Cook: My Top Ten Films of 2013

Now that 2013 is officially over, here are what I believe were the top ten best films for last year. As a film critic for FOX16, I was fortunate to see many wonderful movies which made compiling a top ten list difficult.

Top Ten List
10. Gravity – The combination of Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-caliber performance and the breathtaking special effects makes this film on of the year’s best. If you didn’t get to see this on the big screen then you missed out.

9. The Way Way Back – A sentimental favorite addition to the top ten list. A teenager spends summer vacation with his mother and her overbearing boyfriend. The 14-year old goes out on his own, coming out of his shell and makes new friends with at the local water park. A delightful film that I would place up there with any of John Hughes’s best work.

8. Mud – This movie made it clear Matthew McConaughey is one of the best actors of his generation. And, of course, don’t forget Mud was filmed in Arkansas by native Jeff Nichols. It’s a gem of film that’s unfortunately being overlooked this award season.

7. Before Midnight – The third, and best, in series of films starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy. In this film, the couple, who first met almost twenty years ago, are vacationing in Greece with their family and have frank discussions about life, love and their relationship.

6. Fruitvale Station – Based on a true story of a unarmed twenty-two-year old shot in the back by police while laying facing down on an Oakland subway platform. The film chronicles the last 24-hours of the young man’s life, warts and all, as he tries to get his life headed in the right direction. The lead actor, Michael B. Jordan, has the makings to become the next Denzel Washington.

5. Her – Directed by Spike Jonze and stars Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely man in the not-too-distant future who falls in love and develops a relationship with his computer’s operating system. It sounds silly on paper, but the film is an insightful examination about the nature of love, who we love and why.

4. August: Osage County-  An all-star cast with Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Chris Copper to name just a few. A dysfunctional Oklahoma family gathers together after the disappearance of the family patriarch. Fantastic dialogue and performances along with unexpected twists keep the film moving along quickly. All the lead actors deserve Oscar nomination, but in particular Margo Martindale deserves a nod for best supporting actress.

3. Enough Said – A smart, romantic comedy made for adults starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and James Gandolfini in his last starring role. They play divorced single parents who begin a romance, but Dreyfus accidentally and secretly befriends his ex-wife, causing problems in the relationship. Gandolfini gives such a subtle and heartfelt performance that one is amazed he could ever play the murderous mobster Tony Soprano.

2. American Hustle – Very loosed based on the Abscam scandal of the late 1970’s, director David O. Russell gives us another fantastic film, his third Oscar-worth movie in a row. It stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, who steals every scene she’s in.

1. Inside Llewyn Davis – This Coen Brothers movie is their best effort yet, which is quite a statement considering their body of work. Llewyn Davis is a folk singer in the early `60’s trying to break into the big time in New York City, but he just can’t seem to overcome various obstacles, both external and internal. We follow his struggles over the course of a week.

Honorable mention: Nebraska, The Spectacular Now, 12 Years a Slave

Worst film of the year: The Counselor