The year of 2012 brought one of the biggest grossing and critically acclaimed movie years on records. With giant blockbusters like The Dark Knight Rises and Avengers, the year grossed billions of dollars in ticket sales. But with all the financial success the year also boasted many critically acclaimed films like the great epic Lincoln, about the long gone 16th president.

The year, as they all do, started off with a slow January that brought movies like Underworld: Awakening, which managed to become the highest grossing film in the new classic Underworld franchise.

February saw an unusual number of big budget movies that did well for an early year release. Ghost Rider out grossed its predecessor. Safe House, a movie about a CIA agent that is turned on, saw the long awaited return of action star Denzel Washington. The month also saw the release of Act of Valor, a movie featuring real life military service men. It scored big on the critical side, and did well at the box office.

March was a huge month in the year of 2012, with the highly awaited release of the Hunger Games, which was the first movie of the year to pass $500 million. 21 Jump Street became a breakout hit for new generation A-listers like Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. The film marked the second appearance for Tatum who had a big year at the box office, with all his starring movies combined grossing over 500 million dollars. But the success of the month cannot be talked about without mentioning the disastrous John Carter. The movie that got lukewarm ratings, created a $161 million deficit in Disney’s quarterly profits, and the planned sequels were cancelled.

In April, the romantic comedy ruled supreme. Based off of Steve Harvey best-selling book,Think Like A Man made close to $100 million on a $12 million budget, bringing in one big return ratio. Five Year Engagement had a more modest box office run, but was a critic hit, starring TV super star Jason Segel. The month could not be completed without talking about the monster hit of all movies, Titanic, the worlds most loved story. The movie became the second to pass the 2 billion mark, but when you add up Titanic’s DVD gross, it has made an estimated 3.1 billion dollars, soaring past Avatar.

May is usually considered the start of the summer movie season, and this year made that statement all the more true. The Avengers, a movie that has had moviegoers in wait for over 3 years, finally had its debut, and it was worth the wait and then some. The movie broke, or came in second, to many movie records. It stands as the highest grossing United States opening weekend ever, but was held off from the top worldwide gross by the juggernaut finale of the gigantic Harry Potter franchise. Harry Potter’s finale held the movie off from more than one records, but it couldn’t stop Avengers from grossing more than Potter with approx. 1.5 billion dollars in ticket sales, the third highest in history. May also brought the much-anticipated Men in Black 3, and the critic chew toy, Battleship.

June was quiet after the greatness of May, but towards the end of month, two rated-R movies made history, When Ted, and Magic Mike became the only two rated-R movies to sit in the top of the movie chart together, ever.

July was another big month for any superhero fan. The month started with the Amazing Spider-man, a reboot of the classic Spider Man franchise. The movie bested expectations at the box office, and was well received by critics.

But it was the Dark Knight Rises that stole the month, and possibly the year. The movie had been in the making for four years, and had an audience in a frenzy to see the end of the high tech, high flying Caped Crusader, for now at least. But tragedy struck at showing of the movie where a gunman opened fire and many perished. The tragedy was blamed for the lower box office numbers, even though it still made well over a billion dollars.

Other movies like Step Up Revolution, Ice Age, and Savages all fared well at the ticket box.

August was also followed the big hype of July, and was neither a disappointment nor a success in moviegoer’s eyes. The big ticket was the new Bourne movie, which was received well by critics and screeners alike.

September saw the end of the summer, and the beginning of the winter lag in big movies. The trend however did not continue into October as expected and the month was filled with moderately successful films like the cult hit Taken 2. Towards the end of the month, Skyfall was released and became the biggest bond movie ever, grossing to date over $900 million. The movie also impacted music charts when it paired with the biggest name in music, Adele, and released the song Skyfall, which had become a hit in United States and around the globe.

November used to be a quiet month, but ever since Twilight came to town, it has been a different story. Breaking Dawn Part 2 has become the sixth highest grossing film of 2012, and is still bringing in money. The month also saw one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year in Lincoln. The movie is a front-runner in most movie award shows such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

December is poised to become another average month in a year filled with great hits. The year will out gross most years of cinema history due to inflation and what not, but still does not compare to the greatness of last years three billion-dollar movies. but with that said, the money a movie makes is sometimes confused with the greatness of the movie itself, but in a year filled with reboots, remakes, and epic finales, 2012 gets a plaque right next to the great 2011.