Film Comment Magazine’s Best of 2013 Lists Revealed


Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis

Film Comment has announced its highly anticipated year-end list of the best films released in 2013, with Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis (NYFF51) taking the top spot. Over 120 film critics and programmers weighed in with their votes, making this list among the most comprehensive to be published each year.

Another NYFF51 favorite, Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, ended up at #2 on the list, with Richard Linklater's Before Midnight close behind it. Other NYFF alums in top slots include Jia Zhang-ke's A Touch of Sin (#5), Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel’s Leviathan (#6), and Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha (#9). New Directors/New Films alums also had a strong showing, with Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing taking the #4 spot and Shane Carruth's Upstream Color at #10.

The magazine also released a list of the top 20 films of 2013 without distribution, the top five spots all going to films that screened at the 51st New York Film Festival: Philippe Garrel's Jealousy, Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs, Joaquim Pinto's What Now? Remind Me, Hong Sang-soo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon, and Catherine Breillat's Abuse of Weakness.


Philippe Garrel's Jealousy

"Film Comment’s annual Best Films lists does its best to offer a comprehensive look at the year in film," said Film Comment editor Gavin Smith, "by combining the viewpoints of most of the magazine’s staff and contributors as well as many of America’s most influential film critics, writers and minds. Every year we try to make the poll more inclusive."

Below are both top 10 lists. Click through to FilmComment.com to see what else made the cut.

Top 10 Films Released in 2013
1. Joel & Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis
2. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave
3. Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight
4. Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing
5. Jia Zhang-ke’s A Touch of Sin
6. Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel’s Leviathan
7. Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity
8. Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess
9. Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha
10. Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color
Head to FilmComment.com for numbers 11-50.

Top 10 Films of 2013 Without Distribution
1. Philippe Garrel's Jealousy
2. Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs
3. Joaquim Pinto's What Now? Remind Me
4. Hong Sang-soo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon
5. Catherine Breillat's Abuse of Weakness
6. Hong Sang-soo's Our Sunhi
7. Ramon Zürcher's The Strange Little Cat
8. Ben Rivers & Ben Russell's A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness
9. Albert Serra's Story of My Death
10. Fernando Eimbcke's Club Sandwich
Head to FilmComment.com for numbers 11-20.

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