A list seen this year in Australian cinemas, at SXSW, and the Sydney Film Festival. I group this list by star-rating, and alphabetically within the groupings. It’s too difficult to rank linearly.
I’ve seen a lot this year, and a lot of old films too! 110 in this list plus at least 30-40 oldies. I’ve even tried my hand at filmmaking through the awesomeoness of Kino Sydney, and made two really bad short films; ‘Tearjerker’ and ‘Swings & Roundabouts’.
As to the ratings, I overwhelmingly loved and/or connected with each and every one of the films I’ve given 5 stars to, for many different reasons. If there were faults in them, I did not see them. So yeah, it’s all relative, and stacked top heavy. I rate them as soon as I see them, to avoid any normalising and brain hurting come end of year.
I thought about including original tweets, but looking back at them in retrospect, they’re too uneven, so unless I start writing seriously about every single film, at least the 5 and 4.5 star ones, I’m keeping it as just a list. All my ratings and extended thoughts are on Flixster or against the movies tag on this blog.
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bully
Café de Flore
End of Watch
Gangs of Wasseypur (Parts 1 & 2)
Holy Motors
Hugo
Searching for Sugar Man
Shame
The Artist
The Avengers
The Cabin in the Woods
The Imposter
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Raid: Redemption
Trash Dance
50/50
America’s Parking Lot
Argo
Big Easy Express
Les Misérables
Lost and Sound
Monsieur Lazhar
Ruby Sparks
Samsara
Skyfall
The Dark Knight Rises
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (U.S.)
The Grey
The Kid with a Bike
The Law In These Parts
The Master
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
When You Find Me
Wuthering Heights
Your Sister’s Sister
A Dangerous Method
American Reunion
Black Pond
Chronicle
Elena
Footnote
For Ellen
Funeral Kings
Headhunters
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Killing Them Softly
King of Devil’s Island
La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus
Lore
Margin Call
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Polisse
Prometheus
Rise of the Guardians
Safety Not Guaranteed
Seven Psychopaths
Silent Souls
Take This Waltz
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Bourne Legacy
The Descendants
The Do-Deca-Pentathlon
The Expendables 2
The Intouchables
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
The Sapphires
Wish You Were Here
Young Adult
21 Jump Street
Barbara
Bernie
Brave
Caesar Must Die
Cosmopolis
Declaration of War
Dredd
Eden
Fat Kid Rules the World
John Carter
John Dies at the End
Just the Wind
Killer Joe
Iron Sky
Le Havre
Liberal Arts
Looper
Moonrise Kingdom
Neighbouring Sounds
Pitch Perfect
Shadow Dancer
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Starlet
The Angels’ Share
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Sessions
War Horse
Alps
Bachelorette
Frankenweenie
Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters
J. Edgar
Rampart
Wanderlust
Men in Black III
Ted
Dreams of a Life
Compliance
And some of my previous end of year lists.
c0up 
RE: Searching for Sugar Manhttp://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/rodriguez-found-but-take-this-sweet-story-with-a-grain-of-salt-20121003-26znp.htmlWe don’t really find out why he gave up music. We don’t find out where the money went, the royalties that were never paid from his South African sales (nor does the director mention the rumour that there’s a pot of money in an Australian account). We don’t find out why he appears so frail. We don’t meet his wife, or learn that he even has one. (The director has said he interviewed her, but she ended up on the cutting-room floor).
@Veezy: I’ve only seen this once, and it was at least half a year ago now, but…Didn’t he give it up because nothing came of it and he needed a job to support his family? And isn’t he frail because he’s just, you know, old?! He never seemed like a wildly energetic, hugely built person.I of course can’t speak for the editing decisions, and they definitely played down his success in Australia.Ultimately, I fell for it hook, line and sinker, emotionally. Still listening to his albums too!