30 Best Films of 2012
by keBinlee | created - 18 Oct 2012 | updated - 11 Feb 2018 | Public\A list of my 30 favourite films released in the year 2012.
NOTE: With some films that have a 2011 date, they are on the list due to being released 2012 in Australia.
Just missed the cut:
-Wreck It Ralph
-Beasts of the Southern Wild
-Seven Psychopaths
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1. The Master (2012)
R | 138 min | Drama, History
A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by the Cause and its charismatic leader.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons
Votes: 186,315 | Gross: $16.38M
9/10
2. Killing Them Softly (2012)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, Scoot McNairy
Votes: 153,249 | Gross: $15.03M
9/10
3. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,955 | Gross: $162.81M
9/10
4. Samsara (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 102 min | Documentary, Music
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
Director: Ron Fricke | Stars: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika
Votes: 38,069 | Gross: $2.67M
9/10
5. Detachment (2011)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu
Votes: 99,261 | Gross: $0.07M
9/10
6. Looper (2012)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano
Votes: 603,302 | Gross: $66.49M
9/10
7. A Separation (2011)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi | Stars: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini
Votes: 258,701 | Gross: $7.10M
9/10
8. Skyfall (2012)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. When MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench
Votes: 731,452 | Gross: $304.36M
9/10
9. Life of Pi (2012)
PG | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Votes: 667,273 | Gross: $124.99M
9/10
10. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 930,404 | Gross: $13.18M
9/10
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 548,418 | Gross: $17.74M
9/10
12. The Sessions (2012)
R | 95 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.
Director: Ben Lewin | Stars: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood
Votes: 43,994 | Gross: $6.00M
9/10
13. Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
PG-13 | 86 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.
Director: Malik Bendjelloul | Stars: Rodriguez, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore
Votes: 72,937 | Gross: $3.97M
9/10
14. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
PG-13 | 164 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Eight years after the Joker's reign of chaos, Batman is coerced out of exile with the assistance of the mysterious Selina Kyle in order to defend Gotham City from the vicious guerrilla terrorist Bane.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman
Votes: 1,829,124 | Gross: $448.14M
8/10
15. The King of Pigs (2011)
97 min | Animation, Drama, Thriller
Jong-suk and Kyung-min meet up to talk about their high school past, it's been 15 years since they last talked. It brings up all kinds of memories.
Director: Yeon Sang-ho | Stars: Yang Ik-joon, Oh Jung-se, Hye-na Kim, Kim Kkobbi
Votes: 1,817
8/10
16. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 743,143 | Gross: $132.09M
8/10
17. My Brother the Devil (2012)
Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Two teenage brothers must face their own prejudices head on if they are to survive the perils of being Egyptians growing up on the streets of gangland London.
Director: Sally El Hosaini | Stars: James Krishna Floyd, Elarica Johnson, Fady Elsayed, Saïd Taghmaoui
Votes: 3,367 | Gross: $0.01M
8/10
18. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong
Votes: 319,112 | Gross: $95.72M
8/10
19. Argo (2012)
R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin
Votes: 639,395 | Gross: $136.03M
8/10
20. Ted (2012)
R | 106 min | Comedy
John Bennett, a man whose childhood wish of bringing his teddy bear to life came true, now must decide between keeping the relationship with the bear, Ted or his girlfriend, Lori.
Director: Seth MacFarlane | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane, Joel McHale
Votes: 658,022 | Gross: $218.82M
8/10
21. 21 Jump Street (2012)
R | 109 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A pair of underachieving cops are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Stars: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Brie Larson
Votes: 598,969 | Gross: $138.45M
8/10
22. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
PG-13 | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Two 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray
Votes: 366,876 | Gross: $45.51M
8/10
23. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
PG | 81 min | Documentary
A documentary on 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, his renowned Tokyo restaurant, and his relationship with his son and eventual heir, Yoshikazu.
Director: David Gelb | Stars: Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Daisuke Nakazama
Votes: 38,038 | Gross: $2.55M
8/10
24. Amour (2012)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama
Georges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Alexandre Tharaud
Votes: 105,742 | Gross: $6.74M
8/10
25. Lore (2012)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, Romance, War
As the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents' beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
Director: Cate Shortland | Stars: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai-Peter Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina Lardi
Votes: 15,938 | Gross: $0.97M
8/10
26. Haywire (2011)
R | 93 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Angarano
Votes: 89,798 | Gross: $18.94M
8/10
27. The Thieves (2012)
Not Rated | 135 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
After a heist in South Korea, a gang of 5+1 fly to Hong Kong to look into a heist, in a Macau casino, of a $30M diamond, planned by someone unreliable. He brings in HK thieves as well. Can anyone be trusted?
Director: Dong-hoon Choi | Stars: Kim Yoon-seok, Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-su, Jun Ji-hyun
Votes: 11,559 | Gross: $0.69M
8/10
28. Like Someone in Love (2012)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama
In Tokyo, a young sex worker develops an unexpected connection with a widower over a period of two days.
Directors: Abbas Kiarostami, Banafsheh Modaressi | Stars: Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryô Kase, Denden
Votes: 13,093 | Gross: $0.22M
8/10
29. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012)
R | 91 min | Documentary
A documentary that chronicles artist and activist Ai Weiwei as he prepares for a series of exhibitions and gets into an increasing number of clashes with the Chinese government.
Director: Alison Klayman | Stars: Ai Weiwei, Dan Ai, Lao Ai, Lee Ambrozy
Votes: 4,529 | Gross: $0.53M
8/10
30. Cloud Atlas (2012)
R | 172 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 374,543 | Gross: $27.11M
8/10
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