86%  Winner:   Argo  120 min,  R,  [Biography, Drama, Thriller]  [Ben Affleck]  [12 Oct 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 77%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 96%,   Metacritic: 86%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 3 Oscars. Another 94 wins & 152 nominations.
Actors:  Alan Arkin, Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Writer:  Chris Terrio (screenplay by), Tony Mendez (based on a selection from "The Master of Disguise" by), Joshuah Bearman (based on the Wired Magazine article "The Great Escape" by)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English, Persian, Arabic    Country:  USA, UK
Plot:  In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceeded to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Based on true events, Argo chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis-the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA "exfiltration" specialist named Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies. -- (C) Warner Bros.

88%  Nominee:   Amour  127 min,  PG-13,  [Drama, Romance]  [Michael Haneke]  [20 Sep 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 79%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 93%,   Metacritic: 94%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Oscar. Another 77 wins & 103 nominations.
Actors:  Alexandre Tharaud, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Writer:  Michael Haneke (screenplay)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  French, English    Country:  Austria, France, Germany
Plot:  Georges and Anne are a couple of retired music teachers enjoying life in their eighties. However, Anne suddenly has a stroke at breakfast and their lives are never the same. That incident begins Anne's harrowingly steep physical and mental decline as Georges attempts to care for her at home as she wishes. Even as the fruits of their lives and career remain bright, the couple's hopes for some dignity prove a dispiriting struggle even as their daughter enters the conflict. In the end, George, with his love fighting against his own weariness and diminished future on top of Anne's, is driven to make some critical decisions for them both.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested. -- (C) Official Site

82%  Nominee:   Beasts of the Southern Wild  93 min,  PG-13,  [Adventure, Drama, Fantasy]  [Benh Zeitlin]  [05 Jul 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 73%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 87%,   Metacritic: 86%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 92 wins & 123 nominations.
Actors:  Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes, Quvenzhané Wallis
Writer:  Lucy Alibar (screenplay), Benh Zeitlin (screenplay), Lucy Alibar (stage play "Juicy and Delicious")
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in the Bathtub, a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink's tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he's no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack, temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink's health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
Rotten Tomatoes:   In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions. -- (C) Fox Searchlight

83%  Nominee:   Django Unchained  165 min,  R,  [Drama, Western]  [Quentin Tarantino]  [25 Dec 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 84%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 86%,   Metacritic: 81%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 2 Oscars. Another 56 wins & 151 nominations.
Actors:  Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio
Writer:  Quentin Tarantino
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English, German, French, Italian    Country:  USA
Plot:  A German dentist buys the freedom of a slave and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of the slave's wife who belongs to a ruthless plantation owner.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Set in the South two years before the Civil War, Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago. Django and Schultz's search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of "Candyland," an infamous plantation. Exploring the compound under false pretenses, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. -- (C) Weinstein

69%  Nominee:   Les Misérables  158 min,  PG-13,  [Drama, History, Musical, Romance, War]  [Tom Hooper]  [25 Dec 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 76%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 69%,   Metacritic: 63%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 3 Oscars. Another 81 wins & 172 nominations.
Actors:  Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe
Writer:  William Nicholson (screenplay by), Alain Boublil (screenplay by), Claude-Michel Schönberg (screenplay by), Herbert Kretzmer (screenplay by), Alain Boublil (based on the original stage musical "Les Misérables"), Claude-Michel Schönberg (based on the original stage musical "Les Misérables"), Victor Hugo (based on the novel by)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English    Country:  UK, USA
Plot:  Jean Valjean, known as Prisoner 24601, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert. Set in post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption-a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean Valjean, hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe) after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever. In December 2012, the world's longest-running musical brings its power to the big screen in Tom Hooper's sweeping and spectacular interpretation of Victor Hugo's epic tale. -- (C) Universal

81%  Nominee:   Life of Pi  127 min,  PG,  [Adventure, Drama, Fantasy]  [Ang Lee]  [21 Nov 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 79%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 86%,   Metacritic: 79%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 4 Oscars. Another 78 wins & 129 nominations.
Actors:  Adil Hussain, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma
Writer:  Yann Martel (novel), David Magee (screenplay)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English, Tamil, French, Japanese, Hindi, Chinese    Country:  USA, Taiwan, UK, Canada
Plot:  In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Richard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Director Ang Lee creates a groundbreaking movie event about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with another survivor...a fearsome Bengal tiger. -- (C) Official Site

83%  Nominee:   Lincoln  150 min,  PG-13,  [Biography, Drama, History, War]  [Steven Spielberg]  [16 Nov 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 74%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 89%,   Metacritic: 86%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 2 Oscars. Another 108 wins & 242 nominations.
Actors:  Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sally Field
Writer:  Tony Kushner (screenplay by), Doris Kearns Goodwin (based in part on the book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English    Country:  USA, India
Plot:  In 1865, as the American Civil War winds inexorably toward conclusion, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln endeavors to achieve passage of the landmark constitutional amendment which will forever ban slavery from the United States. However, his task is a race against time, for peace may come at any time, and if it comes before the amendment is passed, the returning southern states will stop it before it can become law. Lincoln must, by almost any means possible, obtain enough votes from a recalcitrant Congress before peace arrives and it is too late. Yet the president is torn, as an early peace would save thousands of lives. As the nation confronts its conscience over the freedom of its entire population, Lincoln faces his own crisis of conscience -- end slavery or end the war.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Steven Spielberg directs Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, a revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come. -- (C) Walt Disney

83%  Nominee:   Silver Linings Playbook  122 min,  R,  [Comedy, Drama, Romance]  [David O. Russell]  [25 Dec 2012]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 77%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 92%,   Metacritic: 81%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Oscar. Another 88 wins & 145 nominations.
Actors:  Bradley Cooper, Jacki Weaver, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Writer:  David O. Russell (screenplay), Matthew Quick (novel)
External Links:  Wikipedia  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English    Country:  USA
Plot:  Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr., caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland mental health institution after his minimum eight month court ordered stint. The condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Nikki has since left him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication (which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life. His goals are to get his old job back as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are certain instances where he doesn't cope well, however no less so than some others who have never been institutionalized, such as his Philadelphia Eagles obsessed father who has resorted to being a bookie to earn a living, his best friend Ronnie who quietly seethes over the control wielded by his wife Veronica, and Veronica's widowed sister, Tiffany Maxwell, a girl with problems of her own. In their fragile mental states, Pat Jr. and Tiffany embark on a love/hate friendship based primarily on what help the other can provide in achieving their individual goals. But they may reevaluate their goals as their relationship progresses.
Rotten Tomatoes:   Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything -- his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months is a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet-and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives. -- (C) Weinstein

86%  Nominee:   Zero Dark Thirty  157 min,  R,  [Drama, Thriller]  [Kathryn Bigelow]  [11 Jan 2013]
Ratings & Reviews:  IMDb Reviews: 74%,   Rotten Tomatoes: 91%,   Metacritic: 95%,   External Reviews
Awards:  Won 1 Oscar. Another 87 wins & 171 nominations.
Actors:  Chris Pratt, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler, Reda Kateb
Writer:  Mark Boal
External Links:  Rotten Tomatoes  IMDb  Website     Language:  English, Arabic    Country:  USA, United Arab Emirates
Plot:  Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
Rotten Tomatoes:   For a decade, an elite team of intelligence and military operatives, working in secret across the globe, devoted themselves to a single goal: to find and eliminate Osama bin Laden. Zero Dark Thirty reunites the Oscar winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) for the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man. -- (C) Official Site