Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • February 6, 2013 Reviewer picks ‘The Ten Best Films of 2012’ ‘To Rome with Love.’ Woody Allen continues his fascination with European capitals as he focuses on a group of characters living in or visiting Rome, from young architecture student Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) to Jerry (Allen), a retired producer of avant-garde music and theater. Allen exploits the beauty and charm of the Eternal City as the individual stories unfold. A highlight is the sequence featuring Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), a simple clerk who emerges from his apartment one morning to be hounded by paparazzi who ask him all kinds of personal questions and track his every move. Allen is such a good writer that any one of the stories could easily have been expanded to a feature-length film. As is, “To Rome with Love” is a light romp that captures human nature in all its facets. ‘Django Unchained.’ Quenton Tarantino’s violent preCivil War saga comments none-too-subtly on the inhumanity of slavery. His heroes are painted in broad strokes, from Jamie Foxx’s title character, a slave turned gun-wielding bounty hunter, to Leonardo Di Caprio’s Calvin Candie, a plantation owner whose favorite sport is pitting two slaves against each other in a fight to the death. Christoph Waltz, cast as a German who supports himself by tracking down bad guys to collect rewards, embodies the eyes of the outsider. He teams up with Django despite the stares and indignation of the townspeople they encounter in their (continued on Crossword page) Ben Affleck directs a scene from ‘Argo,’ one of the best films of 2012. by Dennis Seuling This list of top films comes a bit late. Most of the exceptional pictures were not released until late in 2012, and it took a while to catch up with them. Here, in reverse order, are this critic’s picks for last year’s best films.