The Top 10 Films of 2013

2013- a year filled with great movies. While many of the films I was most looking forward to proved to be disappointments, it was the surprises and sheer significance of the films that lived up to expectations that made it a year worth celebrating. New standards in technical filmmaking were set, and important movies were made. Master directors released excellent new films, and first time directors burst onto the scene with huge displays of talent. This has been a year to remember.

Narrowing down to a list of ten has proven extremely difficult. For one thing, there are so many movies that may not reach greatness but are still good and worthy of praise, and I'm hoping that they are not forgotten about. Films like Enough Said, The Place Beyond the Pines and Dallas Buyers Club are all worth paying attention to, as are foreign dramas like Wadjda and The Hunt. And in terms of blockbuster entertainment, Hollywood managed to surprise me with Baz Luhrmann's surprisingly competent interpretation of The Great Gatsby, as did Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen with their unpredictable and hilarious This is the End. The great films are certainly worth signaling out, but the good films are not worth forgetting. And even if we're only talking about great films, there were so many released over the course of the last year that having to leave some off the final list was an impossible challenge. So while these ten films are, in my opinion, the best of the 100 releases from 2013 I have seen, there are dozens of others that deserve to be seen. Don't forget to check those out too!

But, it's Oscar Sunday, so it's time to honor the very best. So, without further adieux...

HONORABLE MENTIONS 

(the films that just barely missed the list)

Ain't Them Bodies Saints * American Hustle * August: Osage County * Before Midnight * 

The Conjuring * Prisoners * Spring Breakers * The Way, Way Back

And here are the ten that made the cut...