It's probably true that every year is a good year for film, if you're willing to dig hard enough to find the stuff that's truly exciting, but it seems like 2013 was one of those years that was especially good. A handful of new faces emerged, a ton of old favorites put out new releases, and in general it just felt like most everything that came out ended up living up to its potential. Okay, so a lot of the summertime releases were pretty bleak, but the American independents just killed it this year, and there really weren't any huge misfires at all once the end of the year awards hopefuls started rolling out.
On a personal level too, 2013 was a year where I finally allowed myself to skip a lot of stuff that just didn't interest me and that didn't generate any buzz after its release to indicate that I might have prejudged it harshly. Going to see a bad movie can be fun every once in a while, but when you really make it a point to go see as many things as you can, no matter how little you're looking forward to them, you can start to taint the meditative and holy experience of going to the theater and putting all of your focus on one thing for a couple of hours. This year I mostly only went to see things that I at least had some sort of cursory interest in, and that resulted in me ringing in 2014 while feeling more appreciative of the therapeutic nature of cinema than I have in a while.
Now, before we get too off topic, here are the 2013 movies that I saw in 2013 (as far as I can tell), ranked and rated. My top ten of the year are in bold, if you're the sort of person who puts value in things like numbered lists with a strict cutoff. Hopefully this will help at least one person find a good movie to watch, or maybe a terrible movie to avoid.
Inside Llewyn Davis *****
Frances Ha ****
Stories We Tell ****
12 Years a Slave ****
Short Term 12 ****
Her ****
Like Someone In Love ****
The Act of Killing ****
Spring Breakers ****
Nebraska ****
Mud ****
American Hustle ****
Before Midnight ****
Much Ado About Nothing ****
Captain Phillips ****
The Way Way Back ****
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints ****
Don Jon ****
The Spectacular Now ****
The Wolf of Wall Street ****
Thor: The Dark World ****
Blue is the Warmest Color ****
The Place Beyond the Pines ****
The Conjuring ****
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ****
Warm Bodies ****
In a World ****
Pacific Rim ****
Iron Man 3 ****
Dallas Buyer’s Club ****
Frozen ****
Insidious: Chapter 2 ****
White House Down ****
This is the End ****
You’re Next ****
The World’s End ****
Blue Jasmine ****
At Any Price ***
Gravity ***
The Wolverine ***
Out of the Furnace ***
Sightseers ***
Stoker ***
Upstream Color ***
Drinking Buddies ***
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ***
John Dies at the End ***
The Last Stand ***
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane ***
Stuck In Love ***
The To-Do List ***
Prince Avalanche ***
Star Trek Into Darkness ***
Mama ***
Trance ***
How I Live Now ***
To the Wonder ***
Gangster Squad ***
Evil Dead ***
The Great Gatsby ***
2 Guns ***
Pain & Gain ***
Blackfish ***
100 Bloody Acres ***
The Heat ***
Admission ***
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues ***
Only God Forgives ***
Hell Baby ***
Side Effects ***
Oblivion ***
The Iceman ***
Riddick ***
Touchy Feely ***
V/H/S/2 ***
A Band Called Death ***
Wrong ***
Parker ***
World War Z ***
G.I. Joe: Retaliation ***
The Internship **
The Lone Ranger **
Sound City **
Olympus Has Fallen **
The Counselor **
Elysium **
Lovelace **
The Call **
Bad Milo **
Man of Steel **
Ender’s Game **
The ABCs of Death **
Broken City **
Now You See Me **
Black Rock **
Fast & Furious 6 **
Identity Thief **
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone **
Oz the Great and Powerful **
Jack the Giant Slayer **
Texas Chainsaw 3D **
The Lords of Salem **
Escape From Tomorrow **
The Bling Ring **
Safe Haven **
The Lifeguard **
No One Lives **
We’re the Millers **
The Purge **
Grown Ups 2 **
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III **
Curse of Chucky *
A Good Day to Die Hard *
A Haunted House *
Movie 43 *
