My Films of 2012 - Sorted and without (much) Comment

So in 2011 I spent ten days leading up to New Years' Eve running through the 100 best films I had seen for the first time that year, leading up to Akira Kurosawa' glorious 1985 masterpiece Ran. You may have noticed (probably not) that I didn't do the same leading up to the end of 2012. There are two reasons for that: 1, that running through my reading challenge took far longer than anticipated, so I didn't have the time even to sort the films I saw last year; and 2, the sad truth is that there weren't all that many films I saw in 2012 that I really had a lot to say about, so my motivation just wasn't there.

A main part of the problem regarding this latter impediment was that I seem to have taken a different philosophy to my film-watching in 2012. There weren't many catch-ups of famous directors like I did with Woody Allen or Charlie Chaplin in 2011, I didn't once focus on trying to knock out the top 250 films I hadn't seen; in fact what I seemed to do most often was catch up with modern-era films (specifically from the last 30 years) that I hear come up in conversations and that therefore must have some merit or memorability. The trouble is, these aren't great influential films that contribute to cinema as an art form but rather mildly amusing diversions that people have enjoyed once, so will occasionally mention in conversation, and you will notice a lot of those sort of films particularly near the bottom of my list.

Because, oh yes, did I mention? I have nevertheless ranked the movies I saw in 2012. It feels a bit empty and unfulfilled if I don't have a list to refer to, because I am such a compulsive list-maker, but because it's quite after the fact, I am presenting them here purely in countdown-list form and without any comment. While there are quite a few that I have things to say about, I don't want to play obvious favouritism and write those up and not others, and for many of the others if I did present comment it would be so faint-hearted as to be negligible.

However, I am willing to offer defences of particular spots on the ranking, so if anything particularly disturbs you about my list, please let me know in the comments or elsewhere, and I will endeavour to provide a proper write-up for those you single out.

Otherwise, here is my unadulterated and no-further-commentary list of films I saw (for the first time) in 2012:

152) War Horse (2011, Steven Spielberg)

151) Joe vs the Volcano (1990, John Patrick Shanley)

150) The Pillow Book (1996, Peter Greenaway)

149) Airheads (1994, Michael Lehmann)

148) Meet me in St Louis (1944, Vincente Minnelli)

147) No Reservations (2007, Scott Hicks)

146) Lady in the Water (2006, M Night Shyamalan)

145) Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (1937, David Hand et al.)

144) Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion (1997, David Mirkin)

143) Accidental Tourist (1988, Lawrence Kasdan)

142) How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008, Robert B Weide)

141) Bambi (1942, Sam Armstrong, David Hand et al.)

140) Revenge of the Nerds (1984, Jeff Kanew)

139) Around the World in 80 Days (1956, Michael Anderson)

138) Signs (2002, M Night Shyamalan)

137) The Ghost & The Darkness (1996, Stephen Hopkins)

136) The Terminal (2004, Steven Spielberg)

135) An Unfinished Life (2005, Lasse Halström)

134) Pinocchio (1940, Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen et al.)

133) The Producers (1968, Mel Brooks)

132) Alfie (1966, Lewis Gilbert)

131) Driving Miss Daisy (1989, Bruce Beresford)

130) The Apostle (1997, Robert Duvall)

129) The Cider House Rules (1999, Lasse Hallstrom)

128) The Mirror (Zerkalo, 1975, Andrei Tarkovsky)

127) Insomnia (2002, Christopher Nolan)

126) Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974, Sam Peckinpah)

125) The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989, Steve Kloves)

124) The Poseidon Adventure (1972, Ronald Neame)

123) Number Seventeen (1932, Alfred Hitchcock)

122) There's Something About Mary (1998, Peter & Bobby Farrelly)

121) Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998, Andy Tennant)

120) Withnail & I (1987, Bruce Robinson)

119) The Boys from Brazil (1978, Franklin J Schaffner)

118) Poltergeist (1982, Tobe Hooper)

117) Heathers (1988, Michael Lehmann)

116) The Cannonball Run (1981, Hal Needham)

115) Rounders (1998, John Dahl)

114) The Rainmaker (1997, Francis Ford Coppola)

113) The Year of Living Dangerously (1982, Peter Weir)

112) Lady & the Tramp (1955, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske)

111) Veer/Zaara (2004, Yash Chopra)

110) Black Narcissus (1947, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

109) Pretty in Pink (1986, Howard Deutch)

108) The Saint (1997, Phillip Noyce)

107) The Descendants (2011, Alexander Payne)

106) The Pelican Brief (1993, Alan J Pakula)

105) Day of the Jackal (1973, Fred Zinnemann)

104) Brick (2005, Rian Johnson)

103) The Boondock Saints (1999, Troy Duffy)

102) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011, Stephen Daldry)

101) Bottle Rocket (1996, Wes Anderson)

100) Changeling (2008, Clint Eastwood)

99) The Help (2011, Tate Taylor)

98) Hot Fuzz (2007, Edgar Wright)

97) Papillon (1973, Franklin J Schaffner)

96) Ocean's Eleven (2001, Steven Soderbergh)

95) Natural Born Killers (1994, Oliver Stone)

94) High Plains Drifter (1973, Clint Eastwood)

93) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962, Robert Aldrich)

92) Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (2007, David Yates)

91) The Dirty Dozen (1967, Robert Aldrich)

90) The Last Battle (Le Dernier Combat, 1983, Luc Besson)

89) Winter's Bone (2010, Debra Granik)

88) THX 1138 (1971, George Lucas)

87) Quiz Show (1994, Robert Redford)

86) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, Shane Black)

85) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)

84) Soylent Green (1973, Richard Fleischer)

83) Remember the Titans (2000, Boaz Yakin)

82) Smokey & the Bandit (1977, Hal Needham)

81) The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

80) Shotgun Stories (2007, Jeff Nichols)

79) Escape from New York (1981, John Carpenter)

78) Skyfall (2012, Sam Mendes)

77) Basic Instinct (1992, Paul Verhoeven)

76) The White Ribbon (Das Weiße Band, 2009, Michael Haneke)

75) Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, Michael Curtiz)

74) The Running Man (1987, Paul Michael Glaser)

73) The Iron Lady (2011, Phyllida Lloyd)

72) The Evil Dead (1981, Sam Raimi)

71) The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges)

70) I Saw the Devil (Akmareul boatda, 2010, Jee-woon Kim)

69) Brothers (2009, Jim Sheridan)

68) Secrets & Lies (1996, Mike Leigh)

67) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958, Richard Brooks)

66) The Crow (1994, Alex Proyas)

65) Big (1988, Penny Marshall)

64) Logan's Run (1976, Michael Anderson)

63) Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Paul Greengrass)

62) Paper Moon (1973, Peter Bogdanovich)

61) The Visitor (2007, Thomas McCarthy)

60) Andrei Rublev (1966, Andrei Tarkovsky)

59) Rushmore (1998, Wes Anderson)

58) The Seventh Continent (Der Siebente Kontinent, 1989, Michael Haneke)

57) Milk (2008, Gus Van Sant)

56) Beneath Clouds (2002, Ivan Sen)

55) Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011, Rupert Wyatt)

54) Duel (1971, Steven Spielberg)

53) The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)

52) The Guard (2011, John Michael McDonagh)

51) Amour (2012, Michael Haneke)

50) The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur, 1953, Henri-Georges Clouzot)

49) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, Tomas Alfredson)

48) The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

47) Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano, 1951, Vittorio de Sica)

46) Melancholia (2011, Lars von Trier)

45) Carlito's Way (1993, Brian de Palma)

44) Argo (2012, Ben Affleck)

43) The Italian Job (1969, Peter Collinson)

42) The Bourne Supremacy (2004, Paul Greengrass)

41) The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Christopher Nolan)

40) Torn Curtain (1966, Alfred Hitchcock)

39) Tabloid (2010, Errol Morris)

38) Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt, 1927, Walter Ruttmann)

37) Ivan's Childhood (Ivanovo Detstvo, 1962, Andrei Tarkovsky)

36) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992, James Foley)

35) When the Wind Blows (1986, Jimmy T Murakami)

34) Breaking Away (1979, Peter Yates)

33) Synecdoche, New York (2008, Charlie Kaufman)

32) Moonrise Kingdom (2012, Wes Anderson)

31) Rope (1948, Alfred Hitchcock)

30) Science of Sleep (La Science des Rêves, 2006, Michel Gondry)

29) Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari, 1953, Yasujiro Ozu)

28) Solaris (1972, Andrei Tarkovsky)

27) Offside (2006, Jafar Panahi)

26) They Live (1988, John Carpenter)

25) The Red Shoes (1948, Micheal Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

24) The End of the Affair (1999, Neil Jordan)

23) Moon (2009, Duncan Jones)

22) A Prophet (Un Prophète, 2009, Jacques Audiard)

21) The Lost Weekend (1945, Billy Wilder)

20) Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012, Benh Zeitlin)

19) The King of Kong (2007, Seth Gordon)

18) Gilda (1946, Charles Vidor)

17) Dark City (1998, Alex Proyas)

16) Contagion (2011, Steven Soderbergh)

15) Hotel Rwanda (2004, Terry George)

14) Badlands (1973, Terrence Malick)

13) The Iron Giant (1999, Brad Bird)

12) A Matter of Life and Death (1946, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)

11) The King of Comedy (1983, Martin Scorsese)

10) My Sassy Girl (Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo, 2001, Jae-young Kwak)

9) Y tu Mamá También (2001, Alfonso Cuáron)

8) The Artist (2011, Michel Hazanavicius)

7) Midnight Run (1988, Martin Brest)

6) A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin, 2011, Asghar Farhadi)

5) Les Diaboliques (1955, Henri-Georges Clouzot)

4) Barton Fink (1991, Joel & Ethan Coen)

3) Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Alfred Hitchcock)

2) Harold & Maude (1971, Hal Ashby)

1) Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)