Top 12 of '12: Directors

A true master of the craft. Watch "The Master"

After reading the story behind this production I tons of respect for this man and what he and his crew pulled together to make "Beasts of a Southern Wild"

Linklater continues to find different ways of making us question life and laugh about it with "Bernie"

Once nearly blacklisted this guy is becoming a premiere director with this year's "Silver Linings Playbook" and his previous "Fighter"

The ballsiest director on this list. Don't believe me, watch "Compliance"

Just when you think his career is winding down he goes and pulls off "Lincoln"

Finally a female director that is better than most of the boys and making boys' films like "Zero Dark Thirty"

Quietly becoming one of the best directors out there, showing he can do anything, like making time travel fresh again in "Looper"

Pulled off the actioner "Skyfall" with an arthouse flare. It doesn't hurt when Roger Deakins is behind the camera, too.

You can't get any more cute and adventurous AND intelligent than "Moonrise Kingdom"

Finally Zemeckis is off the animated work and back to what he does best, with "Flight"

The second ballsiest director should have pulled off the one of the best epics in recent years; but somehow "John Carter" failed at the box office. I blame Disney.