10 Awesome Movies You Might Have Missed in 2012

3. Amour

Michael Haneke€™s Palme d€™Or winner is a tad more available to audiences than most of the films on this list - more because of its prestige than its content - but it's still a film plenty are electing to miss because of the challenging subject matter, and understandably so. Still, Michael Haneke, a chilly director whose works are typically as frustrating as they are enticing, delivers his most vibrant, moving film to date, depicting the inevitable bodily decline as we transition into the final stages of life. Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emanuelle Riva) are an elderly couple, and once Anne suffers a series of strokes, Georges is forced to come to terms with the fact that she is never going to be the same again. Though it would easy for a film like this to be pure misery pornography, it's a beautiful, strangely unsentimental affair, which deals with the inevitable ending to the tale in a matter-of-fact manner that ends up rendering it all the more affecting. Both leads are astounding, but it's Riva's stirring portrayal that ends up stealing the show, and if there's any justice, she'll be crashing the Oscar party next February as well. Don't expect too much catharsis or enjoyment, but marvel in three masters of their craft collaborating to tell a heartbreaking story of love and loss. Amour is released on DVD/Blu-Ray March 11th, 2013.