Best movies of 2013 so far

[Chris Knipp]

Haven't apparently even started a running best list. And there may be two reasons. I've been too involved in day-to-day reviewing to think about it; and not as many titles have jumped out at me. Below, a tentative beginning.

BEST MOVIES OF 2013 SO FAR

BEST ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM:
ALL IS LOST (J.C. Chandor)
NEBRASKA (Alexander Payne)
UPSTREAM COLOR (Shane Carruth)
COMPUTER CHESS (Andrew Bujalski)
THE SELFISH GIANT (Clio Bernard)
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (Derek Cianfrance)
MUD (Jeff Nichols)
BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Richard Linklater)
SPRINGBREAKERS (Harmony Korine)
THE OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY (Terence Nance)
_______

BEST FOREIGN FILMS SO FAR (Including non-US-release)
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Paolo Sorrentino)
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (Abdellatif Kechiche0
REALITY (Matteo Garrone)
BASTARDS (Claire Denis)
A HIJACKING (Tobias Lindholm)
WADJDA (Haifaa Al-Mansour)
ALYAH (Elie Wajeman)
THEY'LL COME BACK (Marcelo Lordell)
THE CLEANER (Adrián Saba)
CLUB SANDWICH (Fernando Eimbcke)
ABUSE OF WEAKNESS (Catherine Breillat)
THE STRANGER BY THE LAKE (Alain Guiraudie)
DRUG WAR (Johnnie To)
ALI BLUE EYES (Claudio Giovannesi)
THE HUNT (Thomas Vinterrberg)

_____________

BEST BLOCKBUSTERS:
MAN OF STEEL (Zack Snyder)
FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Jason Lin)

_____________

BEST DOCUMENTARIES (alphabetical)
56 UP (Michael Apted)
AMY WINEHOUSE: THE DAY SHE CAME TO DINGLE (Maurice Linnane)
DIRTY WARS (Rick Rowley)
FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED (Alan Berliner)
THE GATEKEEPERS (Dror Moreh)
GIDEON'S ARMY (Dawn Porter 2012)
THE SQUARE (Jehane Noujaim)
JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS (K. Thorsen, T. Holder)
LEVIATHON (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel)
MUSEUM HOURS (Jem Cohen) (semi-documentary feature)
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (Alex Gibney)

SHORTLISTED, ALL CATEGORIES
THE SPECTACULAR NOW (James Ponsoldt)
NO (Pablo Laraín)
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (Steven Soderergh) (TV)
IN THE HOUSE (François Ozon)
SHORT TERM 12 (Destin Cretton)
SOME VELVET MORNING (Neil LaBute)
BLUE CAPRICE (Alexandre Moors)
TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM (Morgan Neville)

NOT YET SEEN:
CAMILLE CLAUDEL 1915 (Bruno Dumont) - very limited release NYC Oct.
NARCO CULTURA (Shaul Schwarz) - doc showing in NYC
INEQUALITY FOR ALL - doc about Robert Reich

[Chris Knipp]

Here are my answers to the Criticwire 2013 Critics' Poll. They could change, and I don't accept every aspect of their layout, such as having only ten best features and five best documentaries. And if they ask for cinematographer, how about editing? I can't list Stranger by the Lake or Bastards because they are coming out in 2014.

BEST FILM
You may vote for up to 10 films.
1.All Is Lost
2. Nebraska
3. The Great Beauty
4.Upstream Color
5.The Place Beyond the Pines
6.Blue Is the Warmest Color
7.Spring Breakers
8.Computer Chess
9.Mud
10.Alyah

BEST DIRECTOR
You get five votes. Remember to list both the director's name and the title of the film.
1. Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty
2. J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
3. Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Color
4. Alexander Payne, Nebraska
5. Andrew Bujalski, Computer Chess

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
You get five votes. Remember to list both the actor's name and the title of the film he or she appears in.
1. Robert Redford, All Is Lost
2.Toni Servillo, The Great Beauty
3. Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now
4. Aniello Arena, Reality
5. Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
You get five votes. Remember to list both the actor's name and the title of the film he or she appears in.
1. Léa Seydoux, Blue Is the Warmest Color
2. June Squibb, Nebraska
3. Scarlett Johansson, Don Jon
4. Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
5. ?

BEST FIRST FEATURE
You get five votes.
1.The Oversimplification of Her Beauty
2.Wadjda
3.Fruitvale Station
4.Blue Caprice
5. Sound City

BEST SCREENPLAY
You get five votes.
1. Nebraska
2. All Is Lost
3.The Place Beyond the Pines
4. In the House (Francois Ozon)
5. Museum Hours

BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILM
You get ten votes. This poll considers "undistributed" as a film that played in a public venue (festival, screening, etc.) sometime in 2013, but does not currently have a North American distribution deal in place. If you are unsure whether a film qualifies, you can consult our constantly-updating document.
1. Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke)
2. Michael Kohlhaas (Arnaud des Pallières
3. They'll Come Back (Marcelo Lordelo)
4.The Cleaner (Adrián Saba)
5. Abuse of Weakness (Catherine Breillat)
6. The Dance of Reality (Alejandro Jodorowsky)
7. Ali Blue Eyes (Claudio Giovannesi)
8. The Strange Little Cat (Ramon Zurcher)
9. Penance (Kyoshi Kurosawa)
10. Jappeloup (Christian Duguay)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
You may vote for up to five films.
1.The Square
2.First Cousin Once Removed
3.Dirty Wars
4.Leviathon
5.The Gatekeepers

BEST ENSEMBLE
You get five votes.
1. Nebraska
2. Fast & Furious 6
3.Computer Chess
4. Blue Is the Warmest Color
5.The Great Beauty

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OR SOUNDTRACK
You get five votes.
1.The Great Beauty
2.Inside Llelyn Davis
3.Spring Breakers
4.The Place Beyond the Pines
5. Fast & Furious 6

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
You get five votes.
1.A Touch of Sin
2.Gravity
3.Upstream Color
4.Bastards
5.Museum Hours

OVERALL COMMENTS
["Were there any surprises, notable trends or noteworthy cinematic experiences that couldn't quite fit into any of the above categories? Feel free to use the space below to make any overall statements or observations about the festival. These will accompany your ballot."]

I am pretty sure this year has not been as good as last, when we had US titles as wonderful as Moonrise Kingdom, The Master, Django Unchained, Cosmopolis, Looper, Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook, or foreign films like Holy motors, Amour; Oslo, Aug. 31st; Rust and Bone, The Kid with the Bike, and The Deep Blue Sea.

These lists may change because for one thing I have not yet seen some big late releases, including Out of the Furnace, The Past, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, and August: Osage County. Some films just beyond ten are very worthy e.g. Lindholm's fine A Hijacking, all the better when compared to Captain Philips. Five is too few documentaries nowadays. I'd add The Last of the Unjust, and among many others two more that may not fit strict 2013 categories, Joe Papp in Five Acts and Amy Winehouse: the Day She Came to Dingle. I have not listed Gravity or 12 Years a Slave and some other titles which, though good, are in my opinion quite a bit overrated. Behind the Candelabra is fascinating, with good acting and fabulous costumes and sets, and should have been in US theaters; I saw it in a Paris one. I think David Gordon Green's Joe has had limited US release and I would probably like it but I have not been able to see it.

[oscar jubis]

This is the list I would send if I had to vote right now.

Fiction Features:

I. Paradise: Faith (Austria)
II. Before Midnight (USA), Here and There (Mexico) and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet (France)
III. Beyond the Hills (Romania), Blue is the Warmest Color (France), Frances Ha (USA), Like Someone in Love (France/Japan), Lore (Germany), and Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico)

Documentaries

Leviathan (USA), Museum Hours (Austria/USA), Stories We Tell (Canada), 56 Up (United Kingdom), Room 237 (US)

[Chris Knipp]

Your ability to choose as faves films I'm either indifferent to or repelled by remains undimmed :). But of course BLUE is a great recent release, and the documentary choices are sterling (I chose to skip ROOM 237 though).

[oscar jubis]

It's true. Perhaps we respond to different things in film, and perhaps have different interests, perhaps different criteria for evaluation too. I try to play it down; not to bring it up every time. I decided not to comment about your reviews of say...The Broken Circle Breakdown, or At Any Price because your objections to these films are clearly explained in your reviews. Certainly there is nothing I could write that would make you like Dennis Quaid's performance in At Any Price. So I acknowledge your take or response and move on. I am interested in you, curious about what you watch and what you think about it perhaps more so because it often involves an alternative point-of-view. One film I list that I think you did like is Lore, am I right?

[Chris Knipp]

These lists are not written in stone. It may be just that what you like to list (be associated with) is different. We might both agree that there are many worthy efforts and saying ten are "the best" is somewhat arbitrary. At least I feel that. BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN is very worthy, well above average (Belgium's best! - so they think anyway) with good acting, charismatic leads, terrific music -- that's shy I put some effort into reviewing it and trying to show where it goes wrong. I'm not alone in my criticisms of the fractured story line and feeling it gets out of hand, particularly toward the end. AT ANY PRICE is another story, not as interesting. It got fairly decent reviews I guess.

I see so many films now and my memory is worse so I had almost forgotten LORE whereas you maybe glommed onto it as a favorite and loved it. It didn't affect me tht strongly. It is worthy and I would put it in a lower down place on a longer list. Mike D'Angelo puts all the movies he sees in the year in a descending order with precise number assigned. That's admirable -- or is it just nerdy? It may be illogical because most of the movies really clump toward the middle. Here is one area where the equivalent of a "middle class" does survive!

Before I saw your latest comment I was just thinking that Linklater's latest Delpy-Hawke two-hander was also very worthy and that it should be mentioned somewhere. It's just that I'm tired of that series. And yet if it were Ingmar Bergman and called SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE would I pass over it? And then wouldn't that be a bad mistake? :) I come back to how I feel such list-making is arbitrary. Even though a part of me enjoys doing it.

[oscar jubis]

Somewhat arbitrary? I agree. I find it productive to look for patterns in the films I love and love to watch again; to think about the reasons why I respond to some movies and not so much to others. It has to do to some extent with what is it that you find interesting, or important, or resonant. To quote Paul Ricoeur's definition of interpretation: "Interpretation is the process by which disclosure of new modes of being_or if you prefer Wittgenstein to Heidegger, of new forms of life_gives the reader a new capacity for knowing himself." The criticism I write is , among other things, self-disclosure, even if it is strictly focused on film.

[Chris Knipp]

Yeah, that's inevitable. Criticism is just a fancy way of justifying what we like or dislike. I still like to make it sound like my view is the right one though. People like to read writing that's convincing. On the other hand I usually try not to let advocacy get too much in the way of providing information. But it's all about caring, yet not looking prejudiced and biased. Mike D'Angelo, the online film critic I like so much (while disagreeing with him quite often anyway and knowing he's quite imperfect), started off his passionate AV Club review (http://www.avclub.com/article/cannes-2013-day-eight-iblue-is-the-warmest-colori--98137) of Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA at Cannes this way:

The dirty little secret of criticism is that it’s a form of codified rationalization. We see movies, we have emotional reactions to them like everyone else, and then we consciously or (often) unconsciously construct intellectual arguments to justify those reactions. You don't need Wittgenstein or Heidigger to know that's what's going on.

I might add though that I still believe in such things as taste and sophistication and think that a film critic can be a taste-maker for movies. At least I'd like readers to make an effort to see the films I most highly recommend. And not because they want to get to know me better. Nor do I consider my reviewing of what I like best as a form of higher level navel-gazing or self-analysis, but rather a search for what the best films of now or then are and why.

[Chris Knipp]

Richard Brody's "THE BEST MOVIES OF 2013." (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2013/12/the-best-movies-of-2013-richard-brody.html)

Richard Brody edits and partially writes the thumbnail movie reviews in the front of the New Yorker, has written a book about Jean-Luc Godard, has a sometimes newsworthy or provocative movie blog on the magazine's website, is a constant tweeter, and is one of the smartest writes on film in the world of journalism. I often don't agree with him. But I find some close agreements this time, such as Nos. 4,5,6,,8 and 9 in his top ten. I have not seen all the films he mentions, yet. (Click on the title above for the New Yorker website source of the following.)

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.”

13–24 (in no particular order).

“At Berkeley”
“You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”
“Drinking Buddies”
“All the Light in the Sky”
“The Bling Ring”
“I Used to Be Darker”
“Centro Historico”
“The Canyons”
“Les Coquillettes”
“Lenny Cooke”
“These Birds Walk”
“Oldboy”

25–29 (in no particular order).
“This Is Martin Bonner”
“Nebraska”
“12 Years a Slave”
“Short Term 12”
“Blue Jasmine”

[Chris Knipp]

NY Times critics' 2013 Best Lists. You may not like them, you may not read them, but the three main Times reviewers are influential.

A.O. Scott:
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. ‘The Great Gatsby’/‘The Wolf of Wall Street’/‘The Bling Ring’/‘Spring Breakers’/‘Pain and Gain’/‘American Hustle’
And: “Before Midnight,” “Beyond the Hills,” “Caesar Must Die,” “Computer Chess,” “Fill the Void,” “Fruitvale Station,” “The Great Beauty,” “Her,” “In a World, ” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Museum Hours,” “Nebraska,” “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty,” “Viola,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”
Documentaries
1. ‘The Act of Killing’
2. ‘Stories We Tell’
3. ‘The Square’
4. ‘Let the Fire Burn’
5. ‘Cutie and the Boxer’

Manohla Dargis: My 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).
And my honor roll: “All Is Lost,” “Bastards,” “Blue Caprice,” “Blue Jasmine,” “Computer Chess,” “Crystal Fairy,” “Enough Said,” “Faust,” “Gimme the Loot,” “In the Fog,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Kill Your Darlings,” “Mother of George,” “Nebraska,” “Our Children,” “Post Tenebras Lux,” “Reality,” “Room 237,” “Something in the Air,” “Stories We Tell,” “This Is the End,” “This Is Martin Bonner,” “Viola.”

Stephen Holden:
1. “Before Midnight”
2. “Inside Llewyn Davis”
3. “12 Years a Slave”
4. “The Past”
5. “The Wolf of Wall Street”
6. “American Hustle”
7. “The Great Beauty”
8. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”
9. “Nebraska”
10. “A Touch of Sin”
11. “Paradise: Love”
12. “Gravity”
13. “Spring Breakers”

[Chris Knipp]

The Guardian's top films of the year

Arrived at by a vote of their three current main film critics. The English have different release dates, explaining the inclusion of I WISH and DJANGO UNCHAINED -- and different perspectives -- hence a top listing for the (in the US) generally despised ONLY GOD FORGIVES.

No 1 – The Act of Killing
No 2 – The Great Beauty
3rd – Gravity -- joint third – Behind the Candelabra
No 5 - Django Unchained
No 6 – Before Midnight
No 7 – For Ellen
No 8 – Only God Forgives
No 9 – I Wish
No 10 – Wadjda

[Chris Knipp]

Richard Denby's New Yorker list.
I've pared it down just to the titles. They're imbedded in text. (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/12/the-best-movies-of-the-year.html) Denby is one side of the two-side alternate weekly reviewers with Anthony Lane -- who seems not to have made a list. Maybe he wont be making one.

'"American Hustle” is the best movie of the year, but is it important?'

“Gravity,”
All Is Lost, ”
Captain Phillips,”
“12 Years a Slave,” " it will probably win the Oscar for Best Picture. It’s important."
“Dallas Buyers Club,”
“Her”
“The Bling Ring,”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Before Midnight,”
“Blue Is the Warmest Color,”
“Philomena,”
“Mud”

disappointments
Nebraska,”
“Saving Mr. Banks,”
“Frances Ha”;
“The Grandmaster”

disasters
To the Wonder”
“The Great Gatsby”
“Man of Steel”
“Oz the Great and Powerful”

[Johann]

Why do you have to poke me in the eye with a sharp stick Chris? You know I don't like David Denby.
Ha ha ha. :)

Here we go again with Man of Steel as a "disaster"- I can buy OZ and THE GREAT GATSBY, and maybe even TO THE WONDER- I didn't like it so much I didn't write a word about it. But MAN OF STEEL? Come on...it is FANTASTIC!
I just watched it again on saturday night! It RULES!

One man's trash is another man's treasure, I guess...

[Chris Knipp]

But a lot of people love OZ. However I sat in on it for ten minutes and could not get into it.

I don't like Denby either. The one I like is Lane, of the New Yorker Bobsy Twins.

We can hash over all these choices in the coming weeks, everybody's got a list and reasons to justify what's on it.

[Chris Knipp]

TOP TEN LISTS. Metacritic has collated criticts' ten lists for 2014 and come up with a series of statistics and rankings.

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013

The top 20 are below. The numbers are times in #1 place, times in #2 place, times in other places, and total points. (In this format, I can't line up the numbers but they're in order.)

1 12 Years a Slave 24 21 53 167
2 Gravity 21 15 54 147
3 Her 19 10 52 129
4 Inside Llewyn Davis 11 12 62 119
5 Before Midnight 8 6 43 79
6 The Act of Killing 6 7 31 63
7 American Hustle 3 6 40 61
8 The Wolf of Wall Street 3 3 37 52
9 Blue Is the Warmest Color 3 3 36 51
10 Nebraska 2 3 36 48
11 Frances Ha 3 0 34 43
12 Upstream Color 5 4 18 41
13 All Is Lost 1 1 36 41
14 Stories We Tell 2 1 32 40
15 Short Term 12 4 2 22 38
16 Captain Phillips 1 2 29 36
17 The Great Beauty 3 3 15 30
18 Blue Jasmine 0 0 25 25
19 Dallas Buyers Club 1 0 21 24
20 Spring Breakers 1 3 14 23