When it comes to ranking the best or worst of anything, I'm a total obsessive about it. The process begins with day one of the new year and runs all the way through to the end. That doesn't make it any easier, mind you, in fact it makes sorting through the many movies I see each year (nearing 230 at the time of this post) all the more difficult. And 2013 has been especially tough because this has been one of the most stacked movie years I can remember, and it has nothing to do with the summer blockbuster season, which in general was a massive disappointment. By contrast the typically dreadful winter season was full of high-quality gems which sadly will be overlooked come Oscar time (but not by me!), and because of that there are more brilliant movies than ever to choose from. Which is just one reason why I've expanded my Top 10 to 15...that and to cut down on the usual flood of emails asking "How could you leave (insert movie here) off your list?!?!” Hey, if my list isn't good enough then maybe you'll be more interested in our Best Overlooked Films, Best (and Worst) Onscreen Kisses, and Hottest Leading Ladies as we tie a neat little bow on 2013.
Enough rambling, let's just jump right in.
15. The Place Beyond the Pines
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Dane DeHaan, Ray Liotta
How is it that everybody has forgotten Derek Cianfrance's sprawling The Place Beyond the Pines? Never mind that it features the only good performance by Ryan Gosling this year, overshadowing Bradley Cooper just as he was overshadowed by other superior talents in American Hustle, but the film is a truly ambitious look at the legacy of violence wrapped in complicated narrative structure few directors would even dare.
14. The Act of Killing
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Like horror movies? Great, then you need to check out Joshua Oppenheimer's
chilling documentary The Act of Killing. You won't see Hollywood
celebrating this "movie about movies", which offers probably the
clearest look at the impact of our violent movie culture. Oppenheimer, who had
gone to Indonesia for totally different reasons, ended up meeting Anwar Congo
and a number of other movie-loving gangsters who had committed wholesale
genocide of Communists and other enemies of state back in the 1960s, and have
been living for decades as heroes, unabashedly boastful of their murderous
actions. Convincing them to reenact the slaughter in the style of their
favorite movies, the film becomes a deeply disturbing, darkly comic (which is
even more unsettling) film about redemption and the power of cinema. 13. The Wind Rises
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
If The Wind Rises truly is Hayao Miyazaki's final movie, the
legendary Studio Ghibli founder has gone out on top. Setting aside his
impressive resume of fantasy classics, Miyazaki has been living in the real
world more often of late, co-writing the post-WWII drama From Up on Poppy
Hill and now with The Wind Rises he explores a similar time in
Japan's difficult history. As complete and fully-realized as any biopic that
emerged this year, the film tells the story of engineer Jiro Hirokoshi, a
dreamer who would ultimately design the Zero Fighter plane used during the war.
The aeronautical details are fascinating in and of themselves, but so is
Hirokoshi's personal story as an obsessive artist in love with his craft and
the one woman who accepted him for who he was. There's been a lot of
controversy over what the film doesn't say, but none of that matters in the
long run. All I know is when the movie was over I spent the next couple of
hours online reading literally everything I could find on Hirohoshi. That never
happens.12. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone
Comparisons to The Empire Strikes Back have been flying around pretty
easily, but for once they actually make a bit of sense. Catching Fire isn't
just a better movie than The Hunger Games, it's bigger, handles the social and
political themes with more nuance and raises the stakes in a way that changes
the tenor of the franchise. And of course right at the center of it is the
quietly confident Jennifer Lawrence (so different than her chaotic role in
American Hustle), aided by great supporting cast that only got better with the
additions of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, and the ferocious Jena
Malone.11. Fast & Furious 6
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Luke Evans, Jordana Brewster
Okay, let's be honest: these movies are dumb as bricks, but nothing
else can be counted on to deliver bigger bang for the buck and more "holy
shit!" moments than Fast & Furious. The latest is a cornucopia of
improbable car chases, crashes, and mid-air battles, led by an
ethnically-diverse superstar cast that we've come to look at as family. As
silly as they may be on screen, the genius of these movies is that they treat
their audience with respect and give them exactly what they want year in and
year out. 10. The Kings of Summer
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman
Jordan Vogt-Robert's impressive directorial debut The Kings of Summer
may take some of its cues from 1980s childhood classics The Goonies and Stand
By Me, but it quickly becomes apparent this quirky, funny little gem is
doing its own thing. This timeless and slightly surreal comedy stars a handful
of unknowns in Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, and the goofy Moises Arias, as
friends eager to get out from under their parents' shadows (including the gruff
and hilarious Nick Offerman) by building their own home in the woods and living
off the land. Subverting the genre and shattering preconceived notions all the
way, the adults and kids are given equal consideration without a hint of irony,
taking us on a journey that is both funny and poignant. But more than that,
it's refreshing to see a comedy that doesn't take the cinematography for
granted, and The Kings of Summer is a genuinely beautiful movie with big,
sweeping sun-kissed images that will burn into your memory. 9. Trance
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassel
When Danny Boyle wasn't busy plotting the most recent Olympics, he was
figuring out way to make mincemeat out of our brains with Trance. While
it seems to have been overlooked since it came out early this year, there were
few experiences I had more fulfilling than Boyle's delirious, pulsing heist
thriller, with all its twists, turns, and palpable sexual energy. James McAvoy,
Rosario Dawson, and that darn smirking Vincent Cassel have never been better in
their careers in ever-shifting roles that constantly reframe who we think is
worth trusting. The simple answer is "nobody".8. Before Midnight
Director: Richard Linklater
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Before Ethan Hawke embarrassed himself later in the year with Getaway,
he would find much greater success in the continued 20-year collaboration with
Richard Linklater and Julie Delpy in Before Midnight. The third film in
the dialogue heavy series gives fans everything they think they've wanted for
so long, finding Jesse and Celine married with kids, and as argumentative as
ever. For two breathtakingly gorgeous hours walking with them through the Greek
Isle, they discuss love, sex, family, and more in a way that feels remarkably
natural. But true to this series' nature, their conversations don't go where we
expect them to, veering down a dark path that forces us to question whether
they were truly meant to live happily ever after. 7. Spring Breakers
Director: Harmony Korine
Cast: Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Vanessa Hudgens, James Franco, Rachel Korine
James Franco gives head to a gun at one point in Harmony Korine's wild, neon
spectacle Spring Breakers. Reason enough for me to put it in my Top 10,
along with Franco's unforgettable drawl "Spring break forever,
ya'll!" that is unquestionably the quote of the year. Some have been quick
to write off the film as just another look at teen rebellion and excess, and
while those are indeed factors there's a lot more going on beneath the surface.
Looking like it was set on fire by candles made of Starbursts, the film and its
army of half-naked starlets tosses aside any notions of normalcy and rips away
at the facade of American culture. There's nowhere safe from the corrupting
influence of sex, drugs, and violence; and while these are familiar ideas for
Korine we've never seen them presented quite like this. 6. Gravity
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Full disclosure: Gravity had been sitting in my top 3 until only
recently, which just goes to show how strong the last few weeks of movies have
been. That's not taking anything away from what Alfonso Cuaron accomplished
with Gravity, a film that endured a troubling production process to become one
of the year's biggest hits, and an experience I think defines what going to the
movies is all about. If movies are designed to take us into a world we can
never hope to experience ourselves, then Gravity is the closest any of us will
ever get to being in space. Cuaron captures the terrifying beauty of space in
all its glory, fully immersing us into the impossible journey home of two
stranded astronauts, played Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. What Cuaron
accomplishes is so far-reaching that it's easy to overlook the contributions
the actors make, but Clooney's reservoir of charm is the perfect balance to
Bullock's desperation. 5. The Wolf of Wall Street
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Margot Robbie, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal
My first thought after the credits rolled on Martin Scorsese's 3-hour
symphony of greed and depravity was, "How in the hell did this not get an
NC-17 rating"??? Seriously, there are so many heinous acts committed in
this constantly hilarious film, by none other than Hollywood golden boy
Leonardo DiCaprio, that you need to see it multiples times just to properly
sort them all out. When midget tossing is on the low rung of the immoral totem
pole then that's really saying something, but let's just say cocaine gets
snorted out of more orifices than I think it was ever meant to. While Goodfellas
is clearly the model here in just about every respect, the film treads its
own path in the story of Wall Street whiz kid Jordan Belfort, who starts from
nothing before becoming top don at the craziest brokerage firm in the world.
Besides DiCaprio, the film is bolstered by great supporting turns by Jonah
Hill, Rob Reiner, and a chest-thumping Matthew McConaughey. 4. American Hustle
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner
Another film taking its cues from Goodfellas, David O. Russell's American
Hustle is the most fun you'll have being conned all year. Very loosely
based on the political Abscam scandal of the late '70s, which Russell knows you
don't really give a fig about, this glitzy messy crime caper is a whirl of
double-crosses and broken hearts, told through the questionable lens of a
con-couple played by Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Throw in Jennifer Lawrence
as Bale's chaotic wife, Bradley Cooper (and his curly 'do) as a scheming FBI
agent, not to mention a game Jeremy Renner and you have the recipe for a film
that is so dynamic it's easy to look over the plot's significant flaws.3. 12 Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch
One does not really enjoy a movie like 12 Years A Slave. You endure
it. You experience it, and Steve McQueen's harrowing drama is the most
unflinching look at the slavery era we've ever seen captured on film, TV,
anywhere. McQueen brings his aloof approach to the unbelievable true
story of Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor), a free black man kidnapped and forced into
brutal slavery under the whip of masters ranging from coldly dismissive to
sadistic. If Alfonso Cuaron's cast us adrift in the darkness of space, McQueen
entraps us into the horrors of the antebellum South and never lets us escape
its grip even for a moment.2. The Spectacular Now
Director: James Ponsoldt
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, Brie Larson, Kyle Chandler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
When I get asked why I make it a point to attend the Sundance Film
Festival every year, the answer is because of movies like The Spectacular
Now. One of the very first things I saw way back in January, after my
glowing review I remarked that it was almost a certainty to be at or near the
top of my 'Best Of..." list, regardless of how many great movies may
follow it. And that has held true, obviously. Good to know I'm a man of word in
this case. What struck me right off the bat was how far it sets itself apart
from other teen romances. The teens all look and sound like normal everyday
people, not the easily recognizable stereotypes we see perpetuated constantly
in any number of similar movies. Showing the emotional range he displayed
opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, Miles Teller plays
life-of-the-party high school senior Sutter Keely, with Shailene Woodley as the
shy and disarmingly beautiful Aimee Finicky. We're treated to their courtship,
which evolves naturally from mentorship, to friendship, to eventual romance,
but from there it goes into unexpected territory as Sutter's personal demons
threaten to engulf them both. Directed with an observant eye by James Ponsolt,
it's probably the closest any film has come to matching the sincere tone of
those great John Hughes movies we all love. The Spectacular Now deserves
to be in the same conversation with all of them. 1. Short Term 12
Director: Destin Cretton
Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Keith Stanfield, Rami Malek, Kaitlyn Dever
The top two picks on this list are pretty much interchangeable for me, and
if asked what my favorite movie of the year is tomorrow I may have the
positions swapped. But right this very second Destin Cretton's masterful Short
Term 12 sits at the top. It's a small film with big hopes, big ambitions,
and big emotional stakes as we follow the mentors and charges at a foster care
facility for at-risk teens. At the center of it is Grace, played with
vulnerability and passion by one of my favorite actresses, Brie Larson. Her
perfectly nuanced performance ranks as one of the year's finest, even
if I think the Academy will ultimately overlook her. The script by emerging
star Destin Cretton is a thing of beauty, hitting on all of the right emotional
beats as it skillfully studies the devastating effects of abuse on its
survivors. And while sometimes that exploration can get pretty bleak, Cretton
never lets us totally give up hope, imbuing the film with an everlasting
humanist spirit. 
