With the number of new lists stalling, it appears time to put 2012 in the books.  Leading the way in 2012 was Zero Dark Thirty, making it the second time a Katherine Bigelow film has topped the list count in the past four years.  Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom recently pulled ahead of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, making it Anderson’s highest ranked film to date.

791 lists are included for 2012.  In addition, this updated list includes 2011 votes for films that were not primarily released in the United States until 2012.  A special thanks needs to be made to Eric M. Van for his generous and strenuous work on determing the counts for lists prior to 2012.  Thanks Eric!

Without further ado, here are the final 2012 rankings:

50. Barbara (34 lists; 3 top spots)

A sturdy suspense story, set in Stasi-infected East Germany, rich in moral compromise, individual integrity and general desperation, it’s elevated by Hoss to something sublime and unforgettable … — John Anderson, Newsday

49. 21 Jump Street (36 lists)

It was inevitable that one of Hollywood’s many recent reboots would eventually attain sentience. Hence the arrival of 21 Jump Street, a film that not only knows it’s a remake, but knows how absurd it has to be to succeed as a remake. — Andrew Lapin, NPR

48. Wreck-It Ralph (36 lists; 1 top spot)

There are a staggering number of rules governing the gameplay in Wreck-It Ralph, and one of the toon’s greatest pleasures comes in how intuitively audiences discover those parameters as the story unfolds. — Peter DeBruge, Variety

47. ParaNorman (37 lists; 2 top spots)

This swell stop-motion animation operates on a wavelength similar to that of Laika’s debut feature, Coraline, with assured character comedy counterbalanced by a solemn sense of macabre wonder. — J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

46. The Queen of Versailles (38 lists)

“The Queen of Versailles” ought to be required viewing for anyone who blames the rich for yanking the rug out from under America’s economy. — Rafer Guzman, Newsday

44. The Hunger Games (39 lists; 1 top spot)

Viewers who like a side order of political allegory with their science fiction will find much to savor here. So will romantics, fans of feminist heroines and action enthusiasts. “The Hunger Games” is that rare creation, an event movie of real significance. — Collin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

44. The Imposter (39 lists; 1 top spot)

“The Imposter” is slippery, manipulative, unstable and smoothly confounding. It’s also one of the most entertaining documentaries to appear since “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a film similarly obsessed with role playing and deception. — Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

43. The Impossible (40 lists; 3 top spots)

For all the visually impactful moments that all but put an audience directly into the horror of the Boxing Day tsunami in The Impossible, the true test of this drama comes in the emotion conveyed in its simplest moments. — Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

42. Safety Not Guaranteed (41 lists; 2 top spots)

A charming movie that blends comedy, romance and science fiction — not necessarily the most obvious combination of genres, but one that director Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly manage with assured ease. — Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

41. Compliance (42 lists; 5 top spots)

Likely to spur discussions about workplace safety, employee rights and broader awareness of sexual predation, Compliance is also a suspenseful psychological drama for viewers prepared to tolerate its extremes. — Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter

39. Flight (44 lists)

Flight reminds us of what Washington can do when a role hits him with a challenge that would floor a lesser actor. He’s a ball of fire, and his detailed, depth-charged, bruisingly true performance will be talked about for years. — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

39. How to Survive a Plague (44 lists)

We grow familiar with the names and faces of many of the leaders in the movement. Some look directly into the camera and say they expect to die of the disease. Some are correct. — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

 

38. Take This Waltz (47 lists; 3 top spots)

This romantic drama, starring the always-extraordinary Michelle Williams as a restless married woman contemplating an affair with her neighbor, is chock-full of individual moments of great power and beauty, including visual beauty. — Dana Stevens, Slate

37. Killing Them Softly (48 lists)

Jolting, suspenseful, full of twisted sympathy for its goons’ row of characters, and wickedly amusing to boot, Killing Them Softly summons up the ghosts of Goodfellas and a whole nasty tradition of crime pics. — Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

36. Anna Karenina (49 lists; 3 top spots)

A furiously ambitious literary adaptation, the best of Wright and Knightley’s careers, that tries to make us feel the intense sexuality and terror and grief of a classic novel … — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com

35. Searching for Sugar Man (50 lists; 2 top spots)

Fluid, open-ended documentaries that demand more of an audience than foregone assent or fleeting bouts of passive outrage are rare these days, which is what makes Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man such a gift. — Mark Holcomb, Village Voice

34. Killer Joe (54 lists; 1 top spot)

Friedkin’s still got it – the “it” being his ability to infuse every frame of the film with powerful ambiguity and doubt, and also his ability to attract terrific actors and propel them in unexpected directions. — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com

A smoothly distilled collaboration that balances Mr. Tatum’s heat and charm – and ambitions that are as transparent as Mike’s – with Mr. Soderbergh’s cool, cinematic intelligence and ongoing preoccupations. — Manohla Dargis, New York Times 

 

32. The Grey (55 lists; 3 top spots)

Impressively lensed by Masanobu Takayanagi on aptly rugged terrain in British Columbia, The Grey is thoroughly persuasive in its depiction of desperate men battling unforgiving elements. — Joe Leydon, Variety

31. The Raid: Redemption (56 lists; 3 top spots)

Lean, fast-moving, and filled with game-changing fight sequences that have a brutally beautiful (or beautifully brutal) quality, Gareth Evans’s Indonesian martial-arts film The Raid: Redemption lives up to its viral hype. — Ernest Hardy, Village Voice

What we can’t argue is that Cosmopolis is the work of a master filmmaker, one who is determined to have us think about the ideas packed into the trunk of this limo bound for the furthest corners of the psyche.  — Peter Howell, Toronto Star

29. Rust and Bone (60 lists; 3 top spots)

Audiard, who made the uncompromising prison saga A Prophet, is like a gritty, realist Douglas Sirk – throwing his characters into whirlwind scenarios that are filled with big emotions and fateful turns of events. — Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

28. The Sessions (61 lists; 1 top spot)

The squalor and upheaval of early 19th-century France are conveyed with a vividness that would have made Victor Hugo proud, heightened by the raw, hungry intensity of the actors’ live oncamera vocals. — Justin Chang, Variety

8. Django Unchained (243 lists; 20 top spots)

1. Zero Dark Thirty (366 lists; 77 top spots)

[Its] moral ambiguity will drive some viewers nuts, but in my view it is also the quality that makes “Zero Dark Thirty” something close to a masterpiece. — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com