The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, the association that I am a voting member of, named Spike Jonze’s Her as the best film of the 2013 year. The Spike Jonze film also won Best Original Screenplay in the voting. Her joins movies like 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Gravity and more on their list of the Top 10 movies of 2013.
“It’s long on its way to becoming a cliche, but it’s easy for people to feel alone in an age of social media,” said OFCC President George Lang. “Obviously, ‘Her’ deals directly with this phenomenon, but ‘Gravity’ and ‘All Is Lost’ both focus on people who suddenly find themselves alone and entirely dependent on their survival instincts. Theodore Twombly might be surrounded by 40 million people in mid-21st century Los Angeles, but his emotional situation is not far off from what would be experienced by a stranded astronaut in orbit or an aging seafarer singlehandedly battling the elements in the Indian Ocean. Factor in the isolated characters in ’12 Years a Slave,’ ‘Captain Phillips’ and ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ and I think that the films in the OFCC Top 10 are reflecting this concern in the back of society’s collective consciousness.”
The Best Actor award went to Chiwetel Ejiofor fopr 12 Years a Slave while Best Actress went to Cate Blanchett for her role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
Here is a full list of the OFCC Top 10 Movies of 2013 as well as the winners of all the awards.
OFCC 2013 Film Awards:
Best Film: Her
Top 10 Films
- Her
- American Hustle
- 12 Years a Slave
- Gravity
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Captain Philips
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- All Is Lost
- Dallas Buyers Club
- Prisoners
Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years a Slave”
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Best Animated Film: “Frozen”
Best Body of Work: Matthew McConaughey – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Mud,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron – “Gravity”
Best Documentary: “The Act of Killing”
Best First Feature: “Fruitvale Station” – Ryan Coogler
Best Foreign Language Film: “The Hunt”
Best Guilty Pleasure: “Iron Man 3”
The Not-So-Obviously Worst Film: “August: Osage County”
The Obviously Worst Film: “Grown Ups 2”
Best Screenplay (Original): “Her” – Spike Jonze
Best Screenplay (Adaptation): “12 Years a Slave” – John Ridley
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence – “American Hustle”
OFCC members are Oklahoma-based movie critics who write for print, broadcast and online outlets that publish or post reviews of current film releases. Among the media outlets represented are The Oklahoman, Oklahoma Gazette, Tulsa World, Edmond Life & Leisure and This Land Press. Also represented are television station KOKH FOX 25; radio station KJYO/Clear Channel; and the websites 411mania.com, renegadecinema.com, ionOKmag.com, crosswalk.com, u-out.net and shadowcabaret.com.
Film buffs can find the complete list of awards, as well as frequent postings on film-related items and links to reviews, at Facebook.com/OklahomaFilmCriticsCircle.