Fourth and fifth place go to a pair of grim scenes, albeit for different reasons. Anne Hathaway’s already legendary performance of I Dreamed a Dream in Les Miserables finishes fourth. We cannot get enough of the factory worker collapsing under the pressure of being an absentee single mother. Forced into prostitution, she faces the grim fact that life has killed a dream she dreamed. Hey, we’ve all been there. Fifth place is the emergency surgery sequence in Prometheus. Our staff’s schism regarding the overall quality of Prometheus is well established by now. Even the most passionate detractors still acknowledge that Noomi Rapace’s alien childbirth sequence contains a terrifying couple of minutes of cinema.

One of the most lauded movies of the year as well as the one of most unheralded earn sixth and seventh place this year. Silver Linings Playback provides some fascinating storytelling as the befuddling parents of Patrizio Solitano Jr. never warm to his new love interest, Tiffany. Eventually, she grows frustrated enough with Patrizio Solitano Sr. that she describes in great detail exactly how wrong he has been on the subject of her being bad luck. Jennifer Lawrence has never been funnier.

Seventh place goes to one of BOP’s favorite smaller films of 2012, 10 Years. This Anchor Bay Films release features a surprising amount of famous actors (Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Kate Mara, Anthony Mackie and many more) playing people preparing for their high school’s 10 year reunion. Actor Oscar Isaac portrays Reeves, an accomplished singer-songwriter who feels lingering regret over his relationship with former classmate Elise (Kate Mara). He is eventually persuaded to perform a song entitled Never Had, his first hit. After a few moments of eye contact between Reeves and Elise, it becomes readily apparent that she was his muse, the inspiration for the song. This is a magical movie that reminds our staff of a former second place finisher in the category in 2008, Falling Slowly from Once.

The rest of our top ten includes scenes from 21 Jump Street, Argo and Skyfall. The 21 Jump sequence we love is…let’s just call it Stage 4. You can fill in the blanks on the specific description of said stage. All BOP wants to say in our family-friendly awards announcement is that Brie Larson is hysterical. Ninth place goes to the almost too-tense airport denouement of Argo. Just get on the freakin’ plane already! And 10th place is the titular showdown at Skyfall. The tips of the cap to the history of James Bond are particularly appreciated, even as 007 blows his family heritage to bits.

The list of near misses in this category is staggering. We like the introduction of Silva and Bond in Skyfall, Katniss’ volunteering as tribute in The Hunger Games and sharing a heaping bowl of shawarma in The Avengers. We also were stunned by the revelation of Cid’s true potential in Looper, entertained by the climactic fight in Goon and titillated by Daniel’s erotic depiction of his encounter with Margot. We also love the final performance in Pitch Perfect, the upside down steering sequence in Flight, the Thunder Buddies song from Ted, Tiffany’s dance routine in Silver Linings Playbook and the Tunnel Drive in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 2012 had as many memory scenes as I can ever recall in a single year. Any of these 11 honorable mention sequences would have been a serious contender during the average year.

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Calvins Intro
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Character
Best Director
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture

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