Although much of my calendar year is spent watching, writing about and discussing the respective releases in a 12-month period, I believe it’s vital to catch up on the films that have come before us and shaped what we’re watching in cinemas week in and week out. While nearly everyone online (including us) are doing rundowns of everything 2012, I wanted to share 60 non-2012 films I watched this year for the first time that, for lack of a better term, blew me away.

While the actual countdown is a rough estimate of my feelings towards the films — especially as one gets near the top — every single one is a definitive must-watch and the vast majority better than just about every film on my best of 2012 list. Considering the subjectiveness of the rundown, it’s prime goal is to recommend a batch of features you may not have seen yet, or trigger similar recollection and discussion based on classics you caught this year. Check out the list below, including commentary for my top 10 choices and let us know what classics you watched for the first time this year in the comments.

60. Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch, 2005)

59. 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)

58. Better Off Dead… (Savage Steve Holland, 1985)

57. The Seventh Continent (Michael Haneke, 1989)

56. The Last Detail (Hal Ashby, 1973)

55. Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 1954)

54. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas, 2008)

53. Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, 1985)

52. The Tales of Hoffmann (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1951)

51. Key Largo (John Huston, 1948)

[60-51][50-41][40-31][30-21][20-11][10-6][5-1]

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