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The Best Films of 2012

Honorable mention: Liberal Arts (which would've finished at #3 had it been released theatrically in Canada)

10. Looper: Rian Johnson has crafted an uneven yet engrossing time-travel story that's rife with exhilaratingly conceived and executed stretches.

9. Django Unchained: Distinctly overlong, Django Unchained is nevertheless a typically captivating Quentin Tarantino flick that boasts Leonardo DiCaprio's most entertaining performance in ages.

8. The Imposter: An intriguing and consistently surprising documentary/thriller hybrid.

7. Breaking Dawn: Part Two: The Twilight saga comes to a close with this completely satisfying entry that concludes with an absolutely enthralling final stretch.

6. Headhunters: It starts out slow, admittedly, but Headhunters eventually becomes an engrossing effort that puts most Hollywood thrillers to shame.

5. Indie Game: The Movie: This stirring documentary explores the history of independent video games and follows several fascinating figures as they attempt to finish (and release) their own efforts.

4. Sound of My Voice: Sound of My Voice is science fiction at its best, with the movie's slow-burn atmosphere paving the way for a riveting finale.

3. The Dark Knight Rises: Christopher Nolan wraps up his Batman trilogy with this engrossing and impressively epic entry that more than lives up to the high standard set by both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Unlike most book-to-film adaptations, The Perks of Being a Wallflower manages to retain many of the elements that made the source material such a masterful and compelling piece of work.

1. Jeff, Who Lives at Home: The Duplass brothers transcend their low-budget, low-rent sensibilities with this absolutely enthralling little drama. Jason Segel's eye-opening turn as the title character is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the movie's many, many pleasures.


The Worst Films of 2012

10. Wanderlust: Packed to the brim with uncomfortably, unreasonably over-the-top characters, Wanderlust is a typically misguided and unfunny (and overlong) comedy from producer Judd Apatow.

9. The Three Stooges: Proof that the Stooges' particular brand of comedy has lost any and all relevance it may have once possessed.

8. The Amazing Spider-Man: This laughable reboot strikes virtually all of the notes hit by Sam Raimi's vastly superior original, which ensures that the movie feels like an utterly pointless carbon copy.

7. Underworld: Awakening: It hardly seems possible, but Underworld: Awakening fares even worse than the installments directed by noted hack Len Wiseman.

6. Safe House: Though it boasts a strong premise and a typically engrossing Denzel Washington performance, Safe House has been infused with an absolutely garish visual style that cancels out its positive attributes.

5. Gone: This hopelessly forgettable thriller is gone from one's memory moments after it mercifully ends.

4. The Paperboy: A misfire of epic proportions, The Paperboy has been suffused with one misbegotten element after another - with the interminable swamp-set finale the least of the movie's many problems.

3. Cosmopolis: An unreadable novel by Don DeLillo is turned into an unwatchable movie by David Cronenberg.

2. Battleship: One wouldn't imagine that a film could fare as badly as Michael Bay's Transformers series, but Peter Berg somehow manages the impossible.

1. Casa De Mi Padre: A one-note, one-joke premise stretched out to an endless 84 minutes. The absolute bottom of the barrel.

© David Nusair