Top Ten Best Movies of 2013

#3

Before Midnight

I rewatched Before Midnight less than 24 hours before finalizing this list. I’d wanted to watch all three films in the Before franchise before watching it again, but just couldn’t find the time. Maybe that’s for the best as I realized watching it again not only how much I loved it, but how much I think an overall enjoyment of this film depends on seeing both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset first.

Certainly Before Midnight can be enjoyed without having seen the two earlier films, but the connection to the characters won’t be the same. Additionally, and as I mentioned in my review, what you takeaway from this franchise depends on where you are in your life when you first meet Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). There is a perfect time to watch these films and which one you see first is likely to have an effect on how you interpret their relationship. Who’s to say which one is best suited for you is tough to say, but if you’re anything like me and you’re somewhere in your mid-to-late-20s, start with Before Sunset, move to Sunrise and end with Midnight and perhaps even place a year or two in-between each viewing and I’m pretty sure Celine and Jesse’s story will win you over just as much as it has so many others.

REVIEW SNIPPET:

It’s raw and real nature is certainly a draw, but it’s a draw that inspires an emotional reaction. These are films that alter my mood and I loved Before Midnight because, of the three films in this franchise, it’s the one that manages to capture virtually every aspect of an adult relationship. Even for our favorite couple, love isn’t perfect, but it’s the little imperfections that make it that much more memorable.

Read my full review here.

BONUS

Check out my movie maps, taking a look at the locations featured in all three of the Before films:

Before Sunrise Map [Vienna]
Before Sunset Map [Paris]
Before Midnight Map [Southern Peloponnese]

#2

Inside Llewyn Davis

Inside Llewyn Davis almost became the second Coen brothers film to top my year end top ten in four years. Their remake of True Grit sits at #1 on my 2010 Top Ten and after watching Llewyn Davis a second time it became even more evident how much I loved it since seeing it back in May at the Cannes Film Festival.

The storytelling in this movie is just so lovely, soft and subtle. It’s a film guided by characters that turn left when in most films the story would demand they turn right. As a result they go off on tangents that many will believe unnecessary such as the biggest complaint with this film, the John Goodman sequence. But these are the moments that make up our lives, these are the moments people want to hear about. Our lives aren’t made up merely of milestones, but the little things in-between are just as responsible for making us who we are.

Oscar Isaac is wonderful and Carey Mulligan deserves way more attention than she’s been given. The cat has been talked about endlessly, the scene with F. Murray Abraham offers up one of the year’s best quotes (“I just don’t see any money in it”) and an appreciation for the music goes without saying. You could play this movie on any television right now and whomever happens to wander by would stop and take notice if not sit down and watch it for the duration… it’s that good.

REVIEW SNIPPET:

It’s been 13 years since Joel and Ethan Coen gave us the bluegrass energy of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and now they’ve jumped forward 30 years to 1961 and the folk music scene of Greenwich Village with Inside Llewyn Davis, a film so perfect it appears almost effortless. Opening in the Gaslight Cafe, the film’s title character croons on stage under the soft glow of the spotlight, capturing the attention of the audience to the point one man’s cigarette is only a bent stick of ashes, defying gravity as he looks on without moving.

Read my full review here.

#1

Her

Her is almost too perfect. I remember sitting there as the credits started to roll after my first time seeing it and I almost felt as if I was lying to myself. Could it have possibly been as good as I thought it was?

This is a film that’s so very easy to describe, but the attraction isn’t within the film’s narrative, it’s within the people and within us. Yes, it’s a film that centers on a guy (Joaquin Phoenix) that falls in love with a new operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), but that’s not what it’s about. I’d say more here, but I think the opening paragraph from my review below says it all…

REVIEW SNIPPET:

Spike Jonze’s Her is absolutely wonderful. It’s a film that questions our very existence, who we are as people, what defines us and the complexity or lack thereof of human relationships and bonding. What’s truly amazing, is how simple Jonze makes it look, there are thematic layers to Her that could fill hours of discussion. One enlightened moment leads to another as the core pleasures we find in the company of others is stripped down to the very essence of humanity and what truly allows us to appreciate love and connect with someone else while also making a comment on our society on a whole.

Read my full review here.

And that does it for my top ten of 2013, here they are again, in order:

Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Before Midnight
Laurence Anyways
All is Lost
Lone Survivor
The Hunt
Side Effects
Prisoners
Short Term 12

Previous Year Top Ten Lists

I just opened up my “Best Movie” section where you can find all of my previous year end top tens lists or you can click on a specific year directly below to find not only the list, but some recent commentary on each.

Now it’s your turn. Share your favorite films from the year directly below. I’m sure your lists will change as some of these films have still yet to make it to every market and some of you will even have to wait until DVD or Blu-ray to catch them all as the studios continue to neglect some areas of the country and world.

Coming in January, I will take a look at the worst films of the year that I saw, my most disappointing as well as a final capstone on the year with my 6th Annual RopeofSilicon Awards where I name my choice for Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress, Director, Screenplay and more from over the course of the year. You can take a look at the previous five years right here, which I also hope to give its own section by the end of the year.