The Cinematic Critique’s Best of 2013: Part I

Hello everyone and welcome to the Cinematic Critique’s Best of 2013: Part I.

Below are just several of the biggest films to grace our screens this year as I finally recognise the very best of cinema in 2013 (with some ’12 films thrown into the mix too!).

Once again, the author of this site visited the cinema over thirty times this year though I did rewatch some of those ones simply because they were that good! This year served up a few memorable films that would easily break into my all-time Top 100 and barring a couple of disappointments, it was another breathtaking twelve months for cinema.

Les Miserables made us hear the people (and Russell Crowe) sing in its wonderful film adaption. We cheered for Pi Patel, Django, Abraham Lincoln and even the scrumptious Jessica Chastain in her hunt for Osama Bin Laden. The superheroes continued to dominate with Iron Man back in scintillating form while Superman was reborn again. We bid farewell to the Hangover guys and also welcomed back Sully and Mike while the stories of Star Trek and the Hobbit continued. Tom Hanks kicked Somalian butt, Hugh Jackman went full-on psycho in a performance that wasn’t Wolverine and Hollywood superstars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney battled for survival in space. On the subject of butts, the Blue is the Warmest Colour ladies enjoyed a bit of that too! We may have also shed a few tears at The Impossible and Philomena while we revisited Disney nostalgia through the supercalifragilistic Saving Mr Banks. And finally, it was lovely stuff seeing Alan Partridge back on our screens in his first cinematic outing. A-HA!

Part I of this article will focus on the production/technical categories as well as non-Oscar types like Best Film Quote, Scene and Newcomer.
Let the games begin….
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BEST FILM QUOTE

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Django: “I like the way you die boy.”

 OTHER CONTENDERS

  • ALAN PARTRIDGE: ALPHA PAPA

Pat: “My wife was buried at sea.”
Alan: “Like Bin Laden?”

  • DJANGO UNCHAINED

Calvin Candie: “Gentlemen, you had my curiosity. Now you have my complete attention”

  • LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln: “I am the president of the United States of America clothed in immense power! You will procure me those votes!”

  • PHILOMENA

Philomena Lee: “The thing is, I didn’t even know I had a clitoris Martin.

  • ZERO DARK THIRTY

Maya: “I’m the motherfucker that found this place, sir.”

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BEST SCENE OF THE YEAR 

THE IMPOSSIBLE – THE TSUNAMI SEQUENCE

OTHER CONTENDERS

  • CAPTAIN PHILLIPS – RICHARD PHILLIPS BREAKS DOWN
  • GRAVITY – THE OPENING SHOT
  • LES MISERABLES – “I DREAMED A DREAM”
  • LES MISERABLES – “ONE DAY MORE”
  • PHILOMENA – MARTIN CONFRONTS THE NURSES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

LES MISERABLES (Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tviet, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Daniel Huttlestone, Isabelle Allen)

slide_267849_1844558_free

OTHER CONTENDERS

  • THE BUTLER (Forest Whittaker, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr. Terence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, David Oyelowo,
    Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, Robin Williams)
  • DJANGO UNCHAINED (Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Di-Caprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Christopher, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, Jonah Hill)
  • LINCOLN (Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, James Spader, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce McGill, Tim Blake Nelson, Jackie Earl Haley,
    Hal Holbook, Walton Goggins, Gloria Reuben)
  • PRISONERS (Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Paul Dano,
    Terence Howard, Melissa Leo)
  • SAVING MR BANKS (Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti,
    Bradley Whitford, B.J Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Melanie Paxson, Kathy Baker, Ruth Wilson, Rachel Griffiths, Annie Rose Buckley)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST HERO

DJANGO (JAMIE FOXX) – DJANGO UNCHAINED

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • HENRY CAVILL as CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN in MAN OF STEEL
  • JESSICA CHASTAIN as MAYA in ZERO DARK THIRTY
  • DANIEL DAY-LEWIS as ABRAHAM LINCOLN in LINCOLN
  • ROBERT DOWNEY JR as TONY STARK/IRON MAN in IRON MAN 3
  • HUGH JACKMAN as JEAN VALJEAN in LES MISERABLES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST VILLAIN 

KHAN & SMAUG (BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH) –
THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG & STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS


OTHER CONTENDERS 
  • LEONARDO DI-CAPRIO as CALVIN CANDIE in DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • SAMUEL L. JACKSON as STEPHEN in DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • MELISSA LEO as HOLLY JONES in PRISONERS
  • GUY PEARCE as ALDRICH KILLIAN in IRON MAN 3
  • MICHAEL SHANNON as GENERAL ZOD in MAN OF STEEL
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST NEWCOMER 

*TIE*

SAMANTHA BARKS (LES MISERABLES)
ADELE EXARCHOPOLOUS (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR)

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • BARKHAD ABDI – CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
  • SOPHIE KENNEDY CLARK – PHILOMENA
  • TOM HOLLAND – THE IMPOSSIBLE
  • SURAJ SHARMA – LIFE OF PI

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 BEST CAMEO/LIMITED ROLE

JAMES GANDOLFINI – ZERO DARK THIRTY

130203_gandolfini_panetta_zero_dark_thirty_ap_605

OTHER CONTENDERS

  • GERALDINE CHAPLIN – THE IMPOSSIBLE
  • STEPHEN FRY – THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
  • JONAH HILL – DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • FRANCO NERO – DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • COLM WILKINSON – LES MISERABLES

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST ON-SCREEN PARTNERSHIP

PHILOMENA – JUDI DENCH & STEVE COOGAN

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR – Adele Exarchopolous & Lea Seydoux
  • DJANGO UNCHAINED – Jamie Foxx & Christoph Waltz
  • GRAVITY – Sandra Bullock & George Clooney
  • LIFE OF PI – Suraj Sharma & ‘Richard Parker’
  • NEBRASKA – Bruce Dern & Will Forte
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST BODY OF WORK

TOM HANKS
CLOUD ATLAS, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS & SAVING MR BANKS

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • STEVE COOGAN – ALAN PARTRIDGE: ALPA PAPA & PHILOMENA
  • RUSSELL CROWE – LES MISERABLES & MAN OF STEEL
  • BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH – STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS & THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
  • MARTIN FREEMAN – THE WORLD’S END & THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
  • HUGH JACKMAN – LES MISERABLES & PRISONERS

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 BEST MUSICAL SCORE

MYCHAEL DANNA – LIFE OF PI

OTHER CONTENDERS

  • ALEXANDRE DESPLAT – PHILOMENA
  • JOHANN JOHANSSON – PRISONERS
  • THOMAS NEWMAN – SAVING MR BANKS
  • STEVEN PRICE – GRAVITY
  • HANS ZIMMER – MAN OF STEEL

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST ART DIRECTION

LIFE OF PI

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • CLOUD ATLAS
  • GRAVITY
  • LES MISERABLES
  • LINCOLN
  • SAVING MR BANKS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

LIFE OF PI

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
  • DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • GRAVITY
  • PRISONERS
  • RUSH
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

 LES MISERABLES

Les Misérables

OTHER CONTENDERS

  • CLOUD ATLAS
  • DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • LINCOLN
  • MAN OF STEEL
  • SAVING MR BANKS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST MAKEUP

LES MISERABLES

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • THE BUTLER
  • CLOUD ATLAS
  • THE IMPOSSIBLE
  • LINCOLN
  • RUSH
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST EDITING

GRAVITY


OTHER CONTENDERS
  • CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
  • LES MISERABLES
  • LIFE OF PI
  • RUSH
  • ZERO DARK THIRTY
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST SOUND

GRAVITY

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • DJANGO UNCHAINED
  • LES MISERABLES
  • LIFE OF PI
  • MAN OF STEEL
  • RUSH
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

GRAVITY

OTHER CONTENDERS
  • CLOUD ATLAS
  • THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG
  • THE IMPOSSIBLE
  • LIFE OF PI
  • MAN OF STEEL
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
And that’s that for my Best of 2013 article so far. Part Two, which consists of my favourites screenplays, performances AND Top Ten of the year will be coming to a Facebook/Twitter page near you!

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