A.O. Scott: 25 Favorite Films of 2012 (as published by The New York Times)

1. Amour – Michael Haneke
2. Lincoln – Steven Spielberg
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin
4. Footnote – Joseph Cedar
5. The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson
6. Zero Dark Thirty – Kathryn Bigelow
7. Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino
8. Goodbye, First Love – Mia Hansen-Løve
9. Neighboring Sounds – Kleber Mendonça Filho
10. The Grey – Joe Carnahan

Honorable Mention, Alphabetically

• Argo – Ben Affleck
• Barbara – Christian Petzold
• Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• Consuming Spirits – Chris Sullivan
• The Deep Blue Sea – Terence Davies
• Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson
• Pitch Perfect – Jason Moore
• Ruse and Bone – Jacques Audiard
• Take This Waltz – Sarah Polley
• The Turin Horse – Béla Tarr

Top Five Documentaries

1. The Gatekeepers – Dror Moreh
2. The Queen of Versailles – Lauren Greenfield
3. How to Survive a Plague – David France
4. This is Not a Film – Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
5. The Central Park Five – Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon