What do we love about Django Unchained? There is the music, the costumes and the clever set designs. As is his wont, Tarantino somehow spoofs and celebrates movie convention with this engrossing examination of bounty hunting in the 19th century south. We have spent the body of the week lauding the performances in Django Unchained, culminating in first and second place finishes for Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio. Overwhelming attention to detail with characters is what has always separated Tarantino from his peers. Django Unchained is at least for the time being his masterpiece in this regard. Our staff adores the comedic flavor and tone of this singularly unique movie, and we warmly embrace it as the second Best Picture of the year.

The presumed favorite for Best Picture at The Academy Awards, Argo, is our third favorite movie of the year. Since the moment we saw the trailer, our staff has breathlessly anticipated watching it. Argo is proof that truth is stranger than fiction, recounting the story of the Canadian Caper. During the inception of the Iran Hostage Crisis, six American diplomats employed in that country avoided capture. Shelter was provided by Canadian diplomats while the CIA and other members of the United States government attempted to unearth a serviceable extraction strategy.

Actor/director Ben Affleck was once inexorably linked with his disastrous career choice, Gigli. Over the past few years, he has relentlessly scratched and clawed his way back to credibility. As we look back on his directorial debut now, our staff recognizes that with Gone Baby Gone, The Town and now Argo, he has delivered as strong a starting trio of movies as anybody working today. Argo is a masterful demonstration of factual storytelling with a splash of Hollywood theatrics thrown in for good measure. The last few minutes of the attempted escape from Iran is as nail biting, jaw clenching, flop sweating as anything in the 2000s. Argo is a phenomenal cinematic achievement as well as our choice for the third best movie of the year.

The other two films in our top five are Zero Dark Thirty and Moonrise Kingdom. Zero Dark Thirty represents director Kathryn Bigelow’s second masterpiece in three years. The movie reveals the dutifully researched events surrounding the hunt for and eventual assassination of Osama bin Laden. The final act of this movie will go down in cinema history as one of the most powerful ever filmed. Moonrise Kingdom involves lighter fare, an unlikely romance between a pair of middle school students. As is always the case with Wes Anderson films, an entire world is created for Moonrise Kingdom, and our staff relishes the opportunity to savor every splendid detail.

Two of the 15 most popular movies of 2012 in terms of domestic box office are coincidentally our sixth and seventh choice for Best Picture. Yes, The Avengers tripled the box office of Lincoln, but the global financial juggernaut aspect of the movie is not why we graded it slightly higher. Instead, we celebrate the fact that a movie we had fully expected to be stupid due to the presence of lesser known Marvel characters such as Hawkeye and Black Widow instead proved to be one of the best action movies of the past 20 years. Examples such as this are why we believe Joss Whedon is the greatest storyteller of our generation.

Meanwhile, the greatest storyteller of the last generation is Steven Spielberg (save it, George Lucas fans). With Lincoln, he demonstrates that even at the age of 66, he is more than capable of delivering a sublime drama. Featuring one of the largest and most recognizable casts in the history of cinema, Lincoln will be dissected by future researchers. I presume the debate will center upon who delivers the second best performance of the movie (many would argue Tommy Lee Jones or Sally Field but I am personally quite fond of James Spader’s work). There is, however, no dispute about who is the star. Daniel Day-Lewis is poised to become the first actor ever awarded his third Best Actor at The Academy Awards for this powerful performance in the titular role. Lincoln is the best movie that Spielberg has made since Saving Private Ryan, and our staff considers it the seventh best film of the year.

The final selections in our top ten for the year are The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Looper and The Master. Eighth place belongs to the instant teen classic about a high school freshman coming to grips with a pair of emotional traumas. Looper, our ninth selection, is ostensibly a time travel tale about combat between old and young versions of the same person. In reality, it is an exploration of the nature of evil as well as the impact of quality parenting on human behavior. This is a treatise on the nurture/nature debate disguised as uber-violent science fiction. And our final selection of the year is The Master, which may or may not be a treatise on the inner workings of scientology (hint: it totally is). Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest movie is too esoteric for many, but our staff is lost in admiration.

Attached below is the list of the 25 most best movies of the year in the estimation of our staff. The near misses for selection are Life of Pi, The Cabin in the Woods, The Dark Knight Rises, ParaNorman, Safety Not Guaranteed, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Skyfall, Flight, Prometheus, The Hunger Games, Searching for Sugar Man, Bernie, Holy Motors and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

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Best Character
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Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
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Best Supporting Actress
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Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
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