HispanicBusiness

Most admirable attempt at something totally different: Will Ferrell's "Casa de Mi Padre," which was set in Mexico and spoken entirely in Spanish. The joke got old after awhile, though.

Best romantic comedy: "The Silver Linings Playbook." Crazies in love.

Most surprisingly fun romantic comedy: "Think Like a Man."

Worst romantic comedy: "This Means War."

Creepiest romantic comedy: "People Like Us," in which a man pretends to woo a woman he knows to be his half-sister.

Most convincing evidence Tim Burton has run out of gas: "Dark Shadows" and the warmed-over leftover "Frankenweenie."

Coolest sound effect: The thwap-thwap of the propellers of the special low-noise, hard-to-detect helicopters used during the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in "Zero Dark Thirty."

Most horrifying plot twist: In "Kill List," two hit men carrying out orders try to execute the wrong guy. Suddenly, we are in "The Wicker Man" territory.

Best car chase: Tom Cruise chases the bad guys while cops chase him in "Jack Reacher."

Worst car chase: The bicycle-messenger thriller "Premium Rush."

Funniest out-of-nowhere comedic bit in an otherwise serious movie: KKK members (including Jonah Hill) complain about not being able to see through their hoods in "Django Unchained."

Best documentary structured as a mystery: "Searching for Sugar Man."

Most bloated movie: "Flight." After that horrifying plane crash, the rest of the movie went nowhere - for 2 ¹/₂ hours.

Most bloated movie that at least looked cool: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" was at least 45 minutes too long, but the 3-D and high frame rate kept your eyes entertained.

Best reboot: "The Amazing Spider-Man."

Best horror movie disguised as a cop drama: Two LAPD patrol officers (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena) get into increasingly harrowing situations in "End of Watch."

Most lurid, over-the-top movie: "The Paperboy." Lee Daniels later said he intended to make a comedy. Sure, dude. Whatever you say.

Best place for single guys who want to meet women: The theater lobby showing the male stripper comedy "Magic Mike."

Further proof that whenever Hollywood races to make two competing movies about the same subject, they both turn out bad: "Mirror, Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman."

Best marketed movie: "Prometheus." The extensive ad campaign was better than the film.

Worst marketed movie: "John Carter." It's as if the studio did everything it could to make the film look bad.

Best example of a good gag overstaying its welcome: The foul-mouthed teddy bear from "Ted." Shut up, already.

Best use of 3-D: Ang Lee's eye-popping "Life of Pi."

Worst use of 3-D: "Wrath of the Titans."

Most needless use of 3-D: "The Avengers."

Best photographed film: "Skyfall," shot by the great cinematographer Roger Deakins ("No Country for Old Men," "The Big Lebowski").

Most convincing proof mankind's future is bright: Adam Sandler's "That's My Boy" and the jukebox musical "Rock of Ages" both bombed.

Worst movie: "The Devil Inside."

Most pretentious attempt to invest a simple genre movie with profundity: "The Grey." Too much philosophizing, not enough wolf-punching.

Most badly squandered high-concept movie: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

Best Blu-ray released in 2012: "Jaws." Worth the money for the extras alone.

Further proof Judd Apatow needs a new editor: The endless "This Is 40" and "The Five-Year Engagement."

Best argument for sticking to what you know: Tyler Perry set aside the Madea drag and tried to go the tough guy route in "Alex Cross."

Best use of a pop song: Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Come On Eileen" in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." When you're young, the right song at the right time can cure any ills.

Most disappointing finish after a promising start: Martin McDonagh's scabrously funny "Seven Psychopaths" deflated once the movie took the meta route and tried to turn into "Adaptation" for gangster pictures.

Biggest botch of excellent source material: "Hitchcock," which was supposed to be about the making of "Psycho" but focused more on the director's marital woes.

Biggest gross-out: A psychopath, a chicken drumstick and a bloodied Gina Gershon in William Friedkin's NC-17 "Killer Joe."

Best "all bets are off" moment: The elevator doors open in "The Cabin in the Woods."

Biggest miscalculation: Going the gooey and sentimental route instead of staying funny in the apocalyptic comedy "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World."

Best 2012 movie that won't open most places until 2013: Michael Haneke's "Amour."

2013 movie I'm anticipating the most: Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim."