FOF Best of 2013
Updated: Nov 2, 2022
“I have a voice too.”
This is the thought that occurred to me when I began working on this list awhile ago. For years, I had been personally making “best of” lists for both music and film, composed largely of stuff that just interested me. But, I didn’t think it was worthy of an audience. I’m okay with that now. This is social networking, and everyone gets a place at the table!
This is not an extremely educated list. It’s not composed by a panel of experts. It doesn’t bear the marks of an auteur (for that, I’d recommend you “friend” Adam Kline and check out his bound to be dominant “end of year” list.) Anyway, without further ado, here’s my musings…
*My Top 10 Movies of 2013 (Not Necessarily In Order):
#1 Twelve Years a Slave
In my mind, this is the best picture of the year. What doesn’t it have? Chiwetel’s performance isn’t flashy, but it’s sturdy and it grounds the film. Lupita Nyong’O shouldwin the award for best supporting actress with her both emotionally and physically demanding role (though she likely won’t.) Finally, Fassbender is brutally convincing as one slave owner among many. The writing’s great; the themes are universal. The story is gripping, and it’s one that is rewarding (albeit challenging) for all who hear it. Incidentally, I can’t leave this mini-review without mentioning the one vast negative I found in the film, namely superstud Brad Pitt’s late cameo. Pitt signed on as an executive producer, and I’m great with that. But, did you really have to show up with your hippy hair and become essentially the deux ex machina to save Northrup from his woeful condition, Brad? We already know you’ve taken the phrase “love the children of the world” quite literally. Let’s get on with it.
#2 American Hustle
I suppose expectations are just about everything going into a film. For whatever reason, I didn’t expect much of this film when I sat down on a rainy Thursday night to view it. I didn’t think David O. Russell could strike gold a third consecutive time (no disrespect to his earlier films), and I was still sunning in the afterglow of Silver Linings from last year. Furthermore, the cast just seemed a bit too A-list for me. Too often it seems, studios and directors attempt to mask lackluster storytelling and poor screenwriting with pretty faces in crazy costumes. Like, say, any Garry Marshall film which you have (or hopefully have not) ever seen. The problem with such logic is that sometimes you get all three – good writing, big name actors, and good storytelling – in once nice bundle. Ocean’s 11, anyone? I think this is the case with American Hustle. Again, like other Russell films, it’s hysterical and dramatic in turn. What I found to be a bit disorienting in his earlier works, like I Heart Huckabees, I now find to be endearing and true to life. Also, Louis C.K.’s cameo is dynamite, and Renner is VASTLY underrated. Amy Adams can do it all (and no, Laura, that’s not because of her dresses in this film). The story turns on you several times, and it’s just one great thrill ride. Or maybe it wasn’t, and my expectations were just too low? You decide.
#3 Fruitvale Station
I really had to see this film. Sundance Grand Jury Prize. A chance to see an actor from The Wire (greatest TV show ever…holla Scott Sipling) in a lead role. Yeah, this had to go down, and I wasn’t a bit disappointed. The opening credits set you up for the finale, and it delivers big time. But, in the middle, there are tons oever. yoneeus small moments of self-discovery in the life of a young man attempting to rebuild himself. Because you know the end from the beginning, this evolution of character is enthralling. Michael B. Jordan was magnetic. I’d especially like to give kudos to the writer for penning a screenplay which hits us as being so authentic and real-worldly (is that a word?). I’m trying to say there’s not a false
#4 Dallas Buyers Club
Let’s start with a little backstory: earlier this year I watched the documentary How to Survive a Plague about the early days of the AIDS epidemic and those outspoken victims, who essentially lobbied, fought, picketed, and marched until they’d convinced the DEA to both cheapen drugs and develop combined treatments. DBC plays out in the same period of time, and therefore it immediately caught my attention. The rest, as they say, is history. McConaughey is incredible – not because he lost 45 pounds – but in delivering all the subtleties and nuances of Woodroof’s character. His character arc is tremendous – from philandering, drug and alcohol binging, homophobic cowboy to driven, generous, purveyor of non-FDA approved treatments for those in his same plight. Treatments that actually WORK! He’s a fighter in the realm of the human spirit, and for that we grow to love him. Yes, Jared Leto you were great too. You had me at Requiem.
#5 The Spectacular Now
Man, I loved this movie. Popular, binge drinking high school funny man meets humble good girl keeping her family afloat. Been done a million times, right? Maybe. But not like this. This one has character depth and revelations that A Walk to Remember never even dreamed of (God, it hurt me to even cite that one). We knew Shailene Woodley had chops from The Descendants, and she busts them out here again. We knew Miles Teller was a funny man since, umm, 21 & Over, but he’s got some range on display here as well. The growth of their relationship and the choices they make is so natural and flawless. Perhaps that’s what makes it all the more romantic. Looking for a date night movie? Rent it. Oh yeah, and it also has Kurt Vile and Phosphorescent’s Song For Zula (which I wanted to hear in a movie since my first listen) on the soundtrack. I haven’t had this much fun since I saw Emma Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (58% Emma Watson, 42% the film itself).
#6 Before Midnight
How can you not give this film some love? Delpy, Hawke, and Linklater have been banging these “fly by the seat-of-the-pants, grab a couple script ideas, throw them on paper, and improvise while you walk through beautiful city landscapes” films out for like 15 years now. I loved Before Sunrise way back when. Maybe it’s that romantic itch in me cited above. But these films are just so real, and the writing has grown with the characters. If I had watched this movie when I was around 18, I likely would have felt like these two could be falling out of love. Now, 8 years of marriage and 2 toddlers later, I would probably guess they had just hit a rough patch. J The fact that their scripted conflicts feel real just gives their almost tangible love more depth and makes their growthall the more real. After all, which love is more worth it and strong – the shiny, bubblegum-popping kind where all is bright, or the one battle-tested with joys and scars, bearing the age of years spent together in toil and triumph? Cue the Jeopardy theme.
#7 What Maisie Knew
I doubt you’ll see this on many people’s end of year lists, but I personally found it to be deeply moving and exceptional. It’s a film about kids acting like adults and adults acting like kids. It’s about parents who cannot get along and the innocent youth who get stuck in the middle. Onale Aprile is mesmerizing as the little girl trapped in her parent’s battles, and she infuses her character with such incredible grace and beauty. Sadly, I believe that this kind of story may be all too true today. Indeed, I lived a certain version of it myself (my parents were A MILLION times better than Coogan and Moore). Wake up, Academy. If you’re gonna nominate that long-named Q chick for Beasts of the Southern Piles of Crap last year, how can you miss Onale here? Sad.
#8 Her
Did I spy an Arcade Fire track in one of those pensive moments of this film? That’s a good starting place. There were apparently rumors of awards’ buzz for Scarlet Johansen’s voice performance alone in this film. I thought that sounded ludicrous. Then I saw the film. Her range, I have to say, is remarkable here, and Phoenix is solid again. I found Her to be hysterical in parts and gently moving in others. I applaud it also for its courageous depiction of a (not so) futuristic world where the proliferation of social networking covers the vast social isolation many people are feeling. Phoenix shows us how once can be both ultra-connected and yet utterly alone. Perhaps it is this seeming contradiction which characterizes so much sadness in our times. I don’t know about you, but I’m freaking sick of staring at the top of people’s heads when I’m trying to talk to them, because their eyes are buried in a screen. I’m guilty too. I’m staring at a screen right now! Ahhhhhhh! But, I digress. In any case, a film which can namedrop Alan Watts (and program him as an avatar) in context may just be special indeed.
#9 Mud
What can I say? I love Mike Nichols and Michael Shannon pairings. Actually, I love just about everything Shannon does period (check out Iceman from this year – blamo!). But, Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter are on another level. Mud is no different. With this list, people may think I now have a McConaughey crush. Sorry. It was his year. And, in some ways, this is the year of child actors for me as well…Tye Sheridan’s performance in Mud is just about as good as Aprile’s in What Maisie Knew. Mud rolls with atmosphere and that down home Southern-renegade-on-the-lam-love. More importantly, however, it’s a story about boys (and men) growing up, and the unlikely bonds that form between old souls of all ages.
#10 Captain Phillips
Let me start as crassly as possible – Tom Hanks missing an Oscar nomination for lead actor (when DiCaprio got one, no less – see below) in this film is bullshit.
There, I pressed return a couple of times to, like Drake, “Give you a couple seconds to let that sink in.” His acting in the final five minutes is among the highlights of his well-decorated career. We could break this film down into categories and sub-categories like we’ve done with the others, but I just thought above all it was eminently watchable. Captain was suspenseful, gripping, and a wild ride from pretty much start to finish. Redbox it.
*Also Rans (Basically just movies I think deserve more notice and mention than they are getting):
*Foreign Films You Should See:
*Overrated Horrible Films That I Can’t Understand Why Anyone Would Nominate for Anything:
Review: This is quite possibly the worst film Scorsese ever made. Where do we start? There’s no narrative arc anywhere. Any time Leo’s character threatens to demonstrate some depth, we’re treated to another montage of debauchery. Hey, I’m pretty open-minded about what’s on display in films. Honestly. Nudity and language – whatever. But if the film is horrible AND has those things, you lost me. Scorsese’s obsession with DiCaprio borders on the masturbatory in this film. His visage dominates quite literally every scene (well not “literally” literally. Consider this the hipster Pitchfork usage of the term). It’s ALL Leo, and with nary a film editor in sight, we get A TON of him. Like I said, the story barely goes anywhere, and aside from a few remarkable scenes (see DiCap and Hill’s epic Ludes Quarrel scene, for instance) is largely forgettable. Whenever bright lights do turn up – once again that thrilling Texan, McConaughey, in a short appearance (pound your chest and say “Mmm mmm”) and everywhere Jonah Hill appears – they are snuffed out quickly. I’ve heard on some grapevine somewhere that Marty was rushed through production on this film. My goodness, for all of our sakes, I hope that was the case.
*Films Which Are a Bit One-Note And Thus Can Be Reviewed With a Single Letter:
Review: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(Just kidding. I love Alexander Payne, and I get it…the. pacing. was. deliberate.)
Until next time…
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