We now return you to 2013, already in progress
I keep hearing myself say, “I told you the best movies from 2011 were Take Shelter, Another Earth, and Jane Eyre.” In part so that I can cite the fact that I “told you,” and mostly just because I’ve been wanting to for awhile, I will now hold the Richard Lives equivalent of the Oscars once annually (called “Favorites” because I don’t presume to be any more of an authority on the subject than I seem to be [not to say I don’t make better decisions than the Academy, but I digress]) . The rules I set for myself are as follows:
I. Only include movies that I’ve seen/written about here.
II. Set early February as a deadline. Do it during awards season. As such, I won’t have seen every movie of the year, in large part because of my location (for example, I am doing this list before having seen Rust and Bone, as I may not get to it anytime soon. Apologies to Marion Cotillard, who surely doesn’t need my approval).
III. Only include movies from the year in question. Sometimes I see films from the previous year that I never got around to and write about them if I need to, so you’ll see them mixed in with the new movies. Look at the year of release, listed at the bottom of each review, if you’re wondering why The Lie isn’t included in this year’s list.
IV. No more than 5 nominees for each category. Some have fewer. Some have only one, such as “Favorite Character,” which we’ll also call the Highlander Award, just for fun.
V. Be honest. As much as I may like to be seen disagreeing with the Academy, Les Mis was pretty damn good.
I’ll explain the categories as we go, if the parameters aren’t obvious. The “Body of Work” actor and actress awards refer to actors who had the most prolific year (varied roles, great performances). 2011’s winner was, of course, Jessica Chastain, with seven major roles and no equal in performance and character assortment.
Some categories have several nominees. Some don’t. Categories with multiple nominees may have a star (*) next to one, indicating my personal favorite of the year’s best. However, since the nominees aren’t actually receiving anything from me (positive encouragement notwithstanding) and considering the fact that many of these roles/films are really not comparable (for instance, how do you compare Hugh Jackman’s performance with Woody Harrelson’s and Daniel Day-Lewis’s, and then decide which is somehow “best”? “Best” according to what characteristics shared by all three?), you may consider all nominees equal winners if I’ve chosen not to “star” anything. Click the links (movie titles) to see my original reviews.
Without further ado:
Best Pictures
Best screenwriting
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Derek Connolly – Safety Not Guaranteed
Martin McDonagh – Seven Psychopaths
James Ellroy/Oren Moverman – Rampart
Brit Marling – Sound of My Voice
Favorite character
Léa Seydoux as Sidonie Laborde – Farewell, My Queen
Best Actress (single performance)
Jessica Chastain as Maya – Zero Dark Thirty*
Lea Seydoux as Sidonie Laborde – Farewell, My Queen
Juno Temple as Lily – Little Birds
Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany – Silver Linings Playbook
Sarah Hayward as Suzie – Moonrise Kingdom
Best Actress (body of work)
Jennifer Lawrence
Best Actor (single performance)
Woody Harrelson as Dave Brown – Rampart*
Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln – Lincoln
Michael Fassbender as David – Prometheus
Richard Gere as Robert Miller – Arbitrage
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Robert – A Late Quartet*
Best actor (body of work)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Best supporting actress
Brie Larson as Helen – Rampart*
Imogen Poots as Alexandra – A Late Quartet*
Brit Marling as Maggie – Sound of My Voice
Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette – Farewell, My Queen
Best supporting actor
Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz – Django Unchained
Robert De Niro as Patrizio Solitano – Silver Linings Playbook
Ben Whishaw as Robert Frobisher – Cloud Atlas
Best director
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty*
Oren Moverman – Rampart
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
Best book-to-film adaptation
Les Misérables*
Silver Linings Playbook
Dark Horse Favorite
Biggest letdowns
Most Popular Review
Actors who wrote to me
Lily Cole
Lauren Ashley Carter
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Thanks for reading. See you next year.
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