Quentin Tarantino's Top 10 Movies of 2013 (So Far)

Movie buffs have begun to anticipate Quentin Tarantino's Top 10 movies lists in recent years. The legendary director's run-down of his favorite movies of the year has made for interesting reading in recent years and is often regarded as the antithesis of the Academy's choices of the year's best.

Juno Temple [L] and Kathryn Hahn [R] In 'Afternoon Delight'

He passed on devising a list last year, owing to Django Unchained, though in 2011 Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris - a wonderful movie that actually went onto win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars - topped Quentin's list, edging out Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the excellent Moneyball, with Brad Pitt. Tarantino threw in a couple of curveballs with X-Men: First Class, The Skin I Live In, Attack The Block and Warrior.

In 2010, the filmmaker's list - headed by the near-perfect Toy Story 3 - was pretty damn good. It featured David Fincher's The Social Network, the gripping Animal Kingdom, indie-drama I Am Love, True Grit, the criminally underrated The Town, Ben Stiller's Greenberg, Cyrus and Enter the Void. 

Though the cinematic year isn't over year, and most of the assumed Oscar contenders (American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Wolf of Wall Street) are yet to be released - Quentin's people have posted his Top 10 on fan-site The Quentin Tarantino Archives.

So....drum roll please. Quentin Tarantino's favorite movie of 2013 so far is...Afternoon Delight. You know...Afternoon Delight? It's a comedy-drama written by Jill Soloway, who won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival back in January.

Josh Radnor Stars Alongside Hahn in 'Afternoon Delight'

Though Cate Blanchett has the Oscar for Best Actress tied up, this quirky flick features one of the best female lead performances of the year from Kathryn Hahn, who plays Rachel, the quick-witted stay-at-home mom in a sexless marriage. Frustrated with the realities of preschool auctions and a career that's gone kaput, Rachel visits a strips club to spice up her marriage and meets McKenna (Juno Temple), a stripper she adopts as her live-in nanny.

The movie has a curious rating of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, though many of the big hitters - we're talking the Washington Post, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly - have offered hugely positive reviews.

Next up on Tarantino's list is Richard Linklater's Before Midnight, which is absolutely one of the best reviewed movies of the year. The sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004) boasts a score of 97% on the review-aggregating website and should feature in some form of the Academy Awards next March.

Cate Blanchett [L] Is The Odds On Favorite To Win The Oscar for Best Actress, for 'Blue Jasmine'

Third place is another predictable choice, given Tarantino's fondness for its director Woody Allen. It is, of course, Blue Jasmine, which features one of the best performances of the year from Cate Blanchett. She plays a rich Manhattan socialite falling into destitute poverty and homelessness. The movie's been praised across the board. It's brilliant. 

Next up is James Wan's box-office success The Conjuring, which took over $300 million despite its tiny $20 million budget. It stars Vera Farmiga and Patick Wilson as Ed and Lorraine Warren, American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Unsurprisingly, New Line Cinema is already developing a sequel.

Jake Johnson [L] and Anna Kendrick [R] In Joe Swanberg's Excellent 'Drinking Buddies'

Fifth, sixth and seventh on the list is a bunch of movies that we sang the praises of earlier this year. Firstly, Joe Swanberg's Drinking Buddies is an intelligent and witty drama starring New Girl's Jake Johnson and Olivia Wilde as employees at a craft beer brewery in Chicago. Again made on a shoe-string budget, the movie garnered strong reviews and is likely to become a favorite with independent movie fans and hipsterish beer fanboys.

Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, starring probably the greatest actress in the world at the minute Greta Gerwig, was Tarantino's sixth favorite movie of the year. Shot entirely in black and white, the trailer looked ridiculously twee though critics couldn't get enough of it, professing it the finest movie about New York since Woody's Manhattan. 

Sandra Bullock In Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity

In seventh is Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, a definite contender for Best Picture at the Oscars and probably the best reviewed movie of the year. Featuring stunning 3-D visuals and strong lead performances from Academy favorites George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, Gravity has been described as the greatest space movie ever made. 

Eighth, ninth and tenth throw up some curious little choices for Quentin. Kick Ass 2 was relatively poorly received, while Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger will go down as the biggest flop of the past decade, losing Disney hundreds of millions and leaving Johnny Depp considering his future in the movie business. Still, Tarantino saw something in it and ranked it better than Seth Rogen's This Is The End, which closed out the list. 

What do you think of Tarantino's list? We're in agreement with the bulk of it, especially the top half, though where is Prisoners, Rush and Filth?

Watch the trailer for Quentin Tarantino's favorite movie of 2013, Afternoon Delight: