On New Year’s Day I suggest you mosey on over to Next Projection for a wonderfully full lineup of 2013 film awards. Yours truly participated in the voting, but I wanted to go the extra mile and provide an annotated ballot of my top ten over here, along with a few extras. Because if there’s one thing I like more than sharing my opinion, its pontificating on my opinion at great length.
By most accounts 2013 has been a great year for film, with a plethora of great options both Hollywood, indie, and foreign. On a personal note it’s been great as well – 2013 has definitely been the year in which I’ve seen the greatest number of films released that year. So it’s been a pleasure but also a head scratcher trying to come up with a list of my ten favorites.
First, some caveats. I am not, in spite of the many times I’ve wished on a star to the contrary, a professional film critic. I’ve never been paid a cent for writing about movies, and at the moment I don’t even have press accreditation in Tulsa (figuring that one out has been a real hassle). What I am is a public school teacher with several side jobs, two kids, and next to no disposable income. All that to say… I don’t get out to see movies much. In fact, I think my grand total for trips to the multiplex this year was 3.
Of necessity, then, I have watched most of the movies I’ve seen this year through various Internet sources – all of them legal, to be clear (what am I, a 15-year-old with Cheeto-stained fingers and a moral compass constantly spinning around thanks to the lodestone of my own self-absorption?). The best source has actually been Netflix. Seriously, if you’ve ever complained about the streaming movie selection on Netflix, you owe it to yourself to go check out their 2013 fare. To aid in this, I’ve put asterisks next to the films on my list currently streaming on Netflix.
In one way or another I feel like I’ve been able to see a good percentage of the films that a lot of people have been talking about this year. There are, of course, several key omissions that I thought I should highlight here.
It’s been an outstanding year for documentary films, and while I’ve seen my share of crappy docs this year, I’ve also seen some marvelous ones, including two that cracked my top ten. There are three that I missed out on, though, that I am particularly bummed about, and which I guess would have had a fighting chance at making my top 10. Leviathan eschews traditional narrative in favor of a “putting you there” feel for its capturing of the life on a fishing boat off the coast of New England – just the sort of aesthetic risk taking I find refreshing in documentaries. If a four hour fly on the wall movie filmed at the most prestigious public university in America does not sound appealing to you, then you don’t know the engrossing filmography of Frederick Wiseman, whose At Berkeley I desperately want to see. And the doc that everyone has been talking about this year, that seems like the frontrunner for the Best Documentary at the Oscars this year, is The Act of Killing, a film which asks former Indonesian death squad leaders to recreate their genocide, to startling, disturbing ends.
In terms of feature fiction films, there are four glaring omissions by my count. Two have played in Tulsa but I just haven’t found time yet: Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which promises to be everything that Django Unchained wasn’t, and The Wolf of Wall Street, the new Scorcese film which is often described as a stock broker spin on Goodfellas. Both are almost certainly great films, but the two movies I’m most broken up about not having seen have yet to even come to Tulsa, a fact which fills me with indescribable rage. They are Her, Spike Jonze’s new techno-romance about Joaquin Phoenix falling in love with his phone, and the new Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis, a music filled look at the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early ’60s. Two highly praised films from two (three?) of my favorite filmmakers? I just have one thing to say to that.
Nevertheless, I think I’ve managed to make a pretty good list for myself this year. I hope you enjoy, and consider checking some of these films out. Onward and upward, starting with a few special categories…
Underrated – Pacific Rim and Monster’s University
Two summer blockbuster types that did not get enough love. Pacific Rim was just tons of fun – stupid, blaring fun. It appealed to the kid in me. Also: ELBOW ROCKET. As for Monster’s University, I’ve already written about it here, and I think it makes a fine addition to the Pixar canon, naysayers be darned.
Overrated – Computer Chess*
On the whole I rather liked this offbeat little movie from Andrew Bujalksi. If nothing else, he and his crew painstakingly create a look and feel to the film that is pure retro – I could easily see this film showing up as a documentary on PBS circa 1980. But I never felt like the film came together as more than the sum of its parts, and it does not go after its philosophical preoccupations with enough vigor. It’s diverting, but I’m puzzled by the year end gushing over it.
On the Cusp
There were a few films I wanted to include in my top ten, but just could not find the room for. Side Effects*, supposedly the last film American treasure Steven Soderbergh will ever release on the big screen, is a neat genre exercise, full of fun twists and great performances. The World’s End sadly marks the end of the road for the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost “Three Flavors” action/comedy trilogy, but at least it brings the end in style. It’s full of their trademark humor and some great fight scenes, but it also feels more melancholy and middle aged than either Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. Lastly, the winner of the WTF do I do with this film award for 2013: Gravity. It’s not an exaggeration to say that seeing this film in IMAX 3D was one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my film. Alfonso Cuaron pulled off a technical miracle full of astounding visuals. At the same time, I have little desire to go back and revisit the film, and I suspect it won’t be one that sticks with me over time.
Having gotten that out of the way, with no further ado, I proudly present…
Asher’s Top Ten Films of 2013
10. To the Wonder*, dir. Terrence Malik
Some critics seemed to pull back at Malick as he followed up his much praised The Tree of Life with a journey inward. To the Wonder is a hard film, almost deliberately frustrating in its refusal to provide straightforward plot or other cornerstones of typical cinema. With little dialogue aside from voiceover, the film takes on an ethereal feel encouraged by many repetitious shots of people dancing in fields. To the Wonder speaks a language all its own, a captivating language of grunts and primal utterings. It’s a beautiful film, for sure, but also a deeply meaningful one, for those willing to listen.
9. This Is Martin Bonner*, dir. Chad Hartigan
This Is Martin Bonner is one of those wonderful treats, a supremely quiet, even film where most of the conflict comes internally. The story follows Martin, a man starting over in life as a coordinator for a program that rehabilitates prisoners. He meets one of the men, Travis, who struggles to reenter society and connect with his family. The men bond over their struggles, and each find companionship in the midst of loneliness. The film also features one of the most sincere depictions of religion I can remember having seen on film. It packs a powerful punch not hinted at by its reserved exterior.
8. In the House*, dir. Francois Ozon
A wonderful piece of French meta-fiction, In the House tells the story of a relationship between a bored, middle aged teacher and his bright but bitter student. Seeing sparks of a good writer in young Claude, Germain takes him under his wing to foster his talents. All Claude’s writing deals with his attempts to ingratiate himself with the family of a “normal” classmate, but as Claude relates to his dull friend Rapha, his average father and alluringly middle class mother, the line between fact and fiction blurs. Germain and his wife both find themselves absorbed by the narrative in unhealthy ways, and Claude entangles them in snares of his own design. Fresh, bleakly funny, and dizzying, In the House is a daring meditation on the creation and consumption of art.
7. Stories We Tell, dir. Sarah Polley
Stories We Tell is nothing short of a wonder of filmmaking, one of the most searingly personal documentaries I have ever seen. Director Sarah Polley, a talent on the rise in her own right, turns the camera on her own family as she explores the legacy left by her mother, who died many years before. The film features one huge narrative twist that happens halfway through, but for my money there’s an equally stunning aesthetic reveal near the end of the film, where Polley shows that footage which looks like old film stock is actually her recreating the past in vivid detail. Polley spares neither herself nor those closest to her, exposing dark secrets to the light of day. But the film is equally interested in the very nature of memory, bringing in as many conflicting recollections as possible to paint a teetering collage of, well, the stories we tell to ourselves and others about who we are.
6. Berberian Sound Studio*, dir. Peter Strickland
A sadly overlooked film in many quarters, Berberian Sound Studio hit all the right notes for me. Toby Jones is damn fine as a meek British sound engineer hired to work on an Italian horror film. He faces barriers of language and culture as he toils away creating screams and splatters in his studio. The film’s brilliant stroke comes in never showing images from the film, instead playing on the response of Jones and others to the footage. Things get strange as Jones seems haunted by his environment, and the film gets a few twists in along the way, but ultimately the film works best as a character study of the lonely engineer. It’s creepy and crawly and will stick with you for days.
5. Frances Ha*, dir. Noah Baumbach
If you are someone who has ever dreamed of creating art for a living, you owe it to yourself to watch Frances Ha. Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote the script with Baumbach, dominates the screen as the title character, a twenty something set adrift when her best friend does not want to renew the lease on the apartment they share. Slightly toxic and prone to self-sabotage, Frances wanders through Brooklyn looking for connection to others, and a chance to dance full time and still pay the bills. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the film gives an open hearted but honest portrayal of the sense of loss many of us go through in our 20′s. Consider it the ultimate antidote to all those “WHAT’S UP WITH MILLENIALS???” magazine articles.
4. Drug War*, dir. Johnnie To
If you’ve ever wondered where all the good action films have gone, the answer is they’ve drifted East, and Hong Kong director Johnnie To gives a masterclass in genre filmmaking with his crackling Drug War. Anti-drug police in China take on an informant who helps them infiltrate the inner circles of China’s meth production community. But can they trust the mole? This tightly directed game of cat and mouse maintains an unbearable tension throughout, while providing liberal sprinklings of comedy and thuggery along the way. Littered with great characters (a wannabe drug boss nicknamed “HaHa”, for reasons that are obvious, is a highlight) and even better action set pieces, Drug War should launch To onto the radar of unsuspecting Americans everywhere.
3. Room 237*, dir. Rodney Ascher
Room 237 is such an assured documentary that it is a bit unbelievable that it is Rodney Ascher’s feature length debut as a director. Chronicling several different conspiracy theories about the true meaning behind Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of The Shining, Room 237 offers a window into the depths of human obsession. Ascher never endorses his subjects’ viewpoints, but he lets them build their cases enough to make each interpretation seem plausible on its own. By juxtaposing them, though, he shows his cards: if ALL of them are plausible, then NONE of them are plausible. Ascher is deeply interested in the act of viewing films, so the only images on screen come from films (mostly The Shining and other Kubrick films, though others make appearances). It’s a brilliant device used to full effect in this astounding documentary.
2. The Grandmaster, dir. Wong Kar Wai
Thanks to the generosity of fellow Philistine and Wong Kar Wai-aphile Grant, I was able to see the original cut of this film, not released theatrically in the United States. I have not seen the US cut, but I must assume that it dampens the film somewhat, because I have no other explanation for this film’s absence of year end love from critics. In its preserved form, the film is a near-masterpiece, a labor of love that gets at the heart of Chinese identity. Ostensibly a biopic of Ip Man, the famed martial artist who taught Bruce Lee, the film is really a look at life during China’s painful years of Japanese occupation and subsequent Communist takeover. A film of longing in exile, it portrays the excruciating clash of tradition and modernity in heartbreaking strokes. Furthermore, it weds Wong Kar Wai’s unmistakeable aesthetic style with breathtaking action scenes, where rain and blood drip in equal, slow motion measure. Another flawless film from one of our living masters.
1. Upstream Color*, dir. Shane Carruth
Arranging the rest of my list caused me no end of consternation, but there was never any doubt in my mind of what film would stand at the top of the pile. Shane Carruth more than delivers on the promise of Primer, his debut from 2004. That film was a mind bender, a time travel piece that plucked the intellect like a banjo. In contrast Upstream Color is a film of the intuition, much more felt than thought. Though its story, of robbed identities and people lost to themselves, is equally twisty, Carruth ups the aesthetic ante with brilliant setpieces, a flood of color, and some of the moodiest aesthetics in years. Amy Seimetz gives a bravura lead performance that sticks in the mind, creating a haunting character who cannot quite shake her mostly forgotten past. Carruth acts nicely, too, but it’s his work behind the camera that stands out, as he creates a world of spectral emotions with the camera. In a year full of great films, Upstream Color sticks out as my clear favorite of 2013.
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