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Now complete.

I would have liked to have seen a little explanation paragraph for each of the films you mentioned for the Honorable Mentions list, but oh well.

A little capsule review, and why they didn't quite get there would have been nice. Presumably there will be more explanation of placements in the top 11?

I agree, although I can see why none were included, given that they are honorable mentions.

Let's have some fun. Starting today and ending on Sunday, I will attempt to predict the next two films to join James' list the following day. I invite everyone else who is a fan of his reviews to join in.

The "orphaned" 2011 film is clearly A Separation, as was stated in this year's Halftime Top 10. That being said, I am assuming that both of the #10 films, as well as the movie that came in at #9, will be revealed tomorrow.

Here is my list of the eleven movies that will be featured in the top 10 this year, in alphabetical order: Amour, Argo, Compliance, The Dark Knight Rises, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Looper, A Separation, Skyfall, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.

Knowing that Looper will almost definitely end up at #1, here are my predictions for #10 and #9.

10. The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall
9. Compliance

James has stated before that Skyfall is superior to all of the year's other blockbusters, but I honestly cannot think of any other movie that would end up in a tie with TDKR, which I recall him calling superior to The Avengers. Compliance will probably end up at #9, making Killing Them Softly the only three-and-a-half-star movie of 2012 to not earn a spot on the list. Then again, James' lists always end up being extremely unpretentious (thankfully), so it still might end up earning a place.

While looking through some of this year's reviews, I noticed that The Cabin in the Woods was listed as a 2011 movie, despite being released this past April. Not trying to nitpick, but I just thought that I should point it out.

Cabin In The Woods was actually completed back in 2009, it got delayed because MGM in they're infinite wisdom wanted to convert the film to 3-D, but they're financial issues forced them to cancel those plans.

Considering that Looper is the only movie he gave 4 stars to this year, there ain't much suspense as to what will be #1.

James also said in a tweet that Lincoln was a "lock" for his Top 10. With that in mind, I'm going to guess for Lincoln to appear on the list instead of Silver Linings Playbook (either that or Amour)

As for my guesses for tomorrow's post:
10. The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall
9. Amour

I hope this gets you the traffic you're looking for, James, but as a fellow blogger I dislike the bait-and-switch involved in first calling this your end of year top ten (part one), then teasing it as a top 11 and finally revealing only your honorable mentions -- so now I have to come back knowing I'll only get a few picks at a time. I'll just wait until January. Not that I'll begrudge the site, obviously -- you write amazing reviews, and are one of the few critics I trust regularly to decide where to spend my (rare) movie money. I just wasn't a fan of the "big reveal."

I wouldn't call it a bait-and-switch. The text clearly explains how I'm doing it this year. The decision was either to do it this way or hold the entire thing until Monday. Either way, you wouldn't get the whole thing until then. This way, it comes in smaller bites. Or you can just stay away until the whole thing is up.

1. Looper
2. Lincoln
3. A Separation
4. Amour
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Skyfall
7. Silver Linings Playbook
8. Django Unchained

This would be my guess.

How did I forget that? Honestly. In that case, I will swap out Compliance with Lincoln.

I do not understand the hype behind Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty. I'm with Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune on that movie. As for Zero Dark Thirty, I believe that my grievances concerning it have been denoted more than enough in that film's forum thread.

One out of three correct so far. While I'm at it, I might as well post my predictions for the remaining three days right now. Here they are:
8. Django Unchained
7. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Amour
5. Skyfall
4. Lincoln
3. Zero Dark Thirty
2. A Separation
1. Looper

Just to put things into perspective, Amour is probably my favorite film of the year. That being said, if I win James' Oscar prediction contest next year, I will probably recommend that he watch and review This is Not a Film, my second favorite movie of the year, as well as 2012's best documentary, in my opinion. Hopefully, it will be available on Netflix by then.

I guess you mean "displeased"?
Glad to see that The Avengers didn't make the cut. Very overrated imo (maybe a 6/10 for me), and The Dark Knight Rises is for me personally a superior experience by every measure. The moment Ironman had to get the that rotor restarted in the flying battleship (that makes absolutely no sense) by flying around in circles super fast I knew I was watching a turkey in the making. To think I watched ALL the prerequisite super-hero films (most of which were not very good) in anticipation of The Avengers... if only I could get my time and money back.

Yeah sorry about that ... I'm crankier than usual due to an exposed nerve in a cracked tooth I can't have removed until after New Years ... didn't mean to overreact. I was more bothered by the fact that all we had yesterday were the honorable mentions with no writeups about any in your top ten. I'm over it

No, there were other three-and-a-half star movies this year, including The Intouchables. My mistake.

Here is my final top ten list for the year.

10. Holy Motors
9. Moonrise Kingdom
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
7. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Oslo, August 31st
5. This is Not a Film
4. The Master
3. Lincoln
2. Amour
1. Argo



Get well soon.

Well, I don't think there's much suspense left as to which films will finish in the Top 5 although in which order remains to be seen other than the obvious #1 pick, Looper. For the other four, I predict (with strong certainty) Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, A Separation (we know for sure those 3 will make it) and Amour. Now let the unveiling continue...

Ebert posted his top 10 list http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/12 ... _2012.html
Looks like there will be remarkably little overlap between his and James (just 2 films).

Well he and James have often disagreed so this isn't surprising.

Because of his hip fracture, there are a number of December films he didn't see including, I believe, LES MISERABLES and DJANGO UNCHAINED. A SEPARATION was on his Top 10 last year.

Some of his inclusions and omissions are also puzzling. Despite giving **1/2 to THE MASTER, he has put it in his "runner up" category. Then there's AMOUR, which he saw during the summer. In his Toronto blog, he wrote the following: "This year's festival opened Thursday, but some titles were shown early to critics in a few other cities, and I can promise you that on Saturday the festival will showcase one of the best films of the year." What's that film? AMOUR. Yet, it doesn't show up on his Top 10. Probably because he forgot about it. That kind of thing can happen when you're on pain meds and doing intense rehabbing. So take Ebert's 2012 list with a grain of salt.

So I guess #3 will likely be Lincoln and #2 will be Zero Dark Thirty. If not then the opposite. And obviously #1 is Looper.

Well, I guess that the prospects of Ebert Presents At the Movies returning from its year-long hiatus are limited now. Shame.



Shouldn't this say $250M, instead of $250K, or am I missing something here?