One of Australia's most prominent and nationally syndicated film writers, Leigh Paatsch, has placed The Dark Knight Rises at the top of his list of the best cinema that 2012 had to offer.
Best Ten Films of 2012
1. The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan ended his consistently brilliant, forever game-changing Batman trilogy on sustained notes of elation, exhaustion and deep contemplation. If every blockbuster event picture was a third as good as this, our faith in mainstream filmmaking would be unshakeable. Here's hoping these excellent works were not just an exception to the rule, but an example others will follow.
Rounding out Paatsch's Top 10 are:
2. Beasts of the Southern Wild
3. Argo
4. The Sessions
5. Looper
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8. Magic Mike
9. The Avengers
After many years in the works, Marvel Entertainment's master plan to conquer the world box-office with their stable of thoroughbred superheroes went off without a hitch. A truly epic action picture positively pulses with panache, wit and excitement throughout.
10. The Artist
TDKR also featured in the top 2 film moments of the year.
Top 10 Movie Moments of 2012:
1. The bomb blast at a packed football stadium in The Dark Knight Rises
2. Alfred bids farewell to Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises
Tom Hardy also makes the list of Strongest Performances of the year, while Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man made #7 on the list of 10 Great Movie Pairings of 2012.
You can see all the lists and results by clicking the link on this page.
Forget all the stupid fighting and arguing, I personally thinks it's terrific that 2 CBMs are included in a recognised critic's 10 best of the year. I know critics' opinions count for very little in the long run, but I also think it shows how far the CBM genre has come in the last 10 years, in being accepted as genuinely good filmmaking as well as entertaining escapism.