TOP TEN 2013

It's the end of the year, and you all know what that means. Time for the top ten movies released not this year but the previous year! I am nothing if not timely.

I've been meaning to write this list for a long time now, but I couldn't bring myself to do it earlier because I had missed out on many of 2013's critical new releases. Even still, I haven't seen a bunch of potential contenders like:

The Conjuring, The Wind Rises, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, 12 Years a Slave, The Counselor, Dallas Buyers Club, Blackfish, The Bling Ring, Spring Breakers, etc.

I have an assortment of excuses for this negligence. The first Post-Credit Coda post being published on December 31 of 2013, 2014 was my first year of writing about movies. Seeing new releases in 2013 had not been a priority for my college self. But I've finally watched my way through forty movies from 2013, enough material for a hearty if not comprehensive top ten.

Looking over my list, I can't help but call 2013 disappointing. Shame on you, 2013. Summer blockbuster season felt like a dry spell and the Oscars didn't blow me away. Despite this, picking ten movies proved a bit confounding. That's why lists are fun! Time warps impressions, and self-imposed limits force you to confront what you find valuable in your favorite and not-so-favorite films. Not every movie can be a big fat winner. Some movies are big fat losers. With that in mind...

AMERICAN HUSTLE: Neither Profundity Nor Moribundity

Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Eric Singer, David O. Russell
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K.
Runtime: 138 mins.
2013

American Hustle lives in the endlessly entertaining realm of smart cinema, breezing past clever and falling short of intelligent.  It never even brushes its gaudy sleeves against profound, but the good thing is it never tries.

Our heroes are Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), lovers and small-time con artists who get nabbed by F.B.I. agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).  They make a deal to participate in a sting that, thanks to DiMaso's wild and dangerous impulses for glory, spirals into a situation too big for our savvy con artists to handle.  Irving's ditzy, manipulative wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) is a wild card who only complicates matters.  Through all of this, the characters struggle to find something real and genuine in love and friendship despite the constant subterfuge.  But the plot isn't really what's important here.