Which movie was the best of 2012?

I'm going with "Beasts of the Southern Wild" for my top pick. 
As mentioned before, I went to see a few movies this year. Not sure how it stands up to my movie watching of the past, but I think it's less movies this year.

Why is "Beasts of the Southern Wild" so good? Because it creates an artificial world of today (NOLA) and places them in a quasi fictional setting. And then they wage war on mainstream-civilized America. Not a real war, just a war between untamed souls, living out their existence like people used to live in this country--and still do in a few rare pockets of desert, if they aren't caught and shut down (I'm thinking of the weird mobile home quasi-nudist colony pockets that were mentioned in "Into the Wild"). It's also a girl's quest to find her mommy and about the loss of her dad from a great sickness.

If you don't cry in this movie, you don't have a heart. Or you aren't pregnant, since I was in the second trimester when I saw this film. This movie also has mythological creatures in it.

Second pick: Django Unchained

It's a pretty good movie. Revenge! Justice against the baddest bad guys! Making fun of the losers in the KKK!
There's some gore. Justice does not come to all who deserve it in this film. Weak female characters.
(SPOILERS!) If Django's wife is brave enough to escape a few times, then why does she seem so weak in every other scene?

Third movie of 2012: Cabin in the Woods
You'll laugh and laugh in this movie. It's just pure fun. It does take the horror genre and stands it on it's head. It's funny. It's a little scary. It's unexpected. It has freaky ass unicorns in it.
Joss Whedon, the universe (mostly) adores you.

Fourth Movie: Cosmopolis
Uhh, this movie is great because you get to see Robert Pattison mostly nude. And some other girls get nude. And he has a sweet car with a toilet in it. But it's a cool Don Delillo  adaptation and it will make you think about Capitalism (a little) and throwing your riches away. Plus the metaphor of "Taking a Haircut" isn't lost. It will shock you in a few parts and I'm guessing most people hated the ending--which does not quite match the book.

Fifth Movie: Lincoln
Why didn't I rate this higher? Because I dozed off in a few places. Guess what? I could still figure out what was happening. I'm not looking for gore or a reenactment of the civil war battlefield. In fact, I love that the entire movie is based around the 13th Amendment and how it was passed. Let no one say that trickery  in politics is new today!  Daniel Day Lewis, you are a golden god and few dispute that. This isn't a bad movie. It's just not a truly great movie, either.

Sixth choice:  This is 40
Yeah, it's pretty much a comedy about how much being married with kids is weird. It's not too different from normal life, except this couple's financial problems don't quite seem as pressing as they should in a real life. Sell your BMW! Sell your Lexus! Oh, wait. It's a comedy. Poor souls. I know there's a fair number of unmarried people out there who will pray that this isn't their life. The goal of Judd Aptow films seems to just make it relevant enough and distant enough that we don't feel completely disgusted with our culture when we watch a film like this.

Seventh Choice: Silver Linings Playbook
I really did like this film. I almost ranked it higher. But the cliches that it delves into later make it a little stupid. "Everything is riding on this dance contest!" Really. There's a dance contest. They have to practice a lot for it. They have to score highly or else their entire world will collapse. Give me a break! This movie was doing so well, with the oft-unmentioned mental illnesses and weird peer-pressure,  blatant family instability that made this movie seem different this time.
But instead it turns into "Ha-ha! Look at how funny it is when people with an Eastern Accent like the Eagles?!" That plus the dance contest made me lower this movie's overall rating. You should still see it, though.

Eight Movie: Moonrise Kingdom
Great cast. Great endings. Great fantasy. Adorable film. It does deserve a higher rating, too, but I just didn't love it enough to outrank it. It doesn't create anything new in cinema, it's just a cute story. Been there. Done that. No tears were shed. No true laughs were made.