The Top 10 Films Of 2013 So Far

By and large, 2013 has been a middling year for cinema. The first four months of the year offered exceptionally little in the way of truly interesting or compelling commercially-released content, instead delivering a long string of uninspired, unengaging material that, while rarely awful, only occasionally piqued my interest. I found myself skipping a lot more films than I normally would, in part because I was busy working on other projects, and in part because what Hollywood had to offer seemed almost aggressively dull.

Jonathan R. Lack

Published: Jul 10, 2013 09:02 am

This article is over 11 years old and may contain outdated information

Honorable Mentions:

Recommended Videos

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s This is the End is not only one of the funniest and most deliriously creative films of the year so far, but also one of the most heartfelt, as Rogen and Goldberg use the dual conceits of the apocalypse and celebrities playing themselves to deliver an unexpectedly touching and intimate character study.

I had lots of problems with J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness, and multiple viewings have made me less enthusiastic on the film as a whole (I really wish that ending could have been at least a little more daring), but this is still one of the best examples of modern sci-fi/fantasy world-building out there, and features many of the year’s best performances to date, particularly from Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain is a lesser film than The Bling Ring or Spring Breakers, but it fits into that same mold of unorthodox explorations of what the American dream means today; like all of Bay’s films, it is overlong and overstuffed, but it is also spectacularly performed (Dwayne Johnson, you crazy bastard), and undeniably bold.

And finally, Steven Soderbergh’s supposedly final theatrical feature, Side Effects, was one hell of a send-off, an audacious and biting commentary on the way we get invested in fictional stories, and a cynically clever argument against letting oneself be swept away by falsehoods, no matter how authentic they may seem.

Follow author Jonathan Lack on Twitter @JonathanLack.

What are your favorite films of 2013 so far? Sound off in the comments!

We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

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.