|
60%
|
Maniac (2013)
|
"It'll get your blood pumping, before it starts spilling down your forehead."
|
Drew Taylor
|
|
——
|
Our Nixon (2013)
|
"While Our Nixon is not trying to exonerate or prove anything other than what has already happened, it is trying to understand this other side of the Nixon administration...but one of a complicated man..."
|
Katie Walsh
|
|
75%
|
In a World... (2013)
|
"In a world...where female writers are scarce and female writer/directors even more so, Lake Bell has done both with panache in her feature debut, In A World..."
|
Katie Walsh
|
|
76%
|
Monsters University (2013)
|
"Monsters University isn't perfect...Still, it's easily the most enjoyable animated film so far this year, one that is visually stunning, wickedly subversive, incredibly funny, and lump-in-your-throat emotional."
|
Drew Taylor
|
|
56%
|
I'm So Excited! (2013)
|
"While there's drugs and sex and drinking and dancing, for sure, if one looks at I'm So Excited as a metaphor for the ills of society today and how we react to it, it becomes a much more poignant and biting satire of the state of our world..."
|
Katie Walsh
|
|
79%
|
Berberian Sound Studio (2013)
|
"You might shuffle in your seat a little during the film, but like last year's other unnerving British surprise, Kill List...you come out of the theater on edge and off kilter, amazed at the craft displayed."
|
Oliver Lyttelton
|
|
59%
|
American Mary (2013)
|
"Alternately creepy and languid, incisive and aimless, American Mary examines a provocative subject, heralding the duo as a couple of the genre's next great voices - that is, as soon as their follow-through proves as strong as their set-up."
|
Todd Gilchrist
|
|
96%
|
Hannah Arendt (2013)
|
"While it could easily be shorter and move a bit faster, especially at the beginning, it appears to move at a speed that's true to the heroine's thought process...If this portrait is true to Arendt, then let it stand."
|
Mark Zhuravsky
|
|
55%
|
Man of Steel (2013)
|
"Goyer and Nolan have crafted in Man of Steel a taut, exploratory vision...Together, they've humanized an icon...although they've undervalued the integral supporting roles in much of the same manner."
|
Charlie Schmidlin
|
|
73%
|
World War Z (2013)
|
"As has been with the trend with tentpoles this summer, World War Z isn't truly bad; it's competently made and has enough memorable moments or scenes to make you walk out feeling like you weren't cheated out of the ticket price."
|
Oliver Lyttelton
|
|
84%
|
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2013)
|
"This was Morton Downey Jr., and Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie is probably the film he deserves."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
34%
|
The Internship (2013)
|
"...The Internship is kind of a terrible movie and perhaps it's sad to think it exists while some struggling would-be genius filmmaker can't get his project made due to lack of resources..."
|
Rodrigo Perez
|
|
38%
|
The Purge (2013)
|
"...maybe the most invigorating aspect of The Purge is how it might be the launch of the next great horror franchise, one in which subversive ideas are much more important than bottomless buckets of blood."
|
Drew Taylor
|
|
87%
|
The Way, Way Back (2013)
|
"Carell's character is certainly a darker one than we've seen from him before, and that may be a tough sell for audiences used to the actor playing sunnier types."
|
Cory Everett
|
|
85%
|
This Is the End (2013)
|
"This Is The End is a vanity project that hopes that audiences will enjoy hanging out with Seth and the gang as much as they like hanging out with each other."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
71%
|
The East (2013)
|
"Though the script...could've used another polish, as a filmmaker, Batmanglij is still at the head of the class of up-and-coming directors...The East is definitely a movie that's going to divide people but it'll be a conversation worth having."
|
Cory Everett
|
|
61%
|
The Wall (2013)
|
"The Wall seems to be telling the story about assimilation, about a woman who accepts her lot and attempts to persevere through the cruelest of conditions, an unspoken martyr. Perhaps it would carry much more power had she not been so chatty."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
73%
|
The Kings of Summer (2013)
|
"While the premise of the film is outlandish, the feelings are all real...Director Vogt-Roberts and screenwriter Chris Galletta are in perfect unison on this film, harmonizing to create what feels like a fresh comic voice."
|
Cory Everett
|
|
59%
|
American Mary (2013)
|
"American Mary simply reveals itself as a film with little on its mind, content to scare rubberneckers into contemplating the backstory of the more outlandish body manipulation jobs they've seen in public. A documentary would have sufficed."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
50%
|
Now You See Me (2013)
|
"...Leterrier's film is a reminder that sometimes a good yarn can do enough heavy lifting on its own to provide thrills. Whether or not the illusion pays off will be up to you, but the trick itself may be intriguing enough."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
11%
|
After Earth (2013)
|
"The film progresses to the point where it feels less like father and son, and more like a young boy listening to an inspirational audiobook..."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
100%
|
L'inconnu du lac (Stranger by the Lake) ()
|
"Stranger By The Lake is a small, highly polished film detailing how easily morality can become unmoored, Lord of the Flies-style, in an enclosed society that refers only to itself."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
38%
|
Grigris ()
|
"Grigris measures out its story in spacious doses, hoping to build into something of a morality tale, but there is little learned except that entering a criminal enterprise and trying to outsmart the criminals, probably isn't a great idea."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
——
|
Michael Kohlhaas ()
|
"...shorn of some interesting subplots and themes...that get lost in the translation of events from Germany to France, as the film progresses the anti-dramatic choices it makes start to feel less like restraint and more like lack of inspiration."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
83%
|
La Vénus à la fourrure (Venus in Fur) ()
|
"...beneath a brittle veneer of verbal dash and cleverness this stagebound adaptation has little insight to give us into anything except the sexual hubris of an aging man, and frankly, we're not sure we give a damn. "
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
——
|
Only Lovers Left Alive ()
|
"It's an offbeat, fun, and frequently very funny film, lifted out of disposability by some wonderfully rich production design, music cuts and photography, and by the cherishable performances of the leads. "
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
100%
|
All Is Lost (2013)
|
"...Chandor who had already impressed us in a very different manner with his first film, here shows himself in a new light, that showcases his technical aptitude and remarkable sense of pacing and rhythm."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
62%
|
Epic (2013)
|
"...despite several moments of thoughtful, quiet near-bliss and well-crafted action beats, the overall product is underwhelming. Visuals aside, the film's title belies a story that's anything but. "
|
Mark Zhuravsky
|
|
86%
|
The Immigrant ()
|
"...Gray is a filmmaker we love, and all the best qualities of his intelligent style are here in abundance...The Immigrant is contained, restrained, thoughtful filmmaking that satisfies on nearly every level..."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
100%
|
Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013)
|
"This is absolute cinema, absolute characterization, absolute storytelling, controlled and compassionate, and bursting with empathy and life...this is really the kind of film we come to Cannes in hopes of discovering. "
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
98%
|
Before Midnight (2013)
|
"While not the most fun or sexiest film in this trilogy -- do you want to watch mom and dad fight for 30 minutes straight? -- it's easily the most necessary, and it's the logical extension of where this relationship story should and must go. "
|
Rodrigo Perez
|
|
83%
|
Nebraska (2013)
|
"Really, Nebraska is a small-scale quixotic adventure about the importance of dreams, no matter how pie-eyed, in which the outlined flaws could all be forgiven, if it just went somewhere a bit more surprising. "
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
91%
|
We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks (2013)
|
" Despite a lack of access to Manning and Assange, We Steal Secrets is a vital document of a pivotal moment in world history that we're still experiencing as we speak."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
32%
|
Only God Forgives (2013)
|
"Only God Forgives delivers what we might have thought we wanted but with diminishing returns: Refn's trademark visual style is indulged to a dizzying degree but is unmoored, lacking any kind of satisfying or coherent narrative throughline."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
85%
|
Fill the Void (2013)
|
"Tonally, the film awkwardly straddles fluffy comedy and grief-stricken melodrama, hopping from one mode to other scene to scene. "
|
Oliver Lyttelton
|
|
100%
|
La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) ()
|
"Just like Fellini's grand spectacles, La Grande Bellezza washes over you in series of scenes, visages, sensations and impressions, and although in this case it doesn't quite gel into a cohesive whole, it's nonetheless a journey worth taking..."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
33%
|
Les salauds (The Bastards) ()
|
"...from such a usually nuanced and thought-provoking auteur, it's hard not to see the film as a minor entry. The Bastards feels like what happens when an undeniably great filmmaker stoops to sensationalism"
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
100%
|
Nancy, Please (2013)
|
"Despite the ocassional light tone, and the fact that Nancy, Please pivots on Paul's crumbling mental state, the film works almost as if a distaff version of Jaws, except Eleonore Hendricks' Nancy is almost scarier."
|
Gabe Toro
|
|
92%
|
We Are What We Are ()
|
"We Are What We Are is just a great yarn, well-acted, elegantly shot and put together cleverly so that even its more visceral delights feel well-earned."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
——
|
Un château en Italie (A Castle in Italy) ()
|
"Sometimes playing it safe is the more dangerous route, and we wish that Bruni-Tedeschi had challenged herself to step out of the uber-privileged French/Italian haute bourgeoisie milieu where she clearly feels most comfortable..."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
44%
|
As I Lay Dying ()
|
"Ultimately, As I Lay Dying is another Franco lark that is more of an experiment with form than a fully realized movie. "
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
44%
|
Wara no tate (Shield of Straw) ()
|
"The killer's final lines suggest a gleeful, pitch black perversity that the rest of Shield of Straw could have used, but instead it's a thoroughly below average genre flick that's empty on ideas and entertainment value."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
57%
|
Blood Ties ()
|
"Blood Ties is a curious film where if you were to remove any of the crucial parts, it would splinter, yet put all together, it kind of works, in its own wildly uneven way. "
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
——
|
Grand Central ()
|
"The real moral of the story is that no matter if you're making your life in the shadow of enormous chimney stacks, with danger sirens sounding out regularly, love...can blossom, and perhaps even thrive in the most toxic of environments. "
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
100%
|
Seduced And Abandoned ()
|
"...the insider look at the industry is appealing, and Seduced And Abandoned is enjoyable but lightweight, and if anything, reaffirms that art doesn't come easy."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
67%
|
Borgman ()
|
"...whether or not it's handed any silverware, we had a great time with it as a modern adult fairytale and a blackly funny continuation of one of our most resilient storytelling traditions: Good vs Evil."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
73%
|
Tian zhu ding (A Touch of Sin) ()
|
"Ultimately A Touch of Sin a rather misshapen attempt to add drama and narrative intrigue to Jia's stylistic repertoire, and the joins show too obviously for the result to be truly satisfying to his diehard fans, or to potential new recruits."
|
Jessica Kiang
|
|
40%
|
Jimmy P. ()
|
"After the sprawling, messy but rich A Christmas Tale, Desplechin falls short with Jimmy P. The mind may cure the soul for Jimmy P., but Desplechin can't seem to find that quality in his own picture."
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
78%
|
Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi Ni Naru) (2013)
|
"Evoking naturalistic performances from everyone involved, and with a welcome dose of humor, along with the requisite humanity he's known for, Kore-Eda Hirokazu's film is a touchingly low key, a wholly charming study of the evolution of parenthood. "
|
Kevin Jagernauth
|
|
28%
|
Erased (2013)
|
"[Erased] turns out in the end to be a solid VOD release, with Eckhart lifting his leading role out of anonymity and claiming it with a driven if not outstanding performance."
|
Mark Zhuravsky
|
73%
76%
61%
52%
26%
4%
