This list is not going to please everyone. It'd be surprising if this list pleased anyone. Top Ten lists are not for the faint of heart; you've got to be prepared to have your decisions questioned, and to be called everything under the sun from "an idiot" to "unprintable". Please do list your own Top Ten in the comments below, but for now, here's a mix of the ten best and most enjoyable movies of the year.

10. CHRONICLE
The found-footage format found its way into some new genres this year, but it was probably most successful in this superhero movie. Three friends discover they have been magically endowed with super-powers and initially just record themselves having fun with their new abilities. But it's not long before they start to abuse their powers and an almighty, city-destroying super-scrap is being filmed on security cameras and mobile phones. A small movie with big ideas, if it weren't for the likes of the particularly strong Avengers Assemble, this would've been the best comic book movie of the year.


9. MAGIC MIKE
An Oscar-winning director may not seem like the obvious choice to tell the tale of a group of male strippers, but this is far from a penis-filled version of Showgirls. Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey show the dark-side of a life throughout which you get exactly what you want, plus there's lots of impressive dance sequences and naked man flesh if you're so inclined.


8. CABIN IN THE WOODS
This year's best horror film is a horror film about why horror films just aren't scary anymore. Four hot young teenagers head off to a cabin in the woods, but they aren't aware that their every move is being watched by a seedy organisation. Telling who this organisation is and why they're watching the teens would spoil the surprise, but let's just say you won't guess how it ends. Hugely entertaining.


7. THE MUPPETS
They've been missing from our screens for quite some time, but between co-writer/star Jason Segel and the writer/director guys behind Flight Of The Conchords, they've returned with a smash. It's great to see Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang get a chance to make a comeback, but what's even better to see is that they're all actually funny again. A who's who roster of famous faces pop up for cameos, showing that pretty much everyone loves The Muppets.


6. ARGO
Ben Affleck must be a sure thing for about a billion Oscar nominations with this one, a true life story about how Hollywood helped sort out the Iranian hostage crisis. Equal parts bitingly funny and knuckle-gnawingly tense, Affleck surrounds himself with a fantastic supporting cast and directs with a keen eye for realism. In short, yes, it is just as good as everyone has been telling you it is.


5. KILLER JOE
2012 has been a fantastic year for comeback kid Matthew McConaughey; after stealing the show in Magic Mike, here he blows the roof off as a sinister, darkly comic police officer who moonlights as a killer-for-hire. It's also a comeback for director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) who has been MIA for a while, but returns with this violent and hilariously twisted thriller.


4. MARVEL'S AVENGERS ASSEMBLE
What is there left to say about this movie that hasn't been already said? Just about everyone on Earth has seen it at this point, so we all know just what a huge accomplishment it is that this potential train-wreck turned out so fantastically. Writer/director Joss Whedon juggles his roster of super (and not so super) heroes evenly so everyone gets a chance to be front and centre, while the action sequences are some of the best of the year.


3. THE GREY
The trailers for this would have you believe that it just features Liam Neeson running around Alaska punching wolves, but it is so much more than that. After a horrific plane crash, Neeson and his few co-survivors are on the run from a pack of wolves that is picking them off one by one. At once a terrifying survival movie and a psychological drama of a man dealing with death, this is a harrowing film that will stay with you long after the closing credits.


2. SKYFALL
Arguably one the most beautiful action movies of all time, with a killer score by Thomas Newman, this year's best villain played by Javier Bardem, and an intelligent, modern plot that brings the action first to Bond's workplace, and then even closer to home. One of the best James Bond movies ever made, Skyfall is a difficult film to fault when you're being overwhelmed by just how brilliant it is.


1. SHAME
Released way back at the start of January, Shame has survived the last twelve months and still managed to remain the best movie of the year. Michael Fassbender's unflinching portrayal of a sex addict was inexplicably ignored (along with the rest of the movie) by the Academy Awards. This is only his second movie, but director Steve McQueen has already made a modern classic, one which is not a comfortable watch, but is a hugely important movie that should be seen by everyone.