“I am the one who lists.”

“This illustrated countdown represents my favorite 25 films of 2012 (with a few red herrings thrown into the intro sequence just to mess with you)…I tried my best to play fair and really stick to movies that played / are playing / will play in American movie theaters at some point during this calendar year, but at the end of the day I can’t resist taking a Walter White approach to these things: ‘I’m the one who lists.'”

Criterion Corner critic David Ehrlich makes a video announcing his top 25 of 2012. This isn’t my list by any means — I still have some catching up to do, but suffice to say, The Master won’t be on whatever I come up with — but this is a beautifully edited video nonetheless.

The Fourteenth Share.

With one week to go until An Unexpected Journey — I’m all set for a midnight 3D 48 FPS showing, haters be damned — first images appear from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. The first pic is self-explanatory. (As one wag in the comments put it, “I really don’t like the direction they’re going with Scrooge McDuck.”) In the other, that’s Legolas (obviously) and Bard (Luke Evans), presumably discussing some facet or another of the Battle of Five Armies. I still have a troubling feeling the third film in particular will veer far into the wilderness of fanfic, but so far so good.

?II remirP.

“I have to apologize. I was born with a disfigurement, where my head is made of the same material as the sun.” Er, isn’t everyone? In any case, Shane Carruth’s long-awaited follow-up to Primer, Upstream Color, gets a teaser. It premieres at Sundance early next year.Update: And now a second teaser.

Life After Nina Simone.

“We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story.” The third act of the Ballad of Jesse and Celine, Before Midnight, will also premiere at Sundance. I’m afraid it’ll be hard to top the emotional resonance of Before Sunset (#8), but if Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy want to give these characters a third act, I’ll give it a go.

Bond Sky Mining.

I don’t think it’s being too uncharitable towards Skyfall — which is a solid and decently fun Bond outing that’s a good deal better than A Quantum of Solace, although not quite at the level of Casino Royale — to say that the best part of the film may just be the opening credits. (Although if you ever wanted to see Bond go up against the Joker, same Dark Knight plan and all, or thought to wonder if 007 possibly grew up like Bruce Wayne in Hogwarts, those are in evidence too.) With that in mind, enjoy.

Old Friends, New Cues.

“Far over the Misty Mountains cold…” As we’re now only a month away from the incident with the dragon — or at least its first few chapters, the full soundtrack for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is now streaming online, as is Neil Finn’s “Song of the Lonely Mountain” (which is fine, but I confess “The Greatest Adventure” will likely remain my go-to for Hobbit-y standards.)

“This settles the fate of all coming time, not only of the millions now in bondage, but of unborn millions to come. Shall we stop this bleeding?” The trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is now online, apparently covering roughly the last month of the president’s life. It definitely looks more than a little Spielberg-y around the edges, but I can’t wait to see Daniel Day-Lewis — love the accurate high-pitched Kentucky voice — and Mr. Lincoln’s army of sterling character actors in this. (Showing Hal Holbrook early on was a touch of class.)

Tag: Cinema