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From a pint-sized girl surviving storms on the wrong side of the levee to a CIA agent planning to rescue a band of hostages, the stories that played out on the silver screen in 2012 were full of heroes small and large. In choosing their top films of the year, Palo Alto Weekly critics Peter Canavese, Tyler Hanley and Susan Tavernetti singled out avengers and activists, superheroes and everymen.

Highest honors went to a shipwrecked teenager navigating the Pacific and the waters of life with a Bengal tiger. Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” was the sole movie to score a place on all three top-10 lists.

Other high-ranking films were: the sharp political thriller “Argo,” the heavy-on-the-symbolism indie “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” and the poignant dramedy “Silver Linings Playbook.” Each made it onto two out of three lists.

For every hero, there’s a mess of guys who trip over their own feet. In their annual “worst five” lists, Canavese and Hanley contribute such underwhelming titles as “Rock of Ages,” “That’s My Boy” and an ill-advised update of “The Three Stooges.”

In addition, Hanley gives readers a look ahead at the films of 2013. We’ll be watching closely to see which lists those movies make it on next year.

• Peter Canavese’s top films

• Tyler Hanley’s top films

• Susan Tavernetti’s top films

• 2013: A cinematic odyssey

By Palo Alto Weekly staff

By Palo Alto Weekly staff

By Palo Alto Weekly staff

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    Leila Hatami and Payman Maadi in “A Separation”
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    Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour”
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    A scene from “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”
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    Ben Affleck in “Argo”
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    Quvenzhane Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
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    Jack Black in “Bernie”
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    Tom Hiddleston and Rachel Weisz in “The Deep Blue Sea”
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    Christoph Waltz (left) and Jamie Foxx in “Django Unchained”
  • 9717_full-1
    A scene from “How to Survive a Plague”
  • 9718_full-1
    Thomas Doret and Cecile De France in “The Kid with a Bike”
  • 9719_full-1
    Suraj Sharma in “Life of Pi”
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    Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln”
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    Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman in “Moonrise Kingdom”
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    Emma Watson in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
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    Anna Kendrick (center) in “Pitch Perfect”
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    Jaqueline Siegel in “The Queen of Versailles”
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    Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan in “Ruby Sparks”
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    Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook”
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    Chris Hemsworth (left) and Chris Evans in “The Avengers”
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    Christian Bale in “The Dark Knight Rises”
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    Arnon Goldfinger and Hannah Goldfinger in “The Flat”
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    Joaquin Phoenix (left) and Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Master”
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    A scene from “The Turin Horse”
  • 9732_full-1
    Jafar Panahi in “This Is Not a Film”
  • 9733_full-1
    Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty”
  • 9734_full-1
    Design by Shannon Corey/Palo Alto Online.

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