Ten Best Films' 2012 Mini-Poll

1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax)
125 points (AZ, KW, LB, MA, ML, MS, RS)
2. Barbara (Christian Petzold)
83 points (LB, MA, ML, PK, RS)
3. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
72 points (KW, LB, MA, PK)
4. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
69 points (AZ, JS, MA, RS, SB)
5. Tabu (Miguel Gomes)
65 points (LB, MA, ML, RS)
6. Amour (Michael Haneke)
58 points (KW, ML, PK)
7. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011)
51 points (JS, LB, MA)
8. Looper (Rian Johnson)
46 points (LB, MS, SB)
9. Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg)
43 points (LB, ML, PK)
10. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
42 points (AZ, KW, SB)
11. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, 2011)
40 points (AZ, JS, KW)

Films Receiving Two Citations: The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard) - 33 points (MS, SB), The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson) - 33 points (MS, SB), Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell) - 30 points (LB, PK), Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) - 29 points (JS, KW)*, Compliance (Craig Zobel) - 27 points (AZ, MS), Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011) - 27 points (AZ, KW), Premium Rush (David Koepp) - 27 points (PK, SB), Argo (Ben Affleck) - 26 points (MS, SB), Footnote (Joseph Cedar, 2011) - 23 points (LB, MA).

Combined Mini-Poll Results: 2008-2012
1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) - 164.5 points
2. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008) - 147
3. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008) - 139
4. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) - 136
5. Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008) - 129
6. A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, 2008) - 126
7. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) - 125
8. Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011) - 101.5
9. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009) - 101
10. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) - 99
11. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011) - 98

Note [*]: Films marked with an asterisk received at least one vote in last year's poll.

Scoring: Each citation receives ten points with an additional ten for a first place citation, nine for second, and so on, on down to one for tenth. This method of scoring is intended to give appropriate weight to those films that have been cited most frequently by this year's participants. For those participants who have not specified an order for their choices, 5.5 points have been assigned to each of their choices.

Key: AZ - Alberto Zambenedetti (Ten Best Films), JS - Jeremi Szaniawski (Ten Best Films), KW - Karen Wang (You're Making a Scene), LB - Lisa K. Broad (Tativille), MA - Michael J. Anderson (Tativille), ML - Mike Lyon (Tits & Gore), MS - Matt Singer (Criticwire), PK - Pamela Kerpius (Ten Best Films), RS - R. Emmet Sweeney (Ten Best Films), SB - Soren Bailey (Ten Best Films).

2012: Pamela Kerpius

1.  Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
2.  Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)
3.  Amour (Michael Haneke)
4.  Red Hook Summer (Spike Lee)
5.  How To Survive A Plague (David France)
6.  Hope Springs (David Frankel)
7.  Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg)
8.  56 Up (Michael Apted)
9.  Premium Rush (David Koepp)
10.  Barbara (Petzold)

Runners-up:  Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino), Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh), Lincoln (Spielberg), Arbitrage (Nicholas Jarecki), Like Someone In Love (Abbas Kiarostami)

Pamela Kerpius holds a M. A. in Cinema Studies from New York University.

2012: R. Emmet Sweeney

1. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel)
2. August and After (Nathaniel Dorsky)
3. Barbara (Christian Petzold)
4. Neighbouring Sounds (Kleber Mendonca Filho)
5. Tabu (Miguel Gomes)
6. Motorway (Soi Cheang)
7. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (John Hyams)
8. Holy Motors (Leos Carax)
9. Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul W. S. Anderson)
10. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)

Honorable Mentions: Sleepless Night (Jang Kun-jae), Traveling Light (Gina Telaroli), Reconversion (Thom Andersen), In Another Country (Hong Sang-soo), Safe (Boaz Yakin), Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson), Like Someone in Love (Abbas Kiarostami), The Three Stooges (The Farrelly Brothers), Vamps (Amy Heckerling), Dredd (Pete Travis), Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh), Romancing in Thin Air (Johnnie To)

R. Emmet Sweeney is a regular contributor to Movie Morlocks and holds an M. A. in Cinema Studies from New York University. 

2012: Jeremi Szaniawski

The Best New Films of 2012:
1-4. Withheld out of protest
5. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011; Netflix)
6. The Snowtown Murders (Justin Kurzel, 2011; Netflix)
7. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, 2011; 4k, Laemmle theater, Pasadena)
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011; Flagey, Brussels, 35mm)
9. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino; New Beverly Cinema, Los Angeles, 35mm)
10. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, 2011; Netflix)

Honorable Mentions:
Elena (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2011; Netflix)
Holy Motors (Leos Carax; 4k, Film Forum, New York)

Favorite Films that I Saw for the First Time in 2012:
1. Les Bonnes femmes (Claude Chabrol, 1960; Netflix)
2. 3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977; Netflix)
3. Through and Through (Grzegorz Krolikiewicz, 1973; DVD)
4. Girlfriends (Claudia Weill, 1978; DVD)
5. Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949; Le Desperado, Paris, 35mm)
6. Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971; Film Forum, New York, 35mm)
7. Attenberg (Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2010; Netflix)
8. Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974; New Beverly Cinema, Los Angeles, 35mm)
9. Careful (Guy Maddin, 1992; Whitney Humanities Center, New Haven, 35mm)
10. The Touch (Ingmar Bergman, 1971; DVD)

One mighty indulgence: 
The Mighty Peking Man (Meng Hua Ho, 1977; Netflix)

And a second GIGANTIC indulgence: 
Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 2 (Lee Harry, 1987; New Beverly Cinema, LA, 35mm)

Jeremi Szaniawski is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker with a PhD in Film Studies and Slavic Languages and Literature from Yale University.

2012: Soren Bailey

1. Looper (Rian Johnson)

2. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)

3. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

4. Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

5. The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard)

6. Premium Rush (David Koepp)

7. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson)

8. Argo (Ben Affleck)

9. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)

10. Les Misérables (Tom Hooper)

Soren Bailey is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker with a M. A. in Cinema Studies from New York University.

2012: Alberto Zambenedetti

1. The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011)
2. Caesar Must Die (Paolo and Vittorio Tavian)
3. Oslo, August 31st (Joachim Trier, 2011)
4. Holy Motors (Leos Carax)
5. Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2011)
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin)
7. Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)
8. Compliance (Craig Zobel)
9. Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
10. Prometheus (Ridley Scott)

Alberto Zambenedetti is a lecturer of Italian at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and a regular contributor to www.spietati.it and www.xrun.eu.