2013 Milo Awards: Best Movies and Performances of 2013

It's the week before Oscar, so here are my picks as the best movies and performances of 2013 -- the coveted Milo Awards.

Best Actor

Jered Leto & Matthew McConnaughey

Matthew McConnaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)  Runners Up:  Bruce Dern (Nebraska); Leonardo DiCaprio  (The Wolf of Wall Street)


Best Actress
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks).  Runners Up:  Judy Dench (Philomena); Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

Best Supporting Actor
Jered Leto (Dallas Buyers Club.  Runner Up:  Barkhad Abdi  (Captain Phillips)

Best Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave);  Runners Up:  Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle); June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Song:
I See Fire - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug


Best Movies

1. Nebraska:  Remarkable film that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.  Bruce Dern is wonderful as an old man determined to travel to Nebraska to claim a million dollar prize.  The film is laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, filled with quirky characters and great performances, particularly June Squibb as Dern's wife. And the black and white cinematography of the great plains is breathtaking.
2. Philomena : A gripping story that lives through the marvelous acting of Judy Dench, a bevy of other wonderful performances,  and a well-crafted screenplay,  In some scenes, Judy Dench tells so much without saying a word.
3. American Hustle:  Great story.  Great cast. Great movie.
4. Gravity:  This is the most visually stunning movie of the
   
   year, and is held together by Sandra Bullock, who is on camera for virtually the entire movie.  Thought it was going for a cheap gimmick at one point, but I was wrong. 
5. Dallas Buyers Club:  Matthew McConnaughey is simply riveting.  So too is Jered Leto in one of the most amazing performances ever given in a supporting role.
6. The Wolf of Wall Street:  Vile.  Vulgar. Rude. Profane. Funny. The story of Wall Street excess told to excess.  Not for the faint of heart.
7. Saving Mr. Banks:  Most delightful movie of the year. How Emma Thompson was not even nominated for an Oscar is simply beyond comprehension.  A wonderful touching movie about the quest to make Mary Poppins
8. Fruitvale Station:  Overlooked mid-summer movie of a true-life New Years Eve shooting.  It deserved a lot more attention than it received.
9. Rush:  I'm a racing fan and this is by far the best auto racing movie ever made -- mostly because it is not so much about racing as it is about the two diametrically opposite drivers who fought for the 1977 Formula 1 world championship
10. Captain Phillips:  Really well-made movie.  Tom Hanks is outstanding, as always. But it's the Somali pirate crew, and particularly its captain - all untried actors from Michigan - who made this movie work.
11. Frozen:  A surprise for me. Entertaining. Funny. Well-developed characters. Best animated movie of the year by far.
12. The Way Way Back.  A coming of age movie that raises itself above the rest of its type.
13. Side Effects:  Clever well-done modern suspense movie.
14. 12 Years A Slave:  Some great acting here, but have a feeling I've seen this movie before in various machinations.  Seemed a bit pretentious.  A bit stale.  But the performance by Lupita Nyong'o is simply stunning.
15. Hunger Games: Catching Fire:  Gotta say, they are doing this series right.
16. Mud:  Another coming of age movie, but this one with a little darker tone. Again, Matthew McConnaughey is unforgettable as the off-kilter escaped convict known as Mud.
17. Star Trek:  Into Darkness:  Speaking of doing things right, the Star Trek reboot has been hitting all notes right on pitch.  The first in the reboot series was really good. This one is better.
18. The Hobbit:  Desolation of Smaug:  The fifth Peter Jackson movie of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tales is well done, but getting a little tired. Still, the dragon Smaug was pretty impressive.
19. Before Midnight:  This is the third in series of movies following the smartest lovers on the screen since Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert shared a bus ride in In Happened One Night. Now they are married, with children, facing the realities of life.
20. Despicable Me 2.  Fun.  Can't help but like this movie.

Best Animated Movie:  Frozen:  No competition. One of those movies where I walked out with a smile, so surprised that the movie was better than I ever expected.

Best Documenary:  Blackfish:  Powerful story of Orcas, trainers, corporate greed and death.

Guilty Pleasure:  The Lone Ranger:  Okay, all the critics hated it. But I thought it was great summer fun. And Johnny Depp as Tonto was a hoot.

Worst Movie of the Year: All Is Lost :  Yes, Robert Redford shows he is still a great actor. But what can you say about a movie that you can watch on fast forward and not only do you feel you didn't miss anything, but that it improved the movie.