The Best Films of 2012

If ever there was a time when the phrase “better late than never” was put to the test, it is now. The hour has come, at long last, for me to reveal my favorite movies of 2012. I know you’ve all been at the edge of your seat, constantly wondering what I have to say on the matter. Well, worry no longer, dear readers. The list has finally arrived. As usual, making this thing was an arduous process, and ultimately I came up with a list not all that dissimilar to some of the other lists out there. 2012 was a year where almost every beloved movie had its vocal detractors, but ultimately when it came time to name the best of the year most critics seemed to agree on a handful of titles. This is quite the contrast to 2011, a year when no two top 10 lists looked even remotely alike.

The Rejects of 2012

Anyone can make a list of the best and worst movies of the year. Heck, I do it. But what often goes unappreciated during list-making season (which I realize I’ve missed by like a month) are all the movies in between. In particular, the films that fail at the box office are usually doomed to lifetime of obscurity. This was a year where quite a few films were notable for their lack of financial and critical success, and as such I have decided to piece together my third annual list of the year’s rejects, because every movie deserves a fair shake. I haven’t necessarily seen all these—which means I have only contributed to their rejection—but I will do my best to look back at what went wrong and whether or not these poor devils deserve a second chance. I have also decided to hand out a special award at the end of the post, so stay tuned for that.

And now, let us begin our short journey into the films that made audiences say “thanks, but no thanks.”

The Worst Films of 2012

Well, it’s about time I get around to my 2012 in review posts, wouldn’t you say? I’ve done my lists later than most in the past, simply because I feel it’s important to actually see all the movies that people are talking about. (Or at least as many of them as possible.) This year, Zero Dark Thirty was the big holdup, and now that I’ve seen that I feel quite comfortable in putting a bow on last year. I will have three posts hitting the web in the next few days, starting with this one. Look for my annual “Rejects of the Year” post next, and finally my list of the best films of last year shortly thereafter. After that, we can finally move on to lucky 2013.

I figured I’d start with the easiest—and most negative—of these three lists: the five worst films of the year. Sure, it’s low-hanging fruit, but sometimes that’s the tastiest kind. I’m not exactly breaking any new ground here, and this was a year where I never really had the time to see too many bad movies, but I couldn’t avoid all of the stinkers. The good news is that I never gave any movie an ‘F” this year, so that means the second annual Last Airbender Memorial Award for Special Achievement in Terribleness will go without a winner this year. No one quite earned it. Still, I saw my fair share of terrible movies this year, and I shall take you on a journey through them all below. Enjoy.

The CinemaSlants 2012 Mid-Year Report

Once more, ladies and gentlemen, we find ourselves sixth months into the year. For those of you who aren’t all that great at math, this is the halfway point. This means that we have already experienced about half of the cinematic output that the world is going to throw at us in 2012. This means that I will continue my annual tradition of a mid-year report, in which I look back on the year so far and tell you what I’ve liked, disliked, and everything in between. So strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride! (And other clichés.)