2012 was certainly one of the better years for films in recent memory. Many franchises performed strongly with Christopher Nolan releasing another strong Batman film while Sam Mendes made what some have argued to be the best Bond film of all time. Added to these, we have had great directors adding to their filmographies with Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master and Michael Haneke’s Amour proving to be highlights. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen either of these films so I will not be including them in my list.
However, there are some acclaimed films which I have found distinctly underwhelming. Lawless was a poor effort at a new angle on Depression era gangsters and Les Miserables was a tame attempt at being epic, only succeeding in providing us with worse sung versions of classic songs we know and love. Keith Lemon: the Film was so bad that I almost developed an addiction to anti-depressants after watching it and Paranormal Activity 4 was in the same league of awfulness. The Impossible was also one of the worst films of the year, which was about the effects of the 2004 Asian tsunami. It was a classic example of great source material being tainted by cringeworthy melodrama and emotional manipulation and was basically begging the audience to cry. It was so bad, I wanted to make a tasteless joke comparing how disastrous it was to the tsunami itself but I have some self-restraint.
Nevertheless, as a whole, it was an above-average year. The top five in my list were all excellent efforts with the number one being, in my opinion, one of the masterpieces of modern cinema.
5. Shadow Dancer 
Set in the 1990’s during a time of excessive Provisional IRA activity, Shadow Dancer is a worthy title to start with this ‘Best Of’ list. What the film succeeds particularly well at is creating this disturbing sense of normality among the IRA members. They are portrayed not as Che Guevara type revolutionaries but people who go for drinks in the pub, look after their families and just happen to care deeply about their country. After Colette McVeigh becomes an informant on her brothers, the film manages to bring a new perspective to the Troubles. It was not just the nationalism that allowed the Provisional IRA to last so long but the sense of community felt in some areas of Northern Ireland combined with the sense of alienation felt towards the British.
4. Looper
More or less the definitive concept film of the last few years, Looper is about time travelling hit men and the issues that can arise from such a perilous occupation. The remarkable aspect of the film is that it manages to make an informed comment on the ethical nature of a fictitious event and relate it to the audience’s lives. The ending is not predictable yet fits perfectly into the film’s narrative and worldview. The only surprise with this film is that it has not become as popular as a film such as The Matrix. Science fiction is rarely so powerful or so thought provoking.
3. Rust and Bone
Marion Cotillard continues to make a good case for herself being the best actress in the world just now, with her performance as an Orca whale trainer who loses her legs and subsequently falls in love with a street fighter. This is one of those films where if you explained the plot to someone, they would not be inclined to watch it. The film’s success is thanks to its minimalistic script and the fine acting on show. It is one of those European films that succeed because it does everything a Hollywood film wouldn’t.
2. Argo
Considering the number of awful films Ben Affleck has appeared in, it is quite astonishing that he has shown himself to be the best thriller director working in Hollywood just now. Argo is one of those rare examples of a perfect thriller, which makes no wrong moves with its narrative or with its pacing. The plot is so absorbing and so outrageous that it is hard to believe it hadn’t already been made into a film. With a supporting cast including Bryan Cranston and John Goodman, Argo is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable films to grace our screens.
1. Killer Joe
Killer Joe made an enormous loss at the box office and barely received any recognition from film magazines. Killer Joe is a film so full of grotesque scenes and sick thoughts that I should probably be sectioned for declaring it the best film of the last decade. While it is essentially a study of overt masculinity and the consequences of dysfunctional family relationships, it becomes a leering satire of American culture with its fellatio scene involving a piece of KFC chicken and the film noir style plot of murder and deception, which inevitably blows up in all their faces. Not only does the film laugh at its pathetic characters but it uses them to study sadistic elements of human nature with its comically violent scenes. Matthew McConaughey gives the performance of his career as a hit man who takes a family’s 12-year-old daughter in exchange for murder. All the characters are, in their own ways, abhorrent individuals and the film’s cynical views of human nature are perhaps too raw for some viewers. This film has been overlooked and I can only hope it will one day be regarded as the masterpiece it most certainly is.