staceywi (Level 11)

Another comedy that captured my heart was Wes Anderson's latest Moonrise Kingdom. It is arguably one of his best movies to date. The quirky film follows the story of young love between and orphaned Boy Scout and the precious and awkward love of his life. The look and production design sets a very specific dreamy tone that feels as if you have been transported to a faraway land. There are many well-known actors in the movie (Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand) but it is the young couple that steals the show. The film was made in a very meticulous manner and that comes across on screen and luckily in a good way, not with the pretentiousness that Anderson's films sometimes can.

Pulp Fiction will always be my favorite Tarantino movie, but Django Unchained has now become a close second. The spaghetti western blaxploitation film had me doing something that I never thought it would be – one of the funniest movies of the year. It was an odd experience to be laughing out loud at such a depressing occurrence in American history. However, the way in which it is executed is brilliant and actually shows the ridiculousness of this dark time. Also, I feel like a broken record, but the acting is also spectacular. Jamie Foxx is great but it is Christoph Walz, Leonardo Di Caprio and Samuel L. Jackson who steal the show.

I thought it was possible with Gone Baby Gone, was pretty convinced with The Town, but found it to truly be solidified with Argo: Ben Affleck is a great film director. The film is a historical fiction based on events in 1979 and the CIA agent led rescue of six US diplomats during the Iran Hostage crisis. The dialogue is funny and my biggest and most emphatic endorsement for Argo is the fact that although you know how the film is going to end, it is still incredibly suspenseful. I literally found myself screaming out loud (I watched a screener. Don’t worry, I didn't yell in a movie theater) trying to get them to get out. That is a big accomplishment and I am fully impressed with everyone aspect of the film, not to mention the fact that it is just fun to watch.

– I stumbled upon this documentary on Netflix and boy am I happy I did. It is one of the most fascinating glimpses into the over-indulgent wealthy American culture that I have seen. The documentary follows the lives of billionaires Jackie and David Siegel as they embark on construction of the largest and most expensive single family home in the United States – called Versailles. While the beginning is interesting, the best part of the film occurs when they are filming during the economic crisis of 2008. They go from being billionaires to having to "cut back" and stay in the house with only 12 or so rooms…the horror. However, it is fascinating to watch the struggles of the family and couple and actually tells a pretty great tale about marriage, wealth and family in America.

The Dark Knight Rises was not the best in the series, but it still was a good film. When I reflected upon, it felt more like it was an extension of The Dark Knight. Now, it had its problems. I am not a fan of Anne Hatheway and while Tom Hardy is great, I had difficulty understanding anything that Bane said. However, I still like the movie. A lot. Whereas The Dark Knight would have been number one of my list in 2008, this one just falls farther down on the list. But it is on there and it was one of my favorite movies of the year.

I know this choice might be controversial, but as this is my favorite films of 2012, not necessarily "the best" I stand by the choice. Yes, some of the humor might be called "low brow" but in a day and age where there isn't a lot of actual humor in many comedic films, I was pleased with all of the laughs. It was the first feature film of Family Guy creater Seth MacFarlane and follows the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) and his real live stuffed best friend, Ted. They drink together, they do drugs together and pretty much just do everything together. Oh, and "fuck you thunder, you can suck my dick".

I am not putting this on here just because I am annoyed that Skyfall was snubbed in the Academy Award nominations, but just because I thought it was a goddamned good movie. First of all, it extremely impressive to make one of the best films in an action franchise's history after being 50 years old. But also, the story was great, Javier Bardem's performance is creepy, but in all the right ways and the cinematography is insane - like, incredibly good insane.