The top 10 movies of the year

Well, you all already know what my favorite film of the year is, and what my top 5 are, but here I'll be giving a top 10, in order, with explanations for each. This was a great year, with no film getting below a C- from me. The blockbusters were fun, the dramas were effective, and despite the summer being relatively weak, the fall season was outstanding. So here they are, the best movies of the year.

10. Django Unchained

Django is a film that I have a significant issue with, in regards to how Tarantino chose to end the film. However, since everything up to and including one of the all time great shootouts was so perfect, I had to put it on the list. Featuring great dialogue, an intriguing story, and scene stealing turns from Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson (Jamie Foxx and Leonardo Dicaprio were really good too) Django is a near masterpiece that could have removed the "near" part with a little more script editing.

9. Moonrise Kingdom

This is a cute and fun film that deftly manages to defy expectations. It's sweet, but never sappy, quirky, but never unaccessible. The cast all turns in great performances and the visual style suits the film perfectly. It is easily one of Wes Anderson's all time best films.

8. Skyfall

It's telling how great this year was that Casino Royale was my second favorite film of its year, where the superior Skyfall sits at number eight. Skyfall is the best looking Bond film and, in my opinion, the most narratively interesting. It steps back into the Bond realm, after it looked like it was going to follow the Bourne style, and gave us a film that mixed the best of classic Bond with the best of the new era, to make what is, in my opinion, the all time greatest Bond film.

7. The Cabin in the Woods

Here's a film that's all in the writing. The Cabin in the Woods has one of the most satisfying screenplays of all time, successfully paying homage to and spoofing horror tropes, while also managing to twist them on their head. The result is a film that, while more funny than scary, provides ample amounts of both, and features a truly brilliant third act that has to be seen to be believed. And please, see this movie without learning anything about it. You'll be glad you did.

6. The Grey

No, this movie is not Liam Neeson punching wolves, it is something much, much better. It is a film about survival, about making it past conflicts both internal and external. This is a film that puts a small group of survivors in a dangerous situation and does something that this type of film usually never accomplishes: it makes us care about the characters. A beautiful, touching film with a final scene that is one of the best of the year.

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Maybe I'm biased, since The Lord of the Rings is my favorite movie of all time (yes, i do count them as one movie. They are too similar in style and quality for me not to.) The Hobbit still managed to be a totally satisfying and engrossing experience for me, though. It may not reach the same levels as the other trilogy, but it keeps all of the right things from The Lord of the Rings, while still changing things up enough to feel like its own film. I cannot wait for The Desolation of Smaug.

4. Zero Dark Thirty

 This film deserves to be here for the final sequence alone. However, the rest of the film is brilliant as well. It is one of the quickest 2 hours and 40 minutes I have ever spent, and proves to be a completely engrossing experience that has you on the edge of your seat even though you know how it ends.

3. Cloud Atlas

The most ambitious movie of the year is also one of the best. Combining six different stories, all taking place in different time periods and settings, Cloud Atlas still manages to feel cohesive and create an emotional effect for all six storylines. Not everybody will love it, but even if you don't you have to respect all of the hard work and ambition that went into making this film happen. It's just a shame more people didn't see it.

2. Lincoln

Of course Steven Spielberg would create a masterpiece with Lincoln. Featuring the best cast of the year, and directed by a surprisingly understated Spielberg, Lincoln manages to effectively give the audience a portrait of arguably our greatest President, while showing us only a small, but important, portion of his life. This focus manages to be the film's greatest strength, as the tangible goal sets it apart from most biopics. And of course Daniel Day Lewis gives another ground-breakingly brilliant performance. Did anybody really expect otherwise.

1. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Anybody who saw my Spearie award winners already knows this was my favorite movie of the year. they may not know how close the top 3 films were, or that I kept going back and forth in the week between my nominations and the winners announcement. However, I found that Beasts of the Southern Wild was the film that I had the strongest emotional connection to. I felt like I knew the characters and I really felt like I was in their world. An emotional, beautiful, unique film that I'm glad to see is getting some of the love and attention that it so truly deserves.