50 best movies of 2012

1. The Master

The Movie: Paul Thomas Anderson's first film since There Will Be Blood was the art-house equivalent of The Dark Knight Rises in terms of anticipation. His tale of a drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) taken in by cult leader Philip Seymour Hoffman didn't disappoint.

Impact: A film so good the Venice Film Festival jury was barred from giving it Best Film because it had already won too much. Surprisingly, the biggest noise hasn't come from Scientologists but fans of celluloid, ecstatic about Anderson's quixotic devotion to shooting in 70mm and disappointed when the sole print in UK cinemas developed a scratch.