My Oscar Ballot + Top 10 of 2012 (End of 2012 version)

Well, it's officially 2013 so I can stop trying to cram in movies from last year to give myself a greater selection for my Oscar picks and top 10 list. That's not true, I'll keep watching movies from 2012 for the next few months to try and fill in my gaps. I've only seen 51 movies that I have counted as being from 2012 which is always a fluctuating process because of release dates and festival premieres and such. Anyways, these are my picks for the top 5 categories at the Oscars(picture and acting). I'll probably update this around Oscar time with any changes that further viewing has added to my lists but it feels timely to post one now as actual Oscar voters submit their ballots this week. Hopefully you'll seek out some of the titles you haven't seen. My winners are bolded.

Best Supporting Actress:

A very good year without a clear standout although Kruger's performance is such a personal favorite as she dominates every scene in which she appears. Blunt has a similarily strong performance in a lesser film that still manages to keep the film afloat. The other three are merely standouts in strong ensembles but they are such great standouts that they deserve to be on this list.

Doona Bae in Cloud Atlas
Emily Blunt in Looper
Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables
Scarlett Johansson in The Avengers
Diane Kruger in Farewell, My Queen

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): Samantha Barks in Les Miserables, Marion Cotillard in The Dark Knight Rises, Gina Gershon in Killer Joe, Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, Julia Roberts in Mirror Mirror

Best Supporting Actor:

While this isn't ever a super strong category for me, all five of these nominees feel essential. Pettyfer is the weakest link but his performance blew me away so much that it had to be included. Bardem gives a wonderfully fun and sinister villain but it doesn't match his work in No Country For Old Men. Whishaw has the best character in Cloud Atlas and plays the part wonderfully and would win in any other year. The same goes for Ezra Miller who was my winner last year for a lesser performance but it was a weaker year. Still, Redmayne's big number wins him the award by a hair as both are films and performances I will be loving for years.

Javier Bardem in Skyfall
Ezra Miller in The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Alex Pettyfer in Magic Mike
Eddie Redmayne in Les Miserables
Ben Whishaw in Cloud Atlas

Honorable Mentions: Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln, Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Anna Karenina, Aaron Tveit in Les Miserables

Best Actor:

Tatum achieves the rare double nomination that can't happen at the Oscars but both performances are so strong and assured and so completely different that they both had to be honored. Trintignant is absolutely heartbreaking in the role and such a strong contender. Foxx carries his film wonderfully and keeps it grounded despite the odd directions it often goes. However, Jackman is just so wonderful in his film that giving him the award is undeniable for me.

Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained

Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables

Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street

Channing Tatum in Magic Mike

Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour

Honorable Mentions: Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider Man, Logan Lerman in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Robert Pattinson in Cosmopolis, Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

Best Actress:

I haven't seen half the contenders for the Oscars yet, including personal favorites Cotillard and Chastain so this list could change radically but these are all strong performances. Riva plays a tough role with such ease, Streep is her most effortless and wonderfully in years, Seydoux is the perfect lead for her film and manages to keep up with Diane Krugers' fantastic performance and Weisz is so strong that I wish I could give her this award. But I can't deny how strongly I felt for Knightley's performance. I've been very hit or miss with her until last year's A Dangerous Method was a huge hit for me, especially her performance. This year she plays this heroine so wonderfully that her lack of contention at the actual Oscars is infuriating. 

Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina

Emmanuella Riva in Amour

Lea Seydoux in Farewell, My Queen

Meryl Streep in Hope Springs

Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea

Honorable Mention: Greta Gerwig in Damsels in Distress, Rachel Mwanza in War Witch, Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Picture (aka my top 10 of 2012):

10. Django Unchained: I might be caught up in the splendor of having seen it today but it is most definitely among Tarantino's best for me and was just always compelling and full of wonderful moments. The violence often felt too much but the film managed to balance it out with the strong performances. Only downfall is the extreme lack of Kerry Washington.

9. Paranorman: This animated feature is the most lovely, warm and funny movie for kids in years and while I loved this year's Pixar entry, this is the kind of filmmaking they are always credited for.

8. Skyfall: I had never seen a James Bond film and I'd now much rather just watch this one over and over. So much fun yet always interesting and full of wonderful performances. Hard to find anything not to love about the best action film of the year.

7. The Perks of Being A Wallflower: The book is one of my absolute favorites and it managed to do it such justice. I cried so much because this is the kind of reality that people claim Silver Linings Playbook had. A beautiful and honest tale that feels so personal yet clearly resonates so universally.

6. Magic Mike: What started out as potential a fun movie became the exact opposite as those who came to hoot and holler at naked male bodies were shocked to see a rich plot, refreshing ideas about sexuality and another lived in and realistic portrayal of a much different group of people. Plus, it is that fun movie you want if you can deal with parts where people actually talk.

5. Farewell, My Queen: I've been anticipating this movie since I read in a magazine years ago that Diane Kruger was playing Marie Antoinette and I was not disappointed with the result. One of the most fascinating and unique costume dramas that allows for such wonderful performances.

4. Life of Pi: It's just so beautiful to look at that you get wrapped up in the spectacle of it. In what will clearly become evident as the year of the epic(in the meaning from Classic Hollywood), this is the most personal epic that Lee handles so beautifully. See it in 3D if you can, it's so worth it.

3. Les Miserables: It's faults are many but in epic filmmaking, you either go with it or you deny it. The story, characters, performances and songs captured me and thrust my heart into this messy world of wonder that had me entertained throughout and dying to go back.

2. Cloud Atlas: The most divisive movie of the year has such big emotions, large statements about humanity and such a soul to it that the effect was similar to Avatar on me. While both are bloated and surely flawed, they both tell such beautiful tales of humanity and do so with such wonderfully storytelling and visuals.

1. Anna Karenina: Heartbreaking, visionary, potentially the best costume drama I've seen, full of emotion and just so beautiful to look at. It tells a beautiful story as well as one can in cinema and takes even that to new heights through many measures. Wright's best film which is a shocking statement from one of Atonement's biggest fans.