Top 10 Most Underrated Films of 2013

Director Steven Soderbergh stated that Side Effects would be his last film. I hope this isn't the case because the 50-year-old director is at the top of his game.

Side Effects was a box office miss, earning just 32 million. I'm not really sure what the reason for that was. The film features a very strong cast including Channing Tatum, who was box office gold the previous year.

I guess you could blame it on the somewhat ambiguous trailer. It doesn't really tell you a whole lot about the film and almost makes it seem like it's a film about pharmaceutical companies or something along those lines.

To me, it's a good thing the trailer didn't give away too much information because it might have ruined the film. Side Effects employs a twisty plot that you really have to pay attention to.

In many ways, Side Effects feels an awful lot like a Hitchcock film. I'm not going to say too much more about the plot for fear of giving away too much. You really should check the film out if you get the chance. It's currently available for instant stream on Netflix.

My only problem with the trailer is that it makes it seem like Rooney Mara is the main character. In reality, it's Jude Law that is the main character. Law gives one of his best performances in years as a psychiatrist that finds himself in a downward spiral of a nightmare.

Side Effects is one of my favorite thrillers in years. A genre that has kind of been left by the wayside by Hollywood in recent years.

The zombie genre has really blown up over the past few years and maybe people are just exhausted by it now. Warm Bodies is a new twist on the genre though.

A coming-of-age zombie story that has more romance and comedy than most romantic comedies. Warm Bodies did okay at the box office, bringing in 66 million dollars, but it should have been even better.

Nicholas Hoult plays R, a zombie with a heart, he just can't express his feelings. On the outside, he looks like a zombie, but the person he was before is still inside. Soon he meets Julie, and something begins to stir in his body. Is it possible he could be human again?

What transpires is very much like the story to Romeo & Juliet. Many of the best scenes deals with R trying to awkwardly get to know Julie. Many of the scenes deal with normal problems of any teenage boy.

The Place Beyond the Pines is an ambitious film. It's broken up into 3 parts that span almost 20 years.

The first part follows Luke, played by Ryan Gosling, a tattooed motorcycle riding daredevil. When Luke finds out he has a son, he will do anything to help support him. This includes robbing banks. If Pines had ended with just Gosling's part, it would have been on my list of best films of 2013.

Where it falters a little is in the other two parts. The second chronicles Bradley Cooper as a police officer trying to catch Luke. His story also involves dirty cops and the opportunity to move up the ranks if he's just willing to go down that path.

The third and final part of the film revolves around the the sons of both men, who grow up and become friends. This part is solid, but feels a little rushed. Luke's son is played by Dane DeHaan. He's a quiet kid that doesn't share any of his father's charismatic nature, but there's a sadness in him that he can't quite put his finger on.

Is it the fact that he doesn't know his father? It begs the question that surrounds the whole film. Are we a product of how we are raised, or is there something in the DNA that makes us who were are?

Out of the Furnace is one of those films that I can't quite understand why it wasn't more beloved by critics. It has everything they normally look for in a great film, including Christian Bale.

Bale is sure to garner more attention for his much more flashy performance in American Hustle, but he's great for totally different reasons in Out of the Furnace.

His performance is subtle and drawn back. Much of the film he's acting with just his eyes and body language. Another great performance by one of the best actors of his generation.

Out of the Furnace deals with blue collar workers in a blue collar town that seems like it's stuck in time 40 years ago. Bale plays Russell Baze, a hardworking steel worker who seems like he's always finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

His brother Rodney, played by Casey Affleck, is an Iraq war vet struggling to find work. In order to make ends meet, he gets involved in the world of illegal fighting. When he disappears, it's up to Russell to bring him back home.

Woody Harrelson plays the main villain in one of the nastiest performances you will see all year. Willem Dafoe and Zoe Saldana both turn in strong supporting performances.

Out of the Furnace is one of the better films that captures the life of the blue collar worker.

It's kind of odd to call a Ron Howard film starring Chris Hemsworth underrated, but it's certainly that. It only grossed 26 million domestically and was supposed to be one of the biggest films of the year.

It's too bad more people didn't see it because it's a really good film. You don't have to like racing to enjoy Rush. The film is really about two men, both completely different, who find a common ground with one another through (sometimes) friendly competition.

The stand out performance for me in Rush is by Daniel Brühl (Inglorious Basterds). He plays a blunt, no-nonsense driver that will do anything to win. His true life story of perseverance is awe-inspiring.

The sound in Rush is also something that stands out. Every change of the gears and rev of the engine can be heard. You almost expect to smell the fuel burning up.

The Spectacular Now ranks right up there with any high school romance film of the 80's like Say Anything... and is a perfect companion piece to last year's Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The Spectacular Now follows Sutter, played by Miles Teller, a young actor to keep an eye on. Sutter is a Ferris Bueller like character. A charismatic guy that everybody likes. The only problem is that he has a little bit of a drinking problem.

He doesn't start to change his ways until he meets Aimee, played by Shailene Woodley. Woodley is another actor to keep an eye on. She's already been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in The Descendants.

Aimee is the girl next door that can't possibly imagine anybody thinking she's pretty. Sutter helps her come out of her shell and she helps him with his drinking problems.

Their chemistry is one of the more natural relationships you will find in a film all year.

The trailers for About Time didn't do the film any justice. They made the film look like your typical Rachel McAdams romance flick with a time travelling twist used as a cool gimmick to play around with.

About Time features way more than that. In fact, the second half of the film deals with life and death. As well as the relationship between fathers and sons.

About Time also deals with themes of living life to the fullest and the common thread being that we shouldn't have to relive certain parts of our lives over to get them right. We should live them once and enjoy them to the fullest and not regret any of the choices we make.

One of the rare romantic comedies that actually has an important message to get across.

Most people just dismissed Spring Breakers as a shallow film full of violence and bikini glad women. Sure it is that, but most people totally missed the point of the film.

I also think the film got too much attention for being the movie that starred childhood actors like Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez all grown up and barely wearing any clothes. Like it's the film they both chose to distance themselves from their younger, more wholesome work.

The best part of Spring Breakers is James Franco. He's almost unrecognizable as a dreadlock wearing, tattooed maniac with a mouth full of gold. He plays Alien, a drug dealer the girls get hooked up with in order to make some easy cash.

What ensues can only be called a Natural Born Killers like spree of debauchery.

The main theme of the film is a lambasting of today's generation. A generation raised on video games, the lawless expanses of the internet and music videos.

The film is a commentary on what the filmmakers see as a generation of desensitized 20 somethings who only seem to care about sex, drugs and alcohol. A generation that doesn't see the consequences of their actions. They just see actions.

The best part of the film is a monologue by Franco that is one of the best of the year. If more people saw the film, it would surely be quoted for decades to come.

You're Next (which was made back in 2011 but released in 2013) is a horror film that should have been a huge box office success.

Horror films half as good have gone on to make 3 times as much money. I'm not quite sure why audiences stayed away, but they missed a fun ride.

You're Next is a female empowering film, something rarely seen in most horror films. There's also some cools twists and some genuine scares.

I really hope this movie finds an audience and I wouldn't be surprised to see it become one of those films that gains popularity as the years go by.

The Counselor is one of those films that people just shake their heads when I tell them I enjoyed it.

I know it's slow, I know it's hard to follow, but I thought it was pretty good.

The Counselor is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy and is very much a companion piece to No Country for Old Men, a film also based on a McCarthy novel.

The Counselor features an All-Star cast including Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem and Michael Fassbender.

It's Fassbender who really shines here (as usual) as a lawyer who gets in over his head in a drug deal gone bad. The film's main theme is greed and the consequences that come with it.

Another theme is the primal instincts of humans. The parallel of Diaz's character can be drawn to a wild animal. Most considered her performance over the top, but I thought it was one of the best of her career.

I think The Counselor is destined to be one of those films that will get better with age. Decades from now people might just look back and consider The Counselor a masterpiece. Who knows. For now, it will continue to be panned as a contrived mess by most people.