A toast to the year of 2013
Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures
2013 has come to an end and boy what a good year for film it’s
turned out to be. 2013 was a little bit of a surprise as a really good year of
film as it sure didn’t turn out that way until the bitter end. This time about
four months ago things were looking pretty bleak. Despite a few minor standouts
(which scored high for me only it seems in relativity to the other films of
this summer) the summer crop of blockbusters were either disappointing or awful,
providing one crushing moment after another. There were a few saviors, mostly
from the ever more prevalent indie scene, (some of which you’ll see on this list)
that provide some hope for what the year could turn out to be. For the most
part though it seemed like a disappointing down year after the fantastic year
of 2012.
Then the fall hit and, as seems to be the norm now days, the
floodgates for good movies opened and suddenly the year didn’t look so bad. In
just a few months the year went from not being able to conceive making a top
ten that was viable by the end of the year (see at that time the end of the
year seemed bleak as well) to making this list all of a sudden very, very
difficult to cut down. Beyond the top four films - which feel more definite in their
placement as my top four – the films on this list could be put in a different
order or, in some cases, be replaced with my honorable mentions This year was
fantastic, but for the most part it seems not in all the areas everyone seemed
to expect. There are a lot of small films on this list and many more in the honorable
mentions, films a lot of people didn’t get a chance to see that brought a lot
of energy to a sometimes tired feeling formula of studio films. It’s a wonderful trend and I hope that smaller
films continue to push the formulas of bigger films that many of us are
becoming more aware of.
Of course the usual caveats: first of all this is my top 10
list and is not representative of an overall or objective top 10 list. These
are the films I enjoyed or appreciated the most this year, nothing more nothing
less. Second of all I am not a professional film critic so I don’t have the chance
to see as many of the films in 2013 as many critics do including very acclaimed
ones. This is usually a big sticking point for me and I usually come back and
revisit this list come Oscar times when all the 2013 contenders have come out
in the area in which I live, but this year my top 10 feels much more definite
to me and the only film I think that I really missed out on was Her (which doesn’t
open in Vancouver until January 10th and I couldn’t find a screening
sadly) and I think I can cut my losses and add it to the 2014 list. A final
caveat is that there are films on this
list that I have not had a chance to review yet due to time constrictions or
the fact that I saw them only a few short days (or in some case hours) before
making this list. I’m going to try and get everything talked about on this list
sometime within a week of posting this and I’ll post those links into this list
as they get posted…
But enough explanation let’s get down to business. Here are
my top 10 films of 2013:
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
The Spectacular Now, Fruitvale Station, The Hunger Game
Catching Fire, Frozen, Mud, Spring Breakers, Blue is the Warmest Color,
Prisoners
10. American Hustle
This was the probably the toughest spot to narrow down.
There were four or five other films that could have easily snuck into this spot
and I would have been perfectly satisfied with the list. American Hustle won
out in the end through the power of sheer fun through really good filmmaking. The
acting in this film is top notch featuring a variety of great performances from
an all star cast, some great energy and an explosive second half that sold all
of this film for me. American Hustle is just a blast of a familiar style of
filmmaking. It may have been imitation Scorsese but it was very, very good
imitation Scorsese.
9. Captain Philips
It’s great to have Paul Greengrass back on the very top of
his game. Captain Philips is one of the most visceral rides that the motion
picture provided in 2013, one that kept me on the edge of my seat for the
entire film. But thrills weren’t the only thing Captain Phillips was packing
because at the core there is a great central character arc involving one of the
best performances of the year from Tom Hanks. It all culminated into a fantastic
final sequence that featured perhaps the greatest stroke of acting Tom Hanks
has ever put on screen and one of the great realistic finishes of the thriller
genre. Mostly though Captain Philips sank its teeth in and never let go and
providing one of the tensest movie going experiences in a long while.
8. Nebraska
No one can make a film quite like Alexander Payne and
Nebraska was another example of why. Payne brought his gift of perfect tonal
diversity to the semi road trip bonding film to the table again, as Nebraska
followed up moments of side splitting hilarity with moments of profound melancholy.
The best part of it as it all blended perfectly thanks to the themes of nostalgia
and how memories don’t really match up to reality. The themes are exemplified
even more by the black and white camera work and two great performances from
Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Everything in Nebraska just clicks in a way that it
never on paper should, and it’s a testament to the magic of Alexander Payne’s
fimmaking abilities.
7. Inside Llewyn Davis
Like Alexander Payne no one makes films quite like the Coen
Brothers. Inside Llewyn Davis is a return to the quirky comedy style of Coen
Brothers film but at the same time manages to defy traditional expectations.
This is not a predictable beet for beet rags to riches musician film that this
could look to be on the surface, but was a film that often reveled in the melancholy
of the failure of its main character quite often. The leading performance from
Oscar Issac was one of the year’s absolute best performances one that is beautifully
quiet and subtle. The final great piece to the puzzle comes in the form of the soundtrack,
perhaps the best of the year, and the visual and verbal styling of the Coens
all culminating in a small but wonderful movie going experience.
6. Upstream Color
Perhaps the smallest of the little films that could in 2013
Upstream Color was a small but beautifully realized film that was written, directed,
staring, produced, scored and distributed by Shane Carruth. The result was a strange
and beautiful meditation on themes of love, the nature of togetherness and how
we see the world in general. Upstream Color was a film unlike anything I’ve
ever seen before or will see afterwards, a mix of beautiful images and wisps of
sounds that only film can show. It’s a dense and magical experience that will
make one think long after the credits role.
5. Frances Ha
Noah Baumbatch’s Frances Ha is old Woody Allen for a new
age. It’s a near perfect comedic telling of the challenges the uncertainties of
people in their mid twenties. It’s a familiar topic but Frances Ha succeeds in
finding the perfect balance of vibrance and melancholy that so few filmmakers
can capture. Led by the perfect and naturalistic performance from Greta Gerwig
the film shines through moments that are hilarious, others that are sad, and
some are even cringeworty on the way to a trip of self discovery. Frances Ha is
the film in 2013 that resonated with me the most in 2013 a film about the uncertainty
of young life that nailed almost every aspect of its subject matter.
The most brutal film of the year, Steve McQueen’s horrifying
12 Years a Slave was unlike any American film regarding slavery before it.
McQueen didn’t hold back in his portrayal of the brutality both physically and
psychologically that the slaves were subjected to throughout the pre civil war
era. Chiwetel Ejoford gives arguably the best performance of the year as
Solomon Northup, one that gave McQueen’s unforgiving film a great soul to
follow throughout. It may be hard to re-watch but 12 Years a Slave is an incredibly
important film that should stand the test of time as a reflection on race
relations in America both past and present.
3. Gravity
It’s great to see such an innovative film such as Gravity
gain so much traction from audiences everywhere since its release in October.
The great thing about Alfonso Cauron’s film is that it begins to rewrite the
book of what filmmaking can accomplish. It took many years to develop the tech
to create this film and boy did it ever pay off. Gravity is a visual feast,
filled with long sweeping tapes of the disaster that unfolds in cold dead
landscape of space. It’s also a film that provided the most thrills of the year
through both its cinematic language (the amazing sound design takes center
stage, never has a film been so eerily silent and viciously loud as this film),
great unconventional acting (Sandra Bullock is brilliant in this film), and
great action set pieces (never has utter destruction and disaster worked this
well). Gravity is a beautiful, revolutionary film that needs to be seen in the
biggest, loudest venue possible. The extra money for the big screen experience
is absolutely worth it.
It’s amazing that at 71 years of age Martin Scorsese can
still make films that have more passion and energy than films that are made by
much younger potentially angrier filmmakers. The Wolf of Wall Street is three hilarious
hours of pure angry filmmaking at its finest documenting the life of the money
grubbing stockbroker Jordan Belford with such satirical viciousness at every
angle. The great script from Winter with dialogue that sprung from the page and
Leonardo DiCaprio’s absolutely unhinged performance only added to Scorsese’s
brilliantly passionate direction. The Wolf of Wall Street was never dull for a
second of its nearly three hours of pure filmmaking, going from one piece of debauchery
to another with an insurmountable amount of energy. Not to mention this film is
also had many of the funniest scenes (including perhaps the greatest piece of
physical acting of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career) of 2013 and made me laugh more
than any “more overt” comedy of the year. It boils down to this: no one does
Scorsese quite like Scorsese himself (despite many imitators one that’s earlier
on this list), and it’s no more evident anywhere than in The
Wolf of Wall Street.
The best film I’ve seen since 2008’s The Dark Knight (after
a second and third viewing it surpassed the Tree of Life) Before Midnight is a truly
special film that depicts love unlike any other film in Hollywood history. The honeymoon
period is over and now comes the struggle to stay together once the differences
begin to arise. This is a romance film about the harder times, the ones not
usually chronicled in the realm of films. This is a beautifully written and
acted film that touches some truly grounded and real subjects of the true sustainability
of love and the challenges of a long term relationship. It’s wonderful to see
Jessie and Celine back on screen again and July Delpy and Ethan Hawke are as
real and grounded as ever and you can feel how personal this story is to them
and director Richard Linklater. Every frame of this film is personal, beautiful
and passionate, every conversation rings from the most beautiful dialogue of
the year, and every moment is piercing with love and sadness. The only crime regarding
this film is that very few people actually went out see it! For the many who
haven’t I urge you to watch this film you won’t regret it for a single second.
That’s finally it for 2013 folks! Let the 2014 movie season
begin!
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