Top 20 Movies of 2012

I continue to search for the kind of films that move me, entertain and excite me, make me feel emotions, and I'm sharing the best movies of 2012 below.

5 Broken Cameras
A documentary on a Palestinian farmer's chronicle of his nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army. 5 Broken Cameras is a phenomenal doc about a simple Palestinian farmer who chronicles the lives of the five video cameras that he's used to record his family and what's happening to the land and people around him. The way he presents everything in such a raw, but extraordinarily affecting way, is what makes this a very powerful documentary. It's one of those films that demands—needs—to be seen.

Bernie
In small-town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she's alive.

Casa de mi Padre
Scheming on a way to save their father's ranch, the Alvarez brothers find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared drug lord.

Cloud Atlas
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Compliance
When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no-one is left unharmed. Based on true events.

The Deep Blue Sea
The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.

Holy Motors
From dawn to dusk, a few hours in the shadowy life of Monsieur Oscar...

How to Survive a Plague
The story of two coalitions -- ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) -- whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.

The Imposter
A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.

The Intouchables
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker.

Indie Game: The Movie
A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

Liberal Arts
When 30-something Jesse returns to his alma mater for a professor's retirement party, he falls for Zibby, a college student, and is faced with a powerful attraction that springs up between them.

No
An ad executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.

Robot & Frank
Set in the near future, an ex-jewel thief receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team.

Rust and Bone
Put in charge of his young son, Alain leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.

Save the Date
Sarah begins to confront her shortcomings after she rejects her boyfriend's hasty proposal and soon finds herself in a rebound romance. Meanwhile, her sister Beth is immersed in the details of her wedding.

Sleepwalk with Me
A burgeoning stand-up comedian struggles with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore.

Smashed
A married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get sober.

West of Memphis
A documentary examining of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three.