2012 Best Reviewed Movies (Page #5)

Based on third-party critic ratings, the best reviewed 2012 movie releases.

Bernie

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 167 reviews

In the tiny, rural town of Carthage, TX, assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) was one of the town’s most beloved residents. He taught Sunday school, sang in the church choir and was always willing to lend a helping hand. Everyone loved and appreciated Bernie, so it came as no surprise when he befriended Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine), an affluent widow who was as well known for her sour attitude as her fortune. Bernie frequently traveled with Marjorie and even managed her banking affairs. Marjorie quickly became fully dependent on Bernie and his generosity and Bernie struggled to meet her increasing demands. Bernie continued to handle her affairs, and the townspeople went months without seeing Marjorie. The people of Carthage were shocked when it was reported that Marjorie Nugent had been dead for some time, and Bernie Tiede was being charged with the murder.

Comedy

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Boy

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 73 reviews

The year is 1984, and on the rural East Coast of New Zealand Thriller is changing kids lives.

Comedy

New York

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Neil Young Journeys

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 64 reviews

A documentary about the singer-songwriter through concert footage.

Documentary

Limited

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Middle of Nowhere

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 52 reviews

A drama chronicling a woman’s separation from her incarcerated husband and her journey to maintain her marriage and her identity.

Drama

Limited

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The Well-Digger's Daughter

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 41 reviews

Daniel Auteuil stars as the eponymous well-digger Pascal, a widower living with his six daughters in the Provence countryside at the start of World War I. His eldest, Patricia (the luminous Astrid Berges-Frisbey), has returned home from Paris to help raise her sisters, and Pascal dreams of marrying her off to his loyal friend Felipe (Kad Merad). But when she's impregnated by a wealthy young pilot (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who promptly abandons her for the frontlines, Pascale is left to contend with the consequences.

Romance

Limited

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The Other Dream Team

88% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews

After leading the USSR to a gold medal (and victory over the U.S.A.) at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis were poster boys for their oppressor's sports machine. Four years later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, they emerged as symbols of democracy, helping their country break free from the shackles of Communism, and willing newly independent Lithuania to the medal stand at the Barcelona Olympics. "The Other Dream Team" documents the Lithuanians' experiences behind the Iron Curtain for 50 years, where elite athletes were subjected to brutalities of Communist rule. As they hid from KGB agents and feared for their lives, Lithuania's basketball stars always shared a common goal--to utilize their athletic gifts to help free their country.

Documentary

Limited

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The Dark Knight Rises

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 372 reviews

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.

But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

Crime

Nationwide

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Frankenweenie

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 222 reviews

From creative genius Tim Burton comes Frankenweenie, a tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

Horror

Nationwide

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Wreck-It Ralph

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 189 reviews

Wreck-It Ralph (voice of Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidently unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade?

Family

Nationwide

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The Raid: Redemption

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 172 reviews

As a rookie member of an elite special-forces team, Rama (Iko Uwais) is instructed to hang back during a covert mission involving the extraction of a brutal crime lord from a rundown fifteen-story apartment block. But when a spotter blows their cover, boss Tama (Ray Sahetaphy) offers lifelong sanctuary to every killer, rapist and thief in the building in exchange fortheir heads. Now Rama must stand in for the team's fallen leader (Joe Taslim) and use every iota of his fighting strength - winding through every floor and every room to complete the mission and escape with his life.

Crime

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Arbitrage

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 171 reviews

When we first meet New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) on the eve of his 60th birthday, he appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller's also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he's about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller's past. One wrong turn ignites the suspicions of NYPD Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth), who will stop at nothing in his pursuits. Running on borrowed time, Miller is forced to confront the limits of even his own moral duplicity. Will he make it out before the bubble bursts?

Thriller

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Polisse

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 84 reviews

Centers on individuals and officers working in and around a child protection unit in Paris.

Drama

New York / Los Angeles

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Bullhead

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 76 reviews

For Jacky, a young man working on his family’s cattle farm in eastern Belgium, the crime ring surrounding the use of banned growth hormones represents both a financial opportunity and the possible exposure of his own troubled past. With an old friend urging him to agree to an illegal deal, Jacky finds himself drawn into a dangerous web that has already resulted in the death of a policeman investigating the ring.

Crime

Limited

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Chico & Rita

87% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 71 reviews

Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and desire unite them as they chase their dreams and each other from Havana to New York to Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas.

Romance

New York

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