Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 10 Movies of 2013

All critics have to make lists at the end of the year.  I think it's probably written somewhere.  The challenge is ranking your favorites in a particular order.  My preference can change from day to day.  I made my list the other day, looked at it this morning and made some changes.  If I look at it again tomorrow, I may want to make more changes.  But at some point I just have to make my list and walk away.  So while the order is somewhat arbitrary, here are my picks for best movies of 2013.

1.  12 Years a Slave
2.  The Way Way Back
3.  Gravity
4.  The Act of Killing
5.  Before Midnight
6.  This is the End
7.  Enough Said
8.  Blue is the Warmest Color
9.  Star Trek Into Darkness
10.  World War Z

Honorable mentions (or the movies that almost made the cut):  Saving Mr. Banks, The World's End, Short Term 12, American Hustle, The Heat, Iron Man 3, Elysium.

I'm sure you're surprised by my list.  I was too.  I really liked most of Saving Mr. Banks, but in the end too many flashbacks knocked it down on my list.  The World's End and This is the End had similarities, but I laughed a lot more in This is the End.  For Star Trek, I really wish they hadn't relied on The Wrath of Khan so much for the story, or had a Leonard Nimoy cameo for no reason (communications are up and they call Spock instead of calling for help?), but I still enjoyed the movie a lot.  And yes, I really liked World War Z.  Deal with it.

Anyway, feel free to debate my choices.  And if you don't recognize some of the titles on my list, I encourage you to seek them out.  But make sure you watch Before Sunrise and Before Sunset before you watch Before Midnight.

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