Submit Your: Top Ten Performances of 2012

By Adam Kuntavanish
December 6, 2012 Contest, Top Ten 12 Comments

So last week featured my list of top 10 scenes of 2012, and now it’s time to revisit the performances of the past year. Acting is accomplished using the whole body, a fact underlined especially by the stunt-heavy action spectacles that audiences got to see this year. Young people in films around the world stand toe-to-toe to their more season peers in the acting sweepstakes. In addition, documentaries have continued to focus more and more on their subjects explicitly performing for the camera, adding extra layers or ambiguity or fascination to what would otherwise be straight nonfiction films. A former male model and one-time stripper gets to ply this trade again in a fictional setting, and an MMA fighter performs a choreographed facsimile of her professional work, both for the same director. To my eyes the usual reliance on impersonating historical figures thankfully diminished this year (with one major exception), leaving more imaginative creations to run wild. I’ve got my favorites, but let us know below what actors and actresses blew you away in 2012.

****All participants will be automatically entered to win a 2012 Blu-ray release of their choosing (max. $30 CAD).****

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By Adam Kuntavanish
Sr. Staff Film Critic & Top Ten Guru: Cinema transcends boundaries of time and space and thought and emotion; at its best it communicates the experience of being truly alive. I've been transfixed by the material ghosts of the movies since an early age, and I can't seem to shake them. Since reading and writing and talking about films are the next best things to watching them, criticism became a natural fit. Whether new or old, foreign or domestic, mainstream or cult, all movies are grist for my mill. Be forewarned, I'm an inveterate list-maker, so look out for rankings, topics, and opinions of all kinds. The AFI's got nothing on me.
  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-D-Misch/28134555 Chris D. Misch

    Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor & Tom Holland – The Impossible
    Jean-Louis Trintignant & Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
    Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone
    Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
    Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
    Denis Lavant – Holy Motors
    Alan Arkin – Argo
    Ann Dowd – Compliance
    Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  • Tyler

    Not counting stuff I’ve yet to see such as Les Miss, Django
    1. Joaquin Phoenix/Philip Seymour Hoffman- The Master- I feel as if you need both, can’t have one without the other
    2. Anne Hathaway- Dark Knight Rises
    3. Bradley Cooper/Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook-ditto, together is when we understand their characters and their chemistry flies
    4. Greta Gerwig- Damsels in Distress
    5. Daniel Day Lewis- Lincoln
    6. Amy Adams- The Master
    7. Javier Bardem- Skyfall
    8. Robert DeNiro- Silver Linings Playbook
    9. Rosemarie DeWitt- Your Sister’s Sister
    10. Jack Black- Bernie

  • http://twitter.com/cinemablogrpher Pat Mullen

    OMG I just started doing this post for my blog and it is TOUGH to narrow down choices this year (and I do lists for lead/supporting, so this is twice as tricky), but here goes:

    1. Christopher Plummer in Barrymore
    2. Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina
    3. Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
    4. Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone
    5. Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed
    6. Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins, and Billy Connolly in Quartet (but Collins is ‘Best in Show’)
    7. Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha
    8. Helen Hunt in The Sessions
    9. Meryl Streep in Hope Springs
    10. Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy

  • S M

    In no particular order:
    1. Anne Hathaway – Dark Knight Rises
    2. Charlize Theron – Snow White & the Huntsman
    3. Jeremy Renner – Bourne Legacy
    4. John Goodman – Argo
    5. Daniel Radcliffe – The Woman in Black
    6. Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Looper
    7. Johnny Depp – Dark Shadows
    8. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
    9. Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
    10. Robert Downing Jr. – The Avengers
    (11. Sasha Baron Cohen – The Dictator)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-D-Misch/28134555 Chris D. Misch

    John Goodman can do no wrong!! An excellent selection my friend.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-D-Misch/28134555 Chris D. Misch

    Apparently I need to see Barrymore!

  • S M

    Thank you! I thought he did a fantastic job!

  • Andrew13

    Here are my top 10, having yet to see Lincoln, Flight, Django Unchained, Les Mis, and Zero Dark Thirty.

    1. Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
    2. Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
    3. Marion Cotillard – Rust & Bone
    4. John Hawkes – The Sessions
    5. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
    6. Liam Neeson – The Grey
    7. Michael Pena – End of Watch
    8. Omar Sy – The Intouchables
    9. Amy Adams – The Master
    10. James Gandolfini – Killing Them Softly

  • http://twitter.com/CGRunyon Christopher Runyon

    1. Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
    2. Denis Lavant – Holy Motors
    3. Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
    4. Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
    5. John Hawkes – The Sessions
    6. Michael Pena – End of Watch
    7. Bruce Willis – Looper
    8. Amy Adams – The Master
    9. Liam Neeson – The Grey
    10. Dwight Henry – Beasts of the Southern Wild

  • http://twitter.com/Fulmer Fulmer

    I’m way behind on my 2012 screenings, so here ya go:

    Phillip Seymour Hoffman- The Master
    John Goodman- Argo
    Quvenzhané Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Anne Hathaway- The Dark Knight Rises
    Jim Broadbent- Cloud Atlas
    Liam Neeson- The Grey
    Tilda Swinton- Moonrise Kingdom
    Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
    Bruce Willis- Looper
    Christopher Walken- 7 Psychopaths

  • http://twitter.com/laura_grande13 Laura Grande

    It’s hard to make a list since I haven’t seen a lot of big releases yet (The Hobbit, Django Unchained, Les Mis, etc.) but here’s who I’d list so far:
    1) Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
    2) Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
    3) Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
    4) Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
    5) John Hawkes – The Sessions
    6) Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
    7) Ezra Miller – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    8) Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
    9) Kara Hawyard – Moonrise Kingdom
    10) Benedict Cumberbactch – Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein

  • http://twitter.com/ch_williamson Chuck Williamson

    I’ve missed out on quite a few new releases (The Deep Blue Sea, Lincoln, Amour, and so on), so this list might seem a little incomplete. Think of it as a work in progress. I’m sure this will change quite a bit once I’ve caught up with a few other films from this year.

    1. Denis Lavant (Holy Motors)
    2. Gina Gershon (Killer Joe)
    3. Nina Hoss (Barbara)
    4. Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
    5. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
    6. Clarke Peters (Red Hook Summer)
    7. Louis Negin (Keyhole)
    8. Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe)
    9. Hani Furstenberg (The Loneliest Planet)
    10. Kara Hawyard (Moonrise Kingdom)