Oddly, perhaps, I’ve just signed off my film pages for the first issue of 2014. January is traditionally a strong month for releases, as the studios hit heavy for the big awards season push, all the same it looks like next year is off to a strong start with new releases from the Coen brothers, Steve McQueen and Spike Jonze.
Meanwhile, here’s our list of the Best Films of 2013. As I wrote in my introduction to the films of the year in the 52-page magazine that comes with our new issue, 2013 felt like a particularly good year for movies. Personally, as we got into the voting for the films of the year, I was very pleased to see directors like Ben Wheatley and Noah Baumbach figure so strongly. At one point, A Field In England and Frances Ha were both vying for Film Of The Year. Then Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska appeared in the schedules and suddenly vaulted over the rest of the pack to take pole position. And rightly so. As an addition treat, in our age of high-end special effects, 3D and assorted other cinematic trickery, it was satisfying to see that our top three films were all in black and white…
20. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
19. Flight
18. La Grande Bellezza
17. Wadjda
16. Captain Phillips
15. Lincoln
14. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
13. Mud
11. Zero Dark Thirty
10. Upstream Color
7. Stoker
6. Gravity
5. The Act Of Killing
4. Blue Jasmine
3. Frances Ha
1. Nebraska
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