The Best Films of 2012: #3 & #2

We're getting closer to the end and we've now reached the portion of the list that gave me the most problems.  I think I always knew what my top three movies were and I knew for sure what #1 was, but trying to figure out what was #2 and what was #3 gave me some troubles as both were great movies that I really enjoyed a lot.  After a lot of flip-flopping, I think I've finally made a decision.  To find out what won out, hit the jump...

#3

Zero Dark Thirty

Dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Intense.  That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Zero Dark Thirty and how could I not.  How could someone possibly make a movie about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and not make it intense.  Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal pick up exactly where they left off with their last effort (a little movie called The Hurt Locker) only this time they've upped the ante.  Covering over almost a ten year period, from 9/11 to (SPOILER ALERT) the eventual killing of Bin Laden, ZDT tells a story that most Americans may think they know, but really they don't.  If you've been keeping up with the news, you may know that there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding this one, whether it be how Bigelow and Boal got some of their information when writing the script, or the finished product's depiction of torture.  Nevertheless, this feels real and has to be a very accurate depiction of the greatest manhunt in history.  But regardless of how great the story is or how the film made me feel, it would be a crime to not mention Jessica Chastain.  She gives perhaps the most dynamic performance of the year and deservedly received and Oscar nod for her work.  I'm not sure the Academy will give her the statue, but I'd be all for it if they do.  She absolutely nails it.

#2

Django Unchained

Dir. Quentin Tarantino

"Awesome. Djust awesome."  That's a quote I read on Twitter, but unfortunately I don't remember the author.  Still, that is the best way Quentin Tarantino's latest.  Only Q.T. could take such a touchy subject like slavery and make it so entertaining.  Sure some people were highly offended by it, but I'm not one of those people.  That statement made me sound racist, but whatever, I love this film.  First off, it is easily the funniest movie of the year.  Tarantino's movies are often darkly comic, but Django may be his most overtly hilarious movie.  Sure there are the portions of suspense and drama, but much of the script is mostly a comedy.  The comedy is made even better by the actors performing it.  Jamie Foxx, is good as the lead, but it's really the supporting players that make the movie.  Christoph Waltz is the best of the bunch.  I've seen him in other movies and he was good, but for some reason he steps up his game when he is reading Tarantino's dialogue and he becomes the greatest actor in the world.  Leonardo DiCaprio is great as usual and seeing him play someone so sadistic is refreshing.  And then there's Samuel L. Jackson, who goes together with Tarantino like peanut butter and jelly.  Like Waltz, when paired with Q.T.'s words, Jackson takes everything to a whole new level.  He completely gets lost in his character to the point that at first glance he is almost unrecognizable.  I've had some discussions with friends about whether this is Tarantino's best movie and while I don't personally think it is, it's still a masterwork by a master filmmaker.