They have arrived and this is the first one

The 2012 Flixist Awards (known as the Golden Pterodactyls by those in the know) have arrived. Now that those far less important awards have come and gone, it's time to get down to the ones that really matter. We'll be spending the next week honoring the best films of 2012. To kick things off we're opening with a big one: Best Director.

Our nominees this year are basically a who's who of directing ranging from seasoned pros like Steven Spielberg to indy darlings like Wes Anderson. It's a telling fact about the wide variety and quality of film we got last year that we have such depth to our nominees. We also didn't forget about how truly good The Master was unlike every other person who watches movies. It was definitely a good year for talented directors to show us their best, but only one could win...

Django Unchained may have stirred up some controversy, but there's one thing no one could argue about: Quentin Tarantino put together an amazingly good movie. From nailing the cast to shooting in his fantastically unique style it stood out. From nods to classic westerns to somehow keeping a very dark film entertaining Tarantino showed us why he's a master of the medium he loves so much. Often his films can feel like he's simply referencing things he's seen, but with Django everything seems somehow fresh while still honoring what came before. Moving past Tarantino's mastery of the homage is his mastery of making violence somehow artistic. There's so much going on in Django that it seems ridiculous to focus on this, but that last shoot out is a gun fight masterpiece. The man is simply a brilliant director. Full Review.

This was one of our closer contests and all five directors definitely deserve some sort of dinosaur statue even if they didn't grab a Golden Pterodactyl. Paul Thomas Anderson especially deserves a bit more attention since The Master disappeared  from the radar this awards season other than its actors. Meanwhile, Ben Affleck truly established himself as one of Hollywood's best directors with Argo and Spielberg kept his throne by giving us the powerful, though flawed, Lincoln. We're also pretty sure that Wes Anderson makes the same movie every time, which is fine with us because that movie is awesome and Moonrise Kingdom might be his best version of it.

Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Paul Thomas Anderson - The Master
Ben Affleck - Argo