11. All Is Lost<\/em>, directed by J.C. Chandor<\/strong><\/p>\n 10. Upstream Color<\/em>, directed by Shane Carruth<\/strong><\/p>\n 9. The Act of Killing<\/em>, directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and Anonymous<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1965 and 1966, the Indonesian Army led an anti-communist purge, murdering over 500,000 people. The mass killings were the instigating factor in a political movement that transformed the country from a guided democracy into a military dictatorship. The masterminds behind these killings are alive today and were never prosecuted for their crimes. Most still believe they did nothing wrong.<\/p>\n The Act of Killing<\/em> follows these men as they shoot dramatic reenactments of their favorite murders. Many adore classic Hollywood westerns and jumped at the chance to play hero on film. One even goes so far as to dress in drag for the female lead.<\/p>\n Watching these killers step into the shoes of their victims is an unforgettable experience. The role reversal causes some gut-wrenching empathy where, for the briefest of moments, the men realize the gravity of their actions. The Act of Killing shows how art can hurt and heal. It shines light on an incident that is still passed over by most Indonesian textbooks. It is the reason I love documentaries.<\/p>\n The Act of Killing<\/em> hits DVD on January 7. Please see it. \u2014 Frank Paiva<\/em><\/p>\n 8. 12 Years a Slave<\/em>, directed by Steve McQueen<\/strong><\/p>\n Director Steve McQueen\u2019s pre-Civil War era drama was based on true story of Solomon Northrup, a musician and free black man who was kidnapped and then sold into slavery. Because of its still-relevant subject matter and strong performances, the movie resonated more with viewers and reviewers than that aforementioned, would-be award winner.<\/p>\n And best of all, it finally afforded the right leading role to go to English-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who\u2019s been consigned to supporting roles for most of his career, several of them villainous in nature (such as a memorable turn in the fan-favorite Serenity). Here, the soft-spoken Ejiofor takes center stage and commands our attention, as well as gaining our sympathy as Northrup.<\/p>\n Getting back to that supporting cast, it includes Michael Fassbender, the omnipresent Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt (who also co-produced the movie). All of them are excellent, and yet Ejiofor more than holds his own with them. Hopefully this will be a launching pad for the next great leap in his actor career. \u2014 Jeff Michael Vice<\/em><\/p>\n 7. Blue Jasmine<\/em>, directed by Woody Allen<\/strong><\/p>\n Cate Blanchett is, of course, beyond outstanding as Jasmine, the former New York socialite whose charmed existence is torn away from her. But even on her way down, the self-centered, increasingly distraught Jasmine is capable of causing pain to others the way her late investor spouse Hal (Alec Baldwin) inflicted it on his clients. Both are personified in Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), the ex-husband of Jasmine\u2019s sister (Sally Hawkins) whose one modest dream for himself and his family was destroyed by Hal and whose heartbreak radiates off him.<\/p>\n Clay shows a depth and vulnerability that is astonishing, matched by Bobby Cannavale as Hawkins\u2019 new boyfriend. The way the fates of these working people are tied to that of Jasmine is a clear and, for Allen, surprisingly angry indictment of our current economic and social system. The tragedy is not that the once regal Jasmine seems to be headed toward homelessness and dementia, but that so much gets taken down needlessly in her wake. \u2014 Don Kaye<\/em><\/p>\n 6. Blue is the Warmest Color<\/em>, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche<\/strong><\/p>\n 5. Before Midnight<\/em>, directed by Richard Linklater<\/strong><\/p>\n 4. Her<\/em>, directed by Spike Jonze<\/strong><\/p>\n This time, Jonze is working from one his own scripts, rather than those penned by either Charlie Kaufman or novelist Dave Eggers. Her follows a lonely professional letter writer (Joaquin Phoenix) who begins an at-first-awkward relationship with his new, interactive operating system, which has taken the name Samantha (the voice of Scarlett Johansson).<\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s an odd premise, but the back-on-his-game Phoenix really sells this far-fetched story. And, if they\u2019re only going to reward live-action performances, the Academy Awards may need to create a new acting category that\u2019s strictly for voice performers like Johansson. As Samantha, she\u2019s equal parts sexiness, shyness, na\u00efvet\u00e9 and wry charm, which isn\u2019t easy with this kind of role.<\/p>\n Also, the film scores points with its observations about the perils of \u201ctraditional\u201d relationships, as well as the ones about our technological dependence. It\u2019s a uniquely thoughtful and moving experience, and maybe Jonze\u2019s best work to date. \u2014 Jeff Michael Vice<\/em><\/p>\n 3. Gravity<\/em>, directed by Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n<\/strong><\/p>\n 2. Nebraska<\/em>, directed by Alexander Payne<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"mov_all-is-lost_130828\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/mov_all-is-lost_130828.jpg\")
<\/a>In a truly eye-opening movie, a man \u2014 not Our Man, but a man, for all that — cuts wood for most of a day, eats supper, heads home. Lisandro Alsonso slowly morphed La Libertad (2001) into a mystery play, turning work, a man\u2019s industry and skill in the material world, into secular ceremony and metaphysical significance. That\u2019s J.C. Chandor\u2019s riveting All Is Lost<\/em> in spades. The field of endeavor in this spectacular high-seas adventure is vast. Waves, wind, storm dwarf Our Man (Robert Redford\u2019s best performance ever) and mock his stubborn, resourceful efforts to stay afloat after a derelict container gores his yacht. Here\u2019s that rarity, a brilliantly directed American film sans dialogue, with a cast of one, a Hemingway isolato adrift in the kind of nothingness that conjures gut-wrenching questions about the human condition. In the big picture, Our Man, Everyman, struggles heroically to survive, to write his \u201cKilroy was here\u201d before going under. But Chandor\u2019s allegory isn\u2019t abstract; it signifies through brutal, tactile, exhilarating physicality. The youthful Redford often wore his beauty like armor, seemingly a little too safe in his own skin. In All Is Lost<\/em>, the 77-year-old\u2019s weathered countenance projects confidence, competence; but as he witnesses the death of his beautiful boat, that composed face begins to come apart\u2014and fear of ceasing to be bleeds through. \u2014 Kathleen Murphy<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>In an era when ‘Independent Film’ too often means slumming TV stars\u00a0and all-too-familiar plots about big contests, failed romances or\u00a0roadtrips of self-discovery, Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color<\/em> exploded\u00a0out of the Sundance Film Festival self-financed, self-distributed and\u00a0mostly self-made, all propelled by the vision and talents of its writer-director-star. Shunning everyday multiplex and art-house\u00a0storytelling in favor of smart shots and strange, subtle thematic\u00a0elements, Upstream Color<\/em> feels like a dream of love with the\u00a0nightmares built in too, so that they might make the dream all the\u00a0sweeter. Like Her<\/em>, Upstream Color<\/em> is a sci-fi romance, but while Her<\/em> asks what happens if you can’t be with the one you love, Upstream\u00a0Color<\/em> asks the deeper, scarier question of what happens when you can’t\u00a0be separate from the person you love, caught up in constant\u00a0connection. Shot through with the true beauty of the everyday while\u00a0also informed by smart, deft sci-fi notes that explain themselves with time and patience, Upstream Color<\/em> is a fully-realized work of genius,\u00a0a truly independent film, a gorgeously crafted piece of cinema and one\u00a0of the year’s most touching romances. \u2014 James Rocchi<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>The Act of Killing<\/em> is a very difficult film to sit through. It makes 12 Years a Slave look like The Care Bears Movie. But if you take a chance on the documentary\u2019s tough subject matter, you\u2019ll be rewarded with 2013\u2019s most powerful moviegoing experience.<\/p>\n<\/a>Despite having a star-studded supporting cast, this powerful and moving slavery drama wasn’t even supposed to be an Academy Award contender. That honor was supposed to go to the now-seemingly-forgotten Lee Daniels\u2019 The Butler<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Woody Allen\u2019s cinematic output these days consists mostly of mediocrity, with a few outright misfires and the occasional hit sprinkled throughout. Blue Jasmine<\/em>, however, is not just one of 2013\u2019s best movies but one of the few authentically great pictures Allen\u2019s made in recent times. Forget the wildly overrated Midnight in Paris<\/em> or the compelling yet redundant Match Point<\/em>. Seemingly disguised at first as a comedy, Blue Jasmine<\/em> is a sobering, ultimately tragic character study rooted in current events and fueled by honest emotional responses. The pain and anger in the film are palpable, and come from unexpected sources.<\/p>\n<\/a>It’s so disappointing how a couple of controversies surrounding Blue is the Warmest Color have stolen the conversation from what the film is actually about: first love, overpowering desire, the excitement of discovering yourself and the fear of what others may think of you. As Kathleen Murphy so beautifully observed, Abdellatif Kechiche explores the lives of outsiders looking for their place and Ad\u00e8le (played with so much vulnerability by Ad\u00e8le Exarchopoulos) is a young woman who finds herself with another woman (L\u00e9a Seydoux), an artist whose self-confidence is as attractive as her physical beauty. The graphic (though not explicit) sexual coupling in the opening act is all anyone seems able to focus on. And yes, it’s provocative, but this is no peep show or erotic spectacle. It’s about letting all boundaries go and giving in to desire and pleasure, about devouring another and being devoured, and it shows the gap between her potential and her fear of embracing her identity and her love in front of a world. As the original French title of the film, La vie d’Ad\u00e8le: Chapters 1 & 2<\/em>, suggests, Ad\u00e8le is a work in progress and Kechiche explores all of her stumbles on the way to finding herself. \u2014 Sean Axmaker<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s a rare movie sequel that rises above the original. The Godfather, Part II<\/em> comes to mind as does The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>. One film that can be added to that list is Richard Linklater\u2019s Before Midnight<\/em>, the third entry in the story of Jesse and C\u00e9line, an American man and a French woman played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy (who co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater). The first film, Before Sunrise<\/em> (1995), was a romantic tale about two young people who meet on a train and spend the night walking around Vienna before disappearing from each other\u2019s lives. In the first sequel, Before Sunset<\/em> (2004), they run into each other in Paris nine years later but both are involved with other people. Now, in Before Midnight<\/em>, another nine years have passed and Jesse and C\u00e9line are finally a couple \u2014 and the parents of twin girls. The new film is the strongest of the lot precisely because the romanticism of Jesse and C\u00e9line\u2019s earlier experiences has been replaced by the considerable challenges of committing to a real-life relationship. Hawke and Delpy have matured into their roles and have a stunning ability to convey the unvarnished truth of these characters, warts and all. We see petty squabbles that turn into knock-down drag-out fights fights and then ultimately find a poignant resolution that always rings true. After 18 years of following these characters, I feel fully invested. I hope this isn\u2019t the last we\u2019ve seen of Jesse and C\u00e9line! \u2014 Danny Miller<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Warner Bros. has been (smartly) advertising this science-fiction\/romantic comedy as \u201cA Spike Jonze Love Story,\u201d which really tells you everything to know about it. Well, except for maybe that it has more heart and poignancy than anything that oddball filmmaker and occasional Jackass collaborator Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are<\/em>) has done so far.<\/p>\n<\/a>Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s space odyssey is a visionary sci-fi tale on the grand scale of 2001<\/em>. While the director and film have taken flack from the scientific community for various factual inaccuracies (which Kubrick never received for his masterwork), they can be forgiven since Gravity<\/em>\u2019s story is ultimately a metaphor for its protagonist\u2019s personal journey. Sandra Bullock plays medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone, whose first mission aboard the space shuttle Explorer ends badly as wreckage from a Russian satellite strike begins hurtling around the globe, damaging her craft and forcing her and fellow astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) to try to reach another orbiting space station and get to earth before the deadly debris circles the earth again. Beyond the utterly fantastic, groundbreaking cinematography (the long opening shot is stunning) and eerie, pulsating score from Steven Price, the simple yet effective story serves equally well as an emotional rollercoaster as Stone, still reeling from the death of her young daughter, is trying to reclaim her life and ground herself. It\u2019s been years since we witnessed a silver screen sci-fi spectacle that is both epic and intimate, especially one dominated by just one character. Once you get sucked into Gravity<\/em>, you\u2019ll want to float untethered into space with her again. \u2014 Bryan Reesman<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>Alexander Payne has been to Nebraska before \u2014 born there, in fact \u2014 but from the terrific first shot of Nebraska<\/em> the movie, he and we are someplace new. Here’s Bruce Dern, bent forward, making his way toward us on a straight line at center screen in a … let’s call it a determined shamble. The shot would be ordinary \u2014 guy walking edge of road \u2014 except that it’s ultra-widescreen and the streamlined vacancy of the road angling by at left, in the clean splendor of black-and-white, exerts a tremendous pull, as if in protest that it should be the proper focus of the composition. Soon enough, it will be. Dern’s character, an unreformed drunk and possibly going-senile coot named Woody Grant, lives in Billings, Montana, but needs to get to Lincoln, you-know-where, because a form letter in his pocket tells him a million-dollar prize awaits him there. No one else believes that … although after a certain loony pivot point, almost everyone will, and start going crankily, selfrighteously nuts. Woody’s son David (Will Forte) agrees to drive the old man to Lincoln just to have the matter settled. They eventually get there, but not until other, unanticipated stops have been made. Is Nebraska<\/em> the funniest and the saddest movie of the year? Payne’s hand couldn’t be surer: the obsessive quest of Woody Grant (cracked echo of “American Gothic” there?) is neither ridiculed, sentimentalized, nor exalted. Up till now, Payne has seemed like a novelist accidentally turned film director. Actually, he’s never written a novel, and this is his first film on which he has no screenwriting credit. Yet he’s never before written as eloquently with his camera. \u2014 Richard T. Jameson<\/em><\/p>\n