The Best Movies of 2013, Part II

Originally, The Best Movies of 2013 Part II had many categories and was quite detailed but then my computer died before I published it and now I have lost all my files.  Pretty sure that I am burying the lead considering that I also lost two years of my portfolio and part of my thesis, but yes, I also lost an unfinished blog post.  Moral of the story:  Make sure your backups have backups.  

Moving on.

Part II of this article shall focus on individual achievement and in particular acting.  Although I could talk about individual cinematographers for a while there won't be much of a competition in this category because Gravity will win hands down.  With that dispensed with, I have compiled a list of performances and performers that look at this year through the works of the actors, no matter how big or small their part is, no matter what their sex is, no matter how many lines that they had.  So without further adieu, I humbly present my best acting performances of 2013:

The Best Acting of 2013:

At the Oscars they'll win a statue, here they'll win a shout out.  Truthfully, I think we all know which award is better. 

To begin with, this was a great year for acting.  There were so many movies this year which seemed like solo films, movies which for lack of a better term, great "acting" was occurring by individual actors carrying their films.  There are a lot of actors that could make this list and I admit that there are a few that are left off of mine that are not left off of anyone else's list.  So with that in mind I will make three caveats: 1) I never saw Before Midnight.  I am currently watching Before Sunrise and I wanted to watch them in order, therefore both Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke are left off this, apologies for what has been said was two great performances.  2) I didn't love American Hustle, in case it wasn't apparent when I left it off my Part I of the best movies.  I thought it was a fine movie but I found myself bored at times and I thought the script needed a lot of work.  That being said you will still find an actor from that movie on my list, but not Bale, Cooper, or Lawrence.  I love Jennifer Lawrence but I frankly don't get her in either Silver Linings Playbook or American Hustle.  She claims she is playing strong independent women but I just saw a whiny 23 year old.  Oh and Cooper's scene where he imitated Louie CK was hilarious.  3) I didn't like Blue Jasmine.  This one has to be addressed because I am sure Blanchett will win for best actress.  I don't understand the acclaim for both the movie and the two actresses.  Maybe it was the state I was in when I watched it, but it took me three sittings just to get through it.  I know plenty of critics have called this a modern Blanche Dubois, but although I am a Cate Blanchett fan, in this movie, she is certainly no Vivien Leigh.  So…there are a few opinions.  Let's get on with the list.  

25.  Cate Blanchett For Blue Jasmine

There are you happy?  I admit that she did well in a movie that I despised.  (Truthfully I should've put Greta Gerwig for Frances Ha here but I didn't).  (I can't even be nice in parenthesis).  Though since I have the space used for Cate Blanchett I will mention one of her lesser known movies which is an absolute gem.  Her performance in 2003's Veronica Guerin is really good.  It reminded me of Kevin Costner in The Untouchables meets Cillian Murphy in The Wind that Shakes the Barley.  Good Movie.  So go Cate Blanchett.  

24.  Domhnall Gleeson & Bill Nighy for About Time

I know, but trust me.  Although this is a romantic comedy (more romantic drama) it still packs a punch in the heart department.  There are many problems with this movie namely all the illogical steps taken within the idea of time travel, but the relationship developed between Gleeson and Nighy is really something else.  I had to check at the end of the film to make sure they weren't related.  I have to admit that I rarely tear up during a movie, but I was balling by the end of this film, all in part to this love story about a father and son.  

23.  Alfre Woodard for 12 Years a Slave

She is in this movie for maybe 5 minutes.  Her scene is 2 and 1/2 pages long and is adapted from just two sentences in Solomon's memoirs, but it is one of the best scenes in the entire movie.  Woodard mixes spirit and levity to bring a quite and cold, but spiritual truth that there might be a better tomorrow and that to make it there you must survive.  

22.  The Entire Cast of What Maisie Knew

This includes Steve Coogan, Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgard, Joanna Vanderham, & Onata Aprile.  The movie was number fourteen on my list of the top thirteen movies of the year.  Based on the story by Henry James it looks at a parental separation entirely from the point of view of a little girl.  Everyone is very good, very subtle, even Moore who plays a rockstar (I know), but the film is stolen by the chemistry between Nanny Vanderham and little girl Aprile.  This was smaller film that should've gotten a lot more universal credit.  

21.  Sandra Bullock for Gravity

I thought I was going to hate her in this film, surprise, I didn't.  Bullock does a fine job of carrying a movie that is almost entirely about her.  She would've been higher on the list, but in a "solo" movie there needs to a level of give and take between the character and the overall film and while there existed a connection, there was never really a moment when I thought she was a standout character; rather I thought this was a standout film.

20.  Daniel Brühl for Rush 

If F. Murray Abraham could drive, he would've been Daniel Brühl.  Rush is an action packed drama that falters in story, but is in the driver's seat with character.  Brühl plays a Salieri-esque character (Abraham reference) to the Mozart flamboyancy of Hemsworth.  It is self obsession vs. high octane self expression at its peak.  

19.  Miles Teller for The Spectacular Now 

Obviously, The Spectacular Now was my favorite movie of the year.  I re-watched it on DVD tonight and I stand strongly by my opinion with one small amendment.  This isn't at all a love story.  It's a story in which there is love, but it is a story about Sutter and therefore about Teller.  Most people would point to Teller's breakdown in the car as the scene that defines this movie, but I would look closer at a shorter, more intimate moment between Odenkirk and Teller when Odenkirk offers Teller a job with a catch and Teller has to turn it down.  That scene sums up the movie in a nice little bow and Teller's performance.  I predict that both Teller and Woodley will become major Hollywood players in the years to come.  

18.  Joaquin Phoenix for Her

The reason Phoenix only manages eighteenth on this list is two-fold.  Her was a brilliant idea that came two weeks too late for me and while I still felt its theatrical impact I couldn't resonate with the character as much as I would've been able to just a few weeks before.  The other reason which allows me to take the decision off my own personal shoulders comes from the writing at around the 2/3rds mark.  Although Phoenix's character is on an amazing arc it seems to stop moving and then go backwards as the film draws to a close.  I think of the scene in the snow where he is dealing with the feelings that this "relationship" has created but the movie moves onward without dealing with what Sam has told him about multiple partners and about moving on.  A good performance to be sure, but one with baggage.  

17.  Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave

I have a confession to make.  Unlike the critical acclaim for Nyong'o, I was not enthralled by her performance and actually was rather surprised by how much acclaim she was receiving.  I am quite sure she will win the Oscar for best Supporting actress (more power to her).  Obviously, I didn't think she was bad, but I wonder if it was her performance or the situation the character was placed in that was more important.  Although a lesser actress would've taken away from the character, I felt that it was the writing more than the acting that carried the day (And the effects of seeing the blood splatter when she is whipped).  Perhaps I am wrong, but I was far more impressed (and I was impressed by Ridley) by the screenplay than by the acting.  

Oh selfie!

16.  Julia Roberts & Margo Martindale for August: Osage County

Now I know people will think I have thrown my credibility to the wind by saying this was better than Nyong'o, but screw it.  If I was the academy, I would give best supporting actress to Julia Roberts, words which I might add, I never thought would come from my mouth.  When I saw the casting for this film I was angered that Roberts would be playing the stalwart eldest daughter but she most certainly pulled it off.  And by no small measure was the film without other good performances namely from Martindale who brought charisma to a character that is charisma-less in the play.  I didn't recognize Roberts in this film.  She didn't provide us with any of her typical whimsical asides, looks, or gestures.  I would go as far to say that she outplays Meryl Streep in her scenes and manages to capture an innocence to her brash exterior.  Nyong'o has the better character, but I think Roberts does more with the role.  Either way, both actresses do a fine job.  

15.  Steve Coogan in Philomena

Not a lot to say.  Coogan was acting up a storm in 2013 and he wrote a rather good screenplay for Philomena.  I really liked his portrayal of real life writer Martin Sixsmith, and I think he manages to stay true to the real person rather than hollywood-ing the ending to fit the overall feeling.  

14.  Bruce Dern for Nebraska 

Bruce Dern is able to make the descent into dementia quite funny, heartfelt, and tragic.  He interweaves these qualities to turn a doddering old fool into an everyman of the midwestern plains.  Dern manages to turn in a tour de force acting performance while still maintaining real continuity with the rest of the cast namely his family made up of Squibb, Forte, and Odenkirk.  This movie touched me not just because I grew up in similar circumstances, not just because I knew people like this family, and not just because I watched my grandmother go from English Scholar to an empty human in a few years, but also because it reminded me of a simple human truth:  We will always strive for greatness.  You just have to realize that others have a different definition of greatness than you.  

13.  Mads Mikkelsen for The Hunt 

The descent into madness is always compelling for an audience to watch when it is in the hands of a great actor.  However, unlike other films like it, The Hunt looks at the descent into madness of someone who you know from the beginning is innocent.  Mikkelsen carries this very difficult subject matter on his back and unlike hollywood movie climaxes, Mikkelsen delivers a climax that is understandable as well as disturbing and not in the way that the rest of the movie is disturbing but in the way that all of us can feel this dreadful uneasiness.  I highly recommend this movie and this performance.  Once again, thanks to Alex Doser for finding me this gem.  

12.  Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club

Leto is really good in this movie despite the minor controversies that are being claimed by members of the LGBT community on how he portrays transgendered people.  I would go as far to say that Leto is better than McConaughey in this film (although McConaughey is higher on this list, but that'll be explained).  I can't think of any actors who are living (I think Heath Ledger would've been great) that would've pulled off the tragic charisma that Leto completes in award winning fashion.  Although he is not my pick for best supporting actor, he is a damn close second.  

11.  Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips

Because Barkhad Abdi is my first.  He most definitely should win the award for best supporting actor.  He might fall a little into the category that Nyong'o faces in that it might just be the story behind him as an actor or the character's writing that carries over more than his performance, but unlike Nyong'o, I thought Abdi brought much more to his character to make him authentically artistic.  I was a big fan of this movie and a big fan of Mr. Abdi, who I hope can find a career on the back of this film and not just as a stereotype.  

10.  Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips 

I told you that I liked the film.  I think Tom Hanks got screwed this year along with another one of my favorite performances (coming later).  If you want to see what I thought of Hanks you need to only look at the review I gave in Part I, but let me add one thing.  If you want to see truly great acting, watch the final scene of Captain Phillips in which Hanks allows the emotion of the moment to carry over rather than the emotion of the presumed moment.  It makes the character raw, flesh open, part ugly, part astoundingly beautiful.  

9.  Amy Adams for American Hustle & Her

I found Amy Adams to be rather good in American Hustle, one of its biggest redeeming factors, but what impressed me the most was her small role in Her in which she plays a next door neighbor friend, love interest, who is as wacky and weird as Phoenix.  In both roles she mixes dramatic elements with a certain level of spunkiness to create characters that are so superbly different from each other.  When I look back on this year I will certainly remember her in Her.  

8.  Judi Dench for Philomena 

One of the best performances of her career.  I believe that this movie and Notes on a Scandal are her best roles.  And this one might take the cake.  I am pretty sure she won't win, but she damn well should.  Watching this movie, you, as the audience are allowed three views.  One as the outsider looking in, one from Coogan's perspective, and one from Dench's.  I choose Dench, who shows a character mired in sadness but with such a wonderful expression for life.  If the real Philomena is anything like the character that Dench portrayed than I would certainly like to meet her and experience the world through her eyes.  Even in a moment of extreme sadness, I, much like Coogan became very angry with the Catholic Church.  I know because I yelled out loud at the screen, but Dench is too cool for that, she reacts as one who has seen it all both as an actress and a character.  Really a superb movie.  

7.  Tye Sheridan for Mud 

It is hard to carry a movie on your own.  It is harder when you are fifteen.   Idealism clashes with reality in this film which left me wondering whether or not Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone or Sheridan gave the better performance (There are many similarities between the characters).  This is a movie that is built on heart, but is strung together by resilient trust, a trust in something that is never spoken between the characters, but is understood by all.  This is the power of love, but not the hallmark card love, but the power of an individual's love for another that is rarely ever reciprocated.  Along with Woodley, Teller, and the next person on my list,  I will gladly go see anything that his kid makes.  

6.  Adèle Exarchopoulos for Blue is the Warmest Color 

The movie runs into some problems and the editing was very much needed but no one can deny the impact that Exparchopoulos has on this film.  This film is a miracle in that when filming occurred she was merely 18 years old and had to film a touching story about love that is much more mature than her age range.  Many focuses on the explicit sex in the film, but I looked at how she captures loss as such a more important take away.  This movie leaves you with a massive pit in your stomach, a queasy feeling that no matter how hard you try, you can never fully get over a certain kind of love.  This is a mature performance that gives an actress who is far beyond her years the chance to shine.  And she glows.  One of the best acting performances I have ever seen by a woman of her age.  She is an actress to watch.  

5.  Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave

Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night

Most of my closest friends know that over the last decade, Chiwetel Ejiofor along with Djimon Hounsou, Don Cheadle, Tom Hanks, and the late greats Marlon Brando & James Stewart are my favorite actors.  Actors of which I have seen the bulk of their movies.  Take Cheadle for instance, of the 35 major films he has been in I have seen 28 of them.  I first became a fan of Ejiofor when I saw him in Amistad and later a big fan when I saw the made for tv version of Twelfth Night.  I am so very happy that he is getting his dues this year for an extraordinary role that he performs brilliantly.  Although there are a few actors who I believe gave better performances than he, it is only due to the great jobs of the other actors and not due to the fact that Ejiofor did anything wrong.  His performance is flawless.  In two scenes, he figuratively made my heart jump into my stomach.  In both the hanging (which I believe is one of the best filmed sequences in the history of motion pictures) and the confrontation at night with Fassbender, Ejiofor showed what so many of his fans have seen for years.  His performance is simply put astounding and I cannot wait for his next film Half of a Yellow Sun which should garner him another nomination.  

4.  Matthew McConaughey for Mud/Dallas Buyers Club

And for ten minutes of The Wolf of Wall Street.  If anything is known from this year in films it is that "Alright, alright, alright," is on top of the world.  Finally over his slump of horrible rom-coms, McConaughey has released back-to-back-to-back-to-back films that have showcased the talent we all thought he might have, but needed to refine and re-find it.  In last year's Killer Joe and then in his three films this year, McConaughey has shown a resiliency to make good choices and profitable ones.  I loved him in Mud, thought Dallas Buyers Club was great, but the performance that did me in this year was his one monologue from his ten minutes of screen time in The Wolf of Wall Street.  McConaughey is back.  And I hope that he is here to stay.  

3.  Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street 

And although Ejiofor and McConaughey were great, nothing can touch DiCaprio.  I understand the controversies surrounding the movie, but they cannot take away from his performance which I believe to be the best of his career.  DiCaprio is unbelievable as a joyful, psychotic, sociopath.  DiCaprio doesn't phone in a single second of this film which I have to believe was exhausting.  I could make a top ten list for scenes in which DiCaprio is brilliant in this film alone.  The stairs scene, the Boat scene, the conversation with Reiner, the monologues in the office are all picks that will be memorable.  I think it is easy to cheer for a villain, but when we cheer for a villain we look for his good qualities so that we can understand his villainy.  DiCaprio manages one better in that he shows us a true villain who you cheer for all the while you see his demented, egotistical, destructive personality ruin his life, his families' lives, and thousands of others.  It is rare when you can equally care about a person as well as hate them.  DiCaprio walks this line.  And he and Jonah Hill work great together.  I look forward to their next collaboration which will be about the Atlanta Olympics bombing.  DiCaprio is my pick, Oscar-wise, for best actor of the year.  

2.  Oscar Isaac for Inside Llewyn Davis

Unless, your name is Oscar, in that case Oscar Isaac should win best Oscar.  I do not understand why this movie and this performance did not get the praise it so deserved.  Isaac turns in the role of a lifetime as a troubled Odysseus journeyman.  Every good actor has subtle nuances that make their roles special but often times those subtleties are cliche ridden or overused.  Not in the case of Isaac who uses every second of his stage time to fill in all the little corners and lines that make up his character.  His singing is equal parts beautiful, haunting, and painful.  Through his voice we can hear the lost generation or dreams squelched by misinterpreted talent.  Isaac carries the weight of the broken record forever to remain turning without fail, and without consequence until it is removed from the player forever.  Isaac brings a calm, coexistence with a tumultuous exterior to the screen in this unbelievably good movie and performance.  

1.  Brie Larson for Short Term 12/The Spectacular Now/Don Jon

Let us Dream!

Grace is a quality that all human beings strive to control.  Grace under pressure, grace in the face of pressure, when the onslaught of life gets too hard, we strive to live through it, embracing it on each and every side.  Sometimes having grace gets to a point where having it makes us fierce but fragile, victorious but broken.  This is the best way to describe Brie Larson in the movie Short Term 12 where she plays the character Grace, a supervisor at a foster care facility.  She managed to win a Gotham award and has a nomination for best actress from the Independent Spirit Awards (which is actually a really great ceremony usually hosted by a rather funny comedian).  If there is any justice in the film industry, she will win.  She gives one of the most emotional, physically draining performances I have ever seen on film.  Unlike previous characters in Scott Pilgrim, 21 Jump Street, & The Spectacular Now, Larson shows a vulnerability that immediately puts you on her side, even, and especially when you know she's wrong.  She is incredibly watchable and makes this short movie seem like a lifetime.  The movie touched me personally, but her performance touched me professionally, and I plan to tell all of my students in the years to come about this performance.  Hands down the best of the year.