Here, in alphabetical order, are ten movies I watched this year that knocked my socks off:

Beyond the Hills (directed by Cristian Mungiu, 2012)
Cosmopolis (directed by David Cronenberg, 2012)
Magic Mike (directed by Steven Soderbergh, 2012)
The Master (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (directed by Wes Anderson, 2012)
The Movie Orgy (created by Joe Dante & Jon Davison, 1968)
Skyfall (directed by Sam Mendes, 2012)
Stony Island (directed by Andrew Davis, 1978)
This Is Not a Film (directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi, 2011)
Weekend (directed by Andrew Haigh, 2011)

More thoughts.