12 Years a Slave (dir: Steve McQueen)
A brutal portrayal of the most shameful chapter in our nation's history. Gripping, raw, and unrelenting, with solid work by all involved, and particularly Michael Fassbender in a brilliant portrayal of evil that never veers into the cartoonish.
Before Midnight (dir. Richard Linklater)
The (final?) chapter in the Celine and Jesse saga does the pair justice-after the lovelorn look at their twenties and the increasing desperation of their thirties, they find themselves in the crossroads of their forties. Linklater doesn't spare the audience the bitterness that can ensue from broken dreams and untold truths.
The Bling Ring (dir. Sofia Coppola)
Every year there's a film that for some reason is tossed aside by critics and audiences that a chosen few find worthy of picking back up-this is it for me. Coppola's film at once finds the beauty and ugliness of celebrity, and gives us a fascinating look at what the surface-level antics of Gen Y can yield when you mix in crime.
Blue is the Warmest Color (dir. Abdellatif Kechiche)
Yes-two attractive French women simulate sex for ten minutes or so. But you know what's in the other 170 minutes of this film? A complex array of coming-of-age, love, and romance, along with a star-making role from Adele Exarchopoulos, whose naturalism is something you have to see to believe.
Gravity (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
A visual wonder. Cuaron waited seven years to follow-up his pitch perfect Children of Men, and few would argue with the results-a triumphant look into the struggles of one woman's humanity (a blessedly cast Sandra Bullock) and one director's terrifying imagination.
Her (dir. Spike Jonze)
Just when I think that there's nothing new I can learn about love from the movies, someone like Spike Jonze comes along and knocks me off my feet. A heartfelt look into how one man's loneliness can be melted away by a pure, effervescent force of curiosity and appreciation for the world around him. Both Phoenix and Johansson sing in their scenes together.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (dir. Peter Jackson)
To quote someone, "haters are gonna hate," and some critics I read online cannot grasp the idea that Peter Jackson can still find magic in the realms of Middle Earth. And yet that's what he does in his latest installment in the series, improving on his previous chapter and giving us a dragon to tremble before.
Inside Llewyn Davis (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
For some reason excitement for this film subsided as the year went on (the Coens missed in all major categories at the Oscars), but led by a great turn from Oscar Isaac, we get to see one quick snapshot into a man's evolution. And we also get to hear some of the most beautiful music I've seen onscreen since Once.
Short-Term 12 (dir. Destin Cretton)
Youth is such a fleeting thing, and leaves such an imprint on the rest of your life, and yet it frequently falls into cliches when caught on the big-screen. Not so Cretton's warm, real Short-Term, which gives a series of fully-felt people, with Brie Larson and John Gallagher, Jr. at the lead, and what it takes to keep living when the walls start closing in on your spirit.
To the Wonder (dir. Terrence Malick)
A forgotten piece of Malick's filmography? There's no such thing, certainly not with a film that attempts to uncover the complicated tethers that come with romantic love. With sparing dialogue, Malick's film washes over you, never leaving you with a clear picture of message, but always with transcendence that allows you to find it.
Those are my Top 10-share yours in the comments!
Before Midnight (dir. Richard Linklater)
The (final?) chapter in the Celine and Jesse saga does the pair justice-after the lovelorn look at their twenties and the increasing desperation of their thirties, they find themselves in the crossroads of their forties. Linklater doesn't spare the audience the bitterness that can ensue from broken dreams and untold truths.
The Bling Ring (dir. Sofia Coppola)
Every year there's a film that for some reason is tossed aside by critics and audiences that a chosen few find worthy of picking back up-this is it for me. Coppola's film at once finds the beauty and ugliness of celebrity, and gives us a fascinating look at what the surface-level antics of Gen Y can yield when you mix in crime.
Blue is the Warmest Color (dir. Abdellatif Kechiche)
Yes-two attractive French women simulate sex for ten minutes or so. But you know what's in the other 170 minutes of this film? A complex array of coming-of-age, love, and romance, along with a star-making role from Adele Exarchopoulos, whose naturalism is something you have to see to believe.
Gravity (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
A visual wonder. Cuaron waited seven years to follow-up his pitch perfect Children of Men, and few would argue with the results-a triumphant look into the struggles of one woman's humanity (a blessedly cast Sandra Bullock) and one director's terrifying imagination.
Her (dir. Spike Jonze)
Just when I think that there's nothing new I can learn about love from the movies, someone like Spike Jonze comes along and knocks me off my feet. A heartfelt look into how one man's loneliness can be melted away by a pure, effervescent force of curiosity and appreciation for the world around him. Both Phoenix and Johansson sing in their scenes together.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (dir. Peter Jackson)
To quote someone, "haters are gonna hate," and some critics I read online cannot grasp the idea that Peter Jackson can still find magic in the realms of Middle Earth. And yet that's what he does in his latest installment in the series, improving on his previous chapter and giving us a dragon to tremble before.
Inside Llewyn Davis (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)
For some reason excitement for this film subsided as the year went on (the Coens missed in all major categories at the Oscars), but led by a great turn from Oscar Isaac, we get to see one quick snapshot into a man's evolution. And we also get to hear some of the most beautiful music I've seen onscreen since Once.
Short-Term 12 (dir. Destin Cretton)
Youth is such a fleeting thing, and leaves such an imprint on the rest of your life, and yet it frequently falls into cliches when caught on the big-screen. Not so Cretton's warm, real Short-Term, which gives a series of fully-felt people, with Brie Larson and John Gallagher, Jr. at the lead, and what it takes to keep living when the walls start closing in on your spirit.
To the Wonder (dir. Terrence Malick)
A forgotten piece of Malick's filmography? There's no such thing, certainly not with a film that attempts to uncover the complicated tethers that come with romantic love. With sparing dialogue, Malick's film washes over you, never leaving you with a clear picture of message, but always with transcendence that allows you to find it.
Those are my Top 10-share yours in the comments!
1 comment:
Hi John, I enjoyed your selections, I hope you don’t mind me sharing my ten favourites of last year. Here goes.
10. Stoker
9. American Hustle
8. Spring Breakers
7. Before Midnight
6. Frances Ha
5. Blue Jasmine
4. The World's End
3. Upstream Color
2. The Act of Killing
1. To the Wonder - When compared to, “The Tree of Life” it would be easy to consider “To the Wonder” minor in comparison, but still, a film that can be considered (and is by the director himself) a companion piece to The Tree of Life, To the Wonder is a marvellous miniature work of art, and like you I consider it my number one of 2013.
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