Five Favorites - "Five Favorite Films We Saw in 2013"

Donna:

Welcome to what will hopefully become a regular feature here on "From the Rental Queue" - "Five Favorites"! Fellow blogger and all-around gentleman Michael Siegel of "Mike'sMeandering Mind" also posts regular #FTRQ potted movie reviews both on hisTwitter feed and on his blog. I've always been a great admirer of his taste in film so I asked Mike to join me in creating review columns based on the idea of "Five Favorites". The idea is to pick a topic - action thriller, 80's comedies, found-footage films, anything at all - and discuss what our Five Favorite films in that category are and why. To start off the new year we decided to create our first list - our "Five Best Films We Saw in 2013". This isn't a list of the best films of 2013, but rather the best films we each saw *for the first time* in 2013. For a film to be included in our list we would have to have seen it for the first time during 2013.

I made an additional caveat for my list - I excluded all "Best Picture" nominees/winners from 2012 and 2013 from my inventory. I wanted my list to be more focused on lesser-known films so personal favorites "Amour", "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Cloud Atlas" - all of which were among the best films I saw last year - are excluded from my list. Of the 312 movies I reviewed last year 19 made my short list, and, after much rumination, I whittled it down to these five favorites of mine that I saw for the first time in 2013.

Mike: 

I obeyed this caveat.  I agree, however, that “Amour”, “Beasts…” and “Cloud Atlas” were three of the best movies I saw last year.  I saw about 55 movies this year – mostly on Netflix, two in the theater.  About 10 of those made my preliminary cut.  I should give an honorable mention to “Frozen” which was my daughter’s favorite movie and is probably the best thing Disney’s main studio has done in about twenty years.

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Donna’s #5) "Antiviral" - This is the first feature from Brandon Cronenberg, which he both wrote and directed, and in one film I feel he has surpassed the best things his father ever did. It is, quite simply, one of the best sci-fi films I've seen in a long while and, along with "Upstream Color", one the most innovative ones in years. The writing was marvelous, engaging, sinister, and disturbing, without ever breaking its own rules. The star of the film, an unknown to me Caleb Landry Jones, was sheer perfection. Most everything about this film was just that - sheer perfection - and I feel sorry for the many on Netflix who gave this poor reviews after just not grasping the plot. This is the type of film ardent movie fans should be supporting, which is why I immediately bought it on DVD. I encourage anyone who likes visually stunning, dark, cerebral sci-fi films to watch this with haste - you will thank me.

Mike’s #5) - “All Quiet on the Western Front” Yeah, I’ll go old school with my first choice.  I’ve been slowly catching up on old Oscar winners.  “All Quiet” has aged very well and is still one of the most devastating portraits of war ever committed to film.  I did a long series on the Academy Awards on my site and this was one of the first ones the Academy absolutely nailed.  A true classic.

Donna’s #4) "Oslo, August 31st" - This dark drama marks the second collaboration of Norwegian director Joachim Trier and actor Anders Danielsen Lie - the first being the powerful drama "Reprise". Lie is simply marvelous as a struggling addict searching for forgiveness and redemption on one fateful day in his life. This is a powerful, tragic film made all the better by Trier's poetic direction. I remember feeling punched in the gut when it ended, and it's not easy for a film to take me in as this one did. A darkly lovely film that should get more attention in this country.

Mike’s #4) “High Noon” - Yep, another classic.  Well, there’s a reason they are called classics, isn’t there?  High Noon broke the mold for westerns, establishing tension and pacing above action and violence.  Gary Cooper underplays his role perfectly; Grace Kelly is luminous.  All Hollywood movie directors should be forced to watch High Noon as an example of how to build the kind of tension that makes an action scene thrilling instead of boring.

Donna’s #3) "Monsters" - When Gareth Edwards was revealed as the person to helm the reboot of "Godzilla", the sumptuously directed "Monsters" was touted as the main reason he got the job. The pacing and storyline are far more like a cerebral drama than a monster movie, which I think tends to throw people off. It is, however, the very definition of ominous, with an ending that hit me like a lightning bolt. The revelation of the end jolted me so hard I restarted the film, searching for a particular moment in a particular scene just to see if I had gotten all the implications of it right. When I realized I had I was struck by equal parts tragedy and awe at the repercussions of it all. I'm so glad Gareth Edwards is remaking "Godzilla" - if this is anything to stand by it will be amazing.

Mike’s #3) “Before Midnight” – I am a big fan of the “Before …” movies.  I’ve always liked Linklater’s work and while I’m neutral on Ethan Hawke, I like Julie Delpy quite a bit.  But with these three (and hopefully more) movies, they have broken new ground in chronicling a relationship between two characters.  “Before Sunrise” might be one the most romantic movies ever. “Before Sunset” was a wonderful and unexpected return.  This one is much harder than the others, chronicling what amounts to a mid-life crisis in Celine and Jesse’s relationship. For married couples, the barbs and slings during the climactic scene will feel all too painful.  But the script, hashed out between the director and the two leads, rings true and has the wonderful dialogue of the first two films.  Hawke and Delpy don’t act; they inhabit roles they’ve known for 18 years.  Linklater’s low-key directing is perfect, once again using long unbroken takes to let the actors relish the dialogue.  This was easily one of the best films released in 2013.

Donna’s # 2) "Frances Ha" - I'm a huge Noah Baumbach fan so I was looking quite forward to this film, and it didn't disappoint in the least. Greta Gertwig was masterful as Frances, who is a delightfully well-rounded character about whom I genuinely cared. Baumbach's subtlety and minimalist style worked wonderfully in black and white and gave the film a charm I didn't expect. This is a real, heartwarming portrayal of a young woman in flux and I loved every moment of it.

Mike’s #2) “Looper” – The banner franchises of science fiction are rubbish, for reasons I’ve detailed on my own blog.  However, if you look past them, there are a number of sci-fi gems out there and Looper is one of them.  The time travel plot holds together reasonably well (which is not always the case for time travel plots) and turns on a profound moral quandary.  Willis and Gordon-Levitt are fantastic, with the latter having developed into a capable leading man. The technology is integrated naturally into the fabric of the setting, not shown off for its own sake. Nick Meyer said that great cinema is born from limitations and Looper exemplifies this: eschewing big special effects and long insane action scenes.  Instead, it builds itself on character, plot and ideas. Even the supporting cast is strong. This was probably the best film of 2012.

Donna’s #1) "The Imposter" - When I first saw this film I wrote that it was "hands down the single greatest and best documentary I've ever seen - absolutely masterful and gripping." I stand by those words as "The Imposter" truly breaks new ground in the world of documentaries. The style is utterly unique - I have never seen or heard of anything like it, and it was done so expertly I'm still amazed at how well it all came together. The subject itself is utterly fascinating as well - I still think of the story and all the questions it raises. This is a marvel of a film and one not to be missed. Easily the best film I saw all year save for perhaps "Amour" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild".

Mike’s #1) “The Up Series” – There are documentaries, and then there is the “Up” series, which chronicles the lives of 14 British children from the 1960’s on every seven years.  What is odd is that what started as a social commentary in the end becomes about itself.  We become fascinated by the people in the film and it is inspiring and uplifting to watch their lives and see how many were able to make happy lives for themselves, how many were able to overcome adversity, how many went in unexpected directions.  This is truly one of the most remarkable achievements not just in documentary, but in all of cinema.

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Thanks for joining us for our first "Five Favorites" column! Hope you enjoyed it, and remember you can read "Five Favorites" and other movie reviews on Mike's blog as well!