Favorite Movies of 2013: Big Six Part One (Spoiler Free)

For you readers who wish to remain spoiler free, here are the next three on my "Favorites of 2013" list. If you've seen them, or don't care about spoilers, each of these also have their own posts. The first half of the "Big Six" will be revealed tomorrow.

#3 (Tie):  The Wolf of Wall Street

If you don't like typical Martin Scorsese films, then you won't like this one*. Fortunately, I've liked all of the films that I've seen from the legendary director. To some, Jonah Hill's nomination for Best Supporting Actor is a bit puzzling. These people have not seen this movie yet. Less surprising, but still just as worthy of a nomination, is Leo DiCaprio's turn as Jordan Belfort, the young wall street wizard who founded a very profitable company built upon borderline (or completely) illegal practices. There has been some controversy over whether this film glorifies the excess, greed, vulgarity, and misogyny seen throughout the three hour running time. To me, that isn't quite the case, as it's all so over the top that you can't help but see it as absurd behavior. The movie makes you ask tough questions about ourselves, and how complicit we are in letting criminals like Belfort get away with it. Unfortunately, I'd imagine there will be plenty of wall street brokers and popped-collar types who will view Belfort and his cronies as role models, much like Gordon Gekko was for an earlier generation. Whatever the case may be, this movie belongs on this list thanks to one series of scenes later in the film. As this is the non-spoiler zone, I'll just say it involves Quaaludes, and you'll know it when you see it. 

#3 (Tie) Her

Directed by Spike Jonze, this film is the winner of the prestigious "Spike Jonze Memorial Best Picture Directed by a Creator of Jackass" award. It is also a charming and bittersweet tale of a romance between recently divorced Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) and a sentient operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). It could have been very easy for this movie to fall into a realm of twee, cutesy crap with the mother of all MPDG** at the center of it. Fortunately, the performances by Phoenix and Johansson, and the development of Johannson's artificial life form keeps it from crossing that line. On top of the great performances and interesting story, it's also a beautiful film, with a plausible, yet slightly goofy, futuristic feel. In addition, Amy Adams turns in another great performance as Theodore's close friend...uh...Amy. 

#2 (Tie) Frozen

More than any other film on this list, this one took me by surprise at how great it turned out being. Part of this was an ambiguous teaser which focused on Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer. While their little teaser was cute and funny, it wasn't exactly setting up what the film was actually like. A return to the usual Disney "princess and music" format, it does a lot to subvert that pattern, particularly in its ending. Also, despite my worst fears, Olaf is actually enjoyable as comic relief sidekick, almost to the level of Dug the Dog from Up, the Platonic ideal of the character type. Above all, the characters are mostly entertaining, the voice acting continues the stellar Disney tradition, and the music is pretty great, if at times a bit different from "traditional" Disney music. For the first time in the history of the award, Walt Disney Animation might win a "Best Animated Feature" award at the Oscars***, assuming Miyazaki's swan song The Wind Rises doesn't pull off an upset.

*Also, you probably are doing film watching wrong.

**Manic Pixie Dream Girl

***Obviously I'm not counting Pixar, which is separate from Walt Disney Animation. Also, if Frozen wins, it won't be the studio's first competitive Oscar, as last year's wonderful Paperman won the "Best Animated Short" Oscar.