As we draw near the end of the decade, I’ve been looking back at the past ten years of cinema and gathering my thoughts on each film released within each of them. In the leadup to my Best Films of the 2010’s list, I will also be sharing a Top 10 for every year this decade that I didn’t get a chance to before starting this blog. So here are my top 10 films of 2013!
2010|2011|2012|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019
Honorable Mentions: Captain Phillips, Blue Jasmine, The Way Way Back, Pacific Rim, Blue is the Warmest Colour
2013 was an especially tough list to narrow down to 10. The ~8-13 slot is incredibly close, and on a given day I might have some of these films listed in my official rankings. But I still think this is my official ranking for now, as the two closest to sneaking in (Blue Jasmine, Blue is the Warmest Colour) have both been tainted by troubling allegations against their directors. Unfortunate, as they are both excellent films, but it’s difficult to look back at them without feeling a little grossed out.
10. Spring Breakers
Let’s kick things off with possibly the weirdest movie of the decade, Harmony Korine’s breakthrough romp Spring Breakers. I can’t make up my mind whether this film is genius or a complete mess, but fuck it, maybe it’s both! At the very least, it’s a very sexy movie – not just with its excessive celebration of the female body, but its dazzling colors and cinematography that make every scene a treat to watch, even when batshit crazy things are happening. James Franco gets a lot of flak for his deranged performance, but as offbeat as it is, it’s thoroughly hilarious in a so-bad-it’s-good-but-maybe-it’s-actually-good way. The film also features the best use of a Britney Spears song in cinema history. So there’s that.
9. Nebraska
Payne is no stranger to the road trip movie, but rather than explore the foibles of young (ish) love as he does in Sideways, here he takes us on a journey through America’s aging, forgotten heartland. It’s a simple story on its surface of an elderly man and his son on a wild goose chase, but it speaks volumes about generational inheritance and the desire to impart something on to our offspring. And it does so against the backdrop of a dying region of the country, a segment of the population largely passed over and forgotten…stripped of its pride and heritage. It’s a story of a man reclaiming his sense of self, and his son rediscovering the importance of respect for the agency and desires of others. It’s also effortlessly hilarious when it wants to be, taking what could have been a real downer of a film and making it heartwarming in all the right ways.
8. Gravity
For my money, this is one of the greatest achievements of cinematography in the history of film. To actually construct outer space and the Earth from scratch seems impossible even six years later, and it makes sense why it took seven years for Alfonso Cuarón & co. to make the film due to the technical complications involved. I had the pleasure of seeing the film in IMAX upon release, which was truly a religious experience that I haven’t had the likes of since. The story and character work is pretty meh, which prevents this from rising on my list any further, but as far as technical mastery and in-theater thrills, this film stands alone as far as I’m concerned.
7. Her
Spike Jonze’s first notable non-Charlie Kaufman, non-Jackass film really knocked it out of the park. It has ended up being prophetic in the way it depicts how humans have naturally receded from one another in the face of emerging technology and found it more and more difficult to connect to others. Theodore is a man who doesn’t know exactly what he wants in a life partner, only that he wants one, a universal struggle that is especially felt in the 21st century. His relationship with his AI, voiced beautifully by Scarlett Johansson, is so much more than “man dates his Amazon Echo” (another instance of the film being ahead of its time), presenting a fascinating character study of a man on the verge of implosion but fighting for normalcy in a strange time. The only reason this film isn’t higher on the list is that I felt the ending comes too suddenly and is rather toothless in its ambition, but I still loved the world- and character-building on display that will likely be remembered decades from now just for its sheer accuracy in how the world is shaping up in its wake.
6. Inside Llewyn Davis
I love films that question the role of passionate artistry in today’s society, and this oft-overlooked Coen Brothers tale follows Oscar Isaac’s Llewyn Davis as a manifestation of a man too in love with the craft to ever sell out. Is there a point at which even the best of us can break? Does every man have his price point? The Coens certainly seem set on finding out, because they put poor Llewyn through the ringer with setback after setback until we’re sure he can’t endure any more. Even when he’s producing beautiful music and pouring out his heart for the enjoyment of others, he’s getting spit on and maligned by a society no longer interested in raw passion if it isn’t marketable. It’s a grim portrait of a man in crisis, but it’s bearable thanks to Isaac’s phenomenal performance as a man with a heart of gold who just refuses to stay down. Come for the passion, stay for Adam Driver singing “outer space” in a goofy voice.
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese’s biopic of a disgraced Wall Street investor is many things: extravagant, overlong, excessive, exploitative, and unashamed. It even came out years later that one of the film’s producers used the production as a laundering scheme, allowing Scorsese to shoot on-location for expensive scenes! Hey, if it means we get such fantastic visuals and locales, I’m all for it, and frankly it just seems right for the film’s subject matter. I can only shake my head in amazement at the balls on this film: it does not hold punches and gives us every scintillating facet of Jordan Belfort’s life to share in the enjoyment ourselves. The strippers. The drugs. The yachts and sports cars. Margot Robbie. You name it, the film has it. It’s like Scorsese recognizes the mass appeal of a man who lived so large and decided, fuck it, let them partake in the fun! We already know what he did was wrong, but why not enjoy it in the meantime? And then there’s Leo’s Oscar-worthy performance, which is just the cherry on top of an already-strong film.
4. Short Term 12
I stumbled upon this film’s screenplay online one day, and after blowing through it in one sitting I knew I had to seek the movie out because it was something special. It’s the kind of film that can only be written by somebody who has lived the experiences himself, and it shows in director Destin Daniel Cretton, who worked in a short term housing project himself for many years. It not only accurately depicts the everyday lives of these underprivileged kids and their caretakers, but the complex emotional dynamics at play and the long-lasting impact such an environment can have. The fantastic writing is boosted by some strong performances from several actors yet to have their major breakthroughs, from Brie Larson to Lakeith Stanfield to Kaitlyn Dever to Rami Malek! This is one of those hidden gems that not many people know about, so let me be the first to tell you to seek this one out if you can, because it’s not a film to be missed.
3. Locke
Cinema is a visual medium with a near-infinite amount of options to craft compelling imagery for its audiences. But sometimes a film can find success by imposing limits upon itself, as this film beautifully does by showing us Tom Hardy in a car for an hour and a half with no other visual stimuli. Through the sheer power of the strong script, the nuanced performance of Hardy, and some clever use of phone calls to drive the narrative forward, it still manages to hold our attention all the way through. With such limited options, there is nowhere to hide if the film’s performances or writing isn’t top-notch, but everything works brilliantly, and the film is better off for all of its restrictions. I would recommend avoiding any and all plot spoilers and just watching this film for yourself, because it’s a captivating and surprising ride.
2. 12 Years a Slave
I have seen this movie exactly once in my life and I don’t intend on seeing it again. It’s a brutally dispiriting movie that puts our hero through the ringer, perhaps the worst treatment a main character has ever received in a non-horror film. If we were talking about pure filmmaking mastery, this would be much, much higher on my list, because it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: horrify the audience. This is not the last Steve McQueen film on my list, but this is probably the best example of his talent as a visual director, doing so much with nonverbal imagery to develop character and drive plot forward without needing over-explanatory dialogue to tell the audience how to feel. While I don’t soon intend on revisiting it and all its gut-wrenching imagery and characters, I appreciated the journey it took me on – an effective, emotional cinematic experience I won’t soon forget.
1. Prisoners
This was a diamond-in-the-rough discovery as this film was completely passed over when it was first released. And I’m still flabbergasted how it failed so hard with such an insanely talented cast and crew: Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal in some of their best work, Denis Villeneuve in his triumphant English-language debut, and the legendary Roger Deakins behind the camera. This is a doozy of a crime thriller, an emotional roller-coaster that explores themes of doubt, obsession, and paranoia brilliantly. There are no good guys and bad guys here; everyone has their flaws and sees their convictions tested by the end, leaving us with a bad taste in our mouths but a real sense that we’ve witnessed something real, not cooked up in a Hollywood writers’ room somewhere. It’s a travesty that more people haven’t seen this film, because it’s special.
Thanks for reading! Check back soon as I fill out the rest of the decade with my Top 10 lists this month, leading up to my Top 100 Films of the Decade ranking! Check out the home page for more Top 10’s, reviews, and film musings…I’m willing to bet you’ll find something you like!
-Austin Daniel
Scriptophile 