it's over and done with

I heard an interview with legendary producer Harvey Weinstein recently in which he claimed that 2013 may well have been the best year for films ever. And, you know what? He may be right. It was certainly the best year for as long as I can remember.

I managed 154 new films in 2013 - 156 if you count the fact I went to see my number 2 and number 4 films twice - and the majority of them had at least something to enjoy.

So, without further ado, here are my top 25 films of 2013.

The Top 25 Films of 2013

25. In A World...

Lake Bell's lovely comedy drama about the competition for voiceovers in the cinema trailer industry is charming, touching and beautifully written. I said: "A film that has interesting characters, normal human relationships, humour, warmth and drama is often like a breath of fresh air in a business dominated by massive tentpole sci-fi, fantasy and comic-book movies."


24. In The House

Francois Ozon's intriguing and stylish film made it to multiplexes - and rightly so. I said: "In the House is a clever, engrossing and intelligent drama about teenage obsession and the power of fiction. As the film develops it becomes increasingly unclear what is truth and what the boy has created. And, interestingly, its not just the teacher and his wife but also us, the audience, who become ever increasingly voyeuristic as we demand to see the next installment of the drama."

23. Populaire

2013 was a good year for French cinema and Populaire is a lovely story about the unlikely subject of international speed typing championships. I said: "Funny, warm and touching, I was captivated throughout. Yes, it's daft fluff and has been done before, but the 50s colour palette and the sheer elan that director Regis Roinsard brings to proceedings make this a film that should be extremely, well, Populaire."

22. The Impossible

A very bad year for Naomi Watts started off decently enough with this moving true story of the Boxing Day tsunami. I said: "The Impossible expertly walks a tightrope. It manages to be extremely moving without becoming saccharine while the recreation of the tsunami itself manages to avoid the silliness of many overblown disaster movies. In fact, the wave hitting the resort is blisteringly real, to the point where it is actually very, very difficult to watch."

21. Wreck-It Ralph

Disney seem to have recovered their mojo and this was my favourite kids film of 2013. I said: "Funny, entertaining and with a great multi-layered story, Wreck-It Ralph is the best non-Pixar Disney film I have seen in a long time. Sure, it may be a cynical marketing exercise on many levels but it was made with so much care by people who obviously love video games that you become totally engrossed in the lives of these characters."

20. Short Term 12

Brie Larson and John Gallagher Jr are superb in Destin Cretton's story about a group of care workers looking after foster children while trying to work out their own young lives. I said: "Moving, engrossing and with some great performances, Short Term 12 is one of those little gems that deserves a wider audience than it is destined to receive."

19. What Maisie Knew

Too close to home in places, What Maisie Knew is a superbly acted piece about how a young child can become little more than a pawn in their parent's game. I said: "It's a very careful and clever story that begs lots of questions about the nature of parenting and how much impact terrible parents and brilliant other adults can have on a child's life. With brilliant performances from everyone concerned, this is arguably the most relevant 1890s story you'll ever see on film."

18. Arbitrage

One of the better films about the global financial crisis, Arbitrage features one of the stand out male acting performances of 2013. I said: "This, though, is a high quality drama in which you understand the peril the lead character finds himself in without being blinded with science. It's a very accomplished debut by writer Nicholas Jarecki, but what carries Arbitrage is its magnificent central performance from Richard Gere. Throughout, Gere manages to keep you onside even though he is clearly a duplicitous crook."

17. Song for Marion

An unexpected entry on this list, perhaps, thanks to ambivalence from both critics and audiences. I said: "I absolutely loved this film, despite all of its flaws and all of its contrivances. It even made me love Gemma Arterton, and if a film can do that then it is doing something *very* right. I daresay I am in a minority of people who love Song for Marion - judging by the reviews that is certainly the case - but it totally hit the spot for me."

16. Nebraska

I do love a bit of Alexander Payne and this lovely drama keeps up the director's terrific record. I said: "Where Nebraska really works, though, is in its performances. Dern was rightly honoured at Cannes and must surely be s frontrunner for this year's Best Actor Oscar. June Squibb plays Woody's long suffering wife in another performance that I expect to gain awards recognition while Forte and Bob Odenkirk are excellent as Woody's sons. I really liked Nebraska. It's a proper piece of grown-up storytelling that, while slow, is beautifully written, filmed and played."

15. Thanks for Sharing

An ensemble cast (including popstrel Pink) tackle sex addiction for laughs. It really shouldn't work (and didn't for many) but I liked it immensely. I said: "I laughed, was moved and was shocked by Thanks for Sharing - all in a couple of hours. While others have not been so keen on this film I have to say that I was engrossed and engaged throughout. Yes, it has its flaws but as comedy dramas go I really, really enjoyed it."


14. Philomena

Steve Coogan in two dramatic roles in two of my top 25 films of the year? There's a prediction I wouldn't have made a year ago...  I said: "There is an awful lot to like about Philomena. First of all there is the terrific job done by all the cast. Judi Dench barely puts a foot wrong ever and is fantastic here while I sincerely hope Steve Coogan gets a BAFTA nod for playing an extremely straight role in a restrained way. Funny, touching, warm-hearted, this is director Stephen Frears at his best. Philomena is worthy of all its plaudits and is one of the best British films of 2013."

13. Rush

The story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda was superbly brought to life in the second great Formula One movie in a year or so (Senna, of course, being the first). I said: "Rush is exciting, dramatic, invigorating and engrossing. Even if you're not a motor racing fan there is plenty to enjoy here, not least a great script, some nailbiting action and Daniel Bruhl's terrific performance."

12. Mud

Jeff Nichols follows up his excellent Take Shelter with this great piece of atmospheric storytelling which is part Huckleberry Finn, part Whistle Down The Wind. I said: "Mud is beautifully written, beautifully shot and utterly gripping throughout. There's an unnecessarily violent denouement - which came out of nowhere - but other than this it is another brilliant drama from a very talented young director. Others have been left a little cold by Mud but I absolutely loved it."

11. Stand Up Guys

Nudged into the cinema by its star cast, this straight-to-DVD fare didn't pull up any trees with critics or audiences. I really, really loved it, though. I said: "Stand Up Guys is nothing terribly original and you can reasonably argue that Walken, Arkin and Pacino are just doing the things that they always do in a movie. But, when they do it so beautifully, what's not to like? I daresay I am in a tiny minority here but I absolutely loved this film. Terrific."



10. The Place Beyond The Pines

The Place Beyond The Pines is almost perfect for its first two acts before overextending itself in its final third. But, with this ambition, it's a film that deserves to be seen - not least for Ryan Gosling's mesmerising performance. I said: "The Place Beyond The Pines is probably too long and over-complicated but compared to most of the soulless rubbish that passes through the cinema these days it's an absolute breath of fresh air. It could even be an early contender for next year's Oscars. A must-see."

9. Enough Said

Lent an extra dimension by the premature passing of James Gandolfini, Enough Said is a genuinely real film about real middle aged people. I said: "It’s funny, warm and touching but most importantly it’s completely believable. You never once don’t truly believe that these characters could exist and that’s largely thanks to a terrific script by the director. If you want a proper adult drama with a lightness of touch and some brilliant performances, Enough Said is it. Fabulous stuff."

8. Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I read the Hunger Games trilogy of books in 2013 and absolutely loved them. So, it's a real relief to report that the films do an absolutely terrific job with the source text. I said: "Whether the franchise is going to go out with a whimper as they turn arguably the weakest book into two films remains to be seen. However, the Hunger Games series is on an upwards curve and Catching Fire is probably the year's best franchise Hollywood blockbuster."


7. The Way, Way Back

A charming and likeable coming of age tale, The Way, Way Back is one of the year's best indie comedy dramas. I said: "There's little that is very original here - indeed The Way, Way Back has an awful lot in common with 2009's excellent Adventureland - but for me it managed to remain fresh, charming and engaging throughout. There are some great performances, a lot of well-observed scenes and some snappy and funny dialogue that elevated it above the vast majority of films I've seen this year. Utterly harmless, but I absolutely loved it."

6. Broken

Daniel Clay's Broken remains one of my all time favourite books and so I suppose I was always predisposed to like this low budget British independent film of the tale. I said: "The final third of the film crams an awful lot of drama in and so I can understand why some reviewers have found the whole climax a bit histrionic. Saying that, it was impossible for me not to love Broken - mainly as I am such a fan of the base material - and I thought it was utterly brilliant."

5. Before Midnight

If you love Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, there is no way on earth that you wouldn't have also loved the third film in the series: Before Midnight. I said: "I absolutely love these characters and Before Midnight is an adult film in the very best way possible. Ruthlessly honest, beautifully written and featuring two of the best performances you'll see on screen this year (Delpy, in particular, is utterly brilliant), it's an absolute must-see."

4. Gravity

A film that genuinely will change the way that cinema is made, Gravity is a sublime accomplishment from director Alfonso Cuaron and one of a very few films I have ever seen where I came out believing I'd seen something truly spectacular. I said: "The end result is a cinematic experience unlike any other. It's one of those rare films that everyone should see at the cinema - I don't care if the last thing you saw was ET - and preferably on the biggest screen possible. Is Gravity my favourite film of 2013? I'm not sure it is. Is it the best film made this year, though? Yes, yes, yes by a country mile."

3. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

So many comedy films are simply not funny enough. In Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, though, we got a British film which is genuinely laugh out loud funny all the way through. Steve Coogan is superb (having never been a fan he's in three of my films of the year) and it is beautifully written. I said: "I absolutely loved Alpha Papa and it made me giggle all the way through. And, if you can create a comic character that can make me howl laughing simply by miming the words to Roachford's Cuddly Toy while driving along the A47 in a Kia, you're quite the genius."

2. Sunshine on Leith

Mamma Mia is one of my most hated films of all time. So, the prospect of a jukebox musical stuffed full of songs by a band I don't really know didn't fill me with hope. However, Sunshine on Leith gradually won me over to the point where I dragged my family to see it three days later (they loved it too). If Jane Horrocks singing the title track doesn't make your heart break, you are a cold, cold soul. I said: "It's not the best film you'll see this year but it's the only film I've been back to the cinema to watch again and it's by some distance the most likeable. If I were writing the poster, I'd say "Sunshine on Leith is a triumph".

1. Blue Is The Warmest Colour

In what universe is my favourite film of the year a three hour subtitled French arthouse film about the love affair between two women? Indeed, I was so unsure about seeing Blue Is The Warmest Colour (despite its Cannes win) that I took a huge supply of food and drink to keep me entertained. What I got though was probably the best coming of age film I have ever seen with a central performance from Adele Exarchopoulos that took my breath away.

The reason it is here though is not because I am desperate to see it again but because it stayed with me for weeks and weeks after seeing it. It still idly pops into my mind now - some months later. I said: "I could wax lyrically about Blue Is The Warmest Colour for hours. It's not perfect - as I say it is a little long - but no film this year has stayed with me in quite the way that this did. A true gem."

So, there we go. I surprised myself with that first choice, I'll be honest. And a jukebox musical and a Steve Coogan film in the top three? The power of cinema to surprise, I suppose.

Anyway. Here's the bit you have been waiting for.

The Worst 10 Films Of 2013

10. The Big Wedding

There are four (FOUR!) Oscar winners in The Big Wedding. However, never in celluloid history has there ever been a bigger waste of A-list acting talent than in this desperate excuse for a comedy drama. Robert de Niro, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams and Diane Keaton - hang your heads in shame. I said: "Some people fight at a wedding. Yawn. Someone sleeps with someone they shouldn't. Roll eyes. Families fight. Falls into coma. A colossal waste of talent and time. The Big Fat Shit Wedding, perhaps."

9. Justin and the Knights of Valour

On the whole, the standard of kids animated films has been on an upward curve in recent years. This year there were blips, however, First up there was Epic which, er, wasn't. Then came this absolute stinker - a film whose animation was beautiful but where everyone involved had forgotten the fact that there has to be a decent story and characters we care about. I said: "About half an hour in I got up from my seat and asked a bloke two rows in front of me to turn his mobile phone off (he had been playing with the bright screen for about 15 minutes and it was unbelievably distracting). For the rest of the time I could see him fidgeting, bored out of his mind and desperate to do something else. You know what? I know how he felt. Justin and the Knights of Valour is awful rubbish. Avoid."

8. The Host

I like Saiorse Ronan. And, up to this point, she had made some reasonable film choices (the excellent Hanna, for example). Then, she chose a sub-par Stephanie Meyer adaptation which is as preposterous as it is tedious. I said: "It's misogynistic, stupid and obvious but, above all, it absolutely bored me to tears. Saiorse Ronan does the best with what she's given, but when the star of the film is am amazing chrome Lotus sports car you know there's something badly wrong. By the end I couldn't give a flying monkeys whether anyone lived or died and whether the aliens (whose motives and invasion strategy are never explained and which seem to change during the two hour running time anyway) prevail or not."

7. 21 And Over

Three college students go out on an epic night and get wellied. Pranks ensue. Miles Teller - you were great in Rabbit Hole. What in God's name are you doping in this shite? I said: "There's some lazy and outdated racial stereotypes (yuk), a hilarious scene where the two boys get their comeuppance from a Latino sorority (yawn) and a stray wild animal (really?) It's no Project X - now there was a horrible film - and it's not as awful as Movie 43. Still, if that's the type of comparison we're grappling for, you know a film is in trouble. Awful."

6. Romeo and Juliet

An adaptation of the world's most famous play featuring an A-list cast in full-on costume pomposity. What could go wrong? Well, let's start with 'adaptation' - alarm bells ringing - where Julian Fellowes thinks he can improve the original text. Then throw in all sorts, from scene chewing acting to terrible casting. I said: "Romeo and Juliet is boring, long and stupid. There's more sexual chemistry between Naomi Watts and Naveen Andrews in Diana than there is between these star-crossed lovers and the daft and totally unnecessary adaptation of the text was a grave mistake. All in all it's a terrible and misguided venture. Awful."

5. Diana

Talking of Diana, it really is as bad as you might have read. It makes those Hallmark TV movies look like bloody Kramer vs Kramer. I said: "Naomi Watts is a talented actress but other than nailing some of Diana's mannerisms she's pretty poor here. Saying that, she's not helped by one of the worst screenplays I have ever heard which makes even competent performers - Geraldine James, Juliet Stephenson and Naveen Andrews - look like something from a dodgy Channel 5 drama. Diana is absolutely shocking from start to finish. Badly written, acted and directed: it's an absolute stinker."


4. A Good Day To Die Hard

The Die Hard films are good, right? At least two are solid gold classics (I'd say Die Hard and ...With A Vengeance) while there's also plenty going for 4.0. This, though? Good grief: it's daft, unbelievably tedious and spectacularly uninteresting. I said: "Falling asleep during a Die Hard film? It sounds ludicrous, but this really is a stupid, pointless, preposterous waste of resources that will spectacularly fail to hold your attention. The Die Hard movies are some of the best genre action films of the last 25 years. This is utter, utter shite. Avoid."

3. Pain and Gain

Is there a film with a bigger moral vacuum than Michael Bay's Pain and Gain? Featuring an Oscar nominee - yes you, Wahlberg - (and, apparently, the world's biggest box office star, Dwayne Johnson, which says a lot about modern cinema) this is crude, unfunnt and dreadful. I said: "Pain and Gain is so crass that it is like being beaten to death at a gym by a man with a copy of Nuts magazine. No opportunity to show a woman's arse is eschewed. No chance to make a sex based joke is missed. And no terrible movie cliche is ignored. It's a film that is utterly horrible - unfunny, stupid, brainless, misogynistic and idiotic and that can't help but making fun of women, gays and foreigners at every turn. Pain and Gain is an absolutely horrible 129 minutes of film. Avoid it at all costs."

2. This Is The End

Danny McBride. If that wasn't a clue that this was going to be a load of old cobblers, I don't know what would be. A load of unfunny 'comedic' actors play exaggerated versions of themselves as the end of the world reaches Hollywood. I only wish it had. I said: "If you think I'm exaggerating or missing the hilarious point of this film: there is a scene where the main characters talk about raping Emma Watson. If that's not enough to end this lowbrow, brain-dead, unfunny nonsense for good, we may as well welcome the Rapture now."

1. Movie 43

Let's be frank about this: Movie 43 is the worst movie of this or any year. Despite it's stellar cast - Emma Stone is in it, for Christ's sake - it is utterly horrid. I said: "I was so far from laughing it was untrue: indeed I spent much of it with my head in my hands wondering if it could get any worse. It did. Often. If I had access to my brain so I could take a brillo pad to it and scrub it until it was cleansed of any trace of this rotten excuse for a film, I would do it immediately. All I can suggest that you do is give this steaming pile of horse shit as wide a berth as you possibly can."

Happy New Year, everyone. Let me know what you enjoyed (and hated) below!