rickyp wrote:D'jango
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Moonrise Kingdom
Argo
Lincoln
Les Miserable
Life of Pi (3d version)
Skyfall
Hunger Games
I've seen half of these so far, ZDT, Argo, Pi, Skyfall, and HG. Of these, Argo was the best, IMO.
* ZDT was good, but lacked tension, and I couldn't not think about the controversial portrayal of the significance of torture in finding the key lead.
* I really enjoyed HG, and something about the film lingered with me quite a while afterwards.
* I have the same comments about Pi and Skyfall: in both all of the individual elements were strong (e.g. nods to Bond history in Skyfall, stunning visuals in Pi), but somehow, for me at least, the whole was less than the sum of the parts. Oh, and [Spoiler Alert] I didn't care for the fact that in Skyfall Bond fails to save either girl.
* I thought Argo was the complete package. I realize that elements were added/simplified/exaggerated for dramatic effect, but I thought that the result was successful, and didn't significantly impact the facts of the story.
Another film worth mentioning from 2012, but one that may not qualify because it didn't get theatrical release, was HBO's Game Change.