UPDATED: Film Comment unveiled their idiosyncratic and generous top 50 films of 2013 today. Top 15 below, with the rest of the countdown here. Be sure to check out our own TOH! top tens here.
1. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
2. “12 Years a Slave”
3. “Before Midnight”
4. “The Act of Killing”
5. “A Touch of Sin”
6. “Leviathan”
7. “Gravity”
8. “Computer Chess”
9. “Frances Ha”
10. “Upstream Color”
11. “Museum Hours”
12. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
13. “Bastards”
14. “Spring Breakers”
15. “Like Someone in Love”
EARLIER: Variety scribes Justin Chang, Scott Foundas and Peter Debruge have just published their top 10 films of 2013. See their lists below.
Meanwhile, Slant Magazine polled contributors for a top 25 films of 2013. That list below as well.
Justin Chang
1. “Before Midnight”
2. “Gravity”
3. “Stories We Tell”
4. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
5. “The World’s End”
6. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
7. “The Grandmaster”
8. “American Hustle”
9. “Her”
10. “The Conjuring”
Peter Debruge
1. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
2. “12 Years a Slave”
3. “Stories We Tell”
4. “Wadjda”
5. “Her”
6. “Our Children”
7. “Short Term 12”
8. “Dallas Buyers Club”
9. “Neighboring Sounds”
10. “Mr. Nobody”
Scott Foundas
1. “Her”
2. “The Wind Rises”
3. “American Hustle”
4. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
5. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
6. “At Berkeley”
7. “Nebraska”
8. “12 Years a Slave”
9. “Gravity”
10. “The Counselor
Slant’s Top 25
1. “Her”
2. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
3. “Leviathan”
4. “Museum Hours”
5. “Like Someone in Love”
6. “Computer Chess”
7. “Bastards”
8. “Before Midnight”
9. “At Berkeley”
10. “A Touch of Sin”
11. “Laurence Anyways”
12. “Drug War”
13. “Spring Breakers”
14. “The Act of Killing”
15. “Viola”
16. “The World’s End”
17. “Frances Ha”
18. “12 Years a Slave”
19. “Stories We Tell”
20. “Room 237”
21. “The Grandmaster”
22. “To the Wonder”
23. “The We and the I”
24. “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”
25. “Gravity”
EARLIER: A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times have revealed their top films of 2013. In the case of Dargis, it’s a top 16. Meanwhile, “I’m So Excited!” director Pedro Almodovar announced his ten favorite films of 2013, with “The Act of Killing” topping his list.
1. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
2. “12 Years a Slave”
3. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
4. “Enough Said”
5. “A Touch of Sin”
6. “All Is Lost”
7. “Frances Ha”
8. “Hannah Arendt”
9. “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
10. TIE: “The Great Gatsby”/”The Wolf of Wall Street”/”The Bling Ring”/”Spring Breakers”/”Pain and Gain”/”American Hustle”
Scott’s Top Docs:
1. “The Act of Killing”
2. “Stories We Tell”
3. “The Square”
4. “Let the Fire Burn”
5. “Cutie and the Boxer”
Pedro Almodovar:
1. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn & Anónimo)
2. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino)
3. Paradise: Faith (Ulrich Seidl)
4. Paradise: Love (Ulrich Seidl)
5. Blue Is The Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche)
6. Todas las mujeres (Mariano Barroso)
7. Mud (Jeff Nichols)
8. Sister (Ursula Meier)
9. Todos queremos lo mejor para ella (Mar Coll)
10. Stockholm (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
11. Metro Manila (Sean Ellis)
12. La herida (Fernando Franco)
16 favorites, in alphabetical order: “American Hustle” (David O. Russell), “Before Midnight” (Richard Linklater), “Behind the Candelabra” (Steven Soderbergh), “Captain Phillips” (Paul Greengrass), “The Counselor” (Ridley Scott), “The Grandmaster” (Wong Kar-wai), “The Great Beauty“ (Paolo Sorrentino), “Her“ (Spike Jonze), “Inside Llewyn Davis” (Joel and Ethan Coen), “Manakamana” (Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez), “Redemption” (Miguel Gomes), “Rush” (Ron Howard), “Spring Breakers” (Harmony Korine), “The Square” (Jehane Noujaim), “A Touch of Sin” (Jia Zhang-ke), “12 Years a Slave” (Steve McQueen).
EARLIER: ‘Tis the season to list one’s Top Ten Films. Critics David Edelstein (for Vulture) and Richard Brody (for the New Yorker) have released their respective lists. Check them out, below.
Richard Brody:
1–2 (tie). “The Wolf of Wall Street” (due to embargo until
December 17th, silence reigns for now) and “To the Wonder.”
3. “Like Someone in Love.”
4–5 (tie). “Computer Chess” and “Upstream Color.”
6. “Night Across the Street.”
7. “A Touch of Sin.”
8. “Blue Is the Warmest Color.”
9. “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.”
10–12 (tie). “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Sun Don’t Shine,” and
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.”
(The rest of Brody’s 29 (!) picks is here.)
1. Her
2. American Hustle
3. The Act of Killing
4. Much Ado About Nothing
5. Short Term 12
6. 20 Feet Stardom
7. All Is Lost
8. Caesar Must Die
9. Blue Is the Warmest Color
10. The Wind Rises
EARLIER: Indiewire’s chief film critic Eric Kohn has released his Top Ten of 2013 list. Check out his selections below; he elaborates at length on each film here.
Eric Kohn’s Top Ten List for Indiewire:
1. “12 Years a Slave”
2. “Leviathan”
3. “Before Midnight”
4. “The Act of Killing”
5. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
6. “Museum Hours”
7. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
8. “Computer Chess”
9. “Upstream Color”
10. “Gloria”
EARLIER: Entertainment Weekly is teasing their critics’ Top Ten Films of 2013 lists, with Owen Gleiberman and Chris Nashawaty previewing their top four picks (we’ll update when the full Top Tens become available.) Check out their selections below. They’ve got pretty similar tastes.
Owen Gleiberman:
1. 12 Years a Slave, Rated R –12 Years a Slave is a
suspensefully unsparing vision, with a violence that scalds, yet the film
balances despair and perseverance, pain and transcendence. Steve McQueen’s
agonizing masterpiece is the first movie to dramatize the experience of slavery
in all its fear, madness, and horror—that is, in the terrifying intimacy of its
brutality. (In theaters)2. American Hustle, Rated R –It’s set in a late-’70s world of
comb-overs, polyester lapels, and anything-goes amorality. Yet David O.
Russell’s swirling, bravura tale of a con artist, Irving Rosenfeld (Christian
Bale), who gets lured into the equally slovenly FBI sting operation known as
Abscam has a resonance that’s thrillingly contemporary. It’s a drama of people
drugged by their own desperation. (In theaters Dec. 13)3. Before Midnight, Rated R –Love stories in the movies usually
end before the most interesting part of a relationship even begins. But the
third chapter of Richard Linklater’s beguiling romantic talkfest is a striking
exception. (On DVD and VOD)4. Fruitvale
Station, Rated R –In the wee hours of Jan. 1, 2009, a 22-year-old
African-American named Oscar Grant III was detained on an Oakland train
platform, and before anyone knew what was happening, he’d been shot and killed
by a transit officer. His death was a moral calamity—but it was also, as Ryan
Coogler’s powerful film knows all too well, another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it
news story out of the file marked “senseless racial tragedy.” (On DVD and VOD
Jan. 14)
Chris Nashawaty:
1. Before Midnight, Rated R –Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy
is the rare romance that feels like real life—heady, heartbreaking, and
ultimately hopeful. Eighteen years after their first encounter on a train bound
for Vienna in Before Sunrise, Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) are
stuck in the sort of uneasy domestic routine familiar to anyone who’s ever been
in a long-term relationship. (On DVD and VOD)2. Gravity, Rated PG-13 –Not since Stanley Kubrick’s mind-blowing
head trip 2001: A Space Odyssey has there been a film so alive to the
awe-inspiring possibilities of cinema. The wonder of Alfonso Cuarón’s
deep-space slice of 3-D eye candy is that it manages to feel both weightless
and weighty at the same time. (In theaters)3. 12 Years A Slave, Rated R – In 12 Years a Slave, director
Steve McQueen tells the sickening true story of one exceptional man, Solomon
Northup. Played with haunting grace by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Solomon wasn’t born in
chains like so many others he meets on his nightmare odyssey. He’s a free man
whose liberty is literally stripped from him, which somehow makes the
excruciating absurdity of his fate even harder for us to wrap our heads around.
(In theaters)4. Fruitvale Station, Rated R –An unarmed 22-year-old
African-American is shot and killed by a white transit officer. That this
tragic incident actually happened in real life is horrifying enough. But what
makes the moment reach deep into your chest and rip out your heart is how
first-time director Ryan Coogler chooses to begin his film with this tragic
coda. He gives Fruitvale Station a dreadful inevitability as he flashes back
and bears witness to the final 24 hours of Oscar Grant III’s life, showing us
the ordinary events that would end up being his last (On DVD and VOD Jan. 14)
TIME Magazine, Empire, Cahiers du Cinema, Sight & Sound and John Waters’ Top Ten lists, after the jump…
EARLIER: Critic Richard Corliss of TIME has named his Ten Best Films of 2013 for the magazine, with Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity,” Paolo Sorrentino’s Italian Oscar entry “The Great Beauty” and David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” which recently scored top honors with the New York Film Critics Circle, at the top of the list. Check out all the picks, below.
Richard Corliss’ Best Movies of 2013
1. Gravity. “In depicting the fearful, beautiful
reality of the space world above our world, Gravity reveals the glory of
cinema’s future; it thrills on so many levels.”
2. The Great Beauty. “Giving even the cynics a faith in
the vibrancy of movies, The Great Beauty is the year’s grandest, most
exhilarating film that takes place on Earth.”
3. American Hustle. “This portrait of the ’70s revels
in the decade’s gaudiness — its disco dancing and casino dreams, its ugly
coiffures and facial hair — and in the eternal abrasion of sexy women and
covetous men.”
4. Her. “Spike Jonze… creates a splendid anachronism:
a modern rom-com that is laugh-and-cry and warm all over, totally sweet and
utterly serious.”
5. The Grandmaster. “A fittingly elegiac climax for a
world-class filmmaker who’s always in the mood for lost love.”
6. Furious 6. “This adrenaline-stoking series is
addictive, for its chases, crashes, crushes — and for its poetic limning of
the closest camaraderie many men can ever know: with their cars.”
7. Frozen. “The first animated feature in the Walt
Disney studio’s glorious history to offer two princess heroines, Frozen
transforms Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Snow Queen’ into a fable of modern,
timeless sisterhood.”
8. The Act of Killing. “Making the movies, which vault
from film noir to bizarre musical, eventually gets under Anwar’s skin and into
his dreams…. For any viewer, the effect is no less haunting.”
9. 12 Years a Slave. “The movie has the eerie impact of
a museum exhibit; it is a diorama of atrocity.”
10. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. “Each complex
encounter, especially a flume-ride escape of the dwarves, boasts a teeming
ingenuity of action and character.”
Empire Magazine has named their Ten Best Films of 2013, with “Gravity” and “Captain Phillips” taking top honors. Check out the full list, below.
Empire Magazine Top 10 Of 2013
1. Gravity
2. Captain Phillips
3. Rush
4. Mud
5. Lincoln
6. Stoker
7. Iron Man 3
8. Before Midnight
9. The Great Beauty
10. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
EARLIER: What I love about John Waters is that he included Ingmar Bergman’s “Wild Strawberries” as one of his Film Comment Guilty Pleasures. And this 2013 Ten Best List runs the gamut –as is typical of Waters–from tasteful to tasteless. And has some damned good docs too. Also posting their best of 2013 lists are Sight & Sound and the Cahiers du Cinema, below. Tarantino’s early ten best is here.
1. “Spring Breakers”
2. “Camile Claudel 1915”
3. “Abuse Of Weakness”
4. “Hors Satan”
5. “After Tiller”
6. “Hannah Arendt”
7. “Beyond The Hills”
8. “Blue Jasmine”
9. “Blackfish”
10. “I’m So Excited”
1. “Stranger by the Lake” (Alain Guiraudie)
2. “Spring Breakers” (Harmony Korine)
3. “Blue is the Warmest Color” (Abdellatif Kechiche)
4. “Gravity” (Alfonso Cuaron)
5. “A Touch of Sin” (Jia Zhang-ke)
6. “Lincoln” (Steven Spielberg)
7. “Jealousy” (Philippe Garrel)
8. “Nobody’s Daughter Haewon” (Hong Sang-soo)
9. “You and the Night” (Yann Gonzalez)
10. “La Bataille de Solferino” (Justine Triet)
Also posted are Sight & Sound’s top 30:
1. “The Act of Killing” (Joshua Oppenheimer)
2. “Gravity” (Alfonso Cuaron)
3. “Blue is the Warmest Color” (Abdellatif Kechiche)
4. “The Great Beauty” (Paolo Sorrentino)
5. “Frances Ha” (Noah Baumbach)
6. “A Touch of Sin” (Jia Zhang-ke)
=“Upstream Color” (Shane Carruth)
8. “The Selfish Giant” (Clio Barnard)
9. “Norte, the End of History” (Lav Diaz)
=”Stranger by the Lake” (Alain Guiraudie)
11. “Before Midnight” (Richard Linklater)
=”Stray Dogs” (Tsai Ming-liang)
13. “Leviathan” (Lucien Castaing and Verena Paravel)
14. ”All is Lost” (J.C. Chandor)
=”A Field in England” (Ben Wheatley)
=“12 Years a Slave” (Steve McQueen)
17. “Bastards” (Claire Denis)
=”Gloria” (Sebastian Lelio)
=”The Missing Picture” (Rithy Panh)
=”Story of My Death” (Albert Serra)
=”Under the Skin” (Jonathan Glazer)
22. “At Berkeley” (Frederick Wiseman)
=”Beyond the Hills” (Cristian Mungiu)
=”Blancanieves” (Pablo Berger)
=”Blue Jasmine” (Woody Allen)
=”Django Unchained” (Quentin Tarantino)
=“Ida” (Pawel Pawlikowski)
=”Inside Llewyn Davis” (Joel and Ethan Coen)
=“It’s Such a Beautiful Day” (Don Hertzfeldt)
=”The Last of the Unjust” (Claude Lanzmann)
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