This is a list of my favorite films I saw, theatrically, in 2013. These are only films I saw in the theater. The first grouping represents as close to a "top films" list as I probably get with Short Term 12 definitely being my favorite film of the year. It is an amazingly, heartbreakingly beautiful film that is that rare thing that truly touches at a lot of what humanity is deep down, and the needs we all have for love and community. Rust and Bone is another heartbreakingly beautiful film, and is easily one of Marion Cotillard's greatest performances (so far). Mud is writer/director Jeff Nichols' meditation on romantic love, and has been one of THREE performances that Matthew McConaughey knocks out of the park this year (all of which are on this list). Don Jon is a hilarious and strikingly poignant look at sex and relationships, The Place Beyond The Pines is a rare feat of filmmaking that covers multiple generations of family and explores the sins of the father and their consequences for the family. Before Midnight, for those of you who have seen the other two films in the "Before" series, is a romantic, but very real, continuation of one of cinema's great (modern) love stories, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a revelatory film about the very condition of the world, as it stands, right now.
These are just my favorites for the year. Please understand that you may not like everything on this list, and that is perfectly okay. We all like different stuff.
Short Term 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8QxAYxNRgs
Rust and Bone (technically 2012) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7skcyYolU
Upstream Color - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU
The Place Beyond The Pines - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07pSbHLXgg
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAzGXqJSDJ8
Before Midnight - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euOJkb0U8vE
The Impossible (might be 2012?) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgw394ZKsis
Side Effects - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEQDMFveSbQ
Dallas Buyers Club - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs1kpGNSRVk
12 Years A Slave - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQNjfhlREk
Only God Forgives - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAgirTtfobk
The Conjuring - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o
The Spectacular Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTBLSkUmYk
Fruitvale Station - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUJwJfcQaQ
Touchy Feely - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8psIhHWxtJE
Prisoners - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpXfcTF6iVk
Frances Ha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBn5dgXFMis
World War Z - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md6Dvxdr0AQ
Oblivion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak
A Band Called Death - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDPDm9_nX0o
All Is Lost - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk_R04LfUQU
Nebraska - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5tqPojMtg
Inside Llewyn Davis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFphYRyH7wc
American Hustle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST7a1aK_lG0
The Wolf of Wall Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszwuX1AK6A
