10 Movies to Watch in 2013

L.A. WeeklyFilm

1. No1. No, opens February 15

The superb final installment of Pablo Larraín's trilogy on Pinochet, No is set in 1988, when the Chilean dictator called for a referendum to determine whether he could extend his rule for another eight years. Those who want the tyrant gone approach advertising exec René (Gael García Bernal), who crafts incongruously effective TV spots filled with rainbows and mimes. Shooting on U-matic video to give No the look of the era, Larraín also demonstrates one of the most unlikely ways that a revolution could be televised.

Most of the blathering this year about the death of film and film culture has already evaporated from the mind, like so much inert gas. But one gnomic pronouncement endures: Leos Carax describing cinema as “a beautiful island with a cemetery” following the world premiere of Holy Motors at Cannes. What are the contents of that necropolis? As we look ahead to 2013, several unnecessary sequels — Fast and Furious 6, The Hangover Part III, Grown Ups 2, The Smurfs 2 — seem eligible for the funeral pyre. Buried under mountains of cash when they were first released, the blockbusters Jurassic Park, The Little Mermaid and the Star Wars installments Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith will be disinterred and reissued in 3-D.

Yet for all of next year's likely stinking corpses, 2013 also boasts plenty of reinvigorating fare — movies that are the flora and fauna of Carax's “beautiful island.” Below are ten titles — including some we haven't seen (and which might be eligible for the charnel house when we do) — whose promise suggests to us that reports of film's death are greatly exaggerated. (All dates are subject to change.)

By Melissa Anderson

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