Top Ten Movies of 2013

Probably getting a little late for an end-of-the-year list, but what the hell. I'm still ahead of the Oscars. I watched 65 movies in 2013, down from 82 in 2012. The reason for the drop is simple: Breaking Bad. Meg and I binge-watched the entire series and that dominated my viewing time for quite a stretch. The first movie I watched in 2013 was Ruby Sparks and the last movie I watched was The Way Way Back. If you're heading out to the theaters or looking for something to rent, you can't go wrong with any of these films. I'm changing things up a bit with the movie list this year. The movies aren't necessarily movies released in 2013, just movies I saw for the first time in 2013.

10) Hunger Games: Catching Fire: I liked it better than the first one. I mostly enjoyed sharing the experience with my girls and that's why it made the cut.

9) Monsters University: Glad Pixar chose to do a prequel for Mike and Sully. Another fun movie experience with the girls.

8) Prisoners: Very dark. Never really thought of Hugh Jackman as much of an actor, but his performance was riveting.

7) Mud: Matthew McConaughey had a great 2013. Dallas Buyers Club is getting all the attention, but his work here is excellent as well.

6) Zero Dark Thirty: What made this movie particularly interesting was the woman behind the search for Bin Laden.

5) Lincoln: Spielberg could direct Daniel Day-Lewis reading the phone book and it would probably be good. Give them an iconic figure like Abe, and of course you have a great movie.

4) End of Watch: One of the best cop movies I've ever seen. The relationship between the two cops was unique and endearing.

3) American Hustle: I love all the actors, and it's certainly an interesting story, but I haven't quite been able to figure out what Russell was trying to say with this one.

2) Undefeated: Amazing documentary about a struggling inner city high school football team and the coach trying to build something against very tall odds. I'm not gonna lie, I had tears in my eyes more than once during this one.

1) Gravity: Yes, the special effects are amazing, even better than I was expecting. What really got me though was the story, a beautiful metaphor.

Let me know what you think of my choices, and of course, I'd love to hear what you enjoyed watching this year in the comments, maybe some movies to watch in 2013. Your top movie, top 3, 5, 10, whatever works for you.