Jonathan R. Lack’s Top 10 Films Of 2013

This is the Top 10 list I have been waiting my entire critical career to write. I have been reviewing movies since 2004, and compiling Top 10 lists since 2006, and while the latter task has become increasingly stressful with each passing year – maybe because I see a greater number of movies each year, and maybe because the industry has been on a general upward trend in recent times – I have never had the pleasure or challenge of compiling such a dense collection of cinematic brilliance for my year-end countdown. It is always tough at first, whittling the list of contenders down to the actual ten titles, but if I am being honest, I also find that most Top 10 lists I make are made up of a few films I might call legitimate masterworks, a bunch of great movies I love intensely, and, at the bottom, a sentimental pick or two that most clearly reflects my own obsessions and interests. And that’s perfectly fine, because a Top 10 list constructed like that still represents a whole lot of very meaningful cinema.

Jonathan R. Lack

Published: Dec 20, 2013 11:28 am

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[h2]1. Her[/h2]

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Perfect. Magical. Transcendent. Spike Jonze’s Her is more than just a movie – it is a piercingly raw artistic confessional, a film that takes a seemingly outlandish science-fiction concept at face value to lay bare some of the greatest complexities of the human spirit. In telling the story of Theodore Twombly, a lonely and brokenhearted man who falls in love with his artificially intelligent operating system, Jonze refuses to take any of the subjects he raises easy, never oversimplifying or selling short, and constantly presenting something so much more thoughtful and nuanced and creative than expectation would dictate.

The film starts with the fallout of a breakup, expands to become a broader study of the contrast between the world we inhabit and worlds beyond our understanding – between the tangible boundaries of sight and the far-reaching marvels of human perception and emotion – before ending with an affirmation of the wonder that is a meaningful connection between two souls, no matter how long or short the relationship. Jonze’s writing is painful, a series of emotional purgings that are simultaneously uncomfortable, beautiful, and cathartic, while he challenges every one of his actors and artistic collaborators to the limits of their ability. Passionate and naturalistic, Joaquin Phoenix delivers the single best performance of 2013, while the impression Scarlett Johansson leaves in her stunning voice-over work is unshakable. In a year positively packed with films I would call dense, rich, and wondrously multifaceted, Her operates on more artistically and thematically invigorating dimensions than any other, and stands for me as the year’s greatest cinematic achievement.

Her is now playing in Los Angeles and New York, and will open nationwide on January 10^th. Read my full review of the film here and check out our interview with several of the cast members below.

What were your favorite films of 2013? Share your thoughts in the comments, and come back this Monday for a list of the 20 Next-Best Films of 2013.

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Author

Jonathan R. Lack

With ten years of experience writing about movies and television, including an ongoing weekly column in The Denver Post's YourHub section, Jonathan R. Lack is a passionate voice in the field of film criticism. Writing is his favorite hobby, closely followed by watching movies and TV (which makes this his ideal gig), and is working on his first film-focused book.