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Wylie Writes’ Ten Best Movies of 2013
By: Addison Wylie
Now that we’ve recognized the bad movies that were slingshot at audiences last year, it’s time to move on and engulf ourselves in the cream of the crop.
2013 introduced a wide variety of great films to audiences. I feel like I say that every year, but as I scour my selected picks, the only thing these movies share are the odd genre they’re grouped in.
Take documentaries, for example. Audiences were shown terrific autobiographies that opened their subjects like books. André Gregory: Before and After Dinner was one that caught my interest. Gregory is a writer, an actor, a director, an all around theatrical wiz, yet he presents himself as such a humble human being who could easily sweep the average movie goer off their feet. Director Cindy Kleine doesn’t have to stretch to find a comfortable groove for this pleasant doc.
Nicky’s Family wasn’t necessarily a straightforward autobiography like André Gregory: Before and After Dinner, but it told a revolutionary story involving Nicholas Winton. Winton, who rescued Jewish children before WWII, is shown in high regard with Matej Mináč’s film. Nicky’s Family may look like something you’d find on PBS on a Sunday afternoon, but the doc’s importance could impact a sold-out stadium.
Rounding out the list of sensational documentaries was Lucy Walker’s The Crash Reel, a film that snuck onto our radars when the year was winding down. The message about the importance of safety during extreme sports follows alongside snowboarder Kevin Pearce’s inspirational story. Walker’s doc is incredible, and you’ll never want to take your eyes off of it.
There were a few independent films that caught my attention and impressed me with their storytelling. The Oxbow Cure, for instance, is a film that moves deliberately slow. However, Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas were able to chill me to the bone with their frigid settings and drawn out creeping.
Sally El Hosaini’s My Brother the Devil was a fantastic feature film debut, providing superb performances from actors who could rationalize their drastic arcs quite well. Sean Garrity’s Blood Pressure was a worthy-enough thriller with an anchoring turn from Michelle Giroux. The film has its flaws, but I enjoyed myself all the way through this low budget drama.
And, Tower. I desperately wanted Tower and actor Derek Bogart to receive more recognition for their contributions to Toronto’s indie scene. It was an uncomfortable, often amusing and unhinged jarring character study from filmmaker Kazik Radwanski. I’ve seen a lot of fine performances from lots of actors in 2013, but Bogart’s portrayal of a disconnected wanderer stuck with me all year round.
Of course, I had some mainstream picks. I thought The Wolf of Wall Street was great fun. It was a lengthly film, but it showed audiences that Martin Scorsese is still a gutsy filmmaker willing to tackle any genre at any given time. August: Osage County was another strong contender. It’s ensemble cast knocked the film out of the park, and frequently had me in stitches.
Blue is the Warmest Colour, The Spectacular Now, and The Way, Way Back were three coming-of-age films that were unforgettable. All three featured moving performances from everyone involved, the creative minds behind the flicks were fearless, and nothing was sugarcoated. Movie goers could sense the filmmakers treating the characters with earnest gratitude, which helped sustain the staying power of each flick.
But, enough lollygaging. Let’s take a look at what fleshed out the top spots of 2013.
Underrated Movies:
Everyday is Like Sunday
It’s A Disaster!
Nicky’s Family
Texas Chainsaw 3D
Warm Bodies
Honourable Mentions:
#15. Tatsumi
#14. Charles Bradley: Soul of America
#13. To The Wonder
#12. Nebraska
#11. Short Term 12
Wylie Writes’ Ten Best Movies of 2013
#10. Spring Breakers
Spring Breakers acts as a statement about the impatient youth of today, and about the need for constant change amongst a modern younger generation.
It’s also a stylistic blast and an interesting conversation starter. Filmmaker Harmony Korine reassures his fans that he isn’t leaving, and he brilliantly introduces younger audiences to a new way to look at movies.
#9. Her
Spike Jonze’s poignant work is a personal film about an impersonal society.
#8. Downloaded
Downloaded is a fantastic documentary on the brink of a remarkable level involving the rise and the inevitable fall of the file trading peer-to-peer service Napster.
#7. 12 Years a Slave
An absolutely brutal, but rewarding watch that’s extremely well acted by its vast ensemble.
Filmmaker Steve McQueen shows an anthropological side to the relationship between an owner and his slave, as well as a fascinating, stomach churning outlook on how easy it was for people to consider other people “possessions”.
Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are shows a hauntingly humanistic portrayal of something that’s downright unfathomable: cannibalism. The film is an excellent slow burn with a jaw-dropping payoff.
#5. A Hijacking
Unfortunately overshadowed, A Hijacking is a riveting docudrama that I hope gets the respect and attention it deserves despite ingredients that some may be seasick about.
Dallas Buyers Club is an all around exceptional piece of work with flawless lead performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.
#3. Mud
Like the film’s stoic bluegrass backdrop, Mud resonates quietly. It’s an outstanding movie with phenomenal acting and careful direction.
#2. Before Midnight
Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight is brilliantly observant with its authentic portrayal of two people who love – and will always love – each other. The screenplay is simply one of the best.
#1. The Place Beyond the Pines
A complete 180° for filmmaker Derek Cianfrance. This sweeping drama about redemption, fatherhood, and “doing the right thing” is absorbing and never drops the ball. A true classic in the making.
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‘Ten Best Movies of 2013’ Artwork by: Sonya Padovani
The Place Beyond the Pines
By: Addison Wylie
With his latest feature film, writer/director Derek Cianfrance has already made his Magnolia with The Place Beyond the Pines, an excellent and expansive drama intertwining complex characters and haunting pasts with a twist of fate.
This is, without a doubt, a step in the right direction for Cianfrance who made a name for himself rather quickly with 2010’s Blue Valentine. I was a fan of the tightly wound performances in Blue Valentine, but found the film to be an annoyingly negative experience having little to nothing to say about relationships other than,”hey, some of them start strong and end in dysfunction”.
While the impact of The Place Beyond the Pines depends on a moviegoers’ ability to believe in coincidences, its story is far more rounded and mature than what we saw in Blue Valentine. Whether you were a fan of his breakout film or not, the agreement that this latest crime drama is a sign of a creative storyteller aging like a fine wine should be universal.
Cianfrance and his co-writers Ben Coccio and Darius Marder deliver us three stories that are seamlessly woven into an elaborate story. The first leg focuses on Ryan Gosling’s Luke as he tries to mend ties with Romina (played by Eva Mendes) who is parenting their son without his help. Luke then gets caught up in an addiction of robbing banks in order to provide for their son – something he’s dropped the ball on.
The film then switches over to Bradley Cooper’s character, Avery. Avery is a do-gooder rookie cop who gets caught up in Luke’s scamming ways which leads to Avery’s personal tell-tale heart story as he wrestles with knowledge that could potentially cause his family and his career harm.
The final act is a story of redemption that ties the prior two stories together making the stakes even higher. For me to go into detail about this flawless and impressive finale would be spoiling a large portion of enjoyment and fulfilment Cianfrance and his co-writers set up.
Recounting the film’s timeline, there were at least three times where I doubted the movie. Much like Luke’s daredevil motorbike spectacles, Cianfrance was going to try a stunt that could rarely be pulled of by the most skilled professionals.
All three times I was taken back by how the talent in front of and behind the camera were able to enthral audiences and stick their landings. Cooper and Gosling share the screen for a limited amount of time, but both are riveting in their roles with broken pasts. Cianfrance is using the same quiet character development techniques he used in Blue Valentine and it’s very effective; especially since the film takes a slow burn approach and lets each character – big and small – flesh themselves out patiently.
The Place Beyond the Pines takes full advantage of its settings, making its characters embrace Schenectady, NY – the film’s central setting – while also breathing a dark underworld beneath the neighbourhoods. Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography doesn’t have to manipulate the settings to capture the ever-changing atmosphere successfully and his ability to shoot these scenarios can offer that much more intensity or heartbrokenness to a scene or confrontation. Audibly speaking, the same can be said about the nuanced score provided by Faith No More’s Mike Patton.
The Place Beyond the Pines never leaves your head. Thinking abut my experience watching Cianfrance’s film, I loved how everything unfolded for me. Moviegoers are always taken on several paths – all different but all having some sort of relation to characters or past events, which also has help from the film’s sharp eye for aging detail. Pay attention to those props and locations peppered throughout.
Cianfrance pulls some punches and not everything may not sit well at first. I urge you to go with the film. If you’re rubbed the wrong way, stick with it a little bit further. The payoffs contribute to an end product that is surely in the running for the best film of 2013.
Wylie Writes 