When you put the master
of suspense with a tour de force of acting and one of the most exciting stories
of this decade, you get Zero Dark Thirty. Screenwriter Mark Boal, a former
investigative journalist, creates a doc like atmosphere with his extensive
research. Knowing we are watching near-fact, the audience shudders remembering
the real events depicted within the film. Bigelow not only stretches our agonizing
anticipation as far as it can go but handles the difficult subject of Bin Laden
with a neutral non-political lense a filmmaker only as mature as she can
provide.
Independent filmmaker Benh
Zeitlin’s breakthrough work tells the story of Hush Puppy, a six-year-old girl
living with her father, in the town of The Bathtub. Beasts of the Southern Wild
skillfully uses almost dreamlike art direction to instill fantasy into the
heartbreakingly real story of poverty in Katrina struck Louisiana. The strength
of five-year-old actress Quvenzhané Wallis and the affecting music by Zeitlin and Dan Romer are
the final elements to hurl this movie into near perfection.
3. Les Miserables
Tom Hooper boldly takes
on two untouchable tasks of adapting the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s
Les Miserables and shooting the first musical film with live singing. The
choice is exceptionally executed by a revolutionary sound and editing
department and allows the phenomenal cast to emotionally perform the songs. In
addition, every shot of poverty stricken France is a stunning achievement and
Hooper proves what films are really meant for.
4. Silver Linings
Playbook
The same natural family
dynamic that made a success of The Fighter proves to do the same in David O.
Russell’s multilayered story of mental illness, family, love and recovery in
Silver Lining’s Playbook. Each scene makes the audience either hysterical in
laughter, tears or compassion for these flawed lovable characters. This is a
film you cannot dissect into directing, writing and acting because they feed
off each other in creating a heartfelt genuine movie experience.
5. The Master
It’s Paul Thomas Anderson
at his craziest, most controversial and most beautiful in the long awaited The
Master. Through the power of Anderson’s intelligent words and Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s
hypnotic performance, we easily fall into the awakening heartrending devoted
The Cause, that can easily be compared to scientology. Joaquin Pheonix and the
70mm film further embellish this haunting film that will remain in your
thoughts long after you leave the theatre. 
Coming out of nowhere, despite
its legendary director Robert Zemeckis, of Forrest Gump and Cast Away, and its
prominent lead Denzel Washington, is Flight. The film tells the unconventional
story of an alcoholic pilot whom, though being treated like a hero, may have
caused the deaths of six people on his plane. Washington is at his finest in a
film that examines humans in their most raw forms and challenges the audience to
both root and hate its complicated antihero.
Tarantino whatever boundaries
he’d yet to break through by giving his cinematic gift to the touchy topic of
slavery. Tarantino’s reappearing combination of fun adventure and disturbing
torture twists and affects the audience almost immediately. Though Jamie Foxx
and Christoph Waltz carry the film beautifully, it is Leonardo Dicaprio that
steals the film, like most Tarantino villains do, as the sadistic plantation
owner Calvin Candie.
8. Lincoln
The project Spielberg has
reportedly spent his entire career working toward paid off in a cleverly
crafted and thoroughly researched depiction of the revered honest Abe, during
the last few months of his presidency. Tony Kushner’s dynamic and accurate
script, that took numerous tries to get right, shines through the world’s
greatest actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, in his finest role yet. Sally Field, a face
we have not seen in a while, is also exceptional as the tortured Mary Todd
Lincoln.
The anticipated finale to
Christopher Nolan’s reinterpreted Batman franchise lives up to its bankable and
now artistic name. With new exceptional performances from Anne Hathaway and Tom
Hardy, among the slew of new faces to the trilogy, one would think the plot
could become a tragic mess. However Nolan, and his brother Jonathan weave a
simultaneously complex and clear story to appropriately rise to his previous
works of genius.
10. The Sessions
The festival favourite of
2012 tells the remarkable true story of Mark O’Brien, a man who is paralyzed
from the neck down and wishes to successfully have sex at least once before he
dies. The quirky charm and endearing poignancy of Ben Lewin’s The Sessions can
only be further catapulted by its maverick lead John Hawks. He fully transforms himself into Mark
and accomplishes the impossible task of making an unfamiliar kind of man seem
like a best friend.
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