Quentin Tarantino’s Top 10 Films of 2013 – SO FAR

You might remember Quentin’s list of favorites of 2010 and 2011, and so many of you have mailed us and asked about last year. Mostly because of Django Unchained, of course there was none such list for 2012. So a lot of you even made your own lists and sent those, which made for some interesting reading. I think last year was a great year for movies, and 2013 so far continues this upward trend, aside from the usual fiascos (not naming names here). So it’s the fall, Scandal is back on (Kerry Washington is amazing as usual), and it’s time to take inventory…. drumroll…

As an exclusive gift during the government shutdown, we’re happy to present you with Quentin Tarantino’s official list of his top 10 films of 2013 – so far. Bear in mind that the cinematic year isn’t really over yet and the list is in alphabetic order. To my own personal shame I have only seen one film on that list so far, I will reveal which one further below.

1.  Afternoon Delight (Jill Soloway)
2.  Before Midnight (Richard Linklater)
3.  Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
4.  The Conjuring (James Wan)
5.  Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg)
6.  Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach)
7.  Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)
8.  Kick Ass 2 (Jeff Wadlow)
9.  The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski)
10.  This Is The End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg)

So what do you think? Have you seen all of them yet? Post your thoughts in the comments below. The only one I’ve seen so far is This is the End, and I thought it was totally hilarious, one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time.

Exclusive Tarantino.info

I assume there’s a possibility of an update to this list once the year is over, maybe even ranked, as this list is in alphabetic order. I am really looking forward to Gravity, I have heard a lot of great things about it, and it might be time to revisit IMAX, which I haven’t experience since I was a kid. Thanks for reading, amigos. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter to stay up to date with the latest scoop on Senor Q, and a bunch of other movie bits we post there constantly, for example the pending release of The Big Gundown on BluRay….

Tarantino likes THIS IS THE END
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Sebastian

Sebastian is the founder and owner of the Tarantino Archives and has been a fan and observer of QT for over two decades now, cherishing his work and the window in the the wider world of cinema his movies have opened up. Inspired as such, he runs the Spaghetti Western Database (SWDb), the Grindhouse Cinema Database (GCDb), Furious Cinema, its German sister Nischenkino and The Robert Rodriguez Archives. He lives in Berlin.

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242 Responses

  1. Austin says:

    what about spring breakers?

    • Antonio says:

      Do you REALLY think, that Tarantino, the guy who generally prefers the broader mainstream appeal of X-Men: First Class over Drive’s detached arthouse direction, would like Spring Breakers over Gravity, or The Conjuring, or This is the End, or The Lone Ranger, or Kick-Ass 2?

    • sffsfsf says:

      I could see him liking Bling Ring, but Spring Breakers? I doubt he would like that one.

      • Gerard Kennelly says:

        spring breakers has guns
        and actors trying too hard to look cool
        how un tarantino can you get ?
        LOL

  2. James Andrew Rios says:

    Really stoked to see Frances Ha, Drinking Buddies, and Before Midnight on there. Deff in my top 10 so far also.

  3. Fonso Maroni says:

    Drinking Buddies is one of the worst movies I have seen this year!

  4. Phil Kowalski says:

    I’m sorry, kick-ass 2 and drinking buddies are simply unwatchable. They belong to the top 10 WORST movies in 2013.
    However Gravity is amazing.

    • Jonathan says:

      Didn’t see “Kick Ass 2,” but “Drinking Buddies” is unquestionably one of the best movies of the year. Unquestionably.

      • JD says:

        I loved Kick-Ass 2. Never saw all of the first one, but I’m considering it now. The violence and vulgarity is hilariously over-the-top, and some of the best young actors in the business are in it.

    • Gerard Kennelly says:

      kendrick is worth watching imo

    • Gerard Kennelly says:

      i saw Gravity today
      .
      .
      .
      .
      . — SPOILERS AHEAD —
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      clooney kinda felt like a ‘cast away’ wilsonnnnn rip off
      bullock howling was gorgeous just blew me away that scene
      the ‘jaws’ hooper finds a tooth homage was genius imo
      the soundtrack is the 2nd best of 2013 (after only god forgives)
      bullock deserves the oscar
      alfonso cuaron WILL be nominated best director (i hopes he wins)

  5. Robert says:

    Interesting list. I’m surprised he liked Frances Ha but I’ve noticed that a lot of artists are praising the film for realistically tackling the struggles of being a young would-be professional artist/performer. The screenplay also has really sharp, intentionally awkward dialogue so it could be that, as well.

    • Gerard Kennelly says:

      it is being shown in my local cinema on october 16th

      • Robert says:

        I really enjoyed it. It’s a very stylized character study. It’s also very typically Greta Gerwig, which is a great thing if you’re a fan of her awkward intellectual angle.

      • Gerard Kennelly says:

        i first saw her in GREENBERG
        and i went to see ARTHUR because she was in it (i hated it)
        and i bought Damsels In Distress on dvd

    • António Mendes says:

      Tarantino seems to like Noah Baumbach’s body of work (he put Greenberg as his 8th favorite movie of 2010, for instance, and Tarantino has a soft spot for writer-directors). Given all the praise Frances Ha is getting, I think it would be impossible for Tarantino not to like it.

  6. a.p says:

    He has a bad taste, doesn’t he? lol

    • a.p says:

      Also, this seems to be “The best american movies of the year- so far”…

      • EliB says:

        Well maybe he didn’t like any of the foreign film he saw

      • S7SoSt says:

        Considering I could name a handful of Cannes and arthouse films that were way better than 3/4 of his list and aren’t even obscure stuff, I think he hasn’t even seen any “foreign” films yet. Those are mostly films that are currently being shown at the cinema.

      • EliB says:

        I don’t think he should have to. Just let him like what he likes, what the fuck do you care anyway? It doesn’t affect you. So what if he thought that The Lone Ranger was better than some obscure arthouse film? That’s the whole point of movies and lists like this. The article wasn’t called “S7SoSt’s Top films of 2013 so far”

      • PubbyPab says:

        After that list, I’d much rather see S7SoSt’s top films of 2013 so far …

      • EliB says:

        Then fuck off and go watch those movies. Your opinion isn’t law, I hate movies that everyone else loves and I don’t go around telling people that their opinions are shit.

      • PubbyPab says:

        Wow. I love how you’re asking “what do you care anyway” when you’re the one who’s getting bent out of shape. I never said my opinion was law, LOL, and I have never said that other people’s opinions are “shit.” I also don’t appreciate profane insults from someone who I wasn’t attacking in the least. Switch to decaf, you unconscionable cunt.

      • EliB says:

        You’re very heavily insinuating that Tarantino’s opinion is shit. I’m getting “bent out of shape” because people like you come onto these boards and start spouting about how mainstream movies are all bad and that people should only like obscure art house films that you wouldn’t even like if everyone else did. I don’t agree with his list at all but I didn’t come to this page to talk about how shit his opinion is

      • KD1410 says:

        Seriously? The c-word? Pot, meet kettle.

      • Timothy Graham says:

        Maybe he’d like to avoid mentioning them until he has “paid homage” to them in one of his own movies.

  7. ape says:

    I’m surprised the World’s End’s not on this list, considering Quentin’s a big fane of Edgars’. Also personally would’ve put Pacific Rim and Mud on the list too. The Lone Ranger?…Hell No.

    • rubi-kun says:

      I can kind of see what he saw in The Lone Ranger since it does contain some fun homages to the sort of movies Tarantino loves, and it’s main problem is being ridiculously unfocused and bloated which somehow I doubt bothers him that much.

      Kick-Ass 2, however, was completely terrible. World’s End was the year’s best movie so far.

    • markus says:

      The Lone Ranger is GREAT. Sorry you didn’t see it, ape.

  8. Walter says:

    I saw This is the End on his list and suddenly remembered why I don’t like Tarantino. He did make one good movie; Jackie Brown, but my problem with Quenton’s movies is that for some reason they always involve someone being tortured. Am I the only one who’s noticed this?

  9. markus7 says:

    The Lone Ranger is awesome. Best movie I saw this year. Those of you who haven’t seen it, please see it. Very enjoyable film with a great screenplay. The critics lied to you. So glad Quentin included it in his top 10 best for 2013. I’ve always trusted Quentin’s taste in film.

  10. Alboone says:

    Kick Ass 2…nuff said.

  11. CherryValance says:

    I’m glad someone else loved THE LONE RANGER. It also seems as though Woody Allen is exempt from the idea that directors lose something when they get older.

  12. Mark says:

    Two critically panned films: Kick Ass 2 and The Lone Ranger. Something to think about

    • markus says:

      Tarantino’s word is worth more to me than all of the critics combined. 1. He’s far more intelligent than they are. 2. He’s never failed me.

  13. msd says:

    kick-ass 2??? really??? lol

  14. Jess says:

    Drinking Buddies and Kick Ass 2 sucked.

  15. James O'Loughlin says:

    I wonder what Quentin thinks of Nicolas Winding Refn and his latest movie of Only God Forgives. One of my favorite movies this year (definitely one of my favorite albums(Cliff Martinez is all I listen to these days)).

    • António Mendes says:

      Probably not much, since he openly disliked Drive. OGF was broadly disliked even by some people who swear by Winding Refn’s name.
      Anyway, I could be wrong and he could like more OGF than Drive (he likes Enter the Void and there’s a certain degree of hallucinogenic imagery on OGF). Maybe we’ll get to know if he liked, disliked or was just indifferent to OGF when he releases his top of 2013 list.

      • Charbax says:

        He would be wrong, NWR is awesome, Drive was fantastic and OGF is perhaps even better. I’m looking forward to NWR’s next one.

  16. I Drive says:

    what a pleb

  17. CGV says:

    Great to see The Lone Ranger on the list. It got unnecessarily crucified by the critics. It is a great movie.

  18. Jin Kazama says:

    The Conjuring…Let’s be realistic please

  19. Bradley Ashworth says:

    Quentin when Filth comes out in America go see it, it’s amazing

  20. Jetmir says:

    He definitely should watch some foreign films or documentaries! SHAME

  21. Nini says:

    There are so many of my favorite sci-fi movies which didn’t make the list how about Star Trek, World War Z, Oblivion and Elysium? Sci-fi is such a big genre and only gravity is up there

    • LS says:

      ugh ugh ugh Star Trek and Elysium were so awful, so truly unredeemably fucking awful

      I’ll give you World War Z as a good film, but I can understand why it’d be hard to call it a favorite.

      (Pacific Rim seems up his alley, though? Maybe it’s just too far in his own lane.)

  22. Mamba Negra says:

    are you sure, that is tarantino’s list??? REALLY?? I MEAN REALLY??? WELL THERE FALLS ANOTHER MYTH….

  23. Alex Krajci says:

    I Only Saw Three Movies In 2013.

  24. Jeffry Heise says:

    THE LONE RANGER??!! Really? Seriously? I thought Tarantino had almost snapped his cap in his declaring John Ford being a total racist, but LR one of the best films of the year-so far? It was a piece of crap-the Ranger was a total doofus from beginning to end, Tonto was just Captain Jack Sparrow on land and nutso instead of sloshed, the whole transcontinental railroad storyline was laughable (after this and WILD, WILD WEST can we perhaps get a true cinematic take on the building of this railroad instead of using it as a launching pad for something stupid?) and it was too damn long!

    • markus says:

      Intelligent people understand character development. The Lone Ranger is a GREAT movie. I agree with Tarantino that it’s one of the best films of the year. Seriously made with bits of humor and the screenplay is brilliant. Very intense.

  25. Claire says:

    how can he write this list admitting he hasn’t seen more than one on the list!

  26. tomorrowsparty says:

    How do you pick This Is the End over The World’s End?

  27. Hofi says:

    “Dead in Tombstone” :)

  28. Alec Katzman says:

    Huh? He hasn’t seen Gravity yet but it’s on the list? And QT hasn’t seen Imax since he was a kid? Wow

  29. Jon Poland says:

    This has to be a joke. Where is IN A WORLD, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, MUD, THE SPECTACULAR NOW, etc?

  30. Chinmay Chawade says:

    I hoped that The World’s End will be on the list. Its a great list though and I am happy to see that he loved Kick-Ass 2 and The Conjuring as much as I did.

  31. Ciderman says:

    I brought my 10 year old son to see The Loan Ranger because I wanted him to see a modern western but, for reasons that he’s 10, couldn’t introduce him to The Wild Bunch or Once Upon a Time just yet.
    He loved it, and I had a blast as well, people seem to have gotten hung up on certain features of it, the red-face performance of Depp primarily, while being happy to love a classic like Apache, with Lancaster doing a much poorer job imho.
    What ever happened to having a good time at the pictures?

    • Nocona says:

      the fact that its more than borderline racist, misappropriates our culture, starves other Native actors out of jobs and for some reason mainstream america cant get the idea that we don’t or never did act anything like that out of their fuc’n head and fuc burt lancaster 2

      • Ciderman says:

        Struck me that there were plenty of native actors in the film.
        Depp was playing a character in a work of fantasy Western fiction, there wasn’t any law men who did what the Lone Ranger did either .
        And as for Lancaster, show some respect, the man was brilliant.
        If you want someone to respect your viewpoint try not to descend into curses. You just sound hysterical.

      • Timothy Graham says:

        The head of the tribe calls Tonto crazy and that most of what he says is bullshit. Also, there’s the issue of there not being a big star among native actors that can sell the movie.

  32. DANADA73 says:

    I’m a fan of tarantino’s movies (especially the first three), but I don’t like this list. It didn’t get it. Many of the films on the list are really awful movies and the good ones are missing.

  33. Guest says:

    ingénious Tarantino’s…..
    ingénious Tarantino’s…..

  34. lescane says:

    ingénious Tarantino’s…..

    send my face!!!!

  35. Michael Stigdon says:

    Surprised he didnt put “The World’s End” in there. Seems like his kind of movie and I know he loved Shaun of the Dead.

  36. xefiro13 says:

    cool

  37. Mehmet Kenan Sinav says:

    Lone ranger???…..Really that horrific flick. It was just another Disney movie trying to make another Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise to make billions. I really didn’t expected that one to be on the list

  38. Typhanei Celeste says:

    Firstly, might I say that um, if Tarantino recommends it, it is probably going to be fucking GOOD, okay? I have seen “Kick Ass 2,” it was every bit as good as the first & maybe even better! “This Is The End” was so funny I wrote a review & posted as soon as I saw it (just a hint: Channing Tatum makes a cameo that is just priceless). “Blue Jasmine” is Woody Allen–no accounting for taste, that’s a done deal, though I haven’t seen it, I have yet to see a Woody movie I DON’T like….”Lone Ranger”? Again, taste: Johnny Depp teaming up w/Gore Verbinski (“Pirates” series), it SHOULD be fantastic for what it is…much like the aforementioned Kick Ass & This Is The End. I don’t think Tarantino is talking “Oscar-winning, Artsy-Fartsy/Meryl-Streep-worthy” kind of good. He is talking PURE ENTERTAINMENT. I have heard nothing BUT good things about “Gravity” & “The Conjuring,” & I’m a gore whore/horror fanatic (not to mention horror fiction writer), so it is hard for me to NOT predict outcomes. Now that my fave auteur has backed it, you bet your ass it’s just slid up the list of “must-see’s”! In fact, I WILL see ALL of them…I faithfully put my trust in QT’s judgement of good film as I have YET to see a film of his that isn’t SUPERB!!

  39. Terry Craig says:

    Ouch, not seeing The World’s End on this list (and something like This is the End instead) made me cringe a little. I thought Tarantino and Edgar Wright were buds? (Not to mention that The World’s End kicked ass… and more so than Kick Ass 2.)

  40. Raul says:

    Gravity is very different, excellent, is the best movie in 2013 no doubt about it!

  41. James Z. says:

    I’ve just seen Django Unchained. I think the film is absolutely brilliant!! I will check Tarantinos list too. I have great admiration! What a man. So cool.

  42. Saammy says:

    He didn’t like “The World’s End” ?!! Oh come on..

  43. Jonathan Warinet says:

    So QT did prefer This is the end to The world’s end??? what the fuck? and hum i mean Kick ass 2 s really cool, but in a top ? nonesens…

  44. Woody Allen is great. But Blue Jasmine is his greatest.

  45. Luis says:

    What a fucking shitty list… I expected more from Tarantino

  46. Sokker1008 AD says:

    Good to see Gravity

  47. Terry Craig says:

    I’ve seen Gravity and Frances Ha since my last comment, and Gravity is as great as everyone says, but I’m especially happy that Tarantino included Frances Ha in his list. It’s probably the best film to encapsulate this generation (beats Lena Dunham way out of the ballpark, whom I can’t stand anyway). Like a modern American Nouvelle-Vague film, and the lead actress is amazing.

  48. Terry Craig says:

    Tarantino updated his list with at least one flick, which he calls his favourite of the year: “Big Bad Wolves” http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/bigbadwolves/

  49. Mr. Wolf says:

    i don’t belive this is Tarantino’s list for a second

  50. Enzo Ferrari says:

    Ótimo diretor, com os melhore filmes que ja assisti parabéns

  51. BKAllmighty says:

    Despite how critics received “Kick Ass 2” and “The Lone Ranger” you have to keep in mind that opinions are opinions and Quentin has his own. It’s all objective, remember.

  52. CampbellSoup says:

    I’m still shocked that Tarantino liked The Lone Ranger.

  53. Damiano says:

    THE CONSUELOR IS THE BEST.