The best movies of 2013
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Our favorite films of the year (so far).
The critics have spoken. Out of the hundreds of films we reviewed this year, these 22 films received the highest grades. And since 2013 ain't over yet, check back for new additions. (We have high hopes for Inside Llewyn Davis and The Wolf of Wall Street.)
Top 11 (in no particular order)
Upstream Color: Shane Carruth’s follow-up to 2004’s Primer is a poignant, surpassingly lovely essay on shared trauma and self-discovery. (Sam Adams)
The Great Beauty: A monumental act of hubris made more impressive by being pulled off so splendidly, director Paolo Sorrentino’s dazzling fantasia positions itself as a sort-of sequel to Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, one of the greatest films ever made. (Sean Burns)
All is Lost: Aside from a brief opening narration, a few desperate cries for help and a single explosive expletive, Robert Redford remains resolutely silent throughout All Is Lost. It’s a bold decision that even the year’s other movie-star-alone-in-a-hostile-environment film Gravity didn’t brave. (Shaun Brady)
Cutie and the Boxer: With subjects as tragicomically inspiring as Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, Zachary Heinzerling probably could’ve won his 2013 Sundance directing award with an iPhone. But let’s not downplay the first-time documentarian’s elegant and unobtrusive treatment of the married Japanese artists and their emotionally assailable everyday (Drew Lazor)
You're Next: As sardonically demented as it is super-gory, Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, which predates his better-known (and inferior) V/H/S, is a home-invasion screamer for people who hate coming home. (Drew Lazor)
Amour: Fair warning: Amour is not an easy movie to watch. But it’s a profoundly moving one and as close to uninflected sentiment as director Michael Haneke is ever likely to get. (Sam Adams)
Barbara: In Christian Petzold’s pensive drama, the wind that scours the countryside is as much of a character as the eponymous female doctor, banished to a rural hospital after expressing her wish to leave East Germany. (Sam Adams)
No: A canny comedy and cutting critique, Pablo Larraín’s No looks back at the 1980 vote to extend or end Chilean autocrat Augusto Pinochet’s rule through an adman’s eyes. (Sam Adams)
Despicable Me 2: Muddling harmless adult humor up with kiddie-pleasing creatures, gadgets and physical comedy, the sequel to Despicable Me boasts just one discernible difference from that well-made 2010 hit animated feature: They’ve decided to make the bad guys even more likeable. (Drew Lazor)
20 Feet From Stardom: Lisa Fischer is just one of the many 20 Feet vocalists who’ve chiseled together a career in session and backup singing, and while it’s a gift to watch them work, it’s even more fascinating to listen to them articulate their many regrets and aspirations. (Drew Lazor)
Monsters University: Stirring up sentiment in Pixar’s signature beautiful, backhanded way, the film works on its own, though it’ll hold a singular appeal for young adults who probably think they’ve aged out. (Drew Lazor)
12-22 (in no particular order)
