David Edelstein's Top 12 Movies of 2012
'Tis the season for end-of-year lists. Fresh Air movie critic David Edelstein stubbornly refuses to either place his top picks in numerical order or make his list an even number of 10. Instead, he places his 12 favorite films from 2012 in alphabetical order, from Amour to Zero Dark Thirty.
Of the 12 films he picked for 2012, not one, Edelstein says, would he call the "M word" — a masterpiece. That designation he reserves for the new extended DVD cut of Kenneth Lonergan's film, Margaret.
When he first saw that movie, Edelstein says, "I thought the first half was brilliant and the second half was a fiasco. Lonergan got hold of it. He extended it by at least 45 minutes. He clarified certain things. I think that the film that exists now on DVD is an absolutely bonafied masterpiece. The story of a young woman's moral and emotional coming of age, unlike I think any that we've seen on screen in decades and decades. People must rent it or buy it. They must see it, but they must see the extended cut. It really is the greatest film of the year."
Without further ado, the list:
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Deep Blue Sea
Friends with Kids
The Gatekeepers
Holy Motors
How to Survive A Plague
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Oslo, August 31
Pitch Perfect
Zero Dark Thirty