Best Films of 2012

1.Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

   8/10  
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own. (122 mins.)
Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver

2.Skyfall (2012)

   7.8/10  
Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. (143 mins.)
Director: Sam Mendes
Stars: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Judi Dench

3.Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

   7.6/10  
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011. (157 mins.)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong

4.The Master (2012)

   7.3/10  
A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader. (144 mins.)
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons

5.The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

   8.6/10  
Eight years on, a new evil rises from where the Batman and Commissioner Gordon tried to bury it, causing the Batman to resurface and fight to protect Gotham City... the very city which brands him an enemy. (165 mins.)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman

6.The Impossible (2012)

  7.6/10  
An account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. (114 mins.)
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Oaklee Pendergast

7.People Like Us (2012)

   7/10  
While settling his recently deceased father's estate, a salesman discovers he has a sister whom he never knew about, leading both siblings to re-examine their perceptions about family and life choices. (114 mins.)
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Stars: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Olivia Wilde

8.Arbitrage (2012)

   6.7/10  
A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help. (107 mins.)
Director: Nicholas Jarecki
Stars: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling, Tim Roth

9.Les Misérables (2012)

   7.8/10  
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever. (158 mins.)
Director: Tom Hooper
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried

10.Looper (2012)

   7.6/10  
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self. (119 mins.)
Director: Rian Johnson
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano

11.Lincoln (2012)

   7.6/10  
As the Civil War continues to rage, America's president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to emancipate the slaves. (150 mins.)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

12.The Sessions (2012)

   7.2/10  
A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest. (95 mins.)
Director: Ben Lewin
Stars: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood

13.The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

   6.2/10  
The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot. (98 mins.)
Director: Terence Davies
Stars: Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Ann Mitchell, Jolyon Coy