Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
★★★★☆
Released barely a year and a half after the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty rides high on a wave of political currency.
Mark Wilshin
Review Of The Year: 2012
As 2012 fades from sight as quickly as corroding celluloid, a final round-up of the best and worst of 2012 and those to look…
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Midnight’s Children (2012)
★★★★☆
A colourful journey through India’s rich history, Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children is a beautiful adaptation of Rushdie’s unfilmable novel, vibrant and beguiling.
Boxing Day (2012)
★★★☆☆
Transporting Tolstoy to Los Angeles, Bernard Rose’s Boxing Day is an entirely unfestive Christmas carol on altruism and greed.
I Anna (2012)
★★★☆☆
Starring his own mother Charlotte Rampling, Barnaby Southcombe’s psychological London thriller I, Anna is taking motherhood to task.
Laurence Anyways (2012)
★★★★☆
Stylish, witty and clever, Xavier Dolan’s Queer Palm winner Laurence Anyways shows the pain of reinvention, the tragedy of impossible love and the survival of the spirit.
The Hunt / Jagten (2012)
★★★★☆
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, as Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt exposes the brutality of blind prejudice faced with the spectre of child abuse.
Aurora (2010)
★★★☆☆
Darkly ruminative, Cristi Puiu’s Aurora is a slow-burning murder mystery like you’ve never seen before.
Amour / Love (2012)
★★★★☆
An intimate two-hander between Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, Michael Haneke’s Amour sneaks a peek at love behind Parisian closed doors.
Argo (2012)
★★★☆☆
On a mission to retrieve six Americans in hiding from Iran, Ben Affleck’s Argo is a taut thriller and a hilarious Hollywood caper. Just don’t talk politics.
Rust And Bone / De Rouille Et D’Os (2012)
★★★★☆
A tour-de-force of violence and casual love, Jacques Audiard’s Rust And Bone sees the human spirit triumph over the body’s all-too-vulnerable fragility.
Keep The Lights On (2012)
★★★★★
A fictional retelling of a boy’s own story, Ira Sachs’ Keep The Lights On charts a nine-year relationship from love’s first highs to its bitterest lows.
Elena (2011)
★★★☆☆
With its divided society of rich and poor, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Elena pushes its morals aside for a murderous take on modern Russia.
Beasts Of The Southern Wild (2012)
★★★☆☆
Mixing magical realism and environmental disaster, Benh Zeitlin’s debut Beasts Of The Southern Wild is a cajun gumbo of childhood, community and imagination.