The State of My To-Watch List

So we’ve got about a week left to go in the year, and if you’ve followed along with this blog at all, you’ll know that I don’t write my year-end movie lists until several months into the next year. This is because I’m a notorious completist, and I’m not comfortable making definitive rankings until I think I’ve seen everything that might possibly make its way on to my own list. To that end, I’ve always got a running “to-watch” list going. Currently, it’s at roughly sixty titles, compiled from critics’ top ten lists, awards chatter, festival reports, reviews, and news stories. I thought I’d share it with you, along with my notes on the more obscure titles, to give you an idea of where and how I’m finding these titles. People always seem to complain that they can’t find good movies to watch and I don’t ever seem to have this problem. So I hope to provide a little illumination.

Remember, I count 2013 by first release date in a film’s home country, so most of the foreign films aren’t making their way to the U.S. theaters until next year. And if you think I may be missing a few titles, there’s a good chance I’ve already seen the film in questions.

The Major Awards Contenders You’ve Probably Heard Of

“12 Years A Slave”
“All is Lost”
“American Hustle”
“August: Osage County”
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Her”
“Inside Llewyn Davies”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
“Rush”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
“The Butler”
“The Wolf Of Wall Street”

The Documentary File

“20 Feet From Stardom” - On the lives of backgound singers.
“After Tiller” - Examines present day state of abortion providers.
“At Berkeley” - From the legendary Frederick Wiseman, examines life at the university.
“Jodorowsky’s Dune” - About the most notorious sci-fi film never made.
“Let the Fire Burn” - Found footage doc of a clash between black activists and the Philadelphia police in 1978.
“Narco Cultura” - On the narcocorrida phenomenon.
“The Square” - On the events that took place at Tahrir Square
“Tim’s Vermeer” - Man deconstructs Vermeer’s painting techniques.

Interesting Indies

“A Single Shot” - Crime thriller starring Sm Worthington. Went totally under the radar after a limited release in September.
“Blood Ties” - Clive Owen and Billy Crudup crime drama. Not clear if this is a 2013 film.
“Computer Chess” - Described as mumblecore science fiction
“Enough Said” - Low key rom-com with small but steady awards buzz. James Gandolfini’s last screen role.
“Filth” - Already released and racking up awards in the UK.
“In a World...” - Lake Bell comedy about voice-over actors.
“Labor Day” - Jason Reitman switches gears for a drama-thriller
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” - With Idris Elba as Mandela.
“Museum Hours” - “Meditative” film about a museum guard and patron.
“Night Moves” - Latest Kelly Reichardt film.
“Short Term 12” - Highly regarded feature about a foster care facility.
“The Invisible Woman” - “Shakepeare in Love” with Charles Dickens.
“The Selfish Giant” - By far the most buzzed about UK film of the year.
“The Zero Theorem” - I haven’t missed a Terry Gilliam film yet.
“Under The Skin” - Sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johanssen.

The Foreign Legions

“A Touch of Sin” - A Jia Zhangke action film. Apparently that’s not an oxymoron.
“Borgman” - Dutch thriller described as “bizarre.”
“Gloria” - Chilean film about a middle-aged woman’s love life.
“Ernest and Celestine” - French animated film about a bear and a mouse.
“Heli” - Mexican coming of age story.
“I'm So Excited” - Pedro Almodovar made a musical comedy.
“Like Father, Like Son” - Latest Hirokazu Koreeda film. This is the one that was widely reported Steven Spielberg wanted to remake.
“Michael Kohlhaas” - Medieval action film that didn’t get great notices, but I’ll watch anything with Mads Mikkelson and Bruno Ganz.
“Mood Indigo” - Latest Jean-Pierre Jeunet film.
“Snowpiercer” - Bong Joon-Ho sci-fi epic. Currently in the middle of an editing fight with the Weinsteins.
“Soul” - Taiwanese horror film.
“Stranger by the Lake” - French LGBT film. Popped up on the Cahiers du Cinema yearly list.
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” - Belgian romantic drama.
“The Dance of Reality” - Latest Alejandro Jodorowski film.
“The Past” - Latest Asghar Farhadi film.
“The Wind is Rising” - The final Hayao Miyazaki film.
“Wadjda” - First film by a female Saudi-Arabian director. Has been getting compared to “Bicycle Thieves.”

Studio Efforts You’ve Also Probably Heard Of

“About Time” - British rom-com. Final Richard Curtis film.
“Anchorman 2”
“Carrie” - Loved the original. Reviews were… interesting.
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“Thor: The Dark World”

And For the Sake of Morbid Curiosity

“47 Ronin”
“Oldboy”
“The Counselor”
“The Fifth Estate”
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