Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #48. James Gray’s Nightingale

Published on January 14, 2013

Nightingale

Director: James Gray
Writer(s): Gray and Ric Menello
Producer(s): Gray, Anthony Katagas, Greg Shapiro, Christopher Woodrow
U.S. Distributor: The Weinstein Co.
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Dagmara Dominczyk, Angela Sarafyan

There are some cinephile circles who’ve come to think that James Gray is in a class of his own or that he is on par with the likes of PTA, David Fincher, Darren Aronofsky and co. While there are several admirable strengths in Little Odessa and the three films that have followed (I’ve especially embraced the darker, more nuanced qualities that remind of 70’s American Independent cinema) but the filmmaker has yet to topple over into masterpiece category – perhaps it is in the year where his output is a total of two (he wrote Blood Ties) where we’ll see him receive accolades from all critics circles and not just the French.

Gist: An innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.

Release Date: Weinsteins haven’t dated the film yet, but this will be in the Main Comp in Cannes.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).