I had been refraining from posting in-progress top tens until at least midyear, so as to avoid the outright comedy of shit-film inclusions. But I've discovered that my memory, along with my nerdly bookkeeping skills, are failing as I stumble into middle age. So consider this an internal document that has been WikiLeaked. Bear in mind, the world-premieres list is a little thin. But at least it's now comprised of films I like, and has been for quite some time. (I.e., no Avengers.)

2012 TOP TEN (world premieres only)

1. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paraval, U.K.)

2. anders, Mollusien (Nicolas Rey, France)

3. The Extravagant Shadows (David Gatten, U.S.)

4. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, France)

5. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, U.S.)

6. Student (Darezhan Omirbayev, Kazakhstan)

7. Point de Gaze (Jodie Mack, U.S.) [s]

8. Keep The Lights On (Ira Sachs, U.S.)

9. Museum Hours (Jem Cohen. Austria)

10. View From the Acropolis (Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebran de Haan, The Netherlands) [s]

plus a passel of very strong runners-up (alphabetical)

Across & Down (Lori Felker, U.S. / Uganda) [s]

And I Will Rise If Only To Keep You Down (Jennifer Reeder, U.S.) [s]

Bestiaire (Denis Côté, Canada / France)

Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, Canada / France)

Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, U.S.)

The Girl From Nowhere (Jean-Claude Brisseau, France)

How To Survive a Plague (David France, U.S.)

In Another Country (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)

The Last Time I Saw Macao (João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra di Mata, Portugal / France)

Like Someone In Love (Abbas Kiarostami, Japan / France)

Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh, U.S.)

Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil)

No (Pablo Larraín, Chile / France / U.S.)

Orpheus (Outtakes) (Mary Helena Clark, U.S.) [s]

When Night Falls (Ying Liang, China / South Korea)

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2012 TOP TEN RELEASES (poll-eligible only)

1. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, France)

2. Almayer's Folly (Chantal Akerman, Belgium / France)

3. Elena (Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia)

4. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, U.S.)

5. Keyhole (Guy Maddin, Canada)

6. This Is Not a Film (Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi, Iran)

7. Keep The Lights On (Ira Sachs, U.S.)

8. Two Years At Sea (Ben Rivers, U.K.)

9. Let the Bullets Fly (Jiang Wen, China)

10. The Day He Arrives / In Another Country / Oki's Movie (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea) [depends on the hour of the day]