John Waters Picks Terence Davies' 'The Deep Blue Sea' As The Best Film Of 2012

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by Kevin Jagernauth
December 3, 2012 9:44 AM
3 Comments

So far, the best of 2012 lists have been dominated by high falutin' Cahiers Du Cinema and Sight & Sound, so leave it to the always eclectic director John Waters to provide the first truly diverse and totally unpredictable top ten of the year, all with his trademark wit.

Leading the pack is a great movie that was unfortunately slept on and ignored by most: Terence Davies heartbreaking "The Deep Blue Sea" starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston. While Michael Haneke's "Amour" and Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" represent the films that will likely be present on many lists as we head toward the end of year, he found room for everything from William Friedkin's chicken fried "Killer Joe," Christoph Honore's Gallic musical "Beloved," the uncomfortable indie "Compliance" and the solid doc "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present."

As always, he provides great comments on each, and we have excerpts below. But go over to Artforum for the whole shebang.

John Waters Top 10 Films Of 2012

1. The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies) (review) - "...you’ll wish you were suicidal over someone who didn’t love you back."
2. Paradise: Faith (Ulrich Seidl) (review) - "Fassbinder died, so God gave us Ulrich Seidl."
3. Paradise: Love (Ulrich Seidl)
4. Amour (Michael Haneke) (review) - "Makes Saw seem like a romantic comedy."
5. Killer Joe (William Friedkin) (review) - "The best Russ Meyer film of the year"
6. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin) (review)
7. Compliance (Craig Zobel) (review) - "Ann Dowd is by far the best actress of 2012."
8. Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (Matthew Akers) (review)
9. Beloved (Christophe Honoré) (review) - "Another crackpot Umbrellas of Cherbourg homage"
10. The Imposter (Bart Layton) (review) - "A whodunit documentary that is better than any mystery novel."

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More: Best Of 2012, The Deep Blue Sea, Paradise: Faith, Amour, Killer Joe, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Compliance, Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, Beloved, The Imposter

3 Comments

| Reply
Alan | January 28, 2013 1:42 PMReply

Waters was being sarcastic, no? Deep Blue Sea is one of the worst-written and directed movies I've ever seen.
Zach | December 3, 2012 11:50 AMReply

Kudos to Waters for scooping Cahiers and Sight and Sound. The Deep Blue Sea is a fantastic movie, a masterpiece, even, and definitely on my top ten.
teddy | December 3, 2012 11:25 AMReply

Loved"The Deep Blue Sea". Rachel Weiss gives a amazing performance in that movie.