Okay – now we’re at that point in late autumn where the theaters are filling with many of the year’s best movies.
- The French drama Blue Is the Warmest Color, with its stunning performance by 19-year-old actress Adèle Exarchopoulos, currently tops my list of Best Movies of 2013 – So Far.
- The city of Rome dazzles in The Great Beauty, already a favorite for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
- I really liked and admired the funny, poignant and thought-provoking family portrait Nebraska from Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants).
- Philomena, with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan is an emotionally satisfying gem.
- This weekend, I will write about The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, another fine thriller from that franchise, with another amazing performance by Jennifer Lawrence.
Other good choices include the flawless true story thriller Captain Phillips and the space thriller Gravity – an amazing achievement by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón with what may be Sandra Bullock’s finest performance. 12 Years a Slave is an unsparingly realistic depiction of the horrors of American slavery.
If you’re in the mood for a top-rate Western (and I almost always am), there’s 3:10 to Yuma and Red River coming up on Turner Classic movies on December 19. Set your TiVo and ride ’em cowboy!