It's that time when people rate their favourite movies for the past year and film magazines start publishing their lists. This is Sight and Sound's top 10 for 2013:


The Act of Killing (Oppenheimer) 23 votes

2. Gravity (Cuáron) 18 votes

3. Blue is the Warmest Colour (Kechiche) 17 votes

4. The Great Beauty (Sorrentino) 15 votes

5. Frances Ha (Baumbach) 14 votes

= 6. A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke) 13 votes
= 6. Upstream Color (Carruth) 13 votes

8. The Selfish Giant (Barnard) 12 votes

= 9. Norte, the End of History (Diaz) 11 votes
= 9. Stranger by the Lake (Guiraudie) 11 votes

While we still got a month to go, it should be noted that in North America, Blue is the Warmest Color is slapped upside the noggin with an NC-17. Which means it will have an uphill battle with distribution and marketing. The film may have won the  Palme at Cannes, but it means (sadly) very little with today's audiences. So most people won't even get a chance to see it. I also noticed that this list covers mostly the art house films and/or foriegn films. Of these on the list, so far only one of them is accessible to a mainstream audience (Gravity).

Oh, and I couldn't give a hoot about what Sight & Sound thinks. What about the person who posted it?

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley I also noticed that this list covers mostly the art house films and/or foriegn films. Of these on the list, so far only one of them is accessible to a mainstream audience (Gravity).

I'd say mainstream films that are better than mediocre are becoming increasingly close to non-existent. Looking over our lists on Simply from last year, I count mayyyybe three or four mainstream movies that weren't utterly forgettable -- Django, Silver Linings Playbook, Looper, and Dark Knight Rises (which I'd personally call utterly forgettable, but was definitely better than mediocre).

I mean, if you're picking the ten best movies of the year, odds are that most of those spots won't go to movies that have been market-driven and committeed into artistic oblivion. I think there's probably no more important film than the mainstream-accessible blockbuster that has a point and a real story to tell, but very few blockbusters meet those criteria at the moment. Of the top 20 high-grossers for this year, no-one except Gravity, Oz, and Gatsby even made an attempt at being a real movie, in my opinion.

Quoted from DarrenJamesSeeley While we still got a month to go, it should be noted that in North America, Blue is the Warmest Color is slapped upside the noggin with an NC-17. Which means it will have an uphill battle with distribution and marketing. The film may have won the  Palme at Cannes, but it means (sadly) very little with today's audiences. So most people won't even get a chance to see it. I also noticed that this list covers mostly the art house films and/or foriegn films. Of these on the list, so far only one of them is accessible to a mainstream audience (Gravity). Oh, and I couldn't give a hoot about what Sight & Sound thinks. What about the person who posted it?

I'm with Heretic on this one. Nevertheless, this is only one list. Here's two more to shake things up a bit:

Quentin Tarantino (alphabetical order):

1. Afternoon Delight
2. Before Midnight
3. Blue Jasmine
4. The Conjuring
5. Drinking Buddies
6. Frances Ha
7. Gravity
8. Kick Ass 2
9. The Lone Ranger
10. This Is The End

John Waters:

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

--

As for me, I LOVE Best Of lists. I'll post mine after the year is over. We've still got new Scorsese AND new Coen bros. in December.

Quoted Text Of the top 20 high-grossers for this year, no-one except Gravity, Oz, and Gatsby even made an attempt at being a real movie, in my opinion.

That is a very good point.

Speaking of the top 20 grossing films from 2013, here they are"  

1     Iron Man 3
                              
2     Despicable Me 2
                              
3     The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
                              
4     Man of Steel
                              
5     Monsters University
                              
6     Gravity
                              
7     Fast & Furious 6
                              
8     Oz The Great and Powerful
                              
9     Star Trek Into Darkness
                              
10     World War Z
                              
11     The Croods
                              
12     Thor: The Dark World
                              
13     The Heat
                              
14     We're the Millers
                              
15     The Great Gatsby (2013)
                              
16     The Conjuring
                              
17     Identity Thief
                              
18     Grown Ups 2
                              
19     The Wolverine
                              
20     G.I. Joe: Retaliation

@Heretic: So what do you think makes Gravity, Oz and Gatsby different from the other 17?  
                              
                                        

Hiya Takeshi,

Keeping in mind that there's obviously a bit of subjectivity involved here, for me it comes down to two things -- cinematic vision and inspiration.

What I mean by cinematic vision is that theoretically, every film's story is different and new, and since film is a visual medium, every film should therefore look a little bit different -- it should look like itself, if that makes sense, it should look like its story and purpose. So if you take a film like The Dark Knight, which is a bombastic philosophical argument about the nature of good and evil, that's exactly what it looks like, from cinematography to camerawork to colour timing; if you take a film like The Great Gatsby, which is a regretful fairy tale about beautiful superficialities and impermanence and decadence, that's exactly what it looks like, too.

Regarding the top 20 from this year, all but the three I mentioned fail to achieve (or attempt) this. They look good, because they've got some of the most experienced people in the world working on them. But they don't have a look with a purpose; Iron Man 3 looks like a superhero movie, just like Wolverine does. We're the Millers looks like a family comedy, just like Identity Thief does. They look good, but just arbitrarily good. The visuals are there to be a pretty picture, not to support a specific purpose -- as they do in Oz, Gravity, and Gatsby.

What I mean by inspiration is that the goal of the film, and its story, is to inspire thought above and beyond that contained in the film. So Oz pushes us to question the nature of imagination and the sense of wonder in a rational world, and Gravity pushes us to think about death, mourning, and solitude, and Gatsby pushes us to think about resistance to change and the nature of moral purity.

The rest of the films on this list are closed works -- every sequence in them is designed to manipulate your emotions or thoughts in a way that is in service to the experience of the film as an end in itself. So in The Heat, when the very real problem of institutionalized "boys club" sexism is briefly addressed, it's not to get us to think about that issue -- it's a ploy to invest us in Sandra Bullock's character. Or in Star Trek: Into Darkness, when Uhura suggests that they use diplomacy instead of violence in approaching the Klingons, the film doesn't ask us to consider the real-world implications of that question -- it just desperately needs something for that black chick to do so the progressives don't get all up in arms.

I am now late for class but I may attempt to elaborate on this further at a later time...

EDIT: Okay, so I thought further on the walk home. I think what I'm really getting at is generosity. One of the things that sets us apart from the majority of the other animals on the planet is our tendency to create art -- something that defies logic, exists without practicality, yet seems to be a fundamental part of the H. Sapiens experience. So art is, by its nature, generous -- something created of the self that has no purpose but what we make of it and no value but what we place on it. Films should be generous -- like Gravity, a film that helped me think in new ways about people I've lost in my life; like Oz, a film that reminded me of the joy of unabashed, unqualified wonderment; like Gatsby, a film that challenged some of the ways I think about love sometimes -- and not selfish. A film that attempts to inspire is generous, even if it makes money as well. A film that tries to contain and manipulate response is selfish; it is designed as a tool with a purpose; it is the commodification of shared human experience.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Hmm, I'd have to pick:

  1. Gravity
  2. Man of Steel
  3. Monsters University
  4. Fast and Furious 6
  5. Ender's Game
  6. Star Trek Into Darkness
  7. Pacific Rim
  8. Mud
  9. Hunger Games Part 2: Catching Fire
10. *Reserved*

*Reserved* means there might be a place here for Desolation of Smaug.  If it flops, it'll likely go to GI Joe 2.

*ducks* I thought Gravity was pretty overrated.

I like Prisoners. I thought Insidious Part Two was one of the best horror movies.

I find it hard enough to remember what I watched yesterday, let alone for the whole year. I tend to just use netflix these days. I prefer British film, and they all appear on Netflix quite quickly. Hollywood is not worth my time. I watched Star Trek, and I actually liked that film. I watched Man of Steel and hated it, but then I've never really been a superman fan. I used to hate the comic books too. Iron Man, I don't bother with. Robert Downey Junior is a huge let down playing that part. All previous respect I had for that actor is now gone.

I would like to watch Gravity, but I can wait. Sometimes I'll buy DVD's for £3 each. I'll wait for Gravity to hit that level or end up on Netflix, whichever comes first. I still regret paying £3 for Jack Reacher though. The good thing about the £3 DVD's is that I can do a car boot sale every now and then to get rid of them for £1. So really the film only cost £2. Still regret it though. Tom Cruise was completely miscast. He should have cast somebody younger. I haven't seen world war z either, come to think of it. Looks like another wank film.

I really couldn't pick a favourite from this year. Chances are I won't get to see many of them till next year anyway. So if I had to pick one, it'd be Danny Boyle's Trance, even though I didn't really like it that much.

Neighbour - I agree about Insidious part 2. It was a great movie and had a few good scares. Was even better than the Conjuring, IMO.

Not sure I have seen 10 films this year, but I did like Rush. It seemed to be ignored by most but I found the acting to be sound, the story interesting and revealing, with a touching finish.

That's good enough for me.

meh... this year sucked for movies imo. last year was one of the best in recent memory.

I liked Gravity... but a top 10 list?

I cant even come up with a top 5....

Personally, I'm surprised Kick-Ass 2 isn't getting more praise. It struck me as the kind of film that doesn't take itself seriously, at all. I thought it really nailed the entertainment factor too.

I thought this year had lots to offer! I'll wait a bit before a top ten, but there was Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, John Dies at the End, To The Wonder, Stoker, I'm So Excited, Oz, Spring Breakers, The Call, Wrong, Evil Dead, Upstream Colour, Oblivion, It's A Disaster, At Any Price, Before Midnight, Only God Forgives, This is the End, Pacific Rim, The World's End, The To Do List, You're Next, Hell Baby, Prisoners, Gravity, Escape Plan…

Tons of super solid, super fun stuff, in my opinion!

Plus Spike Lee went down like a sucker and The Lone Ranger flopped hard!

Quoted from Heretic I thought this year had lots to offer! I'll wait a bit before a top ten, but there was Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, John Dies at the End, To The Wonder, Stoker, I'm So Excited, Oz, Spring Breakers, The Call, Wrong, Evil Dead, Upstream Colour, Oblivion, It's A Disaster, At Any Price, Before Midnight, Only God Forgives, This is the End, Pacific Rim, The World's End, The To Do List, You're Next, Hell Baby, Prisoners, Gravity, Escape Plan… Tons of super solid, super fun stuff, in my opinion! Plus Spike Lee went down like a sucker and The Lone Ranger flopped hard!

Yeah I have to back up your offer of Stoker, Spring Breakers, The Call, Evil Dead, Oblivion, Only God Forgives, Pacific Rim, The World's End, Prisoners and Gravity.

A huge variety of pretty solid films.

Officially caught up with all my must-sees for 2013 (except for two with 2014 U.S. releases). I did try to come up with a rough order for a top 10 but some of the films were so different, I just said fuck it. Here they are in alphabetical order (except for Her, which was my favorite film this year):

Her
12 Years A Slave
Frozen
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Only God Forgives
The Place Beyond The Pines
Spring Breakers
This Is The End
The Wolf of Wall Street

Honorable mention (alphabetical):

Before Midnight
A Field In England
Frances Ha
Magic Magic
The World's End

I'm going to update this once I've seen the Oscar-bait releases with their UK delay.

In no particular order:

Compliance
This Is The End
You're Next
Drinking Buddies
Man of Steel
Place Beyond The Pines
Chasing Mavericks
Elysium
The Way Way Back
The Counselor
Prisoners
The Bling Ring
Spring Breakers
Before Midnight
Side Effects
Blue Jasmine
Philomena
Don Jon
The Spectacular Now

Most fun in the cinema this year:
This Is The End/You're Next

Least fun in the cinema this year:
Iron Man 3/Kick Ass 2

Got to give Nick Nevern's, The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan 2, a little shout out. Much like the first one... although the story wasn't as good, the cinematography and acting is very good. One little bug about the film was that they seemed to blow a certain portion of the budget flying to exotic locations. They could have been written around... and I can't help but think that they just used them as an excuse to travel and party. At least they had a good time making it, I suppose. I hope it makes them a tasty profit.

Quoted from DustinBowcot They could have been written around... and I can't help but think that they just used them as an excuse to travel and party. At least they had a good time making it, I suppose. I hope it makes them a tasty profit.

Having worked with Nick, I can tell you, unequivocally, that 60% of the time, that's correct every time.

I thought that this year, for me anyway, was way better than 2012 when it came down to quality of film.  Here's my Top 10 watches in no particular order --

- Spring Breakers
- The Place Beyond The Pines
- Mud
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Short Term 12
- The Conjuring
- Don Jon
- The Kings of Summer
- Kick Ass 2

Honorable Mentions:
(Catching Fire, The Heat, Evil Dead, You're Next, Good Vibrations, The Way Way Back, 2 Guns, Fruitvale Station)

I still haven't had the chance to see The Spectaculor Now, which might possibly make it onto my top ten list.

Quoted from Andrew Having worked with Nick, I can tell you, unequivocally, that 60% of the time, that's correct every time.

I met him briefly at the Vendetta after party, but I didn't really know who he was at the time. I got a bit hammered myself that night.

Quoted from AmbitionIsKey I still haven't had the chance to see The Spectaculor Now, which might possibly make it onto my top ten list.

Wasn't what I was expecting (I thought it was PG-13 at first), but it was an ok/good movie.

Could have been better.


--Steve

Quoted from DustinBowcot I met him briefly at the Vendetta after party, but I didn't really know who he was at the time. I got a bit hammered myself that night.

Be rude not to. Exactly the same myself at Hooligan wrap. If you're going to the Groucho and not getting hammered, you're taking up valuable space.

Quoted from Guest Wasn't what I was expecting (I thought it was PG-13 at first), but it was an ok/good movie. Could have been better. --Steve

I've read the script and enjoyed it, some people I know who have seen it have been singing its praises.  I need to see it soon to make my own mind up, it's been on my watchlist for ages

1. Despicable Me 2
2. The Heat

This year sucked to me. I can't even pick more than a few that I liked. *sigh*

I could probably pick quite a few. I've just forgotten them all. I quite liked that Tom Cruise thing where he discovers at the end he is just one of many clones.

I just googled "that Tom Cruise thing where he discovers at the end he is just one of many clones" and came up with the film, Oblivion. Isn't google amazing. That's why I don't have to remember anything. Google is like an extra hard drive.

Anyway I thought it was brilliantly done. Few actors and locations. Also a cool story. The kind of story I wish I'd thought of.

There are definitely more I liked too. I just can't remember them. Even if I saw the titles it wouldn't ring a bell. But I do remember the story if it was good.

Quoted from Pale Yellow 1. Despicable Me 2 2. The Heat This year sucked to me. I can't even pick more than a few that I liked. *sigh*

I loved The Heat.  IMO, the best comedy of 2013.  It had me crying with laughter.  So good!

I think 2013 was okay for movies, not the best but not the worst by far , here's my top 10 in no order.



Django Unchained, Christoph Waltz, classic actor , steals the show.

We're the Millers , good happy film and J. A. has a nice ass.

The Lone Ranger, not as good as I thought it would be but good all the same.

Gangster Squad, no great performances but it works.

2 Guns, Denzel does his stuff again, need I say more. Mark walberg does a good job too.

I'll have to leave it at that, my friends just dropped in but that's a good start.

A few of my favourites, in no particular order:

Place Beyond The Pines
Gravity
The Way, Way Back
Rush
Spring Breakers
Captain Philips
Trance
The Counsellor
This is the End


And two which were 2012 releases in most places, but didn't get released until 2013 in the UK:

Django
Zero Dark Thirty


And a few films which probably would have made my list, had I seen them:

Blue is the Warmest Colour, Nebraska, The Selfish Giant, Before Midnight, Fruitvale Station, Her, 12 Years a Slave, Don Jon

Got another film to add to my list: Easy Money. Whilst released in 2010 in Sweden, the film didn't receive international distribution until earlier this year. This is one of the best crime thrillers I have seen in a long time. Highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaZ6tX-N0Pk

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/easy_money_2012/

Ah, Easy Money... that movie with Joe Pesci and Rodney Dangerfield?  

1.  Prisoners
2.  Rush
3.  Captain Philips
4.  Parkland
5.  Gravity
6.  Start Trek Into Darkness
7.  World War Z
8.  Don Jon
9.  End of Watch
10. Fruitvale Station

American Hustle was finally released here this week. Definitely makes my top 3 of the year. A truly brilliant film.

1  Mud
2  The Wolf Of Wall Street
3  Captain Phillips
4  Dallas Buyers Club
5  Gravity
6  Out of The Furnace
7  Prisoners
8  The Conjuring
9  The Place Beyond The Pines
10 The Lone Ranger

1. Her
2. Nebraska
3. Gravity
4. 12 Years A Slave
5. Frozen
6. The World's End
7. The Way Way Back
8. Don Jon
9. The Wolf of Wall Street
10. Spring Breakers

Unfortunately I have yet to see Inside Llewyn Davis, Frances Ha, Mud, Fruitvale Station, and Prisoners.

Finally got around to seeing 12 Years A Slave as well today (superb), so I am finally able to compose my top 5 of the year:

1. Place Beyond The Pines
2. American Hustle
3. 12 Years A Slave
4. Gravity
5. Easy Money

If I had to make a top 10, Captain Philips, The Way Way Back and Trance would follow closely behind.

Still think that if I had seen Blue is the Warmest Colour, Nebraska, The Selfish Giant, Before Midnight, Fruitvale Station, or Her, that they would all place as well.

Hopefully I will catch them soon

Quoted from Toby_E Finally got around to seeing 12 Years A Slave as well today (superb), so I am finally able to compose my top 5 of the year: 1. Place Beyond The Pines 2. American Hustle 3. 12 Years A Slave 4. Gravity 5. Easy Money If I had to make a top 10, Captain Philips, The Way Way Back and Trance would follow closely behind. Still think that if I had seen Blue is the Warmest Colour, Nebraska, The Selfish Giant, Before Midnight, Fruitvale Station, or Her, that they would all place as well. Hopefully I will catch them soon

Am I the only one who thought American Hustle was 'distinctly average'?? I thought the same of Gravity, too.

^ I thought American Hustle was dreadful and I thought Gravity was awesome, so we meet the same mean...

^^ Apparently so

Despite the redundant, corny-as-hell VO in the first act, I thought American Hustle was great. It was easily the most fun that I have had this year in the cinema. But I can definitely see why someone wouldn't enjoy it, especially if tongue-in-cheek, crime capers aren't your cup of tea.

But I see that you liked This Is The End. And whilst I really enjoyed that film as well, not only did I laugh more during American Hustle, I found the story and script to be a lot funner as well.

And I will be the first to admit that from a writing point of view, Gravity wasn't anything groundbreaking. But I can't understand how someone can call the film itself average, because by doing so would suggest that there have been numerous other films to which you could compare it to. I was just so blown away by the filmmaking that I didn't even care about the weaknesses in the script.

But that's the great thing about films; what one person loves is unlikely to be the same as the next person. So no matter how obscure and polarising the script that we write is, there's always bound to be someone who will enjoy it

It's all subjective, of course. Doesn't matter either way, I just like to talk about film.

This Is The End was great because it doesn't take itself seriously at all, and isn't feining for an Oscar like American Hustle. I just found American Hustle all over the place tonally, and not because of a matter of skill (as per The Wolf of Wall Street), but becaue I generally find Russell struggles to manage stories.

Gravity was fantastic in terms of the effects/visuals, but too weak in terms of the storytelling to be above average, for me.

Agreed on the problem with American Hustle. I read a great review that pointed out that Russell's problems with tone managed to be a part of what made Silver Linings Playbook so great -- everything just sort of fell into place in a pleasingly random, inconsistent way, so you never knew what you were going to get next, but it didn't matter, because in the end it was just a sappy romantic comedy anyway.

American Hustle needed a much surer hand guiding it, for me, because I really disliked all the characters and I would have needed very exact treatment of them to be able to still enjoy the movie around them -- that strength being, as you mentioned, a strength of Wolf of Wall Street. But to me Hustle was just nasty people over-emoting, generally at high volume.

Absolutely. Scorsese is just ridiculous. In his 70s and he's still able to capture that world of excess perfectly in sync with, and shocking, an audience as much as 50+ years younger than him. It's unbelievable, really. He's one of the very few directors that can manage a 3-hour film like TWOWS, or a Goodfellas or a Casino. He has to be up there with Kubrick. Very different styles, but when you watch their movies, it's awe-inspiring to see someone so perfectly in command of their art.

American Hustle would've likely worked had Scorsese directed, but there were some fundamental problems with the script, namely it didn't really make much sense. The 'hustle' was very, very limp. I've got to say, I thought Renner's character was great (I believe it was Russell who added him) and this was the strongest character in the film. It was the character you could relate to something approaching realism. The others just far too contrived.

Place Beyond The Pines
Mud
Oz The Great and Powerful
This Is The End
Prisoners
(Lee Daniels') The Butler
The Conjuring
Byzantium
Gravity
Oblivion
Man Of Steel

Yeah American Hustle felt like a Scorsese rip off. It lacked energy. Kudos to Russell for trying, but in the end, it just doesn't compare. I can't figure out why the critics rated it so highly. Its RT rating is in the upper 90's. Furthermore, what was up with Bale's heart condition? Shit never paid off in the end.