20. Killer Joe
Director: William Friedkin
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church
The power of a thunderous movie ending should never be underestimated. Even if everything that precedes a film’s closing scenes underwhelms, the last shot can send audiences out on a high that’ll make them forgive all of the inadequacies. Acclaimed director William Friedkin’s (The French Connection, The Exorcist) extremely pulpy and grimy, though unfairly NC-17-rated, Killer Joe has one of the craziest, entertainingly off-the-rails endings in recent years, but what makes it such a complete success is that the film as a whole is a victory.
In Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter Tracy Letts’ adaptation of his own 1993 play, Matthew McConaughey serves a smoldering, combustible turn as a seedy Dallas cop, nicknamed Killer Joe, whose side hustle involves killing folks for cash. His target of the moment is the good-for-nothing mother of a young, in-debt deadbeat (Emile Hirsch) from a dysfunctional trailer park family. Unable to pay Joe, Hirsch begrudgingly gives his cute space cadet of a little sister (Juno Temple) up as a “retainer.”
19. Ruby Sparks
Directors: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Actors: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Annette Bening, Chris Messina, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould
Take our advice: Rent a copy of Ruby Sparks, schedule a home video night with your preferred lady friend, and be prepared to receive cool points a-plenty from your fairer-sexed partner. Perhaps even some post-movie loving as a reward for displaying such quality taste in cinema. But we digress.
What's truly special about the second feature film from sharp husband-and-wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) is the wonderful script from star Zoe Kazan. Blending magical-realism with touching romance, Kazan's screenplay brilliantly develops a romance from the seemingly impossible.
The actress' real-life boyfriend, the perennially underrated Paul Dano, gives a strong leading man performance as a struggling novelist who inexplicably wills a fictional dream girl (Kazan) into existence and falls in love with her. Ruby Sparks works on several levels concurrently: It's a genuinely sweet comedy, a heart-tugging love story, and a Twilight Zone-esque look at human connection in a heightened reality. Most critics would call Silver Linings Playbook the year's best romantic comedy—around these parts, the title goes to Ruby Sparks.
18. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Actors: Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Esterly, Gina Montana, Lowell Landes
It’s rare that a movie given such a high amount of critical hyperbole and instant prestige lives up to the hype. After winning both the top grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Camera d’Or (designated for best first-time director) at the Cannes Film Festival in May, debut feature helmer Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild rode one of the loudest, most enthusiastic waves of pre-release build-up seen in quite some time before its late June release.
Thankfully, all of the positive word was absolutely justified. Anchored by an astounding performance from 6-year-old rookie Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts is an emotional powerhouse. The film follows a tough little girl, Hushpuppy, who, living in a fictional New Orleans marshland community called “The Bathtub,” must contend with both a dying father (the equally dynamite Dwight Henry), mythical monsters known as “aurochs,” and rising waters that are washing her homeland away.
Shot in the heart of New Orleans with newbie actors and a tight-knit production crew, Zeitlin’s picture is as authentic as it is captivating. When Hushpuppy’s defiant narration isn’t either making you laugh or stand at attention, the film’s rich characters and brave narrative turns will leave you clutching for fresh Kleenex. It’s a towering achievement from a director and young rugrat/actress whose names we’ll be hearing a lot of come awards season.
17. The Spectacular Now
Director: James Ponsoldt
Actors: Miles Teller, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Shailene Woodley gives a performance of such fragility and power in The Spectacular Now that the rest of the movie almost feels dull by comparison. Director James Ponsoldt (Smashed) adapted Tim Tharp’s coming-of-age novel with heartfelt sincerity, and the result has wooed enthusiastic Sundance crowds. Miles Teller stars as Sutter, a high school senior with a great enthusiasm for human connection and partying, but little enthusiasm for classwork or future planning. Think Ferris Bueller with a concealed depression and an alcohol abuse problem. Woodley dominates every frame she’s in with sweet hesitations and a nervous smile. She provides a mesmerizing portrayal of young love. If only The Spectacular Now had been about its strongest character, it could have really been something.—Jeremy Mathews
16. Crystal Fairy
Director: Sebastián Silva
Actors: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffman, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Augustin Silva
If Michael Cera was typecast as the poster boy for Type B romantic heroes—awkward but sweet, soft but humble, geeky but loveable—his turn in Sebastián Silva’s Crystal Fairy marks his arrival as an unlikeable Type A anti-hero. In one of the actor’s two Chile-based collaborations with Silva at Sundance (the other is Magic Magic), Jaime (Cera) is an ugly American, obsessed with mind-altering drugs and oblivious to his own self-centeredness. Stoned at a local party, he invites fellow American Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman)—a hippie, hairy, sometimes off-putting and often-naked free spirit—on his quest for a rare mescaline-producing cactus on a camping trip with friends. The sparse plot nonetheless provides opportunities for a little self-reflection and some original, dark humor, making the druggy affair a worthwhile trip to the theater.—Josh Jackson
15. The Crash Reel
Director: Lucy Walker
Even for those of us who have no interest in snowboarding or winter sports, The Crash Reel provides a remarkable story about family. What could have easily been a by-the-numbers recovery story about a niche sport is constantly compelling in the hands of one of our most talented young documentarians—Oscar-nominee Lucy Walker. It’s striking how different each of Walker’s movies are in both subject matter and feel, yet she’s remarkably consistent. She finds the right story and the right tone every single time.—Michael Dunaway
14. Afternoon Delight
Director: Jill Soloway
Actors: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch
We often see films about male midlife crises, so it’s refreshing to experience one from a woman’s point of view. From the beginning of the movie, McKenna (Kathryn Hahn) feels like a fish out of water among her friends, and she’s losing touch with her husband (Josh Radnor). Director Jill Soloway does a really good job of building that frustration so when McKenna has a spark of chemistry with a young dancer at a strip club (Juno Temple), it’s more believable that she’d let her into her life. Her character is obviously well-intention, but her self-destruction isn’t sugar-coated. And we get to see a new side of Josh Radnor than we’ve seen before—darker, more troubled and internal.—Michael Dunaway
13. The Gatekeepers
Director: Dror Moreh
Dror Moreh’s documentary has already played at Telluride and Toronto, and is even already nominated for an Oscar, but it plays Sundance this year in the Spotlight section, reserved for a select few films that have played other festivals. It earns its spot, and then some. Amazingly, Moreh conducted interviews with every single head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. The access boggles the mind, and some of the stories are riveting. If there’s a flaw in the film, it’s one of bias—the film dwells on Israeli atrocities while mitigating its criticisms of Palestinian terrorism. Still, it’s a fascinating look behind the curtain. And it’s a technical tour de force—Moreh does things with still photos that I’ve never seen done in a film before.—Michael Dunaway
12. Toy’s House
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Actors: Nick Robinson, Nick Offerman, Moises Arias, Gabriel Basso, Alison Brie, Megan Mullally, Erin Moriarty
Comedies generally fare well at Sundance. After hours of watching dark, disturbing dramas and depressing documentaries, sometimes you just need a laugh. Toy’s House provides plenty. Like Superbad (but with less raunch and even more heart), it tells the story of three boys on the brink of becoming men—struggling to fit in at school and at home. Joe Toy (Nick Robinson) has had enough of his overbearing, miserable widower father (Nick Offerman) and decides to build a house in the woods for he and his friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso). Moises Arias steals scene after scene as the awkward third roommate who just kind of shows up.—Josh Jackson
11. Fill the Void
Director: Rama Burshtein
Actors: Hila Feldman, Razia Israeli, Yiftach Klein, Renana Raz, Ido Samuel
The press materials describe the film as a Jane Austin novel set in Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, and that’s about as close to the mark as we can get. It’s more than just a peek behind the veil of a seldom-depicted society, though. The tender film is anchored by a sensitive bravura lead performance by Hila Feldman. Somehow her struggles with family and marriage, while maintaining a parcularly Orthodox spin, still seem completely universal, as well.—Michael Dunaway
10. Don Jon’s Addiction
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Rob Brown
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a very long way since Third Rock From the Sun (and a rich career as a child actor that preceded even that). He’s shown an amazing range in films like Hesher, Mysterious Skin and his recent run of blockbusters. And he stretches himself further in his first directorial effort, Jon Don’s Addiction, playing a New Jersey Don Juan whose routine involves his car, his gym, his club, his church, his women and his porn. It’s an interesting—and hilarious—look at both how men objectify women and how women objectify men. His seemingly irredeemable character finds redemption in surprising ways.—Josh Jackson
Director: William Friedkin
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church
The power of a thunderous movie ending should never be underestimated. Even if everything that precedes a film’s closing scenes underwhelms, the last shot can send audiences out on a high that’ll make them forgive all of the inadequacies. Acclaimed director William Friedkin’s (The French Connection, The Exorcist) extremely pulpy and grimy, though unfairly NC-17-rated, Killer Joe has one of the craziest, entertainingly off-the-rails endings in recent years, but what makes it such a complete success is that the film as a whole is a victory.
In Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter Tracy Letts’ adaptation of his own 1993 play, Matthew McConaughey serves a smoldering, combustible turn as a seedy Dallas cop, nicknamed Killer Joe, whose side hustle involves killing folks for cash. His target of the moment is the good-for-nothing mother of a young, in-debt deadbeat (Emile Hirsch) from a dysfunctional trailer park family. Unable to pay Joe, Hirsch begrudgingly gives his cute space cadet of a little sister (Juno Temple) up as a “retainer.”
19. Ruby Sparks
Directors: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Actors: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Annette Bening, Chris Messina, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould
Take our advice: Rent a copy of Ruby Sparks, schedule a home video night with your preferred lady friend, and be prepared to receive cool points a-plenty from your fairer-sexed partner. Perhaps even some post-movie loving as a reward for displaying such quality taste in cinema. But we digress.
What's truly special about the second feature film from sharp husband-and-wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) is the wonderful script from star Zoe Kazan. Blending magical-realism with touching romance, Kazan's screenplay brilliantly develops a romance from the seemingly impossible.
The actress' real-life boyfriend, the perennially underrated Paul Dano, gives a strong leading man performance as a struggling novelist who inexplicably wills a fictional dream girl (Kazan) into existence and falls in love with her. Ruby Sparks works on several levels concurrently: It's a genuinely sweet comedy, a heart-tugging love story, and a Twilight Zone-esque look at human connection in a heightened reality. Most critics would call Silver Linings Playbook the year's best romantic comedy—around these parts, the title goes to Ruby Sparks.
18. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Actors: Quvenzhane Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Esterly, Gina Montana, Lowell Landes
It’s rare that a movie given such a high amount of critical hyperbole and instant prestige lives up to the hype. After winning both the top grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Camera d’Or (designated for best first-time director) at the Cannes Film Festival in May, debut feature helmer Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild rode one of the loudest, most enthusiastic waves of pre-release build-up seen in quite some time before its late June release.
Thankfully, all of the positive word was absolutely justified. Anchored by an astounding performance from 6-year-old rookie Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts is an emotional powerhouse. The film follows a tough little girl, Hushpuppy, who, living in a fictional New Orleans marshland community called “The Bathtub,” must contend with both a dying father (the equally dynamite Dwight Henry), mythical monsters known as “aurochs,” and rising waters that are washing her homeland away.
Shot in the heart of New Orleans with newbie actors and a tight-knit production crew, Zeitlin’s picture is as authentic as it is captivating. When Hushpuppy’s defiant narration isn’t either making you laugh or stand at attention, the film’s rich characters and brave narrative turns will leave you clutching for fresh Kleenex. It’s a towering achievement from a director and young rugrat/actress whose names we’ll be hearing a lot of come awards season.
17. The Spectacular Now
Director: James Ponsoldt
Actors: Miles Teller, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Shailene Woodley gives a performance of such fragility and power in The Spectacular Now that the rest of the movie almost feels dull by comparison. Director James Ponsoldt (Smashed) adapted Tim Tharp’s coming-of-age novel with heartfelt sincerity, and the result has wooed enthusiastic Sundance crowds. Miles Teller stars as Sutter, a high school senior with a great enthusiasm for human connection and partying, but little enthusiasm for classwork or future planning. Think Ferris Bueller with a concealed depression and an alcohol abuse problem. Woodley dominates every frame she’s in with sweet hesitations and a nervous smile. She provides a mesmerizing portrayal of young love. If only The Spectacular Now had been about its strongest character, it could have really been something.—Jeremy Mathews
16. Crystal Fairy
Director: Sebastián Silva
Actors: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffman, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Augustin Silva
If Michael Cera was typecast as the poster boy for Type B romantic heroes—awkward but sweet, soft but humble, geeky but loveable—his turn in Sebastián Silva’s Crystal Fairy marks his arrival as an unlikeable Type A anti-hero. In one of the actor’s two Chile-based collaborations with Silva at Sundance (the other is Magic Magic), Jaime (Cera) is an ugly American, obsessed with mind-altering drugs and oblivious to his own self-centeredness. Stoned at a local party, he invites fellow American Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman)—a hippie, hairy, sometimes off-putting and often-naked free spirit—on his quest for a rare mescaline-producing cactus on a camping trip with friends. The sparse plot nonetheless provides opportunities for a little self-reflection and some original, dark humor, making the druggy affair a worthwhile trip to the theater.—Josh Jackson
15. The Crash Reel
Director: Lucy Walker
Even for those of us who have no interest in snowboarding or winter sports, The Crash Reel provides a remarkable story about family. What could have easily been a by-the-numbers recovery story about a niche sport is constantly compelling in the hands of one of our most talented young documentarians—Oscar-nominee Lucy Walker. It’s striking how different each of Walker’s movies are in both subject matter and feel, yet she’s remarkably consistent. She finds the right story and the right tone every single time.—Michael Dunaway
14. Afternoon Delight
Director: Jill Soloway
Actors: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch
We often see films about male midlife crises, so it’s refreshing to experience one from a woman’s point of view. From the beginning of the movie, McKenna (Kathryn Hahn) feels like a fish out of water among her friends, and she’s losing touch with her husband (Josh Radnor). Director Jill Soloway does a really good job of building that frustration so when McKenna has a spark of chemistry with a young dancer at a strip club (Juno Temple), it’s more believable that she’d let her into her life. Her character is obviously well-intention, but her self-destruction isn’t sugar-coated. And we get to see a new side of Josh Radnor than we’ve seen before—darker, more troubled and internal.—Michael Dunaway
13. The Gatekeepers
Director: Dror Moreh
Dror Moreh’s documentary has already played at Telluride and Toronto, and is even already nominated for an Oscar, but it plays Sundance this year in the Spotlight section, reserved for a select few films that have played other festivals. It earns its spot, and then some. Amazingly, Moreh conducted interviews with every single head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. The access boggles the mind, and some of the stories are riveting. If there’s a flaw in the film, it’s one of bias—the film dwells on Israeli atrocities while mitigating its criticisms of Palestinian terrorism. Still, it’s a fascinating look behind the curtain. And it’s a technical tour de force—Moreh does things with still photos that I’ve never seen done in a film before.—Michael Dunaway
12. Toy’s House
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Actors: Nick Robinson, Nick Offerman, Moises Arias, Gabriel Basso, Alison Brie, Megan Mullally, Erin Moriarty
Comedies generally fare well at Sundance. After hours of watching dark, disturbing dramas and depressing documentaries, sometimes you just need a laugh. Toy’s House provides plenty. Like Superbad (but with less raunch and even more heart), it tells the story of three boys on the brink of becoming men—struggling to fit in at school and at home. Joe Toy (Nick Robinson) has had enough of his overbearing, miserable widower father (Nick Offerman) and decides to build a house in the woods for he and his friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso). Moises Arias steals scene after scene as the awkward third roommate who just kind of shows up.—Josh Jackson
11. Fill the Void
Director: Rama Burshtein
Actors: Hila Feldman, Razia Israeli, Yiftach Klein, Renana Raz, Ido Samuel
The press materials describe the film as a Jane Austin novel set in Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, and that’s about as close to the mark as we can get. It’s more than just a peek behind the veil of a seldom-depicted society, though. The tender film is anchored by a sensitive bravura lead performance by Hila Feldman. Somehow her struggles with family and marriage, while maintaining a parcularly Orthodox spin, still seem completely universal, as well.—Michael Dunaway
10. Don Jon’s Addiction
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Rob Brown
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a very long way since Third Rock From the Sun (and a rich career as a child actor that preceded even that). He’s shown an amazing range in films like Hesher, Mysterious Skin and his recent run of blockbusters. And he stretches himself further in his first directorial effort, Jon Don’s Addiction, playing a New Jersey Don Juan whose routine involves his car, his gym, his club, his church, his women and his porn. It’s an interesting—and hilarious—look at both how men objectify women and how women objectify men. His seemingly irredeemable character finds redemption in surprising ways.—Josh Jackson
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