Nothing like a good battle royal of cinephile cults to whip voting into a frenzy. In our poll’s lucky 13th edition, Leos Carax’s starry-eyed supporters delivered Holy Motors the top spot, out-mobbing not one but two Andersons, Paul Thomas and Wes. Richard Linklater made his triumphant return with Bernie, an under-the-radar success, while the year yielded some provocative odd-couple neighbors in the rankings: dueling historical procedurals (Lincoln/Zero Dark Thirty), psychiatric outcasts (Oslo, August 31st/Silver Linings Playbook), and death trips (Amour/The Turin Horse). Over on the unreleased list, please note the new law of the land (see below), all part of our attempt to spotlight films in need of a pick(-me-)up. A note on the poll’s workings: over 100 North American colleagues ranked their favorites in two categories: 1) those that received theatrical runs and 2) those viewed this year but not receiving U.S. theatrical distribution in 2012 or 2013. For each ballot, a first-place choice was allotted 20 points, 19 for second, and so on.
Readers’ Poll: Readers are invited to stand up and be counted too! All entries will be automatically entered in our contest for free DVDs from the Criterion Collection. We will print the poll results in our March/April issue and publish your comments on the website. Send your ranked list of the year’s 20 best films (plus any rants, raves, and insights) with your name, address, and phone number, to fcpoll [at] filmlinc.com. Deadline: February 8, 2013. First Prize: your choice of Criterion Collection DVDs, up to $200 in value. Second Prize: up to $120. Third & Fourth Prizes: up to $80. The winners, who will be picked by random draw, can select prizes, subject to availability, from the Criterion Collection catalogue (www.criterion.com).
1. Holy Motors
Leos Carax, France/Germany
2. The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson, U.S.
3. Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, U.S.
4. This Is Not a Film
Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Iran
5. Amour
Michael Haneke, France/Germany/Austria
6. The Turin Horse
Béla Tarr, Hungary/France/Switzerland/Germany
7. The Kid With a Bike
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, France/Belgium
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
9. Lincoln
Steven Spielberg, U.S.
10. Zero Dark Thirty
Kathryn Bigelow, U.S.
11. Tabu
Miguel Gomes, Portugal
12. The Deep Blue Sea
Terence Davies, U.K.
13. Bernie
Richard Linklater, U.S.
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Benh Zeitlin, U.S.
15. Cosmopolis
David Cronenberg, Canada/France
16. Barbara
Christian Petzold, Germany
17. The Loneliest Planet
Julia Loktev, U.S./Germany
18. Silver Linings Playbook
David O. Russell, U.S.
19. Oslo, August 31st
Joachim Trier, Norway
20. Neighboring Sounds
Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
21. Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino, U.S.
22. Almayer’s Folly
Chantal Akerman, France/Belgium
23. Magic Mike
Steven Soderbergh, U.S.
24. Argo
Ben Affleck, U.S.
25. Attenberg
Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece
26. The Color Wheel
Alex Ross Perry, U.S.
27. Rust & Bone
Jacques Audiard, France/Belgium
28. Killer Joe
William Friedkin, U.S.
29. Looper
Rian Johnson, U.S.
30. Life of Pi
Ang Lee, U.S.
31. A Man Vanishes
Shohei Imamura, Japan
32. Skyfall
Sam Mendes, U.S.
33. The Gatekeepers
Dror Moreh, Israel
34. Elena
Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
35. Haywire
Steven Soderbergh, U.S.
36. Damsels in Distress
Whit Stillman, U.S.
37. Abendland
Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria
38. Two Years at Sea
Ben Rivers, U.K.
39. How to Survive a Plague
David France, U.S.
40. Keep the Lights On
Ira Sachs, U.S.
41. A Burning Hot
Summer
Philippe Garrel, France
42. Miss Bala
Gerardo Naranjo,
Mexico
43. Footnote
Joseph Cedar,
Israel
44. Compliance
Craig Zobel,
U.S.
45. Alps
Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece
46. Kill List
Ben Wheatley, U.K.
47. Farewell, My Queen
Benoît Jacquot, France/Spain
48. In Another Country
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea
49. The Dark
Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan, U.S.
50. The Day He Arrives
Hong Sang-soo, South Korea
Don’t see your favorite here? Proceed to the year’s best undistributed list.