Seen in 2012 - Best of

dir. F.W. Murnau

Unlike last year, I didn't watch very many silent films in 2012. But from what I did watch, Murnau's Sunrise is my favorite. Completely captivating, heart-breaking, and heart-warming.

dir. Jean Renoir

dir. Vittorio De Sica

Watching this film has immediately placed it as my favorite De Sica film (replacing The Bicycle Thief). Wonderfully-filmed, and so very tragic.

dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

dir. Joseph H. Lewis

I've seen quite a few works of film-noir this year, and Gun Crazy may be my favorite. A swift tale of guns and love, it's easy to see how similar "Bonnie and Clyde"-type films were inspired to follow suit.

dir. Roman Polanski

This is tied with Chinatown as my favorite Polanski film. I love its plainly minimalist style and atmosphere, as well as its underlying psychological distress that, for the most part, remains unspoken. Basically, it's the type of film I'd like to make if I ever decided to make movies.

dir. Ján Kadár & Elmar Klos

This film was great. I really need to watch more Czechoslovak films.

dir. Larisa Shepitko

dir. Aleksandr Askoldov

My absolute favorite film I've seen in 2012. Compelling in its plots, themes, performances, cinematography, and everything else, it left a bigger mark on me than anything else I've seen all year long. An unfairly forgotten classic in Soviet cinema that everyone should watch.

dir. Robin Hardy

2012 will always be remembered as the year that I fell in love with horror cinema. I have the British classic The Wicker Man to (partially) thank for that. So absurd, so chilling, so oddly unsettling.

dir. Dario Argento

Another excellent horror film, this one of the giallo subgenre. Also my personal favorite Argento movie.

dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi

I have never, ever seen another film quite like this one and frankly, I don't think I ever will again. A very strange milestone in Japanese cinema.

dir. Werner Herzog

"the chicken is dancing, dancing. he thinks that he will never die."- a brilliant two-sentence review of this film I've read.

My introduction to the cinema of Herzog. I can't wait to watch more.

dir. Ingmar Bergman

Using five hours of my free time to sit down and watch this film is one of the single best decisions I've ever made. Every single shot is total visual magic. Perfect performances, and an even more compelling thematic structure. Bergman's masterpiece.

dir. Martin Scorsese

dir. Rob Reiner

dir. Isao Takahata

2012 was also the year I started to get more into anime. Grave of the Fireflies was definitely one of the most beautiful, saddest, impacting pictures I've seen all year. When I wasn't in awe over the impressive style of animation, I was sobbing my eyes out.

dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky

dir. Michael Haneke

dir. Woody Allen

Just when I thought I had seen every single good Woody Allen movie, I get completely blown away by Husbands and Wives. Immediate top ten placement.

dir. Satoshi Kon

Besides becoming enamored with Japanese anime, I have also fallen in love with the director Satoshi Kon. His four feature-lengths are all so very intriguing and imaginative. Sadly, his death at a young age means that there won't be any future works by this brilliant talent. His small body of work, however, is extraordinary in its own respects, Perfect Blue being my personal favorite.

dir. Jane Campion

dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

I have probably rewatched this film more times than any other film I've watched in the past year. It just gets better and better with each viewing.

dir. Leos Carax

My favorite film to come out of 2012, and also one of the most ambitious films I've seen, period. Genuinely absurd cinematic magic.