Alright, everyone! It’s all come down to this. After
spending so much time talking about the worst movies of 2013, it’s finally time
to talk about the best that 2013 had to offer. Despite some embarrassingly bad
titles tossed around this year, I still maintain that it was a fantastic year
for films, with plenty of variety to showcase. It had everything from sci-fi
romance to action thrillers, from family dramas to survival thrillers in space,
and from Hobbits and dragons to snowmen and reindeer. It seemed to have a
little bit of something for everyone, and today, I’m counting it all down in
the top ten best movies I saw all year. Please keep in mind that there are
still high profile films I haven’t gotten around to like Blue is the Warmest
Color, Nebraska, Philomena (or, as it’s now called, PhiloMANIA), and The Wind
Rises.
Before moving on to the official top ten, I’d like to hand
out some honorable mentions to films that would have been very deserving of
placement on here. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is a brutal, devastating,
and essential portrait of slavery, lifted by Chiwetel Ejiofor’s stunning lead
performance. Inside Llewyn Davis from the brothers Coen is among the duo’s best
films in years, a tale as timeless and heartbreaking as the folk songs present
in the feature. Woody Allen struck a home run with Blue Jasmine, thanks mainly
due to the performances of Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins as two sisters in a
believably bitter situation. Dallas Buyers Club boasted fantastic performances
all around, especially from those of the Oscar worthy Matthew McConaughey and
Jared Leto. Pacific Rim from Guillermo Del Toro is one of the best blockbusters
of the year, and is an all around massive, spectacular, and thoroughly
entertaining popcorn flick.
One project that I’d like to show due appreciation to (even
though it isn’t a movie), is the spectacular survival-horror video game The
Last of Us from the creative minds at Naughty Dog. If this qualified as a
movie, it would have easily taken my position at number 1. Ever since finishing
the game back in June, every image and emotion felt from the experience has
stuck with me. From the gritty tone and atmosphere, the frightening sound
design, the harrowing script, the inseparable duo of unforgettable lead
characters, all the way down to the haunting score, The Last of Us not only
proved how well a game can tell a story, but put any and all of the movies
released this year to shame. It is perfection, one of the greatest games of all
time, and a living testament that video games are high art.
All geeky gamer rambling done, let’s introduce the top ten.
Number 10
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Dir. Francis Lawrence
Catching Fire, as far as I’m concerned, is the year’s best
blockbuster. Even though the original book was fine, but also very problematic,
this movie is unwaveringly faithful to the source material, yet proves that
execution is what matters most. Continuing on from where the original Hunger
Games left off, the sequel seeks to refine and expand upon every element in
more direct ways. One thing this series has always been good at is the critical
and satirical take on reality television, and all the overblown celebrity that
comes with it, everything from relationship rumors to pregnancy scandals. On
top of that, it’s also a smart take on governmental oppression and communism,
as well as that of revolution, the latter of which evokes memories of the
uprising in Benghazi (or maybe I’m just reading too deep into it).
All of this is before we even get into the arena, and once
we do, it’s non-stop intensity from frame 1. The action sequences are all
superbly shot, edited, and choreographed, but know when to take a breather,
lulling the viewer until the next heart stopping obstacle comes into play. The
film features a stellar bunch of supporting players (including the late, great
Phillip Seymour Hoffman), but of course, the main anchor to this film is
Jennifer Lawrence, whose fantastic performance further solidifies Katniss as
one of the great modern heroines. Bella Swann, take note…
Number 9
The Wolf of Wall Street
Dir. Martin Scorsese
Another satirical entry on my list, Martin Scorsese’s The
Wolf of Wall Street is among the most fun I’ve had with any movie this year. It
doesn’t necessarily condone the insufferable behavior of Jordan Belfort, but
that doesn’t mean it pulls it punches when it comes to full on dark comedy.
Most of the enjoyment of this film comes from watching Belfort’s gleeful
duplicity and sense of superiority. The man is a deceitful, crude,
condescending, reckless, calculated, hard drinking, lustful, foul mouthed, and
all around terrible human being who nevertheless likens himself as a god in his
own right, and he clearly loves every single minute of it. Somehow, Leonardo
DiCaprio manages to make this horrid person oddly charismatic and humorous, and
relishes every minute of the performance. The film is quite excessive, but
fitting to the thematic tone, with the luxuries that Belfort has such endless
fun with instead making him miserable by the film’s ending... only to seemingly
be doing it all over again. Is this cycle just doomed to repeat itself as
humanity’s fascination with these crime stories grows? This film is utterly
unapologetic, and is all the better for it.
Number 8
Before Midnight
Dir. Richard Linklater
It’s been a long journey for Jesse and Celine (played
respectively by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), and in Richard Linklater’s third
entry in the “Before” series, Before Midnight, it gets more complicated.
Individually, the films are all aces, and as a whole, the three of them provide
fascinating context. From Sunrise, where the two were without a care in the
world that magical evening long ago, the two have now evolved into people
questioning where that same passion has since gone. Love is not easy for the two
of them, as their conflicting desires put them at extreme odds with each other.
They’ve always been able to use their wits to ease tension, but when
accusations are thrown around, and the two become verbally hostile (through
their signature long conversations), issues like this are hard to simply laugh
off.
It places important emphasis on the time they have left
together, and over the passion that seemed to fade like a setting sun. It’s not
simple for the two of them, and Before Midnight brings that maturity full
circle, stripping away the enchantment of the previous films, but in a
beneficial way that paints an authentic portrait of modern romance. Linklater,
Hawke, and Delpy should all be commended for their numerous years of hard work
on this series, clearly maturing alongside their material, and creating a
trilogy that only gets better with each new entry.
Number 7
Prisoners
Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Prisoners is a film that makes me squirm the whole way
through, but in a way that I welcome thanks to Denis Villeneuve’s fantastic
Fincher-esque direction and Aaron Guzikowski’s layered script. A film that
excels thanks to the wonderful build-up of events, much of the film’s focus and
psychological insight is directed at Hugh Jackman’s Keller Dover, a simple, but
inspired approach that perfectly represents the struggles of all the
characters. Dover is a deeply religious man, but he becomes more reckless and
aggressive as the film goes on. He’s understandable in how he wants to rescue
his daughter, but he’s constantly committing hostile actions against a man that
he has no solid evidence against. We can sympathize with his obsession to save
his daughter, but can we justify the heinous acts he commits, or should we
condemn them? The film is smart to never directly answer this itself, and
instead leave it to audience interpretation. The film wastes not a single
second of its long running time, moving at a very methodical and suspenseful
pace, and is shot impeccably by the great Roger Deakins.
Number 6
Captain Phillips
Dir. Paul Greengrass
Captain Phillips is the year’s frontrunner for the title of
“Movie that constantly made me hold my breath”. Working from a wonderful
script, Paul Greengrass creates constant tension and investment during each
sequence of the film. At the center of the experience is the conflicting
toe-to-toe dance of wits between Richard Phillips, a man born into opportunity,
and Abduwali Muse, a man born into a place where opportunity is few and far
between. Tom Hanks effectively plays Phillips as not a blind hero, but as an
everyman trying his best to understand the dilemma of his captors, all until
his composure eventually falls in that incredible final scene. Barkhard Abdi
also plays Muse effectively, going up against a veteran like Hanks with fierce
hostility, eventually letting the desperation behind that violence seep
through. Technically, the film is fantastic, with the best element being the
editing by Christopher Rouse, who cuts and paces the film in a way that gives
each situation in the film a gravity and strong emotional context, especially
during the film’s second half where stress gets to Muse’s crew and Phillips.
Number 5
Frozen
Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
True story: When Frozen had finally ended, I started to cry
a little on the way out. To this day, I can’t tell if it was because the 3D
hurt my eyes, or if it was because the movie had just made me so happy. There
is no better way to describe Frozen, which has become my cinematic obsession of
2013. I’ve played the soundtrack on near-constant repeat since the beginning of
December, it’s the only movie this year I went to see twice in theaters, and on
rewatch, not only did I like it even more than the first time, but it officially
earns my vote as Disney’s best animated feature of the 21st century.
The film lovingly follows through with the mold of the beloved Disney
Renaissance, but also deconstructs those customs in a way that plays with
audience expectations, and that genuinely shocks the viewer.
One idea of this comes from the idea of the meaning of true
love, which Anna naively equates to romance, but the film toys around with, and
fully realizes, the idea that true love isn’t necessarily the same thing as
romance, particularly through the heartfelt sisterly bond at the center of the
story. The characters in this film are too great, and too many to count, but
the standout is undoubtedly Olaf. It would have been so easy to make this
character annoying, but despite his oblivious and occasionally silly nature,
Olaf is surprisingly very courageous and selfless, downright lovable, and
absolutely hysterical. There’s not much more I can talk about before I start
drawing this out. The animation is gorgeous, and the music is the best I’ve
heard all year. If you haven’t already, I urge you to watch it, and then watch
it again.
Number 4
Stories We Tell
Dir. Sarah Polley
It
is stated by one interviewee in Stories We Tell that the purpose of art is to
get at absolute truth, but within the context of the film, no one truth is
absolute. The history of Polley’s mother doesn’t always matchup between her
numerous interviewees, as they each have their own interpretations of how
events unfolded. These memories are subject to the biases of the individual
experiences, meaning we never do get a clearer picture of the mother. However,
as time goes on, you realize that that isn’t the point. Never content to just
stick with one idea, Polley is smart to keep the picture unclear, and let each interviewee
share their stories the way they saw it, with well placed bits filmed in Super
8 cameras adding visual punctuation.
The
interpretations of family and friends don’t always connect, but none of them
are necessarily wrong. If anything, it can show how one person and the events
surrounding them can affect others in many different ways, all told in a very
sweet, funny, and fascinating way. Although, this doesn’t mean Polley doesn’t
turn the tables on herself from time to time. Even her vision of the story, and
for the movie, can be subject to personal bias, trying to learn all she can of
her mother’s past and the fact that she is making this documentary being very
much intertwined with one another. What an embarrassment for the Oscars to have
snubbed this in the Best Documentary Feature lineup.
Number 3
Her
Dir. Spike Jonze
In an age where social media and technology continues to
evolve, the premise and timeliness of Her feel especially powerful. In the day
and age of the film, the relationship with OS systems, rather than feel
alienating to the people Theodore (a sensitively heartbreaking Joaquin Phoenix)
meets, is greeted with a lot of social acceptance. For the film, this idealism
of the ever changing nature of relationships provides one of its greatest
strengths. Surely, the love that eventually blooms between he and Samantha (a
gracefully nuanced Scarlett Johansson) feels real, but is it just another
safeguard? Is it another way for him to shield himself from having an honest
human relationship, and merely a way to avoid the responsibilities and
heartbreaks of a genuine commitment?
It could be all those things and more, but it also serves as
a wonderful commentary on the nature of what a truly committed relationship can
be based on. The love that Theodore has for Samantha isn’t at any superficial
face value, as many failed romances tend to fail because of lack of true
compatibility. Stripping away all of those physical ideals, the love that blooms
between the two is based on the sparkling chemistry and their well matched
personalities, but it isn’t always perfect. As in every relationship, couples
can hit major roadblocks and engage in heated arguments, and they can try to
work through these issues, or decide it best to go separate ways. The way that
Her engages all of these issues is absolutely terrific, played with complete
authenticity, and fully realizing the ambitions it sets for itself.
Number 2
Gravity
Dir. Alfonso Cuaron
When you’ve got this much enthusiastic praise lavished on
you, and even director James Cameron calling your film the best space film ever
made, you’re obviously doing something right. Indeed, Gravity is everything
that a terrific film should be, and even managed to do something that VERY few
movies manage to do… it genuinely terrified me. A work of clear dedication, the
bravura direction by Cuaron is nothing short of the achievement of the year. More
of a survival thriller than straight up science-fiction, Gravity is a film that
puts an unusual feeling of involvement in the experiences of the characters,
sometimes literally thrusting us into their viewpoint with first-person shots
through their helmets, something that creates a sense of nerve-wracking
hyper-realism. It wreaks havoc with my vertigo, my claustrophobia, and even the
sound (or lack thereof) can make an impact. What we don’t hear in the movie can
often be more unsettling than what we can hear and the emptiness can further
enhance the bleakness of the surroundings.
Gravity is a gorgeously designed film, and everything from
Emmanuel Lubezki’s lingering photography to the stunning visual effects work
immediately qualifies it among the most stunningly realized films of all time.
Of course, there’s plenty of substance to go along with said style. The film
achieves a well established sense of intimacy with main character Ryan Stone.
We’re closely tied to her throughout the film, experiencing all her trauma and
hopelessness hand in hand, and never once does this character hit a false note.
Everything about her feels empathetic and genuine and it gives Sandra Bullock a
chance to push her emotional, intellectual, and physical strengths to the limit
in a career best performance. It’s more than worthy of the top position, and
believe me, I was at war with myself over who should be there, but in the end,
I knew exactly what the number one choice had to be…
Number 1
The Past
Dir. Asghar Farhadi
Long story short, The Past is a film I simply consider to be
perfect. The acting, the direction, the writing, the dilemmas, practically
everything about it is flawless. Not only do I consider it the best film of
2013, I think it’s among the greatest foreign films I’ve ever seen, even over
Farhadi’s own A Separation.
The
main thing that grabs my attention of The Past is the writing. Farhadi treats
the whole situation in a very sensitive fashion, never going over the top with
events, which allow for more subtlety in reactions. Everything plays out in a natural,
organic fashion, with every action committed in the film always having a rhyme
and reason to it. Characters always stop to consider the consequences of their
actions, both before and after they’ve occurred, and it feels incredibly
empathetic. All the while I was watching this movie, I would ask myself “How
would I react to a situation like this?” or “How would I respond to something
like this?” and I found myself in total awe of how realistically everything
played out, including the stunningly accurate depictions of guilt, grief, and
family conflicts.
Whereas a lesser filmmaker would have wimped out in numerous
areas, Farhadi completely commits to the tone of this movie, constructing
something entirely sure of itself, and gracefully flowing scene-to-scene with
not a weak moment in sight, especially in regards to the cast. To be honest,
there’s not a single weak performance in this movie. Berenice Bejo gives
perhaps the best performance in any film this year as Marie, a woman who has as
much grace as any unconditionally loving mother, and one who tries her hardest
to not let the everyday stress ruin her composure. However, those walls
eventually fall down hard, leaving her to bare every ache in her heart in the
movie’s later moments. Bejo simply brings something so unattainable in her
actions that no other actress could have delivered on. The other main cast
members are also excellent, with Mosaffa as a deeply caring father trying to
make sense of situations, Rahim believably torn apart by his past actions, and
Burlet creating a devastating portrait of guilt continually eating away at her.
So before I start drawing this out, I’ll say it once more.
The Past is cinematic perfection, and officially establishes Farhadi as one of
the great modern filmmakers. From this day forth, anything he decides to direct
next will immediately be my most anticipated release of its year.
And with that, I can finally bring 2013 to a close. It’s
been a long journey with plenty of ups and downs, but I’ve enjoyed it every
step of the way. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you so much for joining
me. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading my reviews as I did writing them, and
I hope you’ll continue to join me in the new cinematic year.
See you at the movies…
No comments:
Post a Comment