With each passing day, it's looking more and more like Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" is going to be the one to beat this awards season. As we cautioned earlier this week, this trajectory right now reminds us of David Fincher's "The Social Network," which got all kinds of critical and industry love, only to lose out to Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" in the end. Granted, "Les Miserables" is no longer looking like a slam dunk with early reviews decidedly mixed (read ours here) but all this to say, there is still a lot the game to be played.
At any rate, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, David Edelstein of New York Magazine and Huffington Post all give major boosts to "Zero Dark Thirty" with the film topping the latter two lists and coming in second on Travers', falling just behind Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master." Now does this actually mean anything? Not much except that Bigelow's film seems to be one that's capturing critics of all stripes. Indeed, Travers is probably best known for his quotes than reviews but his list is repectable, if not filled with similarly populist choices like those at Huffington Post. Meanwhile, Edelstein's is a bit more eclectic witih "Pitch Perfect" and "Friends With Kids" somehow ranking.
Check out the lists below along with a new TV spot for "Zero Dark Thirty." The film opens in limited release December 19th before going wide on January 11th. [Awards Daily/Vulture/Huffington Post]
Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) Top 10 Films Of 2012
1. The Master
2. Zero Dark Thirty
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Lincoln
5. Argo
6. Silver Linings Playbook
7. Les Miserables
8. Life of Pi
9. Moonrise Kingdom
10. The Dark Knight Rises
David Edelstein (New York Magazine) Top 10 Films Of 2012
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Amour
4. The Gatekeepers
5. The Deep Blue Sea
6. Life Of Pi
7. How To Survive A Plague/Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
8. Pitch Perfect
9. Oslo, August 31st
10. Friends With Kids
Huffington Post Top 10 Films Of 2012
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
4. Argo
5. Django Unchained
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Silver Linings Playbook
8. Skyfall
9. Les Miserables
10. Looper