My Top 10 Films Of 2013

MY TOP 10 FILMS OF 2013

 

We are now well into 2014 and already movies like 'Mandela : Long Walk To Freedom' and 'American Hustle' are already generating huge awards buzz. So before everyone gets caught up in the self congratulatory hype of the Academy Awards, let's take a look back at the very best movies of 2013. If you read my previous post entitled 'Goodbye 2013 : A Look Back At A Great Year In Film', you will know that I truly believe that last year was by far the most innovative, exciting and emotional 12 months in cinema for nearly a decade and picking out the top 10 absolute best was a bit of a challenge. To show just how good 2013 really was, here is a quick rundown of movies that haven't made into the final 10;

'Frozen' : The best movie to come of the Walt Disney studios since 'The Princess & The Frog'

'The Hunger Games : Catching Fire' : A wonderfully dark sequel to a wonderfully dark original

'Leviathan' : One of the most hypnotically compulsive movies I have ever watched

'The Sessions' : A beautifully moving story about compassion, love and understanding

'Side Effects' : A macabre and mind twisting thriller than shows Jude Law at his absolute  best

'The Spirit Of '45' : A nostalgic look back at when Britain was truly great

'Lore' : A haunting war story about the innocents caught up in the evil of Nazi Germany

'Compliance' : A terrifying look at conformity and the aim to please those of a higher power

'American Mary' : A balletic dance into the dark recesses of the mind

'The Hobbit : The Desolation Of Smaug' : I think I may be a Cumberbitch!

'Antiviral' : Brandon Cronenberg shows that apple doesn't fall far from the tree

'Everyday' : Michael Winterbottom's deeply emotional drama about family and love

'Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa' : The greatest British comic creation shines in his motion picture debut

'Robot & Frank' : A strange but very charming look at the elderly and the impact that technology has on our lives

'Despicable Me 2' : The best animated movie of the year. Mmmph buttum!

All of these are wonderful works of art and easily deserve a place on my final countdown. But I have to be honest with myself and give a definitive list of the ten greatest films released in 2013. So here we go:

10) 'RUSH' 

Ron Howard returns to form with this wonderfully entertaining and thrilling biopic about the lives of James Hunt and Niki Lauda as well as the rivalry between the two that would ultimately shape their entire careers. Chris Hemsworth throws away his 'Thor' mallet and proves that he is a true actor, an actor with an immense charisma and a screen presence that rivals that of any of his contemporaries and Daniel Bruhl gives an Oscar worthy performance as the precise and conniving Lauda who doesn't care about friendship or loyalty, but winning. I couldn't care less about formula one but thanks to fantastic acting, stunning direction and a rip roaring soundtrack, 'Rush' is a heart racing and massively entertaining piece that does for James Hunt what 'Senna' does for Ayrton Senna.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/rush.html

9) 'MEA MAXIMA CULPA : SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD'

 

While there may be 9 'better' movies on this list, none is more important than Alex Gibney's shockingly tragic 'Mea Maxima Culpa : Silence In The House Of God'. Telling the unbelievable true story of the sexual abuse of deaf children by catholic priests in the 1970's, the documentary is a deeply upsetting but vital work that gives a voice to those who do not have one and is for me, the most necessary movie of 2013.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/mea-maxima-culpa-silence-in-house-of.html

8) 'ZERO DARK THIRTY' 

 

One of the few films that can truly be called monumental, 'Zero Dark Thirty' cements Kathryn Bigelow's place as the greatest female director in the history of cinema. Telling the true story of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, 'Zero Dark Thirty' is a nerve racking and sometimes disturbing look into the ways in which the United States finally killed the most wanted man on Earth.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/zero-dark-thirty-review.html

7) 'SAVING MR. BANKS'

 

Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks (who will appear again later on in this list) on screen together? Yes please. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks starring together in a movie about the making of 'Mary Poppins'? Well, obviously! 'Saving Mr. Banks' is a wonderful tribute to P.L Travers, Walt Disney and a film that really is the definition of splendid.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/saving-mr-banks.html

6) 'A FIELD IN ENGLAND'

By far the scariest movie of 2013, Ben Wheatley's masterful 'A Field In England' is a film that defies explanation. It is a film to be experienced, to be hypnotised by and to be terrified by. Reece Shearsmith gives the best performance of his career and Michael Smiley is downright bone chilling in this tale of hallucination, delirium and the darkness of the soul. 

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/a-field-in-england.html

5) 'BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR'

A movie that has stayed with me ever since I watched it. A film that is so beautiful, so moving and so frank that it deserves all of the accolades it can get. A wonderfully positive story about a girl whose life is turned upside down when she falls in love with another girl, 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour' is the only movie in history to have the Palme D'or to be awarded to both it's director and it's lead actresses and if their is any justice in this world, 'Blue Is The Warmest Colour' will win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in April.

4) 'LES MISERABLES' 

Much like many of the films in this list, 'Les Miserables' is a movie that I recommend to everyone that I see. In terms of scope, performance and dedication by it's actors, 'Les Miserables' is a musical unmatched in cinema and is up their with 'Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street' as one of my absolute favourites. Everyone gives a pitch perfect performance and Tom Hooper's direction is some of the most adept I have ever seen. It still has the power to move me and is sure to do so for many more years to come.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/les-miserables-review.html

3) 'GRAVITY'

 

This is a movie that as I was watching it, I was saying to myself, ''this is cinema reinvention''. Transporting us into space and engulfing us into a terrifying scenario, 'Gravity' is the most visually stunning movie I have seen since 'Life Of Pi'. Sandra Bullock can do no wrong and she gives the best performance of her career as an astronaut who is thrown into the most unbelievable and unfathomably horrifying circumstances imaginable. I can't wait to buy this movie on blu - ray, but I know that it will not be the same as watching it in IMAX 3D, the only true way to watch 'Gravity'.

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/gravity_13.html

2) 'THE IMPOSSIBLE'

 

For the best part of 2013, I was saying to everyone that the best movie of the year was J.A Bayona's extraordinary 'The Impossible' and now at the end of the year, it has fallen to number 2. It does upset me that this masterpiece cannot crown my countdown but it also wonderful to know that there was one movie in 2013 that was even better than this magnum opus of cinema. Telling the horrific true story of a family caught up in the Boxing Day hurricane in 2004, 'The Impossible' juggles with our hearts, our emotions and our expectations for the entire running time of the film until the final credits roll and we try to settle back into reality. 

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-impossible-review.html

1) 'CAPTAIN PHILLIPS'

And number one, the best movie of 2013. For anyone who reads my reviews or listens to my weekly radio show on 102.5 The Bridge, this has to have been expected as I have gone on and on and on about how much I adore this movie and now in 2014, nothing could knock off the top spot. I am of course talking about Paul Greengrass' spectacular 'Captain Phillips'. I mean really, what is there more for me to say? Tom Hanks is perfect, the supporting cast is perfect, the music is perfect, the editing is perfect, the direction is perfect, 'Captain Phillips' is perfect. No other words describe it. 

Read my full review : http://dc-moviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/captain-phillips.html

So there they are. The movies which really made 2013 the best year in cinema since 2007. Will 2014 be as good, who knows? What I do know is that while last year gave us some of the best movies of the decade, it also gave us some truly awful movies. So be sure to check out my upcoming list of the bottom 10 worst movies of 2013. Be afraid, be very afraid.....