We’ve now come to the end of our 2012 awards. This was a great year for film and it’s time for us to celebrate our favorites. Here are the Top 10 Films of 2012, as voted on the members of the LAMB, with brief tributes from some of their biggest fans.
‘The complete package – performances, direction, writing, score, and cinematography – combine to make The Perks of Being a Wallflower a film for the ages”. TC Kirkham, Popcorn N Roses
10. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (l64 points)
“It rewards those opening their eyes with a vividly allegorical film about the lengths of human control, one with tour de force performances, hauntingly pallid colors and towering images of stunning depth and clarity.” Brian Welk, The Sanity Clause
9. The Master (166 points)
“Much like its lead actor, Looper is destined for higher things. It is fated to become a sci-fi classic.” Colin Biggs, Never Mind Pop Film
8. Looper (190 points)
“In his 50th year of onscreen existence, James Bond proves he is more vibrant and vital than ever by offering an intense, state of the art action film; one that is both pointed and personal.” Dan Fogarty, Fogs’ Movie Reviews
7. Skyfall (198 points)
“It’s an excellent film, a delightful fable that has heart without being sunk by sentimentality and wit without being too clever.” Stephanie, The Flick Chick
6. Moonrise Kingdom (240 points)
“It is both gripping and emotional, a movie that is sure to have your eyes glued to the screen for its 164 minute runtime.” Alex Thomas, Time for a film
5. The Dark Knight Rises (252 points)
“The pace and sheer entertainment value of The Avengers will scoop you up and not let you go – like Hulk’s grubby mitts.” Ben Hayward, Benend’s Basement
4. The Avengers (261 points)
“As a document of revenge and manhunt and the search for justice, Bigelow’s film is infinitely fascinating.” Jon Warner, Films Worth Watching
3. Zero Dark Thirty (263 points)
“A slick, sharp-tongued, bloody action epic that has Quentin Tarantino’s fingerprints all over every smartly homaged frame.” Thomas Bond, The Film Discussion
2. Django Unchained (323 points)
“This film shows that the key to being a good spy and the key to making a good movie are one and the same — having the ability to tell to a good story.” Paula, Paula’s Cinema Club
1. Argo (335 points)
Thanks to Alex of Film Forager for providing this special sketch! Make sure to go to her Etsy shop, where you can find her other awesome artwork, including an exclusive original movie poster of 2010 Lion Award winner Black Swan.
Just like it has done for this entire awards season, Argo has cleaned up the Best Film and Best Director awards. As an Oscar blogger this category was very fascinating to me. As the votes came in, I made sure to keep track of the #1 votes and it became clear to be that Django Unchained would run away with the prize. In fact, I had already contacted Alex to do artwork for Django Unchained! However, despite having more 1st place points than Argo (11 vs 7), it was the common presence of Argo throughout the ballots that pushed it to the top. Our voting system is similar to the Academy’s preferential ballot, which ranks all the nominees and gives more weight to the higher ranked films. You always hear people say that the safe, consensus pick always wins the Oscar and this is a perfect example of how that happens.
Another reason for tracking the #1 votes was to see how many nominees we would get under the current Academy rules(5% of 1st place votes gets you the nod). Under those conditions we would have only ended up with 7 nominees. This lineup of nominees would be a little different from our top 10 – Django Unchained, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Avengers, Moonrise Kingdom, Skyfall and Holy Motors.
Our list includes 3 Oscar nominees at the top, with 4 others falling just short of the Top 10. Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln and Beasts of the Southern Wild finished 11th-14th respectively. Amour and Les Miserables also made the Top 20, finishing 16th and 18th.
To wrap up, I would once again like to say many thanks to all those who voted and I look forward to seeing what 2013 has in store. Enjoy the Oscars tonight!
Previous Winners
2007: Hot Fuzz
2008: Wall-E
2009: Inglourious Basterds
2010: Black Swan
2011: Drive