Best of Other Than 2013

Top Ten Non-New Releases Watched in 2013:

As with most people, I didn't just watch new films this year. I watched a whole lot of older films as well. Here are my top ten films released prior to 2013. Interestingly, my first draft of this list was a LOT longer than my first draft of any other list. Turns out making a concerted effort to watch some classics means you end up watching a lot of really great films.

10. Safety Not Guaranteed/ The Do-Deca-Pentathalon (tie)

Two independent comedies that may not be great films but were some of the most fun to watch. Both movies touched on ideas that struck a chord with me: belief and brotherhood.

9. Sullivan's Travels

An ode to the power of comedy. Also, this movie might have made me fall in love with Veronica Lake.

8. Brokeback Mountain

Tender and powerful love story about being true to yourself and how some people can change our lives forever. Ang Lee does it again.

7. In the Mood for Love

Another forbidden love story, this one full of rich colors, careful cinematography, and haunting music. Beautiful and haunting.

6. Manhattan

Another film that I fell for in large part due to the beautiful cinematography--in this case black and white that makes the titular city glow. Woody Allen's snappy dialogue doesn't hurt either.

5. Before Sunrise

I can't wait to see the remainder of this trilogy, because this film works so perfectly as a reminder of the power of dialogue and the stirrings of infatuation, love, and meaning. 

4. The 400 Blows

Not only a fantastic introduction to the French New Wave, but one of the most empathetic films about childhood I've ever seen.

3. Rosemary's Baby

I'm not sure what it was exactly about this movie that struck such a chord with me--the exploration of womanhood in the 60s, the perfect balance between camp and suspense, the way it blurs the lines between dream and reality. I don't know, but it worked.

2. Badlands

Not sure whether it was the house on fire or the building of the tree house or Martin Sheen's fantastic performance, but somewhere along the way I fell in love with this movie.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Without question, the best film experience I had this year. I was wrapped up in the film from the first frames, I'm still thinking about the meaning, and Kubrick balanced image, sound, and editing more perfectly here than any other film I've seen. Incredible experience.

Honorable Mentions: Shotgun Stories, Zero Dark Thirty, Primer, Robot & Frank, Adam's Rib, Blow Out, Tell No One, Compliance, My Left Foot, Mary & Max, Eyes Without a Face, Compliance, The Killing, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, The Third Man, Strangers on a Train, The Man from Nowhere, Re-Animator, End of Watch, Gimme Shelter, Repulsion, The Shining