The “Best” Films of 2013 So Far: Name Your Favorite!

Last updated on: July 3, 2013 at 4:15 pm by Jeffrey Overstreet

The “Best” Films of 2013 So Far: Name Your Favorite! 2013-07-03T16:15:54-06:00 Jeffrey Overstreet

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Yesterday, the Film Society of Lincoln Center published a list of the best films of 2013 so far, determined by a group of 59 accomplished film critics.

The result? …

With half of 2013 already behind us, FilmLinc Daily surveyed critics, programmers and bloggers for a snap poll of the best movie to hit theaters so far this year. Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight was the clear winner.

Participants (listed in entirety below) were asked to simply name their top theatrical release of the year and the talky romantic drama starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy dominated the results. A few respondents opted to share some additional thoughts about their choice.

Elsewhere, at indieWire, an even larger group of critics were polled to produce another list of the Best Films of 2013. (I was one of those polled.) What did they vote as #1? Before Midnight.

The runner-up: Upstream Color.

Meanwhile… over at Paste Magazine, they’ve published their half-time list as well. And, guess what. Before Midnight! (Runner-up: Upstream Color.)

What a pleasant surprise.

If you’ve been following me on Letterboxd, where I keep a detailed moviegoing diary, then you already know that Before Midnight is my favorite film of the year so far, and Upstream Color is in my Top 5. (Here’s my list-in-progress for 2013.) Normally, my favorites are very different than those in a critical consensus… but it’s exciting to see so many film enthusiasts agreeing this time around.

In case you missed it, I’ve written about Before Midnight twice. There’s a brief review in my Summer 2013 survey at Response, and then there’s a long “fictional review” … a short story in which characters discuss the movie, part of my experiment in film-review-storytelling called All Thumbs Video.

Does Before Midnight get your vote? If not, what does? And why? Post your choice below, and persuade us to go see it… or to see it a second time.

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