I have to say, this might be the earliest I have ever posted one of these lists. For once I saw everything I wanted to see before the Oscars; and although I haven’t written as many reviews this year, I have loved A TON of what was released. For me, 2013 was one of the better years for film in a while. Which of course makes creating a list such as this so damn hard. But here goes…
…oh, and I should note, this list is ordered according to which films were my favorite/least favorite, not necessarily the best/worst; yes there is a difference if you ask me.
Least Favorite Films of 2013:
5 – “Star Trek Into Darkness” (dir. J.J. Abrams)
4 – “Don Jon” (dir. Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
3 – “This Is The End” (dir. Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen)
2 – “Mama” (dir. Andre Muschietti)
1 – “A Good Day To Die Hard” [Just so happens to be my least favorite AND the worst.] (dir. Satan… Hitler?…no wait, John Moore)
Favorite Films of 2013:
25 – “Prince Avalanche” (dir. David Gordon Green)
24 – “Drug War” (dir. Johnnie To)
23 – “The Wolverine” (dir. James Mangold)
22 – “Upstream Color” (dir. Shane Carruth)
21 – “The Wolf Wall Street” (dir. Martin Scorsese)
20 – “Enough Said” (dir. Nicole Holofcener)
19 – “Frozen” (dir. Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee)
18 – “The World’s End” (dir. Edgar Wright)
17 – “Dallas Buyers Club” (dir. Jean-Marc Vallee)
16 – “Blue Is The Warmest Color” (dir. Adbellatif Kechiche)
15 – “An Adventure In Space and Time” (dir. Terry McDonough)
14 – “Stories We Tell” (dir. Sarah Polley)
13 – “Much Ado About Nothing” (dir. Joss Whedon)
12 – “Blue Jasmine” (dir. Woody Allen)
11 – “Mud” (dir. Jeff Nichols)
10 – “Frances Ha” (dir. Noah Baumbach)
9 – “12 Years A Slave” (dir. Steve McQueen)
8 – “Short Term 12” (dir. Destin Cretton)
7 – “Inside Llewyn Davis” (dir. Ethan & Joel Coen)
6 – “Museum Hours” (dir. Jem Cohen)
5 – “Stoker” (dir. Chan-wook Park)
4 – “The Act of Killing” [The BEST of 2013 and possibly beyond.] (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)
3 – “Before Midnight” (dir. Richard Linklater)
2 – “Her” (dir. Spike Jonze)
1 – “Gravity” (dir. Alfonso Cauron)
These last three were honestly neck and neck and neck, and it wasn’t until I was ready to post this list that I bumped “Gravity” up to the top spot, replacing “Her”. As I mentioned above, this was such a great year for film and my favorite could change anytime in the future depending on when you asked me; but at this very moment I have to give it to “Gravity”.
(Some of My…) Favorite Performances of 2013 [No Specific Order]:
– Brie Larson (“Short Term 12”)
– Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”)
– Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club” & “Mud”)
– Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson & Amy Adams (“Her”)
(Some of My…) Favorite Filmmakers and Writers of 2013 [No Specific Order]:
– Filmmaker: Joshua Oppenheimer (“The Act of Killing”)
– Writers: Richard Linklater, Julie Deply & Ethan Hawke (“Before Midnight”)
Favorite Score of 2013 (Ran a Half Marathon To This Sucker):
– Steven Price (“Gravity”)