Another list! As the title indicates, this one is for movies rather than games. I feel slightly stronger about this list than I do the last one, as I didn’t have to cut a bunch of excellent experiences. Anyway, enjoy!

11. Life of Pi

Life of Pi is the way adaptations should be done; not direct and completely full of fan service, but changed in understandable ways for the new medium. The movie takes the general story from the novel and makes it filmable, constantly entertaining and enjoyable, and ends up producing one of the most beautiful things in entertainment last year. The story itself is as divisive as anything I’ve seen recently, but I doubt anyone can say it’s not real pretty.

10. The Master

Speaking of real pretty, The Master’s oceanic vistas and cool, beautiful blues have been flowing through my head since the movie released in September. It still feels like a vacuous movie, one I’m not at all sure what I’m supposed to gain from having seen it, but it was a marvelous showpiece of acting and cinematography.

9. Skyfall

I was extremely surprised by how much I enjoyed Skyfall after being underwhelmed by the other Bond movies I’ve watched. The combination of incredible cinematography, a story with weight and impact, and the impeccable Javier Bardem distinguished Skyfall from not only its predecessors, but other action films in 2012.

8. Cabin in the Woods

I can’t believe I missed the experience of seeing Cabin in the Woods in a theater. It’s a movie that gets exponentially better as it goes on, and once the final act begins in full, the movie goes from being hilarious and inventive to down-right mind-blowingly cool. The way it messes with every awful horror trope, the way the scientists react to the college kids, the way hell eventually breaks loose is so insane and brilliant that even people uninterested or bored with the genre NEED to watch this movie.

7. Moonrise Kingdom

No one does charm and whimsy like Wes Anderson. Moonrise Kingdom is just an excruciatingly fun movie, and it’s deserving of your time.

6. Argo

Argo’s not one of the movies I thought about the most this year, but watching it was still an engaging, absorbing experience. It’s surprising, intense, and crazily well done. I hesitate to say any more as usual, and will instead urge you to just try watching it.

5. Wreck-It Ralph

When Wreck-It Ralph was announced a year or two ago, I got unreasonably excited, simply because I knew it would appeal to my tastes and that it would be in good hands at Disney. I couldn’t have predicted how great the movie would actually be, and not only for its intended audience of gamers, but for anyone who enjoys excellent filmmaking. It’s one of the most overwhelmingly delightful films I saw this year.

4. The Dark Knight Rises

It’s at this point in the list that things get pretty uncomfortable for me. In all honesty, any of the top four films could’ve taken the number one spot, but I’m here to make decisions, not dilly-dally. While The Dark Knight Rises may lose some points for being basically incomprehensible upon any real scrutiny, the act of actually viewing the movie is truly something. Bane is captivating as hell, the climax is insane, and it’s all just too much fun.

3. The Avengers

Speaking of too much fun, The Avengers is basically fun incarnate. The dialogue is campy and awesome, the action is crazy, and all of the fan service works completely. Then again, you’ve probably all watched The Avengers at this point, so this’ll be falling on deaf ears. If you haven’t, you know what to do.

2. Django Unchained

Django Unchained is one of those movies you want to have on DVD immediately so you can watch all of your favorite scenes again. Then again, watching the only best scenes from Django Unchained again basically turns into watching the whole movie.

It’s good. I’m trying to say that it’s really, really good.

1. Looper

Watch Looper. Just do it. If you regret doing that, you are WRONG.