Come this December every film-oriented website will be publishing a list highlighting a slew of their favorites movies from 2013. That’s why we here at Movie Mezzanine thought it would be worthwhile to take a moment now to reflect on the past five months at the movies.
While I could quite easily decry the state of contemporary cinema (what with the overkill of formulaic sequels, unfunny comedies, abhorrent dramas, etc), today is about celebrating the films that have managed to tap into our hearts and minds, challenged our intellects, and created fictional worlds for us to get lost in. We hope this list of 16* films will compel you to seek out some of these movies that may have passed over your radar upon their release.
11.) Fast & Furious 6
Like a fine wine that only gets better with age, the Fast and Furious series has inexplicably gotten better with each subsequent film. Furious 6 capitalizes upon the utter insanity and pure spectacle of Fast Five, and somehow finds to be even more absurd. A series whose humble origins began in underground street racing is now firmly centered on the exploits of demigods. Punches are thrown that could incapacitate Thor, and flesh and bone hurtle through the air with only a car’s metal frame to safely break their fall. Fan favorite characters are now action figures in an incredibly expensive sandbox, this is spectacle with the dial turned up to eleven. Coupled with the fact that the Fast and Furious series is now the most densely plotted and intricately linked blockbuster series possibly ever, there is truly something for everyone. Just remember that family is a bond stronger than physics.
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10.) Stoker
Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut has an ostensible plot: something Gothic and overheated about incest, secrets, and its young protagonist’s coming of age. But honestly it’s just an excuse to stage one lethal, sexual set piece after another, entangling texture and color with Clint Mansell’s insinuating score. Few horror movies are as lush, or star an avatar of hysteria like Mia Wasikowska, playing a young woman whose fetishized body and violent leanings are bound together in one knotty performance. Few movies of any stripe are like Stoker, which operates entirely within that space between seduction and terror.
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9.) The Place Beyond the Pines
A fractured story of life and death, love and hate, fathers and sons, Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines is a brutal and honest work of art. The film is split into three very distinct segments, each equipped with their own three-act structure. In the months since the film’s release, many have dedicated time to scrutinizing each segment. This one is better than that one and so on. Fair enough, but that’s not how I choose to look at it. Take one away, and the other two don’t work. At least not as well. Three segments, one movie. One long, unique, oddly beautiful movie.
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2.) Before Midnight
Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight is not only the funniest and saddest entry into the beloved Celine and Jesse Trilogy, it is also the funniest and saddest film I’ve seen in the first half of 2013. From its lengthy one-take opening car ride, jammed with details recognizably hilarious and frustrating to any parent, to its revealing Greek countryside dinner, complete with quiet supporting character work and small intimate moments of self-recognition, Before Midnight wittily executes a slow build towards its final act. It’s not spoiling to say the series goes where life mandates it must, hitting the relationship boiling point with a keen sense of realism and life experience. Anyone who’s been in a lengthy relationship has had one or more of these moments. I can only hope Linklater will give me another opportunity in the future to continue my love affair with these characters.
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1.) Spring Breakers
Korine’s depiction of youthful debauchery is a mesmerizing satire, somehow managing to celebrate excess while offering a compelling critique of a generation’s spiritual emptiness. Lit with the neon sheen of the Vegas Strip, there’s a cool confidence to the chaos that adds aesthetic and thematic weight to what could easily be a gratuitous mess of flesh and sweat. It’s sleazy yet sleek, featuring what may be the best performance of James Franco’s career, and the dreamlike cinematography by Benoit Debie results in the most hypnotic cinematic experience so far this year.