Nick's Top 25, Worst 5 and Beyond of 2013

When a 10-best list isn’t enough and a 25-best list might not completely suffice, that’s a good problem for a film critic to have. Sound familiar?

Well, in keeping with that spirit, such was the uncommonly strong cinematic year of 2013. However, if quality like this keeps up, well, maybe we're in the midst of a renaissance.

So as not to solely regurgitate sentiments and structure from last year, I’ve broadened my best-of (and worst-of) selections a bit.

Here are my picks for 2013’s

• Five best documentaries

• Five guiltiest pleasures

• Five best performances no one will nominate for anything

• Five biggest disappointments

• Five worst films

• Five runners-up to the top 25, and

• Twenty-five best films.

All lists are in reverse order.

The Five Best Documentaries

5. "Sound City" This look at Dave Grohl's resurrection of a mixing board illuminates the organic camaraderie of bands and how something can be just right even if it's imperfect. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. "Blackfish" This enraging & engaging indictment of whale abuse at SeaWorld serves as both a call to action and a fearsome reminder of our relative weakness within nature's larger schemes. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. "A Band Called Death" The uplifting, intriguing and emotionally fiery rock-doc "Searching for Sugar Man" wanted to be — embracing raw, emotional honesty instead of suspicious structuring. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

2. "Stories We Tell" Banksy meets Charlie Kaufman in Sarah Polley's quest to determine her real father. It's about emotional truth's illusory nature, and its messy, challenging contradictions lend it deep authenticity. Available now on DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "The Act of Killing" Indonesian genocide merchants are asked to fictionally reenact their crimes in a film that pushes both the envelope and the form. Morbidly and uneasily funny at times, it grows less digestible as it goes. But it's a film like none you've ever seen, and it shouldn't be digestible. A fascinating, occasionally physically revolting look at the banality of evil. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 7, 2014.

The Five Guiltiest Pleasures

5. "Safe Haven" from "V/H/S/2" and "L is for Libido" from "The ABCs of Death" Timo Tjahjanto is a sick puppy. He's also one of few exploitation directors worth watching for, as the nightmarish horrors he brought into daylight in these horror anthologies suggest. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. "Movie 43" At the risk of having my face slowly melted off by Matthew Socey, I laughed quite often at this hit-and-miss skit assembly, namely "Homeschooled," "Happy Birthday" and "Machine Kids." Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. "Texas Chainsaw 3D" As cheapie-roadside cinematic meals go, this surprisingly digestible dinner brings a bit of artistry to its abattoir and just the right amount of suspense and misdirection. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

2. "Bullet to the Head" As bad as their joint film was, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger did fine separately. Here, Sly and Co. make a film like it's 1986 & don't give a damn what you think. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "The Last Stand" Schwarznegger's return. Clever humor. Hellacious action setpieces. The smarts not to take things too seriously. It's a live-action "Looney Tunes." Ble, ble, ble, that's all, folks. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

The Five Best Performances That Will Get No Awards

5. Jessica Chastain, "Mama" Some thought this January horror film might undo Chastain's Oscar shot for "Zero Dark Thirty." But her dedicated portrayal of maternal angst and instinct elevated it to a somber, scary surprise. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. Emma Watson, "The Bling Ring" Between this role and her bit part in "This is the End," Watson is shaping up to be a game comedienne — throwing herself full bore into Sofia Coppola's social satire with vapid glee. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. Chloe Grace Moretz, "Carrie" Finally, a version of "Carrie" that feels like tragedy, and it stems from Moretz's alternation of a shattering and shimmering countenance — which gave me deep anxiety even as I knew all that would happen. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 14, 2014.

2. Craig Robinson, "This is the End" Everyone plays themselves in this end-of-the-world comedy. But Robinson is the only one with an affecting arc — from self-preserving jerk to bold buddy and, finally, peaceful soul. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. Dwayne Johnson, "Pain & Gain" 2013 belonged to The Rock at the box office and in his continuing diversity as a performer. Playing a good man fighting, and yielding to, the worst temptations, he was both comically sound and menacingly unpredictable. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

The Five Biggest Disappointments

5. "The Lone Ranger" In the lonely minority of liking all of Gore Verbinski's "Pirates" films, I had high hopes for this. Crummy acting, tonal whiplash & narrative bloat dashed them. A good 90-minute film buried in a 150-minute mess. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. "Man of Steel" As a trailer, "Man of Steel" is one of 2013's best films. Too bad the whole thing is a repetitive, loud, boring slog of destruction that says nothing interesting about Superman. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. "Star Trek Into Darkness" "Khan? Who's Khan?" It's all we heard for months. Turns out it was "Wrath of Khan" and not a particularly good spin on it, either, cheaply inverting its predecessor's classic climax. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

2. "Elysium" From moment to moment, "Elysium" isn't a bad chase film. But it's undisciplined, unfocused and unmemorable — the exact opposite of Neill Blomkamp's "District 9." Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "American Hustle" After two consecutive Top-10 films, David O. Russell delivers one hard-pressed to make my top 50. Great acting can't save what is essentially a '70s aesthetic in search of emotion, narrative or purpose. In theaters now.

The Five Worst Films

5. "RED 2" A churlish caper indolently slapped together as an insult to the original. What once stood for "Retired, Extremely Dangerous" is now closer to "Redundant, Extremely Disappointing." Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. "Identity Thief" While it's refreshing to see Melissa McCarthy achieve stardom, she would be wise to not waste it on lazy, long and perilously unfunny road movies like this. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. "The Book Thief" When every shot seems filtered through a snow globe and "The Sound of Music" is a comparatively edgier WWII story, you're doing it wrong. Like GTFOOHWTS wrong. Coming soon to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

2. "Paranoia" After an experiment to blend Brendan Fraser and Josh Hartnett's DNA failed, someone took the leftover sludge, named it Liam Hemsworth and foisted his awfulness on an unsuspecting world. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "Parker" Calling it run-of-the-mill does a disservice to the process of producing proficient potboilers. This is more like idiotic misfits broke into a shuttered mill on the edge of town and fired up the machines without knowing at all how they work. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

The Five Best Runners-Up

5. "The World's End" Better than "Shaun of the Dead" but not quite "Hot Fuzz," this capper to Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy mixes hellacious midlife crises and spirited blockbuster thrills before a slightly miscalculated postscript. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

4. "You're Next" A merciless master class in what makes midnight movies fun, with a millennial economic-crisis undertow to boot, this thriller offers a goofy funhouse reflection to grim home-invasion films and will hopefully make Sharni Vinson a star. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

3. "The Purge" A sharp-witted, nasty bit of speculative science-fiction that wrings maximum suspense from its fictional shotgun marriage of national policy and divisive political bluster. No need for the upcoming sequel, though. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

2. "Iron Man 3" A crackling adventure that strips Tony Stark down to gearhead ingenuity, lets Robert Downey Jr. go off with his most compelling work in the role yet and creatively concludes the individual Iron Man films. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "Pain & Gain" Who'd have thought Michael Bay's Scorsese imitation would trump David O. Russell's? It's "Fargo," "Goodfellas" and "Catch Me If You Can" with coke on its face and HGH coursing through its veins. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

The 25 Best Films

25. "Gravity" This year's "Argo" — an extremely accomplished, exhilarating ride trying to crowd into prestige-picture clothes. However, with lines like "Cloudy with a chance of space debris" in the face of death, it's no classic. Coming soon to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

24. "Frozen" Disney's best in-house animated film in 15 years, if not 20, is a smart, urgent and fun metaphor for living openly (and, without underlining it, coming out, perhaps?) with wonderful songs. In theaters now.

23. "The Spectacular Now" Every generation should have a "Say Anything ..." From the "(500) Days of Summer" writers comes a real, heartbreaking look at young love, passionately acted by Miles Teller & Shailene Woodley. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 14, 2014.

22. "Blue Jasmine" A film with an ending both unexpected and unavoidable, Woody Allen's latest showcases Cate Blanchett's best performance and surprisingly abrasive class commentary. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 21, 2014.

21. "The Place Beyond the Pines" Occasionally unwieldy, Derek Cianfrance's ambitious triptych is a crime epic, father-son story and morality play rolled into one. Better to aim high and come up a bit short. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

20. "Enough Said" A woman falling for a new friend's ex would often feel like slamming-door farce. Nicole Holofcener warmly looks at love between people who seem to have had life's door slammed on them, winningly acted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the late James Gandolfini. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 14, 2014.

19. "The Hunt" A frighteningly plausible, surprisingly complex moral nightmare unfolds as a girl falsely claims her teacher has abused her. Mads Mikkelsen is terrific, measuring his safety and future against the psychological wellbeing of his accuser. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

18. "Mud" Matthew McConaughey's redemption continues in a modern-day "Huckleberry Finn" with marvelous work by Tye Sheridan but a finale that's too muddled with its "shooty-shooty" tone (to borrow a Lou Harry phrase). Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

17. "Saving Mr. Banks" Every bit the charming confection you expect, but its unexpectedly thoughtful script, sensitive direction, expert performances and consideration of troubled creative minds are the spoonfuls of salt that make this medicine go down. In theaters now.

16. "Spring Breakers" Have you ever gazed at the vapid faces of social drinkers and wondered if there was a there there? Harmony Korine's seemingly inconsequential romp morphs into an unshakable rumination on what evil may lurk underneath. Plus this: Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

15. "In a World ..." Writer/director/star Lake Bell is a triple threat, spinning a quirky topic (the business of movie trailer narration) into industry satire, romantic comedy and a wry, peppy encouragement to take a stance with your work. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 21, 2014

14. "The Counselor" Much maligned (on this site, even), but Cormac McCarthy's florid dialogue fits this parable about avarice, arrogance and death — Ridley Scott's finest film since "Black Hawk Down." Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Feb. 11, 2014.

13. "Pacific Rim" Guillermo del Toro packs so many ideas in his unique mashup of kaiju and mecha it hardly seems there could be a sequel. But I hope the year's towering big-screen spectacle gets one. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

12. "Furious 6" By elevating the series into saga territory, this automotive version of the “Avengers” is as suffused with true sincerity and whoop-whoop action as it is bereft of pretenses. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

11. "Frances Ha" A story of millennial strife you've seen 1,000 times, but not with the exuberance, optimism and deadpan, dead-on observations that Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig bring to the table. Baumbach has thankfully shed all of his misanthropy. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

10. "12 Years a Slave" Mentions of insurmountable debt seem fitting for the horrors here. An imperfect movie undercut by overbearing music and a bad turn by Brad Pitt, but Chiwetel Ejiofor's embodiment of complex, seemingly irreconcilable emotions soars. In limited theatrical release now. In wide re-release Jan. 17, 2014.

9. "Prisoners" Dark and draining but beguiling and hypnotic, this mystery explores the dark heart of moral righteousness, explosive rage and, if wronged, how much we'd give up to set things "right." Acutely psychological performances are a bonus. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

8. "This is the End" The ballsiest mainstream comedy of the year is also its brainiest — uproariously confronting celebrity, friendship, altruism and spiritual beliefs, as well as the eternal question of demonic penis size. Plus, it has 2013's most hilarious cameo. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

7. "Rush" Ron Howard's rollicking movie takes the pole as the greatest racing film ever — from Anthony Dod Mantle's jaw-dropping cinematography to Hans Zimmer's pulse-pounding music and Daniel Bruhl's force-of-nature lead performance. A zesty but not inconsequential look at the importance of rivalry. Coming soon to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 28, 2014.

6. "Captain Phillips" An actor of such magnitude as Tom Hanks delivering the best individual scene he's ever done at this stage of his career seems almost impossible. But he does it. That Barkhad Abdi, a newcomer with little acting background, could stand toe-to-toe with him in a way that makes you both fear and feel for him seems unlikely. But it happens. That the masterful Paul Greengrass can make you simultaneously appreciate, and shrink in fear from, military might, though, isn't unexpected in this multilayered thriller. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Jan. 21, 2014.

5. "Nebraska" Alexander Payne reaches Coen Brothers-esque levels of delight in a simultaneously screwball and sincere dramedy, the tale of a son (Will Forte) attempting to take his aging father (Bruce Dern) from Montana to Nebraska and cover the distance of his dad's thousand-yard stare. What starts as a bleak thesis (life is sometime pretty and occasionally hilly, but a mostly inconsequential flatland) yields to an unexpectedly joyous, superbly acted yarn about yearning and never knowing when a man's most important mile will arrive. In limited theatrical release now.

4. "Blue is the Warmest Color" With literary elegance, Abdellatif Kechiche's controversial Cannes Film Festival darling tells a revelatory love story that delights, shatters and bruises. So naturalistic, unaffected and believable are the performances from co-stars Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux's that it hardly feels like you're watching a work of fiction. For all the hullabaloo over its sex scenes, the film builds to a finish of undeniable, but somewhat bleak, power, suggesting that gaining true forgiveness may mean giving up true love. Coming to Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms on Feb. 25, 2014.

3. "The Wolf of Wall Street" With an energy that eludes much younger directors, Martin Scorsese's latest is a live wire on a high wire — easily supplanting "Wall Street" as the best film about stockbrokers ever made, with Leonardo DiCaprio channeling both disturbing primal aggression and unfettered physical comedy we've never thought him capable of before. Whatever he's been building up to with Scorsese over the last dozen years, he has finally and gloriously arrived there. It's "GoodFellas" meets "Animal House," and every bit as awesome as that statement suggests. In theaters now.

2. "Before Midnight" One of cinema's finest romances reaches its apex in what is presumably the final installment in the story of Jesse and Celine — now complicated by blended families, alienated affection and plenty of petty, bottled-up resentment. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy pull no punches when the going gets rough — in long, unbroken takes that place you at an uncomfortable point of observation, especially in a wrenching scene at a hotel meant as a romantic getaway. That you worry about them as deeply as you might your own family is a testament to what Hawke, Delpy and Richard Linklater have achieved over the last 18 years. Available now on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD platforms.

1. "Her" The Singularity — the moment at which artificial intelligence surpasses collective human intelligence — has not yet arrived. Thankfully, a singular masterpiece about its social and emotional repercussions is already here.

In many respects, "Her" shares a similar brain with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich" in that it's about the ways in which we willfully strand and strangle ourselves when it comes to intimacy. But where those films, no matter how astounding, sent themselves off with a melancholy emotional pallor, "Her" concludes with a notion of hope, or at least I choose to see its brilliantly open-ended finale that way.

Writer-director Spike Jonze surprises us every time, but never more so than he does here — becoming a Billy Wilder for the digital era, with Joaquin Phoenix as his Jack Lemmon. Playing Theodore Twombly, a lonely man in the not-so-distant future who falls in love with his sentient operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), Phoenix serves up endlessly generous gifts — often onscreen alone in his transformation from a man who dances around social interaction to hurtling himself toward it headlong and who learns not only to love someone again but to be magnanimous with all the previous misery he's made for himself. It's a towering achievement for Johansson, too, on whose unseen shoulders the film rests — its emotional tenor turning as much on the lengths of her pauses as her turns of phrase.

Atypical challenges await at every juncture of the narrative, into which you should go as cold as possible. And cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema achieves breathtaking visual majesty — whether a bold, extended cut to black that awakens on a beautiful cityscape or a depiction of Theodore and his earpiece he uses to hear Samantha as a two-shot.

In a world where we so often digitally project the person we want to be, how irrational, really, is a relationship with a sentient being? What is a bigger pantomime of intimacy — a true emotional connection with an inanimate entity or impulsive, casual sex in the physical realm? Can you claim exclusivity with someone who, by very definition, is infinite?

These are the invigorating questions about our human condition in the here and now that Jonze asks in "Her" — a must-see I can't wait to see again. And again. And again. It's not just the best film of 2013 or Jonze's career, but it's destined to be among the defining movies of this decade. Opening in wide release on Jan. 10, 2014.