My Best Films of 2013

(Disclosure: I have not seen The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle yet.)

My No. 1 film of the year is, no surprise, Gravity! It is the kind of movie that perfectly merged the classic structure of cinematic storytelling and the advancing science of moviemaking to create a whole new art that many critics have declared the future of cinema. With a tour-de-force lead performance by Sandra Bullock and exquisite direction by Alfonso Cuaron, this space opera dazzled, thrilled and moved this writer like no other film this year.

My runner-up is 12 Years a Slave. The absorbing and unforgiving Steve McQueen slavery saga is an instant classic. A piece of cinema that, like Gravity, will be studied for years. This is my predicted Oscar Best Picture winner (but I am rooting for a win by Gravity).

Alexander Payne’s Nebraska is my third best pick. A love letter to old age and to old America, the black-and-white reinvention of the road movie genre takes the audience to the American heartland where the failures of the past are still etched in the sad, tired faces of small town folks and are only barely concealed by their fading smiles and infrequent humor. Most of America is moving forward and many in the middle are still struggling to cope. There are so many layers to the story of an old man trying to claim his lottery prize believing it was real — I took the most obvious message.

My fourth to 10th picks are:

4) Blue Jasmine — The Best Comedy of the Year! The finest performance by any actor this year. And the final scene still haunts me.

5) Before Midnight — The satisfying final chapter to a trilogy that spanned 18 years in both fictional and actual years. Great screenplay, great actors, great setting, perfect ending.

6) Dallas Buyers Club — Two great performances. One possible Oscar winner. Engaging storytelling!

7) Inside Llewyn Davis — The Coen brothers are geniuses. I may not like their hero in the movie but I cannot deny their greatness.

8) Omar — My favorite foreign film of the year and Palestine’s entry to the Oscars. It made the nine-film shortlist and should it get a nomination, it will win! (I hope!)

9) The Past — Perhaps no film by Iranian Asghar Farhadi will ever disappoint me. A Separation is a superior film but this one trails only slightly.

10) Frozen — I am not a fan of animated movies but this one like the occasional Pixar masterpieces made me forget I was watching drawn characters. I was not instantly a big, big fan but the movie and its memorable soundtrack grew on me over time. The best Disney movie since Beauty and the Beast!

My Top 5 Favorite Performances of the Year are:

1) Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

2) Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)

3) Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

4) Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)

5) Sandra Bullock (Gravity)