manon Taranurak, 2011)
9. My Grandpa’s Route Has Been Forever Blocked (Sutthirat Supaparinya, 2012)
10. Middle Ground (Than Sok, 2012)
Favourite TV series/mini-series
1. Romans d’ados 2002-2008 (Teen Stories, Béatrice Bakhti, 2010)
2. Les hommes de l’ombre (Frédéric Tellier, 2012)
3. George et Fanchette (Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe, 2010)
The Illusionist

MATÍAS PIÑEIRO

Argentinean filmmaker, based in New York.
  1. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  2. Quatre nuits d´un rêveur (Four Nights of a Dreamer, Robert Bresson 1971)
  3. San Diego Surf (Andy Warhol & Paul Morrissey, 1968)
  4. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
  5. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  6. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  7. Off Highway 20 (Katsuya Tomita, 2012)
  8. La Glace à trois faces (The Three-Sided Mirror, Jean Epstein, 1927)
  9. Penance (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2012)
  10. O som ao redor (Neighboring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
  11. Palácios de Pena (Palaces of Pity, Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt 2011)

PHOEBE PUA

Post-graduate student in the Australian National University’s film studies department.
Top 3:
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012) for achieving technical brilliance while proving to be one of the most divisive films of the year.
2. This is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi, 2011/2) for reminding all who study, work, and make films why we do what we do.
1. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) for its poised and unrelenting telling of difficult stories.
Bottom 3:
3. Snow White and the Huntsman (Rupert Sanders, 2012) for its insufferable and needlessly operatic composition.
2. Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, 2012) for its uninspired attempts to take on solemn issues and being farcical instead of seductive.
1. Piranha 3DD (John Gulager, 2012) for disappointing its predecessor Piranha 3D (Alexandre Aja, 2010) and maiming the good name of the splatter film genre.
Special mention: Joseph Gordon-Levitt for his transparent over-acting in Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012)
In film nist (This is Not a Film)

BÉRÉNICE REYNAUD

Author, programmer, and teacher at the California Institute of the Arts.
One archival screening, one short, and 20 titles, in the order seen:
Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man (Ron Rice, 1963)
A rarely seen masterpiece of heroic (and totally silly) camp, starring Taylor Mead as the Atom Man, with cameos by Jack Smith, Julian Beck and Judith Malina. But who was Winifred Bryan, the sculptural black woman who plays the Queen of Sheba?
Walker (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2012, short)
A cinematic feat. Lee Kang-sheng pitted against Hong Kong. “Is Xiao Kang walking too slowly, or is the city moving too fast?”
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, 2011)
There is something like tenderness in the way Solondz deals with his characters, yet he hasn’t lost his nastiness. I find the combination quite alluring – and ultimately moving.
Wildness (Wu Tsang, 2012)
A drag queen joint in Los Angeles MacArthur Park recounts its memories in Spanish, haunted by the transgender performers and transgressive artists that partied there every Tuesday night.
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
About as close as one could be to being a masterpiece. Subverts the “anthropological documentary” from the inside out and gives a new meaning to the concept of beauty.
United in Anger: A History of ACT-UP (Jim Hubbard, 2012)
The most politically sophisticated documentary made about AIDS… because it’s not about AIDS, but about the activist group that set out to fight it within the cultural and political arena.
Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)
Given a bigger budget and some “real” movie stars, Xavier Dolan effortlessly moves away from the sphere of the child prodigy, with an insightful variation on the art of being sexually in-between.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Former youth prodigies and accomplices from the time of Boy Meets Girl (1984), Carax and Lavant reunite on a meditation on the nature of spectacle, the passing of time and classical cinema (signified by the great Edith Scob) being an apparatus as outmoded as the motor-car. Or maybe it’s human beings that are outmoded, cars and cinema surviving them.
the war (James Benning, 2012)
A corky and thoughtful compilation of YouTube tapes “embedded” by the Russian activist group Voina and the Pussy Riots, this is the one film that Benning has gracefully accepted not to show in public, following a (polite) request from Voina members fearing for their safety.
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
How to reconstruct something that you lived through? An intimate counterpoint to the early Carlos years.
Mei Jie (The Love Songs of Tiedan, Hao Jie, 2012)
Hao Jie follows his ground-breaking exploration of the sex lives of elderly bachelor peasants in Single Man (Guanggun’er, 2010) with the original, generous and musical study of an erotic obsession shaping the life of a folk singer in the Shanxi mountains.
Bad Weather (Giovanni Giammi, 2012)
A haunting documentary about a community of Pakistanese prostitutes threatened by an ecological catastrophe.
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Hong Sang-soo gives his usual macho-yet-inadequate Korean men something to think about: a triple encounter with a real diva, the sublime Isabelle Huppert. Guess who wins?
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
A film that explores cinema’s unique capability to evoke the passing of time while eradicating it. Or: past colonialism as screen memory.
Wo hai you hua yao shuo (When Night Falls, Ying Liang)
A film that turned Ying Liang, in spite of himself, into a cause célèbre. The man only wants to make movies – but to make a film, in China, about the mother of a man sentenced to death, is an act of courage.
Fidaï (Damien Ounouri, 2012)
A generous insight into the hidden traces left by France’s last colonial war. Ounouri takes his great uncle back to the places where he once was a “fidaï” (killer) for the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front).
San zi mei (Three Sisters, Wang Bing, 2012)
Nobody follows people with a DV camera like Wang Bing does. And nobody had ever filmed little girls living in dirt-poor conditions on the Yunnan Mountains with so much grace.
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Simply put, the loveliest film of the year. One that makes you believe again in the power of cinema, in the fact that the “child in us” does not have to be a whining idiot but may be smart, witty and have great lines of dialogue.
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
To be remembered for its elegant use of the 70mm format, great performances, and a sophisticated narrative arc.
Wadjda (Haifaa Al Mansour, 2012)
The first feature film to come out of Saudi Arabia. And it’s by a young woman. And it’s about women wearing the hijab, women being forbidden to drive, women waiting at home for a husband already plotting his next marriage, and a schoolgirl who wants to buy a bicycle.
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
Nobody will ever replace Sean Connery, but this distant echo of You Only Live Twice (Lewis Gilbert, 1967) pushes the concept of franchise to an exhilarating new level – and it’s still a “Broccoli production”. (Albert R. Broccoli produced all the James Bond films till his death in 1996; his daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson continue the job). What a man, this Broccoli!
Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012)
The best directed, probably the most intelligent, and yet the most disturbing film of the year. The controversy about whether or not it justifies torture is a dead-end issue. The real problem is the “effect of reality” produced by the film, so soon after the events that inspired it. Bigelow’s trademark, at the beginning of her career, was to insert a distance between the spectacle created and the gaze of the spectator, through humour, camp and various alienation effects. Here this critical distance is missing and the spectator, swept away, is no longer given the opportunity to think within or against the grain of the film.
The Love Songs of Tiedan

MARCOS RIBAS DE FARIA

Film critic, Brazil.
Only movies with commercial distribution in Rio de Janeiro:
  1. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)
  2. Les bien-aimés (Beloved, Christophe Honoré, 2011)
  3. Weekend (Andrew Heigh, 2011)
  4. Un eté brulant (That Summer, Philippe Garrel, 2011)
  5. Faust (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2011)
  6. Headhunters (Hodejegeme, Morten Tyldum, 2011)
  7. Habemus Papam (We Have A Pope, Nanni Moretti, 2011)
  8. Beaufort (Joseph Cedar, 2007)
  9. Lawless (John Hillcoat, 2012)
  10. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)

PETER RIST

Professor of Film Studies, Concordia University, Montreal.
Many North American critics are proclaiming 2012 to be a very good year for cinema, mostly because of the Hollywood films released at the end of the year that are considered to be Oscar-contenders. To be sure, this is a better crop than usual, with the magical 3D of Life of Pi and Tony Kushner’s script for Lincoln standing out, but for me it wasn’t a good year at all, especially because of the virtual disappearance of “film” projection in Montreal. Now that the Forum complex has removed all the 35mm projectors from its 22 cinemas, we are left with only the Cinémathèque Québécoise, the three rooms of the Excentris and four venues at (my own) Concordia University that can show 35mm, 16mm and all formats of video. The Cinéma du Parc also continues to project 35mm prints when they can get them. I know people who travelled to Toronto just to watch The Master on 70mm, and so, I have to admit that, finally, we have probably lost our status as one of the great film cities, here. (Maybe if I had been able to watch P.T. Anderson’s film the way it should be seen, I would be more positive about it. As it is, I had to make do with 2K HD.) The highlights of my film year were trips to BAFICI 14 in Buenos Aires with a few students – where one venue was dedicated to showing 16mm experimental films! – and to the Giornate del Cinema Muto 31 (silent film festival) in Pordenone, Italy, which I’m now calling the “world’s last real/reel film festival.” Over 90% of their screenings were of 35mm prints, and it is great to know that many film archives are continuing to make film copies of their most recent restorations, even though they will be screened very rarely. I guess that Portugal is rapidly becoming the country du jour of cinema, with Tabu being the finest new fiction film I saw in 2012, while I finally got to see the 4 ½ hour version of Raúl Ruiz’s amazing Mysteries of Lisbon (on Blu-ray discs): it has still never had a theatrical screening in Montreal! In making a ten-best list, I realised that a few of the best titles appearing on other lists were on my “best of 2011” – Ceylan’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Panahi’s This is Not a Film, and Tarr’s The Turin Horse—and I could easily have included many more than seven retrospective titles this year. Here it is, in no particular order, with five (actually seven) exceptional titles, and then the rest:
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Seen on a black and white, 35mm print at BAFICI.
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
Arguably, the most effectively visceral documentary ever made.
Bestiaire (Denis Côté, 2012)
Another fine documentary, and the best Canadian film in a good year for domestic product.
Mistérios de Lisboa (Mysteries of Lisbon, 2010) / La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, 2012)
Both directed by Raúl Ruiz.
Prostoi sluchai (A Simple Case, Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1932) / Jenseits der Straße (Harbour Drift, Leo Mittler, 1929)
The best of Pordenone on 35mm.
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
In celebration of the Charles Dickens bicentenary; three beautiful Danish silent films directed by A.W. Sandberg for Nordisk: Vor Fælles Ven (Our Mutual Friend, 1921) / Store Forventninger (Great Expectations, 1922) on 35mm/Lille Dorrit (Little Dorrit, 1924) seen at Pordenone.
Two programs of 16mm shorts (Argentina, 1966–99), directed by Narcisa Hirsch at BAFICI
Corta (Felipe Guerrero, 2012)
A third new documentary!
Neotpravlennoye pismo (Letter Never Sent, Mikhail Kalatozov, 1960)
Seen at home on a Criterion Blu-ray disc.
Bestiaire

JULIAN ROSS

PhD candidate at the University of Leeds, commissioning editor of Vertigo Magazine and curator of film programs.
2012
In Search of the Other (Leonid Tsvetkov, 2012)
Priya (Alia Syed, 2012)
Nightfall (James Benning, 2012)
2012 Act 5. in 3D (Takashi Makino, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes) (2012)
Shelly Winters (Luther Price, 2010)
Self-Made (Gillian Wearing, 2010)
Two Years at Sea (Ben Rivers, 2011)
Abendland (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2011)
L’Anabase de May et Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi et 27 années sans images (The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years without Images, Éric Baudelaire, 2011)
Retrospectives/Re-Performances
The Count (Peter von Bagh, 1971) at IFFR
Horror Film 1 (Malcolm Le Grice, 1971/2012) at Leeds Art Gallery
Chika Hiroba (Underground Square, Keiya Ouchida, 1970) at Nippon Connection
Melancholia (Lav Diaz, 2008) at AV Festival
The Illiac Passion (Gregory Markopoulos, 1967) at BFI Southbank
Handsworth Songs (John Akomfrah, 1986) at Close-Up Film Centre
Anna (Alberto Grifi & Massimo Sarchielli, 1975) at Tate Modern
The Movement of People Working (Phil Niblock, 1973-1991/2012) at AV Festival
Screen Play (Takahiko Iimura, 1963/2012) at Place M Gallery
Shlosha Yamim Veyeled (Three Days and a Child, Uri Zohar, 1967) at Tokyo FilmEx

MARC SAINT-CYR

Canadian film critic, contributor to Senses of Cinema, Midnight Eye, CineAction, and the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow.
Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
My personal crash course on Olivier Assayas this year, which included Kent Jones’ impeccable new volume on his career, first-time viewings of Clean (2004) and Boarding Gate (2007), and multiple viewings of the highly re-watchable Carlos (2010), culminated splendidly with the filmmaker’s latest (screened at the Toronto International Film Festival), a stirring and mature ode to the unpredictable course of history and youth’s transience.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
In the spirit of films like Mulholland Drive (2001), O Lucky Man! (1973), and Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces, 2009), Holy Motors gleefully offers up a smorgasbord of cinematic delights, providing a refreshing reminder of the many pleasures of the movies. Spectacle, music, emotion, violence, humour, romance – Carax generously crams it all into an unapologetically nutty, fantastically entertaining package.
Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland, Yang Yong-hi, 2012)
In her fiction feature debut, Yang Yong-hi continues to focus on the subject of her previous documentaries Dear Pyongyang (2005) and Sona, the Other Myself (2009): her family’s division caused by North Korea’s controlling regime, which prevents her older brothers from returning to Japan, where Yang lives and works. Tracking a Japanese man’s brief return visit to his family after living in North Korea for twenty-five years, Our Homeland portrays the frustration, pain, and sadness surrounding his difficult situation with an emotional potency I have rarely experienced during a film. From one scene to the next, it is never anything less than utterly compelling.
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Wes Anderson continues to prove himself to be one of contemporary cinema’s most significant humanist filmmakers with his newest artfully designed fable. Thankfully, with the warm reception Moonrise Kingdom has received, audiences are continuing to look past the take-it-or-leave-it tweeness of his patented style to appreciate just how gifted he is in creating flawed, relatable, and sympathetic characters.
L’Argent (Robert Bresson, 1983)
Thanks to Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox and its incredible retrospective of Robert Bresson’s work, I and other viewers were given the opportunity to see some of the French master’s most acclaimed and elusive films. Among the ones I saw (including Lancelot du Lac (1974) and Le diable probablement (The Devil Probably, 1977)), his acclaimed final film was perhaps the high point. Icy, economical, and hypnotic in its polished clarity, L’Argent cleanly fits alongside Aki Kaurismäki’s films as one of cinema’s truest depictions of money and its troubling relationship with humanity.
Kotoko (Shinya Tsukamoto, 2011)
Kotoko easily remains the most unsettling film I saw in 2012. This is due in equal parts to Shinya Tsukamoto’s mercilessly confrontational cinematic approach and Cocco’s lead performance as a mentally unbalanced single mother into whose skewed perspective the viewer is locked for the entirety of the film – a true twin tour-de-force.
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
In 2012, I finally delved into the work of Hong Sang-soo. Along with Yeojaneun namjaui miraeda (Woman is the Future of Man, 2004) and Book chon bang yang (The Day He Arrives, Hong Sang-soo, 2011), In Another Country provided a welcome introduction to the South Korean auteur’s idiosyncratic way with actors, repetition, and relationships. Isabelle Huppert’s charming performance(s) within the newest film’s three episodes is a perfect ingredient in Hong’s breezy, highly amusing study of infatuation and cross-cultural displacement. I very much look forward to my second and third viewings.

DAN SALLITT

Filmmaker and film writer, New York.
  1. Die Wand (The Wall, Julian Pölsler, 2012)
  2. De jueves a domingo (Thursday Till Sunday, Dominga Sotomayor, 2012)
  3. Jam mot deuneun bam (Sleepless Night, Jang Kun-jae, 2012)
  4. O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
  5. Marriage Material (Joe Swanberg, 2012)
  6. anders, molussien (Differently, Molussia, Nicolas Rey, 2012)
  7. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
  8. The Avengers (Joss Whedon, 2012)
  9. Vous n’avez encore rien vu (You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, Alain Resnais, 2012)
  10. All the Light in the Sky (Joe Swanberg, 2012)
  11. Tepenin Ardi (Beyond the Hill, Emin Alper, 2012)
  12. Open Five 2 (Kentucker Audley, 2012)
  13. Tiger Tail in Blue (Frank V. Ross, 2012)
  14. Tower (Kazik Radwanski, 2012)

De jueves a domingo (Thursday Till Sunday)

JOSE SARMIENTO

Film critic, media manager, music producer and musician, Lima, Peru.
Cinema is more thriving than ever.
Exceptional Masterpieces
  1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
  2. The Legend of Kaspar Hauser (Davide Manuli, 2012)
  3. Il se peut que la beauté ait renforcé notre resolution (It May be That Beauty has Reinforced our Resolve, Masao Adachi & Phillipe Grandrieux, 2011)
Masterpieces
  1. La Maladie blanche (The White Disease, Christelle Lheureux, 2011)
  2. May They Rest in Revolt (Figures of War, Syvain George, 2010)
  3. Faust (Alexander Sokurov, 2011)
  4. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
Excellent
  1. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
  2. Summer of Giacomo (Alessandro Comodin, 2011)
  3. Siberie (Joana Preiss, 2011)
  4. Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold, 2011)
  5. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  6. The Double Steps (Isaki La Cuesta, 2011)
  7. Walker (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2012)
  8. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011)
Very Good
  1. Fragments (Sylvain George, 2011)
  2. The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar, 2011)
  3. On Death Row (Werner Herzog, 2012)
  4. The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye (Marie Losier, 2011)
  5. Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2011)
  6. Habemus Papam (Nanni Moretti, 2011)
  7. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Good
  1. Klip (Clip, Maja Milos, 2012)
  2. Hors Satan (Outside Satan, Bruno Dumont, 2011)
  3. Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene (Sean Durkin, 2011)
  4. L’Âge atomique (Atomic Age, Héléna Klotz, 2012)
  5. Le Marin masqué (Sophie Letourneur, 2011)
  6. Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
  7. Face to Panty Ratio (Richard Kern, 2011)
  8. Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)
A plus from the vault of the new millennium
  1. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
  2. Lourdes (Jessica Haussner, 2009)
  3. Geuk jang jeon (Tale of Cinema, Hong Sang-soo, 2005)
  4. Respite (Harun Farocki, 2007)
  5. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010)
  6. The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein (John Gianvito, 2001)
  7. La Vie au ranch (Chicks, Sophie Letourneur, 2009)
  8. Vapor Trail (Clark) (John Gianvito, 2010)
  9. Guest (Jose Luis Guerín, 2010)
  10. Double Take (Johan Grimonprez, 2009)
  11. Aita (José María del Orbe, 2010)
  12. Beket (Davide Manuli, 2008)
  13. Light is Calling (Bill Morrison, 2004)
  14. A Loft (Ken Jacobs, 2010)

HOWARD SCHUMANN

Freelance writer, Vancouver, BC.
1. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
Focussing on the fight to pass the 13th amendment outlawing slavery, Lincoln, in the brilliant performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, illuminates the man and the qualities of his leadership that carried the nation through a devastating civil war. Written by playwright Tony Kushner, Lincoln is a passionate tribute to his legacy of freedom. It is the kind of honest adult cinema that used to be commonplace but is now a rarity.
2. Oslo, 31. august (Oslo, August 31st, Joachim Trier, 2011)*
Honest, reflective, insightful, and intimate, Oslo, August 31st is a powerful and unforgettable study of a lost soul whose pain cannot be hidden, nor the hurt he has caused others. We can see the kindness in Anders’ heart but not the strength, or feelings of self-worth. The film is a powerful and unforgettable achievement and the performance of Anders Danielson Lie is masterful.
3. Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011)*
Marked by a stunningly natural performance from Thomas Doret who convincingly conveys a young boy’s innocence as well as his pain, the Dardenne brothers’ refusal to give in to sentimentality makes the film an intense and emotionally gripping experience. Though it appears to be grounded in the mundane, its unfettered grace raises it to a level far surpassing the limitations of the genre.
4. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
A routine police investigation of a murder turns into a meditation on the human experience and the elusiveness of truth in Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s deeply felt Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, winner of the Cannes Jury Prize in 2011. Based on the experience of co-writer Ercan Kesal, a doctor who took part in the investigation of an actual murder twenty years ago, the film follows a dozen men as they hunt for a body during the course of one night. It is a film of profound intelligence that illuminates the richness of complex humanity.
5. Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
Searching for Sugar Man investigates the life of Sixto Rodriguez, a little known American folk-rock singer/songwriter in the tradition of Bob Dylan who released two albums in the early 1970s but failed to achieve any popularity. The film is an odyssey of discovery, even self-discovery that is profoundly inspiring. More than just about music and musicians, it is a film about the human condition.
6. De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard, 2012)
Rust and Bone is the story of two wounded people who form a bond based on recognition and acceptance of the others pain. Marked by outstanding performances by Marion Cotillard as a young whale trainer struggling to recover from a horrendous accident, and Matthias Schoenaerts as an ex-boxer unable to acknowledge or express his feelings. Though visceral, it is a film of intelligence and sensitivity.
7. Jagten (The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg), 2012)
Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt is the disturbing story of the false accusation of a kindergarten teacher of sexual abuse. It is a thought-provoking drama that makes us aware both of the vigilance needed to protect our children from predators, and of the crucial importance of following the precept that an individual is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
8. O som ao redor (Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2012)
Neighbouring Sounds employs a wealth of cinematography and sound to chronicle the anxiety that permeates a middle-class street in Recife, Brazil’s fifth largest city. Winner of four major awards at the Gramado Film Festival in Brazil, it appears on the surface to be a typical crime drama but underneath it is a mixture of the existential ennui of Antonioni and the paranoia of David Lynch.
9. Bully (Lee Hirsch, 2011)*
Lee Hirsch’s heartbreaking documentary Bully focuses on three young students who have been subjected to merciless verbal and physical attacks during the school year and on the parents of two victims who committed suicide. Though it is difficult to watch and the tears may flow, Bully should be seen by everyone, kids, parents, teachers, and school administrators.
10. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)*
Set in London just after the war, Terence Davies The Deep Blue Sea is filled with nostalgia for a world that is long past, but is also universal in its theme of loneliness and alienation. In its willingness to embrace turbulent emotions without flinching, the film allows us to look at our own life and the things that keep us apart from others.
11. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom evokes a time when the simple experience of being alive filled us with wonder. Though it is offbeat as only a Wes Anderson film can be, the expression of his individual style is a sincere and heartfelt counter to the homogenised product emanating from Hollywood. The film expresses a longing that may strike a responsive chord with those who have ever felt the sting of being different.
12. Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012)
The impact of the 1968 protests is still being felt in Paris three years later when Something in the Air begins. Assayas brings us back to a time when everything seemed possible and no film in recent memory has presented such an authentic view of the immediacy of the period. The feeling of change is electric and its mood is brilliantly reflected by the film’s lack of cynicism and condescension towards the aspirations of young people.
13. Noruwei no mon (Norwegian Wood, Tran Anh Hung, 2010)*
Based on the best-selling 1987 novel of Haruki Murikami, Norwegian Wood reflects the inner journey of 19-year-old Toru Watanabe (Ken’ichi Matsuyama), a journey that embodies the pain of love and loss, the tantalising embrace of death, the end of dreams, and the beginning of adult responsibility. The film builds a quiet power that ensnares us and leaves us to explore its meanings long after the final credits.
14. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
Based on the 2008 novel by Matthew Quick, David O. Russell’s offbeat comedy Silver Linings Playbook is the story of two damaged people who strive to help each other out of the emotional hole they have dug for themselves. Although it has some clichéd moments, it works because it is funny, genuine, and emotionally satisfying and its appealing performances allow us to believe in and root for its characters.
15. Life of Pi (Ang Lee, 2012)
Directed by Ang Lee and adapted for the screen by David Magee, Life of Pi is both an adventure story in the mold of Robinson Crusoe, a testament of faith, and a philosophical Rubik’s Cube that will keep you awake at night pondering its meaning. Whatever meaning you ultimately bring to it, however, the film is a sumptuous visual experience that combines a dazzling combination of state-of-the-art 3-D and CGI technology to breathtaking effect.
16. Under African Skies (Joe Berlinger, 2012)
Paul Simon’s return to South Africa to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his album Graceland is documented in Joe Berlinger’s exuberant Under African Skies. Though the reunion is a celebration, the film does not duck the resentment stemming from Simon’s 1985 South Africa trip that broke the United Nations cultural boycott. The music, however, remains an exhilarating artistic achievement that has lost none of its power.
17. Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo, 2011)*
Drug-related crime in Mexico is not a unique subject for films, but no film in recent memory has confronted the issue with such force as Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala, a devastating look into the collusion between drug-related gangs and law enforcement. It is a powerful thriller that serves to remind us of the depth of the problem that, the director says, lies in the set of values that continue to govern our culture.
18. Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011)*
Tyrannosaur is a work of unnerving intensity and brutal realism, yet, in spite of its intermittent violent acts, it is a surprisingly quiet film that has moments of warmth and humor. While the film does not offer easy solutions, it allows us to discover the power to face our own demons, knowing that redemption does not lay in revenge, but only in acknowledging and taking responsibility for actions that may have caused harm to others.
19. Breakfast with Curtis (Laura Colello, 2012)
Breakfast with Curtis is the story of 14-year-old Curtis (Jonah Parker) who shuns school, has no friends, and rarely even looks up when his parents talk to him. The film depicts the young boy’s “seminal” summer where community support and interaction provides unexpected personal growth. It is a beautifully realised, touching, warm, funny, and downright lovely film.
20. Hoshi o Ou Kodomo (Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below, Makoto Shinkai, 2011)*
According to Japanese anime director Makoto Shinkai, Children who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below is a study of “how people are connected” and the relationship between individuals. Although the film is designed primarily for a young audience, adult themes of love and loss abound in its story of mourning lovers attempting to reach out across the dimensions. Whether or not you have recently lost a loved one, you may find the tears hard to resist.
* Released in Canada in 2012
Honourable Mentions
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012), A Late Quartet (Yaron Zilberman, 2012), Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (Alison Klayman, 2012), La noche de enfrente (Night Across the Street, Raul Ruiz, 2012), The Forgiveness of Blood (Joshua Marston, 2011), The Flat (Arnon Goldfinger, 2011), Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012), Intouchables (Olivier Nakache, Eric toledano, 2011), Aqui y Alla (Antonio Méndez, 2012), Un amour de jeunesse (Goodbye First Love, Mia Hansen-Løve, 2011)
Disappointing
Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski, 2012), The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012), Hearat Shulayim (Footnote, Joseph Cedar, 2011), We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011), Ruby Sparks (Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, 2012).
Searching for Sugar Man

RAVI SHANKAR

World Cinema cinéphile and a film blogger. Working as an IT manager in Chennai, India.
My top 10 films released commercially in Chennai, India during 2012, arranged by date of release.
Nanban (Friend, Shankar, 2012)
A remake of 3 Idiots, perfectly adapted to regional audience from Shankar.
Dhoni (Prakash Raj, 2012)
Reflection of the middle-class India. A perfect recipe of father-son relationship.
Aravaan (Vasanthabalan, 2012)
Film depicting early 18th and 19th century Tamil Nadu.
Vazhakku Enn 18/9 (Case No. 18/9, Balaji Sakthivel, 2012)
A gem in Tamil film history, a film where the rich and poor sections of the society cross each other.
Naan Ee (I am a Fly, S. S. Rajamouli, 2012)
If you think a fly can create a roaring sound this film is a perfect example.
Madhubana Kadai (Liquor Shop, Kamala Kannan, 2012)
A film that mirrors the current social changes going on in Tamil Nadu, India.
Attakathi (Card Board Knife, Pa Ranjit, 2012)
Film about Chennai suburbs Romeos.
Naan (Me, Jeeva Shankar, 2012)
Tamil thriller comes to an age with a musical.
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, 2012)
A bilingual film, set in NYC, shows the eagerness and a mad attachment for English language among urban Indian people.
Pizza (Karthik Subburaj, 2012)
Horror film without much gore and a little twist in the end.
Just like an Indian curry dish, the list is filled with all kinds of genres – comedy, romance, drama, horror, thriller, et al. The additional bonus is almost all have good musical numbers.

LOUISE SHEEDY

PhD candidate in Cinema Studies at the University of Melbourne and President of the Melbourne Cinémathèque. 
Top 10
  1. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)
    Electrifying critique of late capitalism as only the master knows how. Fucked up road movie turned inside-out with a script of perfection and formal virtuosity. Oh Dave.
  2. Abrir puertas y ventanas (Back to Stay, Milagros Mumenthaler, 2011)
    Mumenthaler has mastered gesture, intimacy and subtlety of character through small moments, razor sharp yet light and economic dialogue, spoken through a great ensemble of incredible acting talent. Just wonderful.
  3. Paradies: Liebe (Paradise Love, Ulrich Seidel, 2012).
    Showing the psychologies of mutual exploitation that occurs when wealthy westerners choose to play in “the dark continent”. Hyper-realism that rubs your face in both sides’ underbellies mixed with occasional formal flourishes for calculated moments of distanciation. Seidel is a gifted dialectician.
  4. Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Sang-soo Hong, 2012)
    Everything you’d hope from a collaboration of this kind. One that sees the director’s trademark subtly and sensitivity placed alongside Isabelle Huppert’s blistering skillset to make a film as insightful as it is playful.
  5. Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, 2011, screened at MIFF 2012)
    A great actor proves he’s also a gifted writer/director. A heart-wrenching look at domestic violence through the clarity and brutality of its kitchen-sink heritage. Leads Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman deserve Oscars, but won’t get them.
  6. Kiseki (I Wish, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2011, screened at MIFF 2012)
    Master of moments has gone to town in this oh-so-tender string of tiny, charming instances that together form a potent and spirited reminder of the enchantment of childhood. And all without stepping into the land of twee. Sighs abound.
  7. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
    Haneke has made a monument to the heroism inherent in lifelong partnerships and the indignities of old age and as such, the film’s title echoes through every scene. Stunning in every sense.
  8. Tao jie (A Simple Life, Ann Hui, 2011). There’s a real melancholy and beauty to this gracefully humble character study. Delicate layers of trust, power, intimacy and tradition are all peeled back and examined by Hui’s careful hand as she explores the bond between a successful movie producer and his life-long maid, expertly and sensitively played by Andy Lau and Deanie Ip.
  9. The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)
    Meta squared, mega fun. A clever love letter to the horror genre and satirical insight into the labyrinthine possibilities of generic evolution.
  10. Broken (Rufus Norris, 2012)
    Deftly flits between hilarity and heartbreak as Norris takes a trip into a suburban London cul-de-sac, makes everyone’s life intertwine in such an original way that the contrivance is easily forgiven.
Special mention goes to:
  1. L’exercice de l’État (The Minister, Pierre Scholler, 2011, screened at MIFF 2012)
    French minister for transport the surprisingly fascinating subject of an emotional study of politics-as-job.
  2. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria, 2012)
    The unlikely comic pairing of Knightly and Carell with a talented writer/director have resulted in a very funny yet poignant take on the now well-worn apocalypse genre.
  3. Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (Matthew Ackers & Jeff Dupre, 2012)
    I was sceptical as to what HBO would do this one but the director managed, through all the HBO perfection, to give real insight not just into the personality that is the ‘grandmother of performance art’ but the nature of her work as well. No small task.
Retrospective highlights:
Mannen på taket (Man on a Roof, Bo Widerberg, 1976)
A cracking crime drama, beautifully paced, fabulous characters, expertly executed. Screened at MIFF 2012.
The Savage Eye (Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers & Joseph Strick, 1960)
Cine-poetry par excellence, in non-fiction form. A dark exploration of 1950s urbanity. Heaven. Screened at the Melbourne Cinémathèque, April 2012.
Disappointment
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, released 5 July 2012) Not that I had particularly high hopes for this indie darling but the praise that this film is caked in disturbs me. Poverty porn with glitter on it.
Finally, a special place reserved for The Master. I’ve been waiting to see this on 70mm, a date coming up after the writing of this list. Am assuming it’s going to end up there somewhere. If not, it can fit under the disappointment section as hopes are sky high.
Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love)

CHRISTOPHER SIKICH

Teacher, photographer, cinephile, Philadelphia.
As a microcosm of cinema in 2012, my list of the finest celluloid achievements can be reduced to a core concern of creation and destruction. This is depicted on a literal artistic scale, as in the richly rewarding Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, in the environmental apocalypse of ironically gorgeous melting glaciers in Chasing Ice, and in the extreme metaphor of the end of maybe even cinema itself in The Turin Horse.
  1. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (Alison Klayman, 2012)
  2. A Torinói ló (The Turin Horse, Béla Tarr, 2011)
  3. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)
  4. Chasing Ice (Jeff Orlowski, 2012)
  5. Cloud Atlas (Tom Twyker, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski, 2012)
  6. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
  7. Brooklyn Castle (Katie Dellamaggiore, 2012)
  8. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
  9. Red Hook Summer (Spike Lee, 2012)
  10. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (David Gelb, 2011)

MARK SPRATT

Director of Potential Films, Melbourne.
Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) extended version
Chaharshanbe-soori (Fireworks Wednesday, Asghar Faradi, 2006)
No (Pablo Larraín, 2012)
Dareun naraeseo (In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Io e te (Me and You, Bernardo Bertolucci, 2012)
Wuthering Heights (Andrea Arnold, 2011)
Aynehaye Rooberoo (Facing Mirrors, Negar Azarbavjani, 2011)
Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami, 2012)
Runners up that would replace some of the above on other days:
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
Les Adieux à la Reine (Farewell, My Queen, Benoît Jacquot, 2012)
The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2011)
Bernie (Richard Linklater, 2011)
Aside from the well-noted fact that more superior long-form drama (and comedy) can be found on television than in cinemas, the two most interesting motion picture experiences I had in 2012 were in galleries: The Clock (Christian Marclay, 2010), a staggering and hypnotic achievement of which I still have some of its 24 hours to catch up with, and two multi-screen installations by Candice Breitz: “Him” and “Her” in which many scenes from the films of Jack Nicholson (in Him) and Meryl Streep (in Her), isolate the actors from their filmic background leaving the actors to speak to and interrogate each other across space and time on many themes of character, identity, success, failure, anger and disappointment. Both the Barclay and Breitz works seem to be ways of processing 110 years of cinema in fascinating new ways.
No

BRAD STEVENS

Author of Monte Hellman: His Life and Films and Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision.
  1. 4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara, 2011)
  2. A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, 2011)
  3. Un été brûlant (That Summer, Philippe Garrel, 2011)
  4. J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood, 2011)
  5. Life Just Is (Alex Barrett, 2012)
  6. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen, 2011)
  7. Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
  8. Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2011)
  9. War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011)
  10. Wild and Precious (Bill Mousoulis, 2012)
Retrospective discoveries:
  1. Kotan no kuchibue (Whistling in Kotan, Naruse Mikio, 1959)
  2. Aki tachinu (Approach of Autumn, Naruse Mikio, 1960)
  3. Tsuam to shite onna to shite (As a Wife, As a Woman, Naruse Mikio, 1961)
  4. Onna no za (A Woman’s Place, Naruse Mikio, 1962)
  5. Play It As It Lays (Frank Perry, 1972)
  6. The Queen’s Guards (Michael Powell, 1961)
  7. Up the River (John Ford, 1930)
  8. The Guns of Fort Petticoat (George Marshall, 1957)
  9. Die verliebte Firma (The Company’s In Love, Max Ophuls, 1932)
  10. Uski Roti (Our Daily Bread, Mani Kaul, 1970)
  11. Arigato-san (Mr Thank You, Shimizu Hiroshi, 1936)
  12. Kodomo no shiki (Four Seasons of Childhood, Shimizu Hiroshi, 1939)
  13. Kanzashi (Ornamental Hairpin, Shimizu Hiroshi, 1941)
  14. Itsuwareru seiso (Clothes of Deception, Yoshimura Kōzaburō, 1951)
  15. Onna no saka (A Woman’s Uphill Slope, Yoshimura Kōzaburō, 1960)

GINA TELAROLI

Gina Telaroli uses images and text to examine movies and made the feature film Traveling Light.
The best films I saw in 2012 and probably for years to come. Pairings and lists, organised horizontally and vertically and however else makes sense. All films seen for the first time and on 35mm.
Gallant Journey (William Wellman, 1946) / Buffalo Bill (William Wellman, 1944)
Starman (John Carpenter, 1984) / Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987)
La pyramide humaine (Jean Rouch, 1961) / Horendi (Jean Rouch, 1972)
Les aventures de Robert Macaire (Jean Epstein, 1925)/ Pasteur (Jean Epstein, 1922)
Trás-os-Montes (António Reis & Margarida Cordeiro, 1976)/ Jaime (António Reis, 1974)
Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock, 1943) / Murder! (Alfred Hitchcock, 1930)
Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944) / The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, 1948)
The ‘Burbs (Joe Dante, 1989) / Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Joe Dante, 1989)
You Were Never Duckier (Chuck Jones, 1948) / Fastest with the Mostest (Chuck Jones, 1960)
And….
For film as object and as experience: Eniaios Cycles 6,7,8 (Gregory Markopoulos) / Monument Film (Peter Kubelka, 2012)
For the fact that some of the best movies are still only available on film: Young Eagles (Wellman, 1930) / Reaching For the Sun (Wellman, 1941)
For making the most of digital formats and sharing amongst friends: Adieu au TNS (Jean-Luc Godard, 1998) / Dernier Soupir (Jean-Claude Rousseau, 2011)
For the times – when the state of repertory cinema and politics inspires and depresses me in equal measure: Cinetract Series, #’s 1-3 (David Phelps, 2012)

RÜDIGER TOMCZAK

Publishes the film magazine shomingeki since 1995 and still tries to keep it going.
The fact that the most recent film by Terrence Malick is postponed for spring 2013 and that I was unable to see it this year is the biggest disappointment of this year.
1. Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland, Yang Yonghi, 2012)
Yang´s third film (also her third masterpiece) and first fiction film stayed with me since its world premiere at the International Forum of Young Cinema, February 2012. Again (like my last year’s Number 1 The Tree of Life) a very personal, obviously autobiographical film. And it fits by the way quite well into Adrian Martin’s definition of “great events and ordinary people” in his wonderful essay on Malick’s masterpiece The Tree of Life.
2. Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2012)
For my part Scorsese’s finest film since Age of Innocence.
3. No Man’s Zone (Toshi Fujiwara, 2011)
4. Parabeton Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concret (Heinz Emigholz, 2012)
5. Golden Slumber (Davy Chou, 2011)
A kind of requiem for the lost history of Cambodian Cinema.
6. 1700 Kelvin (Anamika Bandopadhyay, 2012)
A passionate, angry and heartbreaking film about massacres in West Bengal against villagers made with no budget.
7. Madhabilata (Paramita Das, 2012)
I am happy enough to have found this film, a personal experimental essay which evokes in me the films by Trinh T. Min-ha and Terrence Malick at the same time.
8. For Ellen (So Yong Kim, 2012)
9. Feature Film (Juhui Kwon, 2012)
A first long film which promises a new master.
10. Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
As I am a late bloomer among personal discoveries, I just recently saw Patricio Guzman´s masterpiece The Battle of Chile (1975-79), which had quite an impact. It is not only a precious document of the last days of the Unidad Popular without the least trace of embellishment. It is also a memory of what the world has lost when the Pinochet’s coup d’état destroyed a social movement so close to realising its utopias, which just failed against tanks, machine guns and bombs. The last part really blew me away. Workers, peasants, probably most of them illiterate kept the industry of the country together despite attacks including international boycotts and terrorist acts from the fascists. It is hard to imagine in our present neoliberal order, but it is a fact that the poorest among the poorest people participated in building a new Chile on a level most left-wingers never dared to dream of. It is hard to bear that cinematographer Jorge Muller Silva was murdered by the Pinochet dictatorship one year after the coup d’état.
For Ellen

PETER TONGUETTE

Has written on film for many publications, including Sight & Sound, Film Comment and The Wall Street Journal.
1. Damsels in Distress (Whit Stillman, 2011)
2. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) [extended cut]
3. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg, 2012)
4. Carnage (Roman Polanski, 2011)
5. Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012)
6. Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
7. Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, 2011)
8. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)
9. Trouble with the Curve (Robert Lorenz, 2012)
10. To Rome With Love (Woody Allen, 2012)

ROBERT VON DASSANOWSKY

Professor of Film Studies at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, an independent producer, and the editor of New Austrian Film (with Oliver Speck, 2011), Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds: A Manipulation of Metacinema (2012), and World Film Locations: Vienna (2012).
Top ten films of 2012 (in no particular order)
Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Die Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World, Detlev Buck, 2012)
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair, Nikolaj Arcel, 2012)
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012)
Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard, 2012)
Hannah Arendt (Margarethe von Trotta, 2012)
Les adieux à la reine (Farewell, My Queen, Benoît Jacquot, 2012)
Very honourable mentions
Die Wand (The Wall, Julian Pölsler, 2012) Little Deaths (Ruth Lingford, 2010), Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012), Menschen (Sarah R. Lotfi, 2012), Spanien (Spain, Anja Salomonowitz, 2012), Hitchcock (Sacha Gervasi, 2012), L’Ambassadeur et moi (Jan Czarlewski, 2011).
Argo

TOMASZ WARCHOL

Teaches film studies at Georgia Southern University and runs a film program in Savannah, Georgia.
  1. In Darkness (Agnieszka Holland, 2011)
  2. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
  3. Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)
  4. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
  5. The Sapphires (Wayne Blair, 2012)
  6. Elena (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2011)
  7. Hodejegerne (Headhunters, Morten Tyldum, 2011)
  8. Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley, 2011)
  9. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
  10. Chico i Rita (Chico & Rita, Javier Mariscal, Tono Erando & Fernando Trueba, 2010)
# 1,2,6, 7, 8, and 10 were not released into US theatres until 2012. For that reason I could not include a few new ones because they have not yet been released on my side of the globe (Berberian Sound Studio, Spring Breakers, Barbara, The Hunt, Sister, Angels’ Share, Django, etc).

HENRY WELSH 

Best films from Canada:
Esimésac (Luc Picard, 2012)
Camion (Rafaël Ouellet, 2012)
Inch’allah (Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, 2012)
Monsieur Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau, 2011)
Columbarium (Steve Kerr, 2012)
Hors les murs (Beyond the Walls, David Lambert, 2012)
La mise à l’aveugle (Simon Galiero, 2012)
Over My Dead Body (Brigitte Poupart, 2012)
Tout ce que tu possèdes (Bernard Émond, 2012)
Another Silence (Santiago Amigorena, 2011) 

VIRGINIA WRIGHT WEXMAN

Professor Emerita of English and Art History at the University of Illinois, Chicago and author of A History of Film (now in its seventh edition) and other books on cinema. Her website Film Festival Tourism welcomes comments. 
This year I made it to Palm Springs, Sundance, Todos Santos, Wisconsin (Madison), TCM (Los Angeles), Cinema Ritrovato (Bologna), Wood’s Hole, Venice, Chicago, and Savannah. The following are some of the highlights:
Best new international cinema:
  1. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011) (Wisconsin)
  2. Dupa dealuri (Beyond the Hills, Christian Mungiu, 2012) (Chicago)
  3. Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die, Taviani Brothers, 2012) (Chicago
  4. Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011) (Palm Springs)
  5. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven, Andrés Wood, 2011) (Sundance)
  6. Après mai (Something in the Air, Olivier Assayas, 2012) (Venice)
  7. Kapringen (A Hijacking, Tobias Lindholm, 2012) (Venice)
  8. Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die, Gabriella Pichler, 2012) (Venice)
  9. Linhas de Wellington (Lines of Wellington, Valeria Sarmiento, 2012) (Venice)
  10. Io sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet, Andrea Segre, 2012) (Chicago)
Best revivals:
Girl Shy (Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, 1924) (TCM)
The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh, 1930) (Bologna)
American Dreams: Lost and Found (James Benning, 1984) (Venice)
Stromboli (Roberto Rossellini, 1950) (Venice)
Best retrospectives:
Raoul Walsh, Lois Weber (both Bologna)
Unknown Film Noir (TCM)
Best live musical accompaniments:
Timothy Brock’s lyrical symphonic score for Prix de beauté (Augusto Genina, 1930), Bologna’s opening night film screened in the Piazza Maggiore.
Donald Sosin supplementing his piano accompaniment to The Mystery of the Hindu Image (Raoul Walsh, 1914) with eerie chanting at climactic moments. (Bologna)
Neil Brand’s rousing, expertly modulated score for What Price Glory (Raoul Walsh, 1926) (Bologna)
Gabriell Thibaudeau’s performing his new score for The Thief of Bagdad (Raoul Walsh, 1924), accompanied by a local violinist. (Bologna)
Robert Israel’s rollicking orchestral score for Girl Shy. (TCM)
Festival awards:
Best filmmaker turnout (at screenings I attended): Venice
Best fest venue: Sundance Cinemas (Wisconsin)
Worst fest venue: Pala Biennale (a tent with port-a-potties) (Venice)
Best program notes: Bologna
Best fest promo reels: Bologna, TCM, Todos Santos
Most charming festival director: Sylvia Perel (Todos Santos)
Most beautiful surroundings: Venice, Savannah
Most enthusiastic audiences: Todos Santos
Best festival volunteers: Sundance, TCM
Longest lines: Sundance
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die)

NEIL YOUNG

Film critic and Co-Director of the Bradford International Film Festival.
2012 world premieres
Era Uma Vez Eu, Verônica (Once Upon a Time Was I, Veronica; Marcelo Gomes, 2012)
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel, 2012)
Project X (Nima Nourizadeh, 2012)
Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012)
Ted (Seth MacFarlane, 2012)
Ya tozhe khochu (Me Too, Alexei Balabanov, 2012)
2012 UK releases
Elena (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2011)
Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
2012 retrospective/archive discoveries
Belarmino (Fernando Lopes, 1964) Viennale, October
The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston, 1975) Viennale, October
Pickup On South Street (Samuel Fuller, 1953) Paris rep-house screening, April
Reise in Amerika – Highway 40 West (Highway 40 West, Hartmut Bitomsky, 1981) LIFFe Ljubljana, November
Spalovač mrtvol (The Cremator, Juraj Herz, 1969) New Horizons Wrocław, July
The Thing From Another World (Christian Nyby, 1951) Viennale, October
The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927) FIDMarseille, July

END.

1 komentar:

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