The Grid’s Jason Anderson and Adam Nayman weigh in on the best stuff to hit the silver screen in 2012.
The year’s best performances:
Jason Anderson’s Top Ten Films of 2012
1. Tabu
2. The Master
3. Holy Motors
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
6. Magic Mike
7. Lincoln
8. Goon
9. Moonrise Kingdom
10. Bestiaire
Adam Nayman’s Top Ten Films of 2012
1. Tabu
2. The Master
3. Holy Motors
4. Killer Joe
5. The Deep Blue Sea
6. Bestiaire
7. Barbara
8. Sleeping Sickness
9. Zero Dark Thirty
10. Wanderlust
The year in Toronto film
Best Local Retrospective: Nico Pereda
The Mexican-born, York University–educated filmmaker shook off the disappointment of having TIFF reject his new feature, Greatest Hits, by getting an entire Lightbox retrospective to himself in November. It was a welcome introduction to a protean talent who has made six artful, stubbornly unclassifiable films in the past three years.
Best Bang For Her Buck: Nadia Litz
I only saw one of the five feature-winners showcased in Ingrid Veninger and Royal cinema programmer Stacey Donen’s $1,000 (or 1KWAVE) film challenge, but it was a good one. Despite having a budget just north of three figures, Nadia Litz’s Hotel Congress displayed the value of thoughtful writing and innovative direction.
Best Programmer: Andrea Picard
TIFF’s Wavelengths program went big this year, including more feature-length films among its selection of shorter experimental works. The result was an embarrassment of riches, with programmer Andrea Picard unveiling an absurdly disproportionate number of the fest’s best titles, including Bestiaire, Leviathan, Tabu, and the sublime Argentine discovery, Viola.
Most-Needed Accessory: White limousine
What are the odds that two of the year’s most striking and idiosyncratic art films—David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis and Leos Carax’s Holy Motors—would take place largely inside the confines of tricked-out, ivory-toned luxury vehicles? —Adam Nayman
Jason Anderson judges the non-Oscar categories:
