Well it is
that time of year, the time when all of us movie critics tell you what out
favorite movies of the year are. 2013 was a great year for cinema. There were
so many great movies this year it was hard to narrow it down to my favorite
thirteen. I think your favorite movies should be ones that resonate with you on
a personal level. Now don’t get me wrong a good movie is a good movie, but
sometimes a movie comes out of nowhere that you just connect with
personally. So with out of the over 176
movie I saw this year, here are (drum roll) my top thirteen for 2013:
13. Blue Jasmine:
Every year you can expect a Woody Allen movie to hit the theaters, and
most years you will find that movie on someone’s top ten list. “Blue Jasmine”
is no different, Cate Blanchett is memorizing as well as everyone else in this
film. Woody seems to be like a fine wine and just gets better with age.
12. The World’s End: There is just something magical when
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg get together. The final piece in the Cornetto
trilogy, tells the tale of Gary King (Simon Pegg) and his group of friends
trying to complete a pub run that that failed to do as young lads. Nothing can
stop their quest, even if the town is overrun with something that is not
entirely human.
11. What Massie Knew: This is one of those films that
just sticks with you. This is a story about Massie (Onata Aprile) who is caught
in the middle of her parents’ divorce. I dare you to watch this one and not
feel something.
10. Captain Phillips: Based on a true story of a 2008 hijacking of a
freighter by Somali Pirates. There is nothing better than real life, and to top
it off you have great performances by Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. The final
thirty minutes of this movie may be the best thirty minutes you’ll see on
screen all year.
9. Fruitvale Station: Another film based on a true story.
This one tells the tale of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan) and his faithful
date with destiny on the last day of 2008. This is the kind of performance that
announces to the world that there is more than one man with talent with the
name Michael Jordan.
8. The Spectacular Now: A great coming of age story that
feels more like someone you knew than a movie. Not only is the story amazing, the film also
shows us two actors in Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley who are two greats in
the making.
7. Philomena: Another true story about a woman named
Philomena (Judi Dench) and her search for a son taken away from her when she
was younger. Like the above films based on true stories, this one again proves
that there is no story like a true story.
6. Francis Ha: The
story of a girl named Francis (Greta Gerwig) who only knows how to follow her
dreams. A film written by Noah Baumbach and the above motioned Greta Gerwig.
“Francis Ha” is just about an enjoyable movie you will see any year.
5. The Wolf of Wallstreet: It feels strange not having a Martin Scorsese
film in my top three, but that is how good a year in movies it was. The perfect
tale of greed and the roller coaster we call life. I would say it is a
cautionary tale, but it is hard to believe given the same situation how any of
us could say no.
4. 12 Years a Slave: Movies should remind us of the
mistakes we made in the past. “12 Years a Slave” is the story of Solomon
Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his twelve years as a slave after being taken against his will. A moving story and
performances you won’t soon forget make this one of the best movies of the
year.
3. Before Midnight: The final chapter in Richard
Linklater’s ‘Before’ series. We catch up with Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine
(Julie Delpy) almost two decades after their meeting on a train to Vienna. You
will find it very difficult to find a better story about love and relationships
than what you will see in this film series.
2. Inside Llewyn Davis: Like Woody Allen, anytime the
Coen Brothers release a film it usually is on a ‘best of’ list. This story
about a young singer navigating Greenwich Village’s folk scene of the early
1960’s is no exception. With great music and the Coen Brothers style, this is
one film that gets better with each viewing.
1. Short Term 12:
This is the one movie all year that just left me speechless after watching
it. It’s the story of a foster care facility and the twenty something staff
supervising it. This movie will grab your attention and keep it long after the
credits have rolled. For me this is why I go to the movies, and this is a movie
everyone should see.
Those are my
favorite movies of 2013. Although there are still a few movies I need to see
that would probably make this list, of everything I have seen to this point,
they are the cream of the crop. So now that another year is in the books, I’m
looking forward to another year at the movies.
Brian Taylor
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