4. Zero Dark Thirty
I debated whether this spot would go to Argo or Zero Dark Thirty but I had to give it to Zero Dark Thirty. The movie is the anti-thesis to the massively overrated Argo. The reason it should be remembered as a representation of 2012 is it captures the real feelings and struggles that war puts on people where Argo is basically a popcorn movie that barely shows any remnants of the true story behind it. When the film closes and Jessica Chastain's Maya sheds a single tear over her victory, we feel for her not because she has achieved a goal, but because we see her as a real human being. Maya is the audiences surrogate for the pressures of obsession and the toll that the Iraq War has taken not only on Americans but on our enemies as well. Zero Dark Thirty also asks the audience to ponder who the real enemy in the war is and for that reason it is indicative of 2012.