Letterboxd

2013 Year in Review

A retrospective of the year, collated from our community’s collective activity. What impeccable taste you all have!

Read more about the Year in Review on our blog.

Highest Rated Film

12 Years a Slave

A staggering portrait of compassion and how evil is the sum of a million small apathies. Historic in all respects. davidehrlich davidehrlich

  1. 12 Years a Slave
  2. Before Midnight
  3. Gravity
  4. Her
  5. The Wolf of Wall Street
  6. Django Unchained
  7. Inside Llewyn Davis
  8. Short Term 12
  9. Blue Is the Warmest Color
  10. Captain Phillips

Ones to Watch

The Selfish Giant

This is neo, neo-realist fare with performances that are distinctively raw and natural. We build a certain empathy … and it’s hard to monitor where your allegiances lie. Rod Sedgwick Rod Sedgwick

  1. The Selfish Giant
  2. Under the Skin
  3. Norte, The End of History
  4. We Are the Best!
  5. Why Don't You Play in Hell?
  6. Stray Dogs
  7. Snowpiercer
  8. Ida
  9. Tokyo Family
  10. Blue Ruin
The Wolf of Wall Street

The year I turned 26, I made 49 million dollars which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.

Jordan Belfort

Highest Rated Foreign Language

Blue Is the Warmest Color

This year’s jury at Cannes couldn’t possibly have made a better choice. … A love story with a deep, emotional charge, and a modern masterpiece. Ole Holgersen Ole Holgersen

  1. Blue Is the Warmest Color
  2. The Great Beauty
  3. Beyond the Hills
  4. Wadjda
  5. The Past
  6. Drug War
  7. Neighboring Sounds
  8. Blancanieves
  9. No
  10. A Hijacking

Highest Rated Documentary

The Act of Killing

A haunting, absurd and frightening glimpse into a period of Indonesian history that has still not been condemned by its own country. — Account removed

  1. The Act of Killing
  2. Stories We Tell
  3. West of Memphis
  4. The Crash Reel
  5. The Class of ‘92
  6. At Berkeley
  7. Blackfish
  8. 20 Feet from Stardom
  9. Let the Fire Burn
  10. Cutie and the Boxer
This Is the End

Dude, your references are out of control, everyone knows that.

Jonah Hill

Highest Rated Animation

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2

Everything that was somehow weird in the Nolan trilogy finds its answers in the Miller trilogy … Nolan did my favourite adaption of Batman, but this right here, this is Batman. — Account removed

  1. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2
  2. Frozen
  3. The Wind Rises
  4. The Garden of Words
  5. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

Highest Rated Science Fiction

Gravity

A technological marvel urged on by a director who is intent on discovering how far he can stretch the medium. … A small step for a film, but a giant leap for cinema. DirkH DirkH

  1. Gravity
  2. Her
  3. Upstream Color
  4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
  5. The World's End
Gravity

Half of North America just lost their Facebook.

Matt Kowalski

Highest Rated Horror

Stoker

As dreamy as it is taught. As beautiful as it is horrific. … The way it sets up the story at the start, through overheard whispers, off-screen conversations and background noise is brilliantly clever. Yes, it has been done before, but here the director makes it seem new.Account removed

  1. Stoker
  2. The Conjuring
  3. The Battery
  4. You're Next
  5. Resolution
Stoker

We don’t need to be friends. We’re family.

India Stoker

Highest Rated Action

Captain Phillips

What a contrast with those summer blockbusters that offer “thrills” where computer avatars punch each other through buildings while untold thousands die just outside of every frame. Here, there’s only maybe 20 characters, but every single life matters. Matt Singer Matt Singer

  1. Captain Phillips
  2. Rush
  3. Drug War
  4. All Is Lost
  5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Captain Phillips

I don’t think they’re here to fish.

Captain Rich Phillips

The Year in Numbers

11,608,352

Films watched

5,679,054

Ratings

1,825,427

Diary entries

670,002

Reviews

390,557

Comments

86,199

Lists

More Numbers

During 2013 we logged 3,286,931 hours watching films

And we wrote 68,534,004 words about them!

Of the films watched, 23.8% were 2013 releases

Her

I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.

Theodore Twombly
American Hustle

You’re nothing to me until you’re everything.

Sydney Prosser
Computer Chess

I’d be willing to bet that you and I are the only ones here who even understand that programming has a feminine side.

Michael Papageorge
Pain & Gain

I watched a lot of movies Paul, I know what I’m doing!

Daniel Lugo
Nebraska

I ain’t fiddlin’ with no cow titties. I’m a city girl!

Kate Grant
12 Years a Slave

I don’t want to survive. I want to live.

Solomon Northup
Frances Ha

Let’s do something fun. We could go to a movie.

Benji

Most Watched from 1950s

Vertigo

Being named the critics' greatest film of all time in Sight And Sound magazine, and being praised to the heavens by the magazine at every opportunity, was probably one of the worst things that could have happened to Vertigo. 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸

  1. Vertigo
  2. Rear Window
  3. 12 Angry Men
  4. North by Northwest
  5. Singin' in the Rain

Most Watched from 1960s

2001: A Space Odyssey

Glory on the screen, and a feast for the senses, 2001: A Space Odyssey is the definitive masterpiece of a genius, and a rather interesting [commentary on] what we are and represent, and the meaning of life itself. Edgar Cochran Edgar Cochran

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  2. Psycho
  3. Rosemary's Baby
  4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  5. The Birds

Most Watched from 1970s

Badlands

One of the finest directorial debuts of all time. … A lyrical and disturbing road movie by a filmmaker who, despite his inexperience, [crafted] this warped romantic adventure about two young lovers and their senseless killing spree across the Dakota badlands. — Account removed

  1. Badlands
  2. Carrie
  3. Star Wars
  4. Taxi Driver
  5. Alien

Most Watched from 1980s

The Shining

You get all these hints that this is a film about the pressures of economic hardship and how a man who wants to support his family is slowly being edged out of his last remaining options. … [Then] you descend deeper and realize all he needs is an occupation to feel proud of. Simone Simone

  1. The Shining
  2. Die Hard
  3. The Evil Dead
  4. Blade Runner
  5. My Neighbor Totoro

Most Watched from 1990s

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise pulls down all fences, all barriers, all the games, all the bullshit, because when you’ve got nothing to lose, when the other person doesn’t know you, and perhaps never will, you’re free to be yourself, your true self. Thomas Ringdal Thomas Ringdal

  1. Before Sunrise
  2. Jurassic Park
  3. Pulp Fiction
  4. The Big Lebowski
  5. Fargo

Most Watched from 2000s

Before Sunset

Having completed my Before Sunrise/Before Sunset homework, I can’t imagine anything more daunting than seeing and discussing Midnight. I find I’m utterly incapable of talking about these films in a rational, analytical way. Adam Kempenaar Adam Kempenaar

  1. Before Sunset
  2. Star Trek
  3. Hot Fuzz
  4. Shaun of the Dead
  5. Primer
Iron Man 3

Jarvis, initiate the House Party protocol.

Tony Stark

Most Obsessively Rewatched

Star Trek Into Darkness

The propagandistic undercurrent of this thing — with its shameless (and mostly harmless) jihadist imagery, muddled pro-interventionist leanings, and end-credits dedication to our post-9/11 military — is an absolute perversion of Star Trek’s inherent idealism. — Account removed

  1. Star Trek Into Darkness
  2. Silver Linings Playbook
  3. Django Unchained
  4. Pacific Rim
  5. Pitch Perfect

Most Divisive Film

Only God Forgives

A contradictory and confusing beast — a film that constantly trips over the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, whilst managing to alienate and enthrall [in] the same scene.Account removed

  1. Only God Forgives
  2. Spring Breakers
  3. To the Wonder
  4. The Counselor
  5. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
  6. Olympus Has Fallen
  7. Man of Steel
  8. The Hangover Part III
  9. Insidious: Chapter 2
  10. Kick-Ass 2
Spring Breakers

Look at all ’ma sheeyit!

Alien

Film We Most Loved to Hate

Sharknado

So terrible I thought about switching it off, but my friends were making ‘witty’ comments and I couldn’t find the remote. … Do not watch this film except at the tail-end of a B-movie marathon. And not even then, really. preston preston

  1. Sharknado
  2. A Talking Cat!?!
  3. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection
  4. Spring Breakers
  5. Texas Chainsaw 3D

Lowest Rated Film

Scary Movie 5

Has the distinction of being the worst thing Molly Shannon has ever been in. Mary Conti Mary Conti

  1. Scary Movie 5
  2. Movie 43
  3. Sharknado
  4. Getaway
  5. The Last Exorcism Part II
  6. Texas Chainsaw 3D
  7. Grown Ups 2
  8. The Starving Games
  9. A Haunted House
  10. InAPPropriate Comedy

Most Anticipated in 2014

X-Men: Days of Future Past

See the full list for 2014 and beyond…

  1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
  2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
  4. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
  5. The Monuments Men
  6. Noah
  7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
  8. Interstellar
  9. Guardians of the Galaxy
  10. Godzilla
Pacific Rim

Today, we are cancelling the apocalypse!

Stacker Pentecost

And… cut!

That’s a wrap — what did you see, what did you miss, what did you love, what have you just added to your watchlist for January?!

Once again, our deepest thanks to everyone who participates on the site for helping to make the Letterboxd community ever bigger and better. We truly couldn’t do any of this without you.

See the full lists for each category and read the news post.

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