2013 MOVIE LIST -- The Top 51 So Far

THE STANDOUTS (5) - This should go without saying, but these are all must-sees.

The Spectacular Now ***1/2
Fruitvale Station (fka Fruitvale) ***1/2
Don Jon's Addiction ***
The Silence ***
Stories We Tell ***

THE GOOD (6) - These represent quality filmmaking all-around.

Blue Caprice ***
Mud ***
Side Effects ***
The Call ***
V/H/S/2 (fka S-VHS) ***
Warm Bodies **1/2

THE GOOD... BUT SHOULD'VE BEEN BETTERS (6) - Why weren't these good movies better? I don't really know. But they should've been. Hence, the name of this section.

The East **1/2
The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman **1/2
Oblivion **1/2
Mama **1/2
The Jeffrey Dahmer Files **1/2
Phil Spector (HBO) **1/2

THE GUILTY PLEASURES (8) - These are movies that I shouldn't like but I do, for one reason or another. I only feel ashamed because the Internet tells me I'm supposed to.

21 and Over ***
Ass Backwards ***
Snitch **1/2
Lovelace **1/2
Olympus Has Fallen ** 
Bullet to the Head **
Crystal Fairy **
Escape From Tomorrow **

THE UNDERWHELMING DISAPPOINTMENTS (20) - Chalk it up to expectations but these movies just didn't cut it for me.

The Way Way Back **1/2
Trance **1/2
The Great Gatsby **
Gangster Squad **
Iron Man 3 **
Spring Breakers **
Dead Man Down **
Broken City **
Identity Thief ** 
The Evil Dead **
Breathe In **
Stoker **
Antiviral **
A Teacher **
Welcome to the Punch **
Dark Skies **
Sweetwater **
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III *1/2
Ain't Them Bodies Saints *1/2
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone *1/2

THE BAD (5) - For better or worse, I just don't know what these movies were thinking.

A Good Day To Die Hard *
Stand Up Guys *
Two Mothers *
Berberian Sound Studio *
Upstream Color *

IN PROGRESS (2) - I've started watching these but I'm not quite done yet.

Kink (18 minutes)
Top of the Lake (2 hours)

DOESN'T REALLY COUNT (1) - Re-releases don't count unless it's my first time seeing the movie.

Jurassic Park 3D ****

OOPS, I MISSED (35): 42, Admission, At Any Price, Beautiful Creatures, Beyond the Hills, Citadel, Emperor, Filly Brown, The Gatekeepers, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Ginger and Rosa, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, A Haunted House, Jack the Giant Slayer, Knife Fight, The Last Exorcism Part II, The Last Stand, The Monk, Movie 43, No, No Place on Earth, Oz the Great and Powerful, Parker, Phantom, Red Flag, Rubberneck, The Sapphires, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Sound City, Starbuck, Supporting Characters, The Sweeney, Texas Chainsaw 3D, The We and the I, Wrong

COMING SOON (5): Fast Six, The Kings of Summer, Kon-Tiki, Pain and Gain, Star Trek Into Darkness

The InSneider Live-Blogs the 2013 Oscars!

8:59 Ben Affleck makes TRIPLE SURE to thank Canada!

8:58: ARGOLD! That has to be the headline tomorrow somewhere, right?

8:48 Meryl Streep just cheated and peeked at the Envelope early! Daniel Day-Lewis takes the stage, where he belongs.

8:47 You have to admit, this was a hell of a year for the Best Actor category, especially when you consider that John Hawkes' incredible work in The Sessions wasn't even nominated.

8:44 JENNIFER LAWRENCE wins Best Actress for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK.  I thought she gave the best female performance of the year. Interestingly enough, Twitter (via Sasha) tells me that she didn't thank Harvey Weinstein. Uh oh...

8:41 I predicted three months ago that the scene where Jessica Chastain chews out Kyle Chandler would be her Oscar clip. Lo and behold...

8:35 Aaron argues that "Spielberg is the Tom Brady to Ang Lee's Eli Manning." Lee drops the 'Namaste,' knowing full-well that no one else can pull it off.

8:34 ANG LEE!!!

8:32 Steven Spielberg needs to win Best Director here for LINCOLN to have a shot at winning Best Picture.

8:27 I may have passed on JUNO once upon a time, but as soon as I read DJANGO UNCHAINED, I knew it was going to make a great movie. My man Quentin Tarantino wins Best Original Screenplay... again!

8:24 Chris Terrio wins Best Adapted Screenplay for ARGO. I'm totally okay with this. He researched the hell out of that movie. My friend thinks he looks like Stifler.

8:22 Charlize Theron is gorgeous. That is all.

8:12 More music, this tune from TED courtesy of Norah Jones. And Sasha correctly points out, we still have the closing number with Chenoweth.

8:11 The uniquely-named Mychael Danna wins Best Score for LIFE OF PI, as predicted. Really nice guy who has handled the 6-month-long press tour well thanks to publicist Jeff Sanderson.  His score was excellent. And now for Best Song...

8:01 Marvin Hamlisch appears to close it out, leading to a classy Barbra Streisand number. Not bad...

8:00 This year took great writers Nora Ephron and Frank Pierson, director Tony Scott and cinematographer Harris Savides. Bummer.

7:58 In Memoriam. I'm baking cookies and I'm still sad. Michael Clarke Duncan and Adam Yauch. Too young...

7:51 LINCOLN pulls off a surprise win for Production Design!

7:47 Pretty smart of producers to put DJANGO UNCHAINED clip later in the Oscar broadcast when there are fewer younger viewers.

7:39 Mic drop.

7:36 Skyfall is such a great fucking song. Can't wait for it to win an Oscar within the hour... And screw the haters, Adele is sexy and has an incredible voice.

7:33 William Golenberg wins Best Editing for Argo, as expected. And now the tables begin to turn...

7:25 Anne's manager Suzan Bymel and publicist Stephen Huvane get shout-outs. I really like Team Hathaway.

7:24 Can we get a little emotion here? This looks pretty damn rehearsed... Anne says she "looks up to" all of her competitors... as she looks down on them from the winner's circle.

7:23 ANNE HATHAWAY wins Best Supporting Actress. "It came true." Oh boy...

7:22 Wait, Helen Hunt wore clothes in THE SESSIONS?

7:21 Cue the waterworks...

7:16 Think of the 2-minute wait while Skyfall had to listen to Zero Dark Thirty's speech. CRAZY!

7:14 'You've got a 'berg' on the end of your name, Mark.' Secret synagogue meetings. The old 'Jews run Hollywood' joke! Whoa, A TIE! Insane....

7:13 LES MISERABLES wins Best Sound Mixing, as predicted. Sometimes, you've gotta trust the experts, i.e., the people who knows the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. I think I finally learned it this year.

7:11 Ted begging for the location of the VIP Hollywood sex party. Wahlberg admits it's at Jack Nicholson's house. Nice bit. Glad this must-see duo is being used for the kinda boring sound awards.

7:09 Sci-tech awards announcement means intermission.

7:05 Has the entire cast of a movie ever been onstage at the Oscars if it doesn't win Best Picture?

7:04 Everyone singing seems really bored. I hope they're getting a cut of the soundtrack sales...

7:02 Anne Hathaway is dreaming dreams onstage. Her name is already IN THE ENVELOPE!

7:01 What the hell happened to Wolverine's claws?

7:00 Jack Nicholson is like, 'REALLY? We're standing for THIS?'

6:57 I'm sorry, but this Tribute To Musicals is taking way too long and boring the hell out of me. Dreamgirls time, really?

6:55 I don't get why we're watching Catherine Zeta-Jones sing a song from CHICAGO. What does this have to do with this year? Zadan and Meron could stand to take it down a notch...

6:51  Michael Haneke's drama AMOUR wins Best Foreign Language Film. Director proves to be just as weird as everyone here imagined.

6:44 SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN wins Best Documentary! Congrats to Rodriguez and Sony Pictures Classics!

6:42 After a funny but kind of awkward joke about the Kardashians looking like Ben Affleck, he emerges from backstage (hence no earlier cutaway) 'I actually thought the show was going pretty well (until the joke)... but I'm sure you'll turn it around.'

6:40  Seth jokes that the man who really got into Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth. Sasha asks, "Too soon?" I thought it landed with a thud and was a little too easy and Family Guy-ish.

6:39 Another third of the Best Picture montage, and the producers actually get it right by pairing the historical dramas together. Zero Dark Thirty is clearly the best film and gets a proper backdrop with haunting, classy score, while Argo is set to a bluesy rock 'n roll song. This leads to a brief but interesting discussion about why Zero Dark Thirty was better than Argo.

6:37 Is Liam Neeson even American?

6:35 Sean Fine & Andrea Nix's INOCENTE wins Best Documentary Short, which I ALSO predicted. I am putting some of the REAL pundits to shame. Watch me miss the next three categories...

6:34 The short films categories make or break Oscar pools. CURFEW wins Best Narrative Short, which I predicted. This guy seems like a real romantic...

6:21 A very predictable ceremony so far. Waltz was technically the frontrunner according to Vegas, so no surprises yet.

6:19: Anna Karenina's JACQUELINE DURRAN gives a VERY efficient speech for Best Costume Design. LES MISERABLES for the makeup & hairstyling win. I really liked the work done in HITCHCOCK but I acknowledge that a lot of people didn't...

6:12 I'm really happy for the team at Fox, which took years developing the project, and it was time well-spent. They took a risk and hit a home run.

6:11 As expected, LIFE OF PI wins Best Visual Effects. Orchestra playing off the winners with music from JAWS. The Academy cuts his microphone! Crazy...

6:10 Overheard: "There are motherfucking tigers on this motherfucking boat!"

6:07 CLAUDIO MIRANDA wins for shooting the hell out of LIFE OF PI. I may have had a problem with the ending but that movie looked incredible, particularly in 3D. Can't say it's not well deserved...

6:06: The Avengers UNITE! Is Mark Ruffalo in FOXCATCHER mode? My lady friend didn't recognize him.

6:03 I like this montage of Best Picture nominees. Speeds things up... Quevenzhane Wallis is ADORABLE.

5:59 PAPERMAN wins Best Animated Short! Yay! Moments later, Pixar wins AGAIN for BRAVE. Happy for co-director Brenda Chapman, who fought quite the battle, but I was hoping something (anything!) else would win.

5:56 People (Rex Reed, Jeff Wells, etc.) will say what they will about Melissa McCarthy, but she's funny, even if this bit with Paul Rudd kinda bombed. But dug what they were doing at first but it went sour fast and a quiet crowd didn't help.

5:51 CHRISTOPH WALTZ wins Best Supporting Actor for the 2nd time after working with Quentin Tarantino. De Niro looks a little disappointed. Publicist Lisa Kasteler gets a shout-out!

5:46 More singing, drawing minor complaints from the audience in my apartment. Let's get this AWARD show started!

5:44 Ain't that cute? A 'Flying Nun' joke for the kids. Sketch ends with Seth making out with Sally Field. Easy there, Aunt May... who still looks pretty good for her age.

5:41 A puppet show. "Hey, you want some drugs? Yay!" An inspired little aside. Shatner urging Seth to "keep it classy." More singing and dancing... I guess there's only so much you can do onstage at the Oscars.

5:38 Seth sings "We Saw Your Boobs." Naomi Watts looks mortified. Kate Winslet's list goes on and on, including "whatever you're shooting right now." Sophomoric but funny since he keeps it about the movies.

5:37 William Shatner beams himself up on the stage. Wishes Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were hosting...

5:35 Seth MacFarlane killing it with "This Is 90" and Jodie Foster begging for her privacy in front of a billion people. He was a smart, edgy choice to host and I think he's going to deliver tonight. The challenge will be keeping the show moving...

5:10 p.m. There's plenty to snark about on the red carpet, but I'll stick to the merits of the actual show. Back in 20 minutes if this thing starts on time...

The InSneider's Top 10 of 2012 ... and more

Overall, I think 2012 was a pretty good year for movies. 

Sundance set the tone, starting the year off strong with "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "The Sessions," "Safety Not Guaranteed," "Compliance" and "The Imposter." 

We saw teenagers finally get the movies they deserve, with "Project X" and "21 Jump Street" adding a memorable laugh track to the drama of "Chronicle" and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," not to mention "Moonrise Kingdom," which featured the sweetest teenage romance in years. 

We saw two Roberts -- De Niro and Zemeckis -- do the best work they've done in years with "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Flight."

We saw time-tested subjects such as mental illness ("Silver Linings Playbook"), marriage ("This Is 40") and time travel ("Looper") explored in exciting new ways.

We saw people survive shipwrecks ("Life of Pi"), plane crashes ("The Grey"), car accidents ("Frankenweenie"), natural disasters ("The Impossible"), the justice system ("West of Memphis") and perhaps most impressively, slavery ("Django Unchained").  

We saw lots of sex including surrogate sex ("The Sessions"), phone sex ("For a Good Time, Call...), simulated sex ("Holy Motors"), drunk sex ("The Master"), grandparent sex ("Hope Springs"), best friend sex ("Savages"), Russian sex ("Anna Karenina"),  alien baby-making sex ("Prometheus"), finger-lickin' chicken sex ("Killer Joe"), too much sex ("Thanks For Sharing"), Batman sex ("The Dark Knight Really Rises"), Robert Pattinson limo sex ("Cosmopolis") and Kristen Stewart car sex ("On the Road"). Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?

I really struggled with the order of this year's Top 10 list. I realize I'm cheating a bit with my top choice, but it'd be boring if I moved it to 2013 and became the millionth person to declare "Zero Dark Thirty" the best movie of the year, which it probably is. 

You know the drill, this is my ever-evolving personal list of favorites, not a list of "the best" of the year. It's certainly not set in stone, as an earlier post points out 100 movies, including "Amour," that I failed to see in 2012 and hope to catch up with soon. As much as I'd like to, it's impossible to see everything because there are so many hours in a day and some of those are reserved for HBO's "Girls." Yes, I'm drinking that show's Kool-Aid, back off!

I realize I'm rambling now, so without further ado... please enjoy my Top 10 Movies of 2012, with a bonus list of the Worst 10 Movies of 2012 just beneath it. While comments and tweets are welcome, spare me actual hate mail. I never open it...

THE INSNEIDER'S TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2012

1. THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES - What can I say? I fell for Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to "Blue Valentine" from its very first frames, a tracking shot that perfectly sets the tone that follows. One of the finest American films I've seen in years, this multi-generational crime drama is a shot in the arm for a genre that has grown complacent. Courageous performances anchor this heartbreaking story about desperate fathers and the sons who must pay for their sins. Don't miss it come March!

2. ZERO DARK THIRTY - An incredibly well-researched procedural as masterful a film as that other tale of obsession, "Zodiac." Another brave piece of filmmaking from the talented team of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal. When she's allowed to act human, Jessica Chastain is an absolute firecracker. 

3. THE IMPOSSIBLE - The movie I cried at the most this year. I called my family after seeing it in Toronto. We watched it together over Thanksgiving and it was equally devastating. Call it manipulative all you want, but I go to the movies hoping to be manipulated, wanting to feel something. No 2012 film accomplished that better.

4. THE RAID - The year's best action movie, no contest, as well as the best foreign film of the year. Amazing fight choreography set to a great score by Linkin Park. Pure balls-to-the-wall adrenaline, I couldn't have asked for more from this intense experience.

5. THE SESSIONS - Director Ben Lewin deftly balances comedic and dramatic tones in this heartbreaking true tale of poet Mark O'Brien. John Hawkes and Helen Hunt deliver two of the year's best performances in this surprising crowdpleaser that had me laughing and crying.

6. MOONRISE KINGDOM - The best depiction of young love in years. Only Wes Anderson could pull off the tone achieved here -- a sweetness that's sadly missing from most American movies lately. 

7. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK - This throwback to the madcap comedies of Preston Sturgess was a star-crossed romance like no other, featuring two winning turns from Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, giving the best female performance of the year. Cooper shows off more range than he's ever had the chance and even Robert De Niro is on his game. David O. Russell is one of the most unique and necessary voices making movies today.

8. THE GREY - More than just your average man vs. beast or man vs. nature tale, this was a fairly profound survival story about man vs. himself. Some won't be able to see it as anything more than 'Neeson With Wolves,' but there's more going on here than meets the eye, which is why it has stuck with me since its January premiere.

9. COMPLIANCE - I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it divide audiences at Sundance. Craig Zobel's thrilling docudrama balances such a careful, natural tone, it's easy to see how this actually happened in real life. A true conversation piece, impossible to forget.

10. RUST AND BONE - Jacques Audiard's searing drama features two dynamite performances from Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts in one of the year's most unlikely but refreshing romances.

As for the WORST 10 MOVIES OF 2012, I've decided to limit myself to one-sentence descriptions. While there may be a 2013 release atop my Top 10 of 2012, this is my list and I make the rules, so I can make them as inconsistent as I want. Thus, I'll spare a pair of upcoming horror movies I saw in Toronto and keep them in mind for next year's Worst Of list. Apologies in advance...

THE INSNEIDER'S WORST 10 MOVIES OF 2012

10. LAY THE FAVORITE - A disappointing effort all around, I have no clue how this laugh-free "comedy" was directed by the same bloke behind "The Queen."

9. JOHN CARTER - Not since "Lost in Space" have I been so bored with an expensive sci-fi epic.

8. DAMSELS IN DISTRESS - Set in a completely unrecognizable world, this pretentious dance craze just wasn't for me.

7. THE DICTATOR - Funny for a few minutes before the joke got old and I wanted the grating Admiral General Aladeen to sentence me to death. 

6. ON THE ROAD - A meandering movie that nearly had me on the road back home after the first hour.

5. COSMOPOLIS - A disappointing, aimless film of false profundity that seems to resent its own audience.

4. ATM - Another pointless contained thriller that wears out its welcome in a hurry thanks to characters that are so unlikable, it's a wonder they don't put the audience out of its misery and kill each other early on. 

3. SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN - The less said, the better. Let's move on...

2. TAKEN 2 - A lazy sequel that repeated the same beats as the original, wasting all the goodwill it earned. 

1. DETENTION - Ridiculous to the point of absurdity, this experimental stew of hyperkinetic nonsense was more or less unwatchable despite the good intentions of its director, who I enjoy following on Twitter.

2012 MOVIE LIST -- The Top 153 So Far

THE STANDOUTS (21) - This should go without saying, but these are all must-sees.

The Place Beyond the Pines ***1/2
Zero Dark Thirty ***1/2
The Impossible ***1/2
The Raid ***1/2
The Sessions (fka The Surrogate) ***1/2
Moonrise Kingdom ***1/2
Silver Linings Playbook ***1/2
The Grey ***
Compliance ***
Rust and Bone ***
End of Watch ***
Argo ***
Beasts of the Southern Wild ***
Life of Pi ***
Django Unchained ***
Game Change (HBO) ***
The Imposter ***
Chronicle ***
The Perks of Being a Wallflower ***
Project X ***
21 Jump Street ***

THE GOOD (41) - These represent quality filmmaking all-around.

Flight ***
Safety Not Guaranteed ***
Looper ****
Arbitrage ***
West of Memphis ***
Skyfall ***
Michael ***
Easy Money (Snabba Cash) ***
Jack Reacher ***
Ruby Sparks ***
Ted ***
Frankenweenie ***
This Is 40 ***
Lincoln ***
Pusher ***
A Hijacking ***
Promised Land ***
Bullhead ***
Take This Waltz ***
Your Sister's Sister ***
Sleepwalk With Me ***
Smashed ***
That's My Boy ***
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon ***
Act of Valor ***
Killer Joe ***
God Bless America ***
The Five-Year Engagement ***
Hope Springs ***
Friends With Kids ***
Haywire ***
Sleepless Night ***
Room 237 ***
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope ***
Hit and Run ***
Goon ***
Shut Up and Play the Hits ***
Robot and Frank ***
Celeste and Jesse Forever ***
Save the Date **1/2
Side By Side **1/2

THE GOOD... BUT SHOULD'VE BEEN BETTERS (23) - Why weren't these good movies better? I don't really know. But they should've been. Hence, the name of this section.

The Dark Knight Rises ***
The Master ***
Magic Mike ***
Wreck-It Ralph ***
Killing Them Softly ***
The Hobbit **1/2
American Reunion **1/2
ParaNorman **1/2
Thanks for Sharing **1/2
The Company You Keep **1/2
Disconnect **1/2
Dark Shadows **1/2
The Hunger Games **1/2
Cabin in the Woods **1/2
The Avengers **1/2
Seven Psychopaths **1/2
Bachelorette **1/2
V/H/S **1/2
Lawless **1/2
Man on a Ledge **1/2
Seeking a Friend For the End of the World **1/2
The Woman In Black **1/2
The Words **1/2

THE GUILTY PLEASURES (18) - These are movies that I shouldn't like but I do, for one reason or another. I only feel ashamed because the Internet tells me I'm supposed to.

Dredd 3D ***
Pitch Perfect ***
Get the Gringo ***
What To Expect When You're Expecting ***
For a Good Time, Call... ***
Fun Size **1/2
Sushi Girl **1/2
Bindlestiffs **1/2
The Bay **1/2
Wanderlust **1/2
The Paperboy **1/2
No One Lives **1/2
Piranha 3DD **1/2
High School **1/2
This Means War **1/2
The Babymakers **
John Dies at the End **
Mirror Mirror **

THE UNDERWHELMING DISAPPOINTMENTS (38) - Chalk it up to expectations but these movies just didn't cut it for me.

Prometheus **1/2
The Amazing Spider-Man **1/2
Cloud Atlas **1/2
Contraband **1/2
Savages **1/2
Sinister **1/2
Safe House **
Premium Rush **
Liberal Arts **
Deadfall **
Not Fade Away **
Men in Black 3 **
Total Recall **
Alex Cross **
10 Years **
Holy Motors **
Les Miserables **
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter **
The Bourne Legacy **
The Campaign **
Rise of the Guardians **
The End of Love **
Nobody Walks **
To Rome With Love **
Nature Calls **
The Collection **
Silent House **
Chernobyl Diaries **
Anna Karenina *1/2
Battleship *1/2
Excision *1/2
Aftershock *1/2
Simon Killer *1/2
The Raven *1/2
The Watch *1/2
The Innkeepers *
Red Lights (Sundance cut) *
Apartment 143*

THE BAD (12) - For better or worse, I just don't know what these movies were thinking.

Lay the Favorite *
John Carter *
Damsels in Distress *
The Lords of Salem *
The Dictator *
On the Road *
Cosmopolis *
ATM *
Snow White and the Huntsman *
Taken 2 *
Detention 1/2*
The ABC's of Death 1/2*

OOPS, I MISSED (63): 2 Days in New York, Alps, The Apparition, Being Flynn, Brave, Bully, Casa de mi Padre, Chasing Ice, Chasing Mavericks, Crazy Horse, Dark Tide, The Deep, Deep Blue Sea, Detachment, The Devil Inside, Don't Go In the Woods, The Expendables 2, The Flowers of War, Footnote, The FP, Gone, The Guilt Trip, Headhunters, Here Comes the Boom, House at the End of the Street, The InBetweeners Movie, In Darkness, Intruders, The Island President, Jesus Henry Christ, Juan of the Dead, Kid With a Bike, Klown, Lockout, Lola Versus, Loosies, The Lorax, Meeting Evil, Middle of Nowhere, Newlyweds, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, On the Ice, Paranormal Activity 4, Parental Guidance, People Like Us, Perfect Sense, Playing For Keeps, Polisse, The Possession, Red Hook Summer, Red Tails, Return, Roadie, Rock of Ages, Salmon Fishing In the Yemen, The Samaritan, Scenes of a Crime, Sparkle, Thin Ice, This Is Not a Film, Turn Me On, Dammit!, Undefeated, The Vow

COMING SOON (6): Amour, Hotel Transylvania, Hyde Park on Hudson, The Intouchables, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Trouble With the Curve

The InSneider's Annual Last-Minute OSCAR Nomination... Things

T-minus 7 hours, so I'd better get these on the record quick! I didn't play The Alternate Game last year so I decided against it this year despite the temptation with such a wide-open field. There are some categories that are really tough to call this year, and the trickiest question of all isn't which films will be nominated, but rather, how many. Thanks to all the bloggers I've enjoyed reading this awards season including but certainly not limited to Jeff Wells, Steve Pond, Kris Tapley, David Poland and MCN's Gurus O' Gold, Scott Feinberg, Sasha Stone, Anne Thompson, Pete Hammond, Nathaniel Rogers, Gregory Ellwood, Guy Lodge, Dave Karger, his worthy successor Anthony Breznican, the fine folks at The Playlist and especially Variety's own Jon Weisman, a relative newcomer to the glamorous beat who handled it with all the class the envious position requires. I'd call this a work-in-progress but fortunately, we've run out of time and these will have to do. Good luck to all the contenders, and I look forward to speaking with some of the nominees tomorrow!

BEST PICTURE

1. Lincoln
2. Zero Dark Thirty
3. Argo
4. Les Miserables
5. Life of Pi
6. Silver Linings Playbook
7. Amour
8. Django Unchained
9. Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

2. Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

3. Ben Affleck, Argo

4. Ang Lee, Life of Pi

5. David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTOR

1. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

2. Denzel Washington, Flight

3. John Hawkes, The Sessions

4. Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

5. Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

BEST ACTRESS

1. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

2. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

3. Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone

4. Naomi Watts, The Impossible

5. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

2. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

3. Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

4. Alan Arkin, Argo

5. Javier Bardem, Skyfall

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

2. Sally Field, Lincoln

3. Helen Hunt, The Sessions

4. Amy Adams, The Master

5. Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Zero Dark Thirty

2. Django Unchained

3. Moonrise Kingdom

4. Amour

5. The Master

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Argo

2. Lincoln

3. Silver Linings Playbook

4. Beasts of the Southern Wild

5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Top 100 Movies of 2012 That I Regret NOT Seeing

I saw more than 150 new movies in 2012, but even with the access my job affords me, it's impossible to see everything.

The following 100 films are presented in alphabetical order since I haven't seen them yet, although the five titles I'm REALLY kicking myself for missing are Amour, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Keep the Lights On, The Loneliest Planet and Oslo, August 31st.

If there's anything not listed that you REALLY think I should see, let me know in the comments section or on Twitter, and I'll let you know if it was ever under consideration. Also, if there are any release date issues or inaccuracies below, please cut me some slack, as it's impossible to know what's really eligible without an established set of criteria, which I don't hold myself to.

Please note that I plan to see movies such as The Attack, The Gatekeepers, Ginger & Rosa, Kon-Tiki, Mud, No, Reality, Shadow Dancer, Stories We Tell and To the Wonder in theaters in 2013. Some have appeared on others' Best/Worst lists because they screened at film festivals, but I managed to miss all of these despite attending both Sundance and Toronto.

Here's to catching up with these movies in 2013!

1. 2 Days in New York
2. 5 Broken Cameras
3. 28 Hotel Rooms
4. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
5. Alps
6. Amour
7. Bad 25
8. Barbara
9. Being Flynn
10. Beloved
11. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
12. Beware of Mr. Baker
13. Beyond the Black Rainbow
14. Brave
15. Bully
16. Call Me Kuchu
17. Captive
18. The Central Park Five
19. Chasing Ice
20. Chico & Rita
21. The Color Wheel
22. The Comedy
23. Crazy Horse
24. Dark Horse
25. Declaration of War
26. The Deep
27. The Deep Blue Sea
28. Detachment
29. Detropia
30. Elena
31. Everybody In Our Family
32. Extraterrestrial
33. The Final Member
34. First Winter
35. The Flowers of War
36. Footnote
37. The Forgiveness of Blood
38. The FP
39. Francine
40. Goodbye First Love
41. Green
42. A Gun In Each Hand
43. Headhunters
44. How to Survive a Plague
45. Hyde Park on Hudson
46. In Darkness
47. Indie Game: The Movie
48. In the Family
49. The Intouchables
50. The Island President
51. It's Such a Beautiful Day
52. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
53. Juan of the Dead
54. Keep the Lights On
55. The Kid With a Bike
56. King Kelly
57. Klown
58. A Late Quartet
59. Like Someone In Love
60. Lola Versus
61. The Loneliest Planet
62. Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
63. Marvin, Seth and Stanley
64. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
65. Miami Connection
66. Middle of Nowhere
67. Neighboring Sounds
68. Norwegian Wood
69. Now, Forager
70. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
71. On Death Row
72. Only the Young
73. On the Ice
74. Oslo, August 31st
75. The Patience Stone
76. People Like Us
77. Perfect Sense
78. Polisse
79. Quartet
80. Queen of Versailles
81. Red Hook Summer
82. Red Tails
83. Return
84. A Royal Affair
85. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
86. Samsara
87. Scenes of a Crime
88. Searching For Sugar Man
89. Sleep Tight
90. Sound of Noise
91. Starlet
92. Tabu
93. Tchoupitoulas
94. This Is Not a Film
95. Trouble With the Curve
96. The Turin Horse
97. Turn Me On, Dammit!
98. Undefeated
99. The Wise Kids
100. Wuthering Heights

If I Had An OSCAR Ballot ...

... It would look something like this. Please keep in mind that while I loved certain movies (like THE RAID and THE GREY, which as you'll read soon, were two of my top-10 movies of 2012) it's hard to vote for them for Best Picture. These have to be somewhat REALISTIC choices, otherwise there would be no point to this exercise. Also of note: I haven't seen AMOUR and I have abstained from voting in categories which I am ill-informed about (like Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Art Direction, Original Song) or could not find five choices for due to my lack of familiarity with the possible nominees (all shorts categories). Feel free to show off your own Oscar ballot in the comments section below, and thanks in advance for reading. I hope you enjoy my choices.

Important Note: An asterisk (*) denotes my vote to WIN.

BEST PICTURE

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

The Impossible

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Moonrise Kingdom

The Sessions

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty*

BEST DIRECTOR

Ben Affleck, Argo

Juan Antonio Bayona, The Impossible
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty*

Ang Lee, Life of Pi

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

John Hawkes, The Sessions*

Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Denzel Washington, Flight

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook*

Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained*

Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Looper
Ann Dowd, Compliance

Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises

Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom

Helen Hunt, The Sessions*

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Django Unchained

The Master
Moonrise Kingdom

Safety Not Guaranteed

Zero Dark Thirty*

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Lincoln

Rust and Bone

Silver Linings Playbook*

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Frankenweenie*

ParaNorman

Wreck-It Ralph

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

The Imposter*

Room 237

Shut Up and Play the Hits

West of Memphis

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE

A Hijacking

Michael

The Raid

Rust and Bone*

Snabba Cash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Impossible

Life of Pi

The Master*

Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Magic Mike

Moonrise Kingdom*

BEST EDITING

Argo

The Impossible

Life of Pi

Moonrise Kingdom

Zero Dark Thirty*

BEST MAKEUP

Hitchcock*
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Men in Black 3

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Compliance*

The Impossible

The Raid

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Hobbit

The Impossible

Flight

Life of Pi*

Prometheus

BEST ENSEMBLE (not an actual award)

Argo

Lincoln
Django Unchained

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Silver Linings Playbook*

FINAL TALLY (out of 18):

Zero Dark Thirty - 4 (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing)
Silver Linings Playbook - 3 (Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Ensemble)
The Sessions - 2 (Actor, Supporting Actress)
Compliance 1 - (Original Score)
Django Unchained - 1 (Supporting Actor)
Frankenweenie - 1 (Animated Feature)
Hitchcock - 1 (Makeup)
The Imposter - 1 (Documentary Feature)
Life of Pi - 1 (Visual Effects)
The Master - 1 (Cinematography)
Moonrise Kingdom - 1 (Costume Design)
Rust and Bone - 1 (Foreign Language Feature)