Best Performances of 2012 - Dynamic List

My ‘Best Performances’ dynamic lists are a lot like my Film lists, but slightly different.  For starters, while every film I see makes it onto my Film lists… only the most noteworthy performance make it onto my Best Performances lists.  Also, I only rank order what I consider the Top 5 Performances of the year.  However, I also maintain an Honorable Mentions list for each category, which is populated by performances that have either been bumped from the Top 5 or performances that are particularly noteworthy but not Top 5 worthy.  The honorable mentions are listed in alphabetical order by last name and are not rank ordered. 

That said, my Best Performances lists are just as dynamic and ever changing as my Film lists.

Best Performances of 2011:

Best Actor

1.     Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

2.     John Hawkes - The Sessions

3.     Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

4.     Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

5.     Al Pacino - Stand Up Guys

Honorable Mention

• Ben Afleck - Argo
• Paul Dano - Ruby Sparks
• Mark Duplass - Safety Not Guaranteed
• Will Ferrell - The Campaign
• Jamie Fox - Django Unchained
• Zack Galifanakis - The Campaign
• Joseph Gorden-Levitt - Looper
• Logan Lerman - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Ewan McGregor - Salmon Fishing in The Yemen and The Impossible
• Dev Patel - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
• Brad Pitt - Killing Them Softly
• Mark Wahlberg - Contaband
• Denzel Washington - Flight

Best Actress

1.     Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Lining Playbook

2.     Naomi Watts - The Impossible

3.     Zoe Kazan - Ruby Sparks

4.     Sally Field - Lincoln

5.     Aubrey Plaza - Safety Not Guaranteed

Honorable Mention

• Emily Blunt - Salmon Fishing in The Yemen and Looper
• Gina Carano - Haywire
• Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
• Blake Lively - Savages
• Rachel McAdams - The Vow
• Emma Watson - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best Supporting Actor

1.     Tom Holland - The Impossible

2.     Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained

3.     Robert De Niro - Silver Lining Playbook

4.     Christopher Walken - Stand Up Guys

5.     Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Honorable Mention

• Alan Arkin - Argo and Stand Up Guys
• Alec Baldwin - Rock of Ages
• Antonio Banderas - Ruby Sparks
• Russell Brand - Rock of Ages
• Russell Crowe - The Man with the Iron Fists 
• Tom Cruise - Rock of Ages
• Ben Foster - Contraband
• James Gandolfini - Killing Me Softly
• Paul Giamatti - Rock of Ages
• John Goodman - Argo, Trouble With the Curve, & Flight
• Tom Hardy - Lawless
• Woody Harrelson - The Hunger Games & Seven Psychopaths
• Richard Jenkins - Killing Me Softly
• Jake Johnson - Safety Not Guaranteed
• William H. Macy - The Sessions
• Dylan McDermott - The Campaign
• Scoot McNairy - Argo and Killing Me Softly
• Ben Mendelsohn - Killing Me Softly
• Chris Messina - Ruby Sparks
• Ezra Miller - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Bill Nighy - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Giovanni Ribisi - Contraband
• Sam Rockwell - Seven Psychopaths
• Benicio del Toro - Savages
• Amr Waked - Salmon Fishing in The Yemen
• Christopher Walken - Seven Psychopaths
• Bruce Willis - Looper

Best Supporting Actress

1.     Ann Hathoway - Les Miserables

2.     Helen Hunt - The Sessions

3.     Kristen Scott Thomas - Salmon Fishing in The Yemen

4.     Jacki Weaver - Silver Lining Playbook

5.     Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Honorable Mention

• Sarah Baker - The Campaign
• Elizabeth Banks - The Hunger Games
• Annette Bening - Ruby Sparks
• Rosemarie DeWitt - The Watch
• Salma Hayak - Savages
• Katherine LaNasa - The Campaign
• Lucy Liu - The Man with the Iron Fists
• Kelly Reilly - Flight
• Catherine Zeta-Jones - Rock of Ages

Best Films of 2012 – Dynamic List

Now that the Oscars are over, it’s time to public my 2012 Dynamic List.

The concept of the Dynamic List is pretty simple.  As I see films, they become eligible to be placed onto the list.  The list is rank ordered from best to worst, so films are placed onto the list based on how I liked that film in comparison to others that came out the same year.  Just because a film enters the list at #10 doesn't mean it will stay there… as films enter the list, others will be pushed down to lower rankings, which is why the list is dynamic.  The list is ever changing.  Sure, my focus may be on the films of 2013, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped watching films from previous years.  And as I do… my previous lists continue to be dynamic!

Films of 2012:

1.  The Impossible
2.  Argo
3.  Safety Not Guaranteed
4. Life of Pi
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. The Sessions
7.  Salmon Fishing in The Yemen
8.  Stand Up Guys
9.  Lincoln
10. Les Miserables
11. Flight
12. Zero Dark Thirty
13. Beasts of the Southern Wild
14. The Avengers
15. Skyfall
16. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
17. Ruby Sparks
18. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
19. Django Unchained
20. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
21. Moonrise Kingdom
22. Looper
23. Seven Psychopaths
24. Killing Them Softly
25. Cloud Atlas
26. Haywire
27. Savages
28. Rock of Ages
29. Ted
30. Rise of the Guardians
31. The Campaign
32. Contraband
33. The Grey
34. The Hunger Games
35.  21 Jump Street
36. Safe House
37. Alex Cross
38. Here Comes the Boom
39. Arbitrage
40. The Master
41. Wreck It Ralph
42. Trouble with the Curve
43. The Watch
44. Project X
45. Prometheus
46. Taken 2
47. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
48. The Woman in Black
49. The Vow
50. The Dictator
51. Total Recall
52. Act of Valor
53. Pirates! Band of Misfits!
54. Lawless
55. Brave
56. Chronicle
57. The Man with the Iron Fists
58. Premium Rush
59. The Raven
60. Bending the Rules
61. The Lorax
62. John Carter
63. Underworld: Awakening
64. Columbus Circle
65. Se7en Below

85th Academy Awards – Official Ballot

Today is the day!  My picks are locked in and ready to go.  For each category I have rank ordered my pictures from most likely to least-likely.

Best Picture: 

1.      Argo

2.     Zero Dark Thirty

3.     Silver Linings Playbook

4.     Life of Pi

5.     Les Miserables

6.     Lincoln

7.     Django Unchained

8.    Beasts of the Southern Wild

9.     Amour

Best Director:

1.      Ang Lee – Life of Pi

2.     David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook

3.     Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

4.     Michael Haneke - Amour

5.     Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Leading Actor: 

1.      Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

2.     Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables

3.     Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings PLaybook

4.     Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

5.     Denzel Washington – Flight

Best Leading Actress: 

1.      Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

2.     Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

3.     Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

4.     Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

5.     Naomi Watts – The Impossible

Best Supporting Actor: 

1.     Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

2.     Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

3.     Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

4.     Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook

5.     Alan Arkin – Argo

Best Supporting Actress: 

1.     Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

2.     Sally Field - Lincoln

3.     Amy Adams – The Master

4.     Helen Hunt – The Sessions

5.     Jackie Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay: 

1.      Django Unchained

2.     Zero Dark Thirty

3.     Moonrise Kingdom

4.     Amour

5.     Flight

Best Adapted Screenplay: 

1.      Argo

2.     Lincoln

3.     Silver Lining Playbook

4.     Beasts of the Southern Wild

5.     Life of Pi

Best Animated Feature: 

1.      Wreck-It-Ralph

2.     Brave

3.     Frankenweenie

4.     ParaNorman

5.     The Pirates!  Band of Misfits

Best Foreign Film: 

1.      Amour

2.     War Witch

3.     A Royal Affair

4.     No

5.     Kon-Tiki

Best Documentary Feature: 

1.      Searching for Sugar Man

2.     The Invisible War

3.     5 Broken Cameras

4.     The Gatekeepers

5.     How to Survive a Plague

Best Documentary Short: 

1.      Monday at Racine

2.     Inocente

3.     Open Heart

4.     Kings Point

5.     Redemption

Best Animated Short: 

1.      Adam and Dog

2.     Head Over Heels

3.     Paperman

4.     The Longest Daycare

5.     Fresh Guacamole

Best Live Action Short: 

1.      Asad

2.     Curfew

3.     Buzkashi Boys

4.     Death of a Shadow

5.     Henry

Best Original Score: 

1.      Life of Pi

2.     Argo

3.     Lincoln

4.     Skyfall

5.     Anna Karenina

Best Original Song: 

1.      Skyfall

2.     Les Miserables

3.     Life of Pi

4.     Ted

5.     Chasing Ice

Best Sound Editing: 

1.      Life of Pi

2.     Skyfall

3.     Argo

4.     Django Unchained

5.     Zero Dark Thirty

Best Sound Mixing: 

1.      Les Miserables

2.     Skyfall

3.     Life of Pi

4.     Argo

5.     Lincoln

Best Production Design: 

1.      Life of Pi

2.     Anna Karenina

3.     Lincoln

4.     Les Miserables

5.     The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Cinematography: 

1.      Life of Pi

2.     Skyfall

3.     Lincoln

4.     Django Unchained

5.     Anna Karenina

Best Makeup & Hairstyling: 

1.      The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey

2.     Les Miserables

3.     Hitchcock

Best Costume Design: 

1.      Anna Karenina

2.     Les Miserables

3.     Mirror Mirror

4.     Lincoln

5.     Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Film Editing: 

1.      Zero Dark Thirty

2.     Life of Pi

3.     Argo

4.     Lincoln

5.     Silver Lining Playbook

Best Visual Effects: 

1.      Life of Pi

2.     Marvel’s The Avengers

3.     The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey

4.     Prometheus

5.     Snow White and the Huntsman