Honorable Mentions: Spring Breakers, The World’s End, Much Ado About Nothing, You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug10. The Place Beyond the PinesI totally get the complaints about the third act laying on the film’s themes a little too thickly, but The Place Beyond the Pines already had me wrapped up. For the most part, this is a pretty personal pick, as I’ve found turbulent and moody father-son flicks to work on me more and more as I grow older (also see: my 2010 top 10 spot for Warrior). Still, I think I’m pretty justified in my love for Derek Cianfrances’s sophomore effort, with its incredible cinematography and great turns from lead actors Ryan Gosling (maybe his finest performance) and Bradley Cooper (definitely his finest performance). It’s also an incredibly daring film in its scope and structure, certainly one we haven’t seen before. -AP9. Blue is the Warmest ColorOf all the films on my list, Abdellatif Kechcihe’s Blue is the Warmest Color is the one I can’t seem to shake. Adele Exarchopolous gives the best performance of the year as Adele, a suburban high-school girl who falls uncontrollably in love with Emma, played wonderfully by Lea Seydoux, a slightly older, struggling artist. The film, which clocks in just over three hours, spans several years, allowing Adele and Emma to evolve and adapt not only to each other, but to the culture that surrounds them. Much has been made of the sex scenes between Adele and Emma. But the sex in Blue Is the Warmest Color is just like the sex in any relationship: it’s important, but it’s just one part of a greater whole. To dwell on these scenes is to miss the point. The film devotes just as much time to love, art, education, food and all of the things that make a relationship work. And the things that make it fall apart. -CS8. Only God ForgivesThere’s a good chance you hate this movie. As much as I might disagree, I’m not sure I can blame you. It’s weird, with very little plot, with Ryan Gosling turning in an almost placeholder performance. But there is something that I love about Nicholas Winding Refn’s films. He creates a unique atmosphere, a feel, a haunting tone that I feel like I could watch for hours, coherent plot or no. It’s dark, brooding, ethereal – like wandering through a neon haunted house on opiates. He’s dedicated first to a visual style, and everything else wraps around and supports that. That kind of dedication yields unforgettable results, even if we’re not sure what’s going on. -JL7. The Wolf of Wall StreetIf Leonardo DiCaprio’s hilarious, unhinged, Icarus-as-a-smarmy-dudebro performance were the only good thing about The Wolf of Wall Street, it would still be worth watching. Luckily, this is far from the case. Scorsese’s rollicking catalogue of 1980s excess is a great roller coaster ride, right down to the fact that it might make you kind of nauseous. It’s undeniably fun to gawk at these weirdos as they indulge in every conceivable type of debauchery, but Scorsese also allows us some brief glimpses into the sad ickiness from which these behaviors stem (the scene in which Jordan and Donnie discuss the idea of a life without drinking and drugs – something Donnie can hardly conceive of – is particularly telling). -RC6. Enough SaidIf there are two cinematic mainstays from which I have come to expect very little in this day and age, it’s the romantic comedy and the mid-level, character-based, quasi-indie “dramedy.” That Nicole Holofcener could combine the two and create something so potent as this seems nothing shy of a miracle. Or at least a massive creative accomplishment. Taking a premise as built for screwball as any – middle-aged divorcee (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), finds out that the man she’s dating (James Gandolfini) is actually the ex-husband about whom her new close friend (Catherine Keener) has been complaining for weeks on end – and downplaying it at every turn, Holofcener has built a film that speaks to the way we protect ourselves in romantic endeavors, all within the form of a frequently hilarious, densely-but-not-suffocatingly-structured 90-minute comedy. Louis-Dreyfus and Gandolfini are in peak form, doing all the complex work that it takes to just play regular people, with all their foibles and faults, none of which diminish their humanity, or, if you like, “likability,” but rather enhance it tenfold. It’s been years since a film carried itself so well by just giving us two characters worth caring about. And getting quite a few laughs along the way, at that. Louis-Dreyfus’s expression of confused disgust at herself when she says “Yeah, I got real boobs” on their first date will forever make me laugh. -SN5. Captain PhillipsI remember hearing about the events depicted in Captain Phillips with the Somali pirates on NPR but I never let myself imagine what the crew and specifically the captain went through. To see it larger then life on the screen, was emotionally harrowing to say the least, especially with “America’s Dad” Tom Hanks in the titular role of Captain Phillips. Director Paul Greengrass so effectively puts you in the middle of the action, that even though I knew the ultimate outcome of the film I found myself on tenterhooks. Sometimes the Greengrass “shaky-cam” style can really annoy me but it didn’t in Captain Phillips, instead it served to put me more in the moment. All the performances in the film were great from the pirates to the Navy Seals. The one major stand out is Hanks, who is (forgive the pun) the anchor performance of the film. Of course Hanks has been delivering excellent performances for the last thirty years but what he does in Captain Phillips is breath taking, specifically what he does in the final scene, which is transcendent. To say the Oscars snubbed Hanks is an understatement. I don’t know that I will be in a big hurry to re-watch Captain Phillips any time soon because it is so emotionally draining, but in this case I think that is a testament to the power of the film. -SB4. (tie) GravityAll things considered, I don’t know if there is another film that defines the movie year better than Gravity. It is by far the best looking film of the year, using the deep space atmosphere to the greatest possible cinematic effect. It cannot be overlooked as merely a technical achievement, but I also think there is quite a bit more there. Despite its environment and the importance of computer-generated images, Gravity has a beating heart — claims that it is a “thrill ride” are apt, but I think that minimizes the major emotional effect of the film. It doesn’t just dazzle you with its visions and sounds, but because you become incredibly attached to the people in the film and want them to survive. And can we imagine that film starring Angelina Jolie instead of Sandra Bullock, as it was originally cast? I think it all ended up for the better. -AP4. (tie) Upstream ColorUpstream Color has everything. Life and death. Malleable identities. Ambition. Mystery. Romance. But at heart, it’s an introverted sci-fi tone poem that strives to break down our entombing notions of individuality—which runs directly contrary to the attitudes frequently satirized this year’s other top films.Like all film fans I have an insatiable hunger for things I haven’t seen before. I don’t need another well-appointed biopic, heartfelt character study, or sweeping historical epic. I’m dying for narratives (or non-narratives) that push forward not just our understanding of film as art, but of reality itself. The only way to combat our society’s pervasive Attitude of Entitlement is to completely reorganize our definition of Self. And that’s not an easy journey—it’s like swimming upstream. -MW3. Frances HaTruth be told, I’m an unashamed Noah Baumbach apologist, but not without discernment. Even though I greatly enjoyed his much maligned Margot at the Wedding, I recognize the weaknesses in a misstep like Greenberg. In Frances Ha, Baumbach is doing the best at what he does best. Fun story, quick and witty dialogue, verbose characters hilariously unaware that they don’t really have much to say. Frances sets an objective path for her life, not realizing that for crying out loud she’s twenty-seven years old and a lot can change. When it does, she falls all over herself trying to correct her path, before she can eventually realize that having your entire future all planned out isn’t as oh-so-serious as it seems. Bringing Greta Gerwig in as co-writer with Baumbach allows her to fully inhabit the character in a way that’s just brilliant. We really get the feeling that she’s been there. Maybe it’s because we’ve all been there in some way, and it’s fun to laugh at the way we were. Stylistically, the movie is a loving homage to the French New Wave, and expertly captures the whimsy of Antoine Doinelle or Zazie dans le Metro. -JL2. Inside Llewyn DavisEveryone knows it can be harder to describe why you love a movie than why you hate one. With that in mind, would it be grossly unrigorous to say that it feels like I’ve spent my entire life with a hole in my heart the exact size and shape of this movie? And now that I’ve seen it, that Inside Llewyn Davis-shaped hole is at long last filled? Because that is exactly how I feel. There are many things about it that deserve praise – Oscar Isaac’s terrific performance, the gorgeous faded-photograph cinematography, the beautiful soundtrack. But the things that make it really great are tough to put into words. It’s a meditation on grief, mortality, and personal failure that’s somehow as funny as it is melancholy and heartfelt. The bare-bones plot is sort of quotidian one on hand, but mythic and dream-like on the other. Most of all, it’s wonderfully, appropriately ambiguous. The back alley confrontation that opens and closes the film casts a mysterious pall over everything it bookends, and prompts questions about whether we’re witnessing the beginning or the end of Llewyn’s story. I have absolutely no idea what happens to Llewyn after the movie leaves him, which is exactly as it should be, because Llewyn doesn’t know, either. -RC1. HerThe first trailer I saw for Her was in a packed theater. There’s a moment in the trailer when the audience let out a collective laugh, as if to say “You can’t really think I’m going to take this seriously?”. That moment comes when Samantha—the sentient Operating System that Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix) acquires and develops a relationship with—asks Theodore how he would touch her if the two were lying in bed together. In a vacuum and without context, it’s funny to think of someone having a sexual encounter with their smart phone. When I eventually saw the film, that moment comes and goes without a single snicker from the audience. Director Spike Jonze creates a universe that is so complete that the encounter between Samantha and Theodore is not only believable, it’s inevitable.Her inhabits a future world that’s foreign and mesmerizing, but apocryphal and familiar. The cinematography is warm and sun-stained, mimicking the film’s tone and perspective on even the most devastating of human interactions. Joaquin Phoenix is subdued, yet still larger than life as Theodore Twombley. Scarlett Johansson, who never physically appears in the film, has never been better as Samantha. She embodies a character that has no physical form and is as present a force as Phoenix. Her is a bizarre film that is so fully realized, it would make less sense if Theodore Twombley couldn’t fall in love with his operating system. -CS
10. The Place Beyond the PinesI totally get the complaints about the third act laying on the film’s themes a little too thickly, but The Place Beyond the Pines already had me wrapped up. For the most part, this is a pretty personal pick, as I’ve found turbulent and moody father-son flicks to work on me more and more as I grow older (also see: my 2010 top 10 spot for Warrior). Still, I think I’m pretty justified in my love for Derek Cianfrances’s sophomore effort, with its incredible cinematography and great turns from lead actors Ryan Gosling (maybe his finest performance) and Bradley Cooper (definitely his finest performance). It’s also an incredibly daring film in its scope and structure, certainly one we haven’t seen before. -AP
9. Blue is the Warmest ColorOf all the films on my list, Abdellatif Kechcihe’s Blue is the Warmest Color is the one I can’t seem to shake. Adele Exarchopolous gives the best performance of the year as Adele, a suburban high-school girl who falls uncontrollably in love with Emma, played wonderfully by Lea Seydoux, a slightly older, struggling artist. The film, which clocks in just over three hours, spans several years, allowing Adele and Emma to evolve and adapt not only to each other, but to the culture that surrounds them. Much has been made of the sex scenes between Adele and Emma. But the sex in Blue Is the Warmest Color is just like the sex in any relationship: it’s important, but it’s just one part of a greater whole. To dwell on these scenes is to miss the point. The film devotes just as much time to love, art, education, food and all of the things that make a relationship work. And the things that make it fall apart. -CS
8. Only God ForgivesThere’s a good chance you hate this movie. As much as I might disagree, I’m not sure I can blame you. It’s weird, with very little plot, with Ryan Gosling turning in an almost placeholder performance. But there is something that I love about Nicholas Winding Refn’s films. He creates a unique atmosphere, a feel, a haunting tone that I feel like I could watch for hours, coherent plot or no. It’s dark, brooding, ethereal – like wandering through a neon haunted house on opiates. He’s dedicated first to a visual style, and everything else wraps around and supports that. That kind of dedication yields unforgettable results, even if we’re not sure what’s going on. -JL
7. The Wolf of Wall StreetIf Leonardo DiCaprio’s hilarious, unhinged, Icarus-as-a-smarmy-dudebro performance were the only good thing about The Wolf of Wall Street, it would still be worth watching. Luckily, this is far from the case. Scorsese’s rollicking catalogue of 1980s excess is a great roller coaster ride, right down to the fact that it might make you kind of nauseous. It’s undeniably fun to gawk at these weirdos as they indulge in every conceivable type of debauchery, but Scorsese also allows us some brief glimpses into the sad ickiness from which these behaviors stem (the scene in which Jordan and Donnie discuss the idea of a life without drinking and drugs – something Donnie can hardly conceive of – is particularly telling). -RC
6. Enough SaidIf there are two cinematic mainstays from which I have come to expect very little in this day and age, it’s the romantic comedy and the mid-level, character-based, quasi-indie “dramedy.” That Nicole Holofcener could combine the two and create something so potent as this seems nothing shy of a miracle. Or at least a massive creative accomplishment. Taking a premise as built for screwball as any – middle-aged divorcee (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), finds out that the man she’s dating (James Gandolfini) is actually the ex-husband about whom her new close friend (Catherine Keener) has been complaining for weeks on end – and downplaying it at every turn, Holofcener has built a film that speaks to the way we protect ourselves in romantic endeavors, all within the form of a frequently hilarious, densely-but-not-suffocatingly-structured 90-minute comedy. Louis-Dreyfus and Gandolfini are in peak form, doing all the complex work that it takes to just play regular people, with all their foibles and faults, none of which diminish their humanity, or, if you like, “likability,” but rather enhance it tenfold. It’s been years since a film carried itself so well by just giving us two characters worth caring about. And getting quite a few laughs along the way, at that. Louis-Dreyfus’s expression of confused disgust at herself when she says “Yeah, I got real boobs” on their first date will forever make me laugh. -SN
5. Captain PhillipsI remember hearing about the events depicted in Captain Phillips with the Somali pirates on NPR but I never let myself imagine what the crew and specifically the captain went through. To see it larger then life on the screen, was emotionally harrowing to say the least, especially with “America’s Dad” Tom Hanks in the titular role of Captain Phillips. Director Paul Greengrass so effectively puts you in the middle of the action, that even though I knew the ultimate outcome of the film I found myself on tenterhooks. Sometimes the Greengrass “shaky-cam” style can really annoy me but it didn’t in Captain Phillips, instead it served to put me more in the moment. All the performances in the film were great from the pirates to the Navy Seals. The one major stand out is Hanks, who is (forgive the pun) the anchor performance of the film. Of course Hanks has been delivering excellent performances for the last thirty years but what he does in Captain Phillips is breath taking, specifically what he does in the final scene, which is transcendent. To say the Oscars snubbed Hanks is an understatement. I don’t know that I will be in a big hurry to re-watch Captain Phillips any time soon because it is so emotionally draining, but in this case I think that is a testament to the power of the film. -SB
4. (tie) GravityAll things considered, I don’t know if there is another film that defines the movie year better than Gravity. It is by far the best looking film of the year, using the deep space atmosphere to the greatest possible cinematic effect. It cannot be overlooked as merely a technical achievement, but I also think there is quite a bit more there. Despite its environment and the importance of computer-generated images, Gravity has a beating heart — claims that it is a “thrill ride” are apt, but I think that minimizes the major emotional effect of the film. It doesn’t just dazzle you with its visions and sounds, but because you become incredibly attached to the people in the film and want them to survive. And can we imagine that film starring Angelina Jolie instead of Sandra Bullock, as it was originally cast? I think it all ended up for the better. -AP
4. (tie) Upstream ColorUpstream Color has everything. Life and death. Malleable identities. Ambition. Mystery. Romance. But at heart, it’s an introverted sci-fi tone poem that strives to break down our entombing notions of individuality—which runs directly contrary to the attitudes frequently satirized this year’s other top films.Like all film fans I have an insatiable hunger for things I haven’t seen before. I don’t need another well-appointed biopic, heartfelt character study, or sweeping historical epic. I’m dying for narratives (or non-narratives) that push forward not just our understanding of film as art, but of reality itself. The only way to combat our society’s pervasive Attitude of Entitlement is to completely reorganize our definition of Self. And that’s not an easy journey—it’s like swimming upstream. -MW
3. Frances HaTruth be told, I’m an unashamed Noah Baumbach apologist, but not without discernment. Even though I greatly enjoyed his much maligned Margot at the Wedding, I recognize the weaknesses in a misstep like Greenberg. In Frances Ha, Baumbach is doing the best at what he does best. Fun story, quick and witty dialogue, verbose characters hilariously unaware that they don’t really have much to say. Frances sets an objective path for her life, not realizing that for crying out loud she’s twenty-seven years old and a lot can change. When it does, she falls all over herself trying to correct her path, before she can eventually realize that having your entire future all planned out isn’t as oh-so-serious as it seems. Bringing Greta Gerwig in as co-writer with Baumbach allows her to fully inhabit the character in a way that’s just brilliant. We really get the feeling that she’s been there. Maybe it’s because we’ve all been there in some way, and it’s fun to laugh at the way we were. Stylistically, the movie is a loving homage to the French New Wave, and expertly captures the whimsy of Antoine Doinelle or Zazie dans le Metro. -JL
2. Inside Llewyn DavisEveryone knows it can be harder to describe why you love a movie than why you hate one. With that in mind, would it be grossly unrigorous to say that it feels like I’ve spent my entire life with a hole in my heart the exact size and shape of this movie? And now that I’ve seen it, that Inside Llewyn Davis-shaped hole is at long last filled? Because that is exactly how I feel. There are many things about it that deserve praise – Oscar Isaac’s terrific performance, the gorgeous faded-photograph cinematography, the beautiful soundtrack. But the things that make it really great are tough to put into words. It’s a meditation on grief, mortality, and personal failure that’s somehow as funny as it is melancholy and heartfelt. The bare-bones plot is sort of quotidian one on hand, but mythic and dream-like on the other. Most of all, it’s wonderfully, appropriately ambiguous. The back alley confrontation that opens and closes the film casts a mysterious pall over everything it bookends, and prompts questions about whether we’re witnessing the beginning or the end of Llewyn’s story. I have absolutely no idea what happens to Llewyn after the movie leaves him, which is exactly as it should be, because Llewyn doesn’t know, either. -RC
1. HerThe first trailer I saw for Her was in a packed theater. There’s a moment in the trailer when the audience let out a collective laugh, as if to say “You can’t really think I’m going to take this seriously?”. That moment comes when Samantha—the sentient Operating System that Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix) acquires and develops a relationship with—asks Theodore how he would touch her if the two were lying in bed together. In a vacuum and without context, it’s funny to think of someone having a sexual encounter with their smart phone. When I eventually saw the film, that moment comes and goes without a single snicker from the audience. Director Spike Jonze creates a universe that is so complete that the encounter between Samantha and Theodore is not only believable, it’s inevitable.Her inhabits a future world that’s foreign and mesmerizing, but apocryphal and familiar. The cinematography is warm and sun-stained, mimicking the film’s tone and perspective on even the most devastating of human interactions. Joaquin Phoenix is subdued, yet still larger than life as Theodore Twombley. Scarlett Johansson, who never physically appears in the film, has never been better as Samantha. She embodies a character that has no physical form and is as present a force as Phoenix. Her is a bizarre film that is so fully realized, it would make less sense if Theodore Twombley couldn’t fall in love with his operating system. -CS
