2012 was a really exciting year for film. We saw the culmination of a masterpiece world building franchise from Marvel Entertainment, perhaps one of the best 007 movies ever made, and Ben Affleck showed once again that there’s much more to him than haters would have led you to believe. It was actually really difficult to compile just 12 films for a best of list. Some great movies were left completely off my list such as Wreck-it-Ralph. The film is a joy and it truly tickles the funny bone of geeks that grew up with video games in the ’80s and that still play them now. Jiro Dreams of Sushi was a masterpiece documentary that follows the family of one of Japan’s greatest sushi chef’s and the film features some truly beautiful sushi cinematography! There are others, but I’m already giving myself two extra entries in this list just to play with the “12” gimmick.

These sorts of lists are just pure opinion. What I like about them though as a movie fan is by reading them I might discover some gem of a film that I haven’t seen or heard about or I might be convinced to give a movie a chance that I was planning to pass up.

OK, enough babbling, here are my Top 12 films of 2012.

2012 was a fantastic year for movies. Films like The Dark Knight Rises and Marvel’s The Avengers entertained audiences with blockbuster action sequences and the ultimate in childhood wish fulfillment, while movies such as Drew Goddard‘s Cabin in the Woods and Gareth Edward‘s The Raid: Redemption will long be remembered as putting the nail in the coffin of their respective genres.

We saw new films from acclaimed directors like Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee, David O. Russell, Paul Thomas Anderson, William Friedkin, Steven Soderbergh, Ben Affleck, Sam Mendes, and Kathryn Bigelow. Not to mention the latest offerings from Rian Johnson, Joss Whedon, Richard Linklater, and newcomers Colin Trevorrow, Benh Zeitlin, and Stephen Chbosky.

So many memorable characters – so many great lines delivered by talented actors inhabiting their roles. Here are some of the best (and a few of the worst) film quotes from 2012. Feel free to include your own in the comments! You can also check out my Top 25 Films of 2012 here!

Greetings! It’s Adam Frazier aka FamousMonster and it’s time for another transmission from Skull-Face Island. As always I’m joined by former FREE SAFETY for your GOTHAM ROGUES, David Allen! And last week’s co-host, this week’s producer, and next week’s messiah… Tim Grant.

Today on the Show: We talk about Craig Zobel’s latest film, Compliance, as well as William Friedkin‘s Killer Joe, starring Matthew McConaughey. We’ll also find out just where in the HELL David was last week and flip the switch on the Geek-O-Matic News Machine. This week’s discussions include Y: The Last Man, Viggo Mortensen as Dr. Strange and all kinds of fun stuff!

Also, we’ll play The Sequel Game – and if we sound sleepy and drunk that’s because we are. Tim bartered two seasons of Felicity to the natives for some 217-proof Skull-Face Fire Water that had us all experiencing hallucinations of polar bears and smoke monsters.

Killer Joe
Directed by William Friedkin
Written by Tracy Letts
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church, Marc Macaulay
LD Entertainment
Rated NC-17 | 102 minutes
Release Date: July 27, 2012

Directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection), Killer Joe stars Matthew McConaughey as a charming, soft-spoken, Dallas Police Detective who moonlights as a contract killer.

Friedkin’s film, which is rated NC-17 for “graphic disturbing content involving violence, sexuality, and a scene of brutality,” will no doubt shock some people with its twisted, unrestrained look at dysfunctional, desperate rednecks in the American South. It’s certainly offensive, but gloriously so.

22-year-old Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in debt to drug lord Digger Soames (Marc Macaulay) after his own mother steals the cocaine he was given to sell. Chris, who is as Texas white trash as they come, comes up with the harebrained scheme to hire a hitman to kill his mother, whose $50,000 life insurance policy could easily cover his debts. The problem is, Chris’s little sister Dottie (Juno Temple) is the beneficiary, and she’s a few egg noodles short of a tuna casserole, if you know what I’m saying.