25 Profiles in 2013 Cinema

And now it's time to reveal my top 25 films of 2013.  I put top 20 because, well, I know I'm leaving out a lot of films I liked a lot/loved if it's just 10.  And we're not on the fucking mount anymore, Moses, it doesn't have to be that number (hell, even Mel Brooks had 15 until his faux-pas).  Before I do, let it be clear that I really did not see as many films as I usually like to see in a year, as happens a lot of years.  So here is a list of films that I did NOT see this year, leaving them open to the fact that they will be left out of the list - until, you know, when possibly I go on to an IMDb message board for the lists that pop up every other day and years from now my list may be different. 

Among those I didn't see: Short Term 12, Drinking Buddies, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Afternoon Delight, Computer Chess, The Kings of Summer, Fast 6 (yeah, I know), The Great Beauty, August: Osage County, The Invisible Woman, The Fifth Estate, Jobs, Saving Mr. Banks, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Blackfish, and I'm sure there are others I'm leaving out that I may re-edit back into here later.

So now, 25 faces in cinema in 2013:


25) SIDE EFFECTS (Steven Soderbergh)

24) WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (Alex Gibney)

23) BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (Abdellatif Kechciche)

22) THE SPECTACULAR NOW (James Ponsoldt)

21) AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS (David Lowery)

 20) MUD (Jeff Nichols)

19) STORIES WE TELL (Sarah Polley)

18) PRINCE AVALANCHE (David Gordon Green)

17) GRAVITY (Alfonso Cuaron)

16) THE GRANDMASTER (Wong Kar Wai)

15) MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Joss Whedon)

14) IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY? (Michel Gondry)

13) STOKER (Chanwook Park)

12) THIS IS THE END (Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen)

11) INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (Joel and Ethan Coen)

10) FRANCES HA (Noah Baumbach)

9) THE WORLD'S END (Edgar Wright)

8) FRUITVALE STATION (Ryan Coogler)

7) BLUE JASMINE (Woody Allen)

6) HER (Spike Jonze)

5) THE ACT OF KILLING (Joshua Oppenheimer)

4) NEBRASKA (Alexander Payne)

3) 12 YEARS A SLAVE (Steve McQueen)

1) THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Martin Scorsese)

1) BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Richard Linklater)

OTHERS (those that didn't make the cut):

PRISONERS
OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
JOHN DIES AT THE END
AMERICAN HUSTLE
IRON MAN 3
PACIFIC RIM
UPSTREAM COLOR
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND
DON JON
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
DALLAS BUYER'S CLUB
THE CONJURING
THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
THE WE & THE I
HARRY DEAN STANTON: PARTLY FICTION
METALLICA: THROUGH THE NEVER
PASSION
WE ARE WHAT WE ARE
AT ANY PRICE
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
James Franco's Performance in SPRING BREAKERS (sorry, I have to make that distinction, call it a 'Special Prize' portion)




And the only film I outright hated that I saw this year....

Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor.   UGH.