Best of 2013: Betsy Sharkey picks ‘Gravity,’ ‘American Hustle’

In this time when news is disseminated ever more quickly, we asked our critics to list the best of culture in 2013 in tweet form:

1. “Gravity:” A perfect marriage of art and technology, Alfonso Cuarón’s film and Sandra Bullock’s performance, out of this world in wondrous ways.

2. “American Hustle:” David O. Russell’s raucous, riotous con game. Christian Bale’s hustle and flow, Jennifer Lawrence’s scene stealing. Wow, baby.

3. “12 Years a Slave”: “The Butler,” “Fruitvale Station:” Beautifully rendered portraits of our racial past. In looking back, the future may change.

4. “Her”: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams caught up in Spike Jonze’s acerbic techno love triangle. Brilliant concept, great execution.

5. “Blue Is the Warmest Color”: For using sex — explicitly — to get beyond sex and into purer extremes of love; and introducing Adele Exarchopoulos.

GRAPHIC: Best of 2013 | Entertainment and culture

6. “Inside Llewyn Davis”: In my book the Coen brothers do no wrong. It’s only a matter of what they’re doing right. Everything, and Oscar Isaac too.

7. “Nebraska,” “Mud”: Earthy stories, harsh realities. Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey, respectively, handle the raw and real exceptionally.

8. “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Philomena”: Men driven crazy by smart, insistent women. Emma Thompson, Judi Dench perfectly on point. What’s not to like?

9. “The Armstrong Lie,” “Inequality for All,” “The Unknown Known”: Shrewd docs that show truth is not just stranger than fiction, it’s far scarier.

10. “Frozen,” “The Way Way Back”: Disney animation and indie comedy. Very different beasts. Both made me laugh. And that, my friends, is priceless.

betsy.sharkey@latimes.com

Twitter: @BetsySharkey