American Film Institute's top ten of 2012

The American Film Institute has released its annual list of the top ten movies and television programs of the year.

Included in the top movies list are current awards season darlings such as Argo, Lincoln, Les Misérables, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty. It is interesting to see the inclusion of Les Misérables because it's primarily a British production and AFI only selects American titles for its lists.

But notable omissions include the Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master and Flight by Robert Zemeckis. There are also no animated films or documentaries, even though it was a strong year for both.

AFI Awards 2012 selections are made through AFI's unique jury process in which scholars, film and television artists, critics and AFI Trustees determine the most outstanding achievements of the year, as well as provide a detailed rationale for each selection. This year's juries - one for film and one for television - were chaired by producers and AFI Board of Trustees Vice Chairs Tom Pollock (former Vice Chairman of MCA, Chairman of Universal Pictures) for the movies and Rich Frank (former Chairman of Walt Disney Television, President of Walt Disney Studios, President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) for television, and includes award-winning artists such as Angela Bassett, Brad Bird, Chris Carter, Marta Kauffman and Octavia Spencer; film historian Leonard Maltin; scholars from prestigious universities with recognized motion picture arts programs (Syracuse, UCLA, University of Texas, USC, Wesleyan); AFI Board of Trustees; and critics from leading media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, USA Today and more.

The awards will be presented at an invitation-only luncheon on Friday, January 11 in Los Angeles.


AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Dark Knight Rises
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty


AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
American Horror Story
Breaking Bad
Game Change
Game of Thrones
Girls
Homeland
Louie
Mad Men
Modern Family
The Walking Dead