Top 15 Performances of 2013

In a year where Daniel Day Lewis made zero movies, it really opens the door for other actors to take the top spot on some of these lists.  There has been a wide variety of performances in the past year, ranging from actor's and actresses in daring performances as both slaves and slave owners (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'O, Michael Fassbender) or intense performances as the captain of a ship (Tom Hanks and Robert Redford), and we had a few drug user performances this year as well (Dane Dehaan and Emory Cohen from The Place Beyond the Pines, everyone in This is The End, Everyone in Spring Breakers, Woody Harrelson in Out of the Furnace, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer's Club, the main news team in Anchorman 2, and literally every person in The Wolf of Wall Street).  Like I said, a very diverse list of performances, so it was truly hard to narrow it down to 15.

In All Seriousness:

It was hard to narrow it down because there were a lot of great performances, some I liked more than others.  But I'll list some honorable mentions for the ones that didn't make the list but I'd like to mention still.

Honorable Mentions: Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby), Robert Redford (All is Lost), Christian Bale/Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper/Jeremy Renner (American Hustle), Lupita Nyong'O (12 Years a Slave), Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners), Mads Mikkelson (The Hunt) and a few others were very close to making this list.

Also there are a few movies I still haven't seen and therefore couldn't consider any performances from it like: Rush, Philomena, August: Osage County, Enough Said, etc.

15. Will Ferrell (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues)

I decided to sacrifice some of the more dramatic performances of the year, for Will Ferrell's second turn as Ron Burgundy.  Anchorman 2, although slightly inferior to the first film, still delivers the funnies.  One could argue that Will Ferrell is even more over-the-top in this performance compared to Anchorman, and I'm not even mad, that's amazing.

14. Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back)

These first two performances are primarily comedic, but don't worry because it's all sad and depressing from here on out.  Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors right now.  He steals the show in every film he's in.  His comedic delivery of lines is equal to if not better than most comedy actors today, and he can also do great dramatic work (see films like Moon or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford).  Also based on interviews, he is one of the coolest guys in Hollywood.  Just realized I barely talked about this performance.  Very funny and touching as a father-like figure for the loner Duncan a.k.a. Pop 'N Lock.

13. Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)

Captain Phillips was a very intense, entertaining thriller.  A lot of that is because of Paul Greengrass's quality directing, but without Tom Hanks as the film's title character, this film loses a lot of it's intensity.  Hanks plays Captain Phillips as someone who knows how to keep his cool, but is also visibly scared.  It's unfortunate that the Best Actor category at the Oscars was so stacked this year, because he would get a nomination here for sure in any other year.  The scene at the end is some of Hanks's best work of his career, as he plays the Captain in shock after the events that transpired.  I'd also like to state that newcomer Barkhad Abdi gives a great supporting performance as the main pirate.  The two work off of each other very well.

12. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer's Club)

Leto went through a HUGE transformation to become Rayon the transvestite with HIV in Dallas Buyer's Club.  He lost a bunch of weight, and he certainly looks the part as you can see in the picture above.  Leto is energetic, emotional, and really sassy in this brave performance.  He acts as a great contrast to McConaughey's character of Ron, and both are deserving of the awards recognition they have been receiving.

11. Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Don't expect this to be the last time Fassbender gets nominated for an Oscar.  He is one of the most talented actors today, and another one of my favorites.  He plays a brutal slave owner in 12 Years a Slave.  He is like a human firecracker every time he's on screen, you wait for him to go off, and he doesn't disappoint you once.  I will continue to look forward to his performances for as long as he works in films.

10. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Cate Blanchett is one of the few bright spots in a film that didn't deliver as well as I would hope.  You really don't like her character, but she plays Jasmine beautifully.  Lots of dialogue, lots of crying, a panicky attitude, Blanchett portrays this complex character with ease it seems like, although it must have been extremely difficult.  That's why it must be nice to be Woody Allen, because he can get talented actors to perform his difficult roles.

9. Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha)

Fun, quirky, awkward, spontaneous, these are a few words that describe Greta Gerwig's character Frances Hathaway.  It's definitely not as flashy as some of the other performances from this year, but it's incredibly down-to-earth.  Frances is real, I'm sure most people know someone like her, and Greta Gerwig does a beautiful job of making her funny and real.  Gerwig is becoming an actress to watch, she's now on my radar for sure after this performance.

8. Brie Larson and John Gallagher Jr. (Short Term 12)

I didn't want to not include one of them so I grouped them together.  Both are great in the fantastic film, Short Term 12.  Their relationship is complex, and their job at a foster care facility, as well as the history of each character does not simplify things at all.  These two are up-and-coming actors who are just now getting more prominent roles, and Short Term 12 is going to help make sure they continue getting good roles.  Both have moments that are funny, heart-breaking, and effective, which are also good ways to describe this film as a whole.

7. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)

Ejiofor looks like he's on the verge of tears throughout most of this probably difficult and painful performance as Solomon Northup, a freed slave who was kidnapped back into slavery for 12 years.  Even though you know what happens in the end (because it's based on a true story), Ejiofor makes it so you can't help but be worried for Solomon every single second of this film.

6. Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club)

Like Leto, McConaughey lost a lot of weight to play the role of an HIV+ southern homophobe, who eventually works together with gay men and women to help other gay and straight men and women with HIV.  It's kind of crazy to think that McConaughey (who had a terrific year with this, Mud, and Wolf of Wall Street) was not too long ago in cheesy Rom-Coms like Fool's Gold and Failure to Launch.  Well this new direction for his career in which he is taking primarily interesting, dramatic roles, is getting him lots of critical praise and could very likely win him an Oscar.

5. Amy Adams (American Hustle)

I became a huge fan of Amy Adams after seeing her in The Fighter, and I'm happy she continues to get roles where she can show off her acting chops.  In a film that was more about the characters than the story, the actors really got to do some great work.  However, Adams does the best job here, which is saying a lot based on the caliber of this all-star cast.  I'm hoping she can finally pull of an Oscar win at this year's Academy Awards.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Leo really just doesn't hold back at all in this film.  And in a film that's so over-the-top, with so much going on, he has to go all out in every scene.  Jordan Belfort is a horrible person, he abuses drugs and women, addiction runs his life, and he steals money from innocent people.  But we root for him the whole time, because Leo makes us.  He is great in the dialogue heavy scenes (in which there are a lot), and his physical performance is great as well (especially the scene where he takes too many quaaludes and has to get home).

3. Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)

In a film that spans a few years, and portrays several different kinds of relationships in it's 3-hour running time, Adele gives the most human performance of the year, as well as the best female performance of the year.  There are a lot of aspects of this film that will turn people off from it, but if I can give you one reason to watch it, that would be for this performance here.  She plays it truthfully, and with a lot of courage.  It'll be difficult to find a performance in recent years as real as this one here.  Her co-star Lea Seydoux is also great here.

2. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Not only a talented folk singer, but a great actor as well, both evident from his performance in this film. The music industry (primarily the folk music industry) is portrayed as a real tough environment to break into.  As Llewyn, a folk musician who hops from couch to couch as he tries to find success, Oscar Isaac keeps us both hopeful and hopeless for his character.  Every time you think he seems like something good is going to happen for him, two bad things happen to him.  He's kind of like an angrier, more depressed version of Greta Gerwig's character in Frances Ha.

1. Joaquin Phoenix (Her)

For the second year in a row, Joaquin Phoenix gives my favorite performance of the year (his performance in The Master was my favorite of 2012).  Two completely different performances that show Phoenix's great range as an actor.  In this film he gives a great reserved performance, which is a nice change of pace from some of the other great performances of this year.  Phoenix takes Spike Jonze's fantastic script, and delivers the words on it with such ease that it doesn't even feel like someone wrote them.  Also the fact that most of his scenes are with just a computer's voice (played well by Scarlett Johansson), makes it that much more impressive that he can keep his performance perfectly and believably in sync with Scar Jo's voice.  With Spike Jonze's great direction and writing, I believe this film could have been good even if Phoenix wasn't in it.  But his great performance is what pushes this film over the edge as one of the best of the year, so I wouldn't want it anyway.

~Ryan Moncrief