'Gravity' soars to top of best-reviewed movies of 2013

It's not quite an Oscar, but any gold is valuable this time of year.

Gravity earned bragging rights as the best-reviewed film of 2013, claiming the Golden Tomato award from survey site Rottentomatoes.com.

The award, to be announced Thursday, goes to the wide-release film that scores the most plaudits from the nation's movie critics. Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, got a thumbs-up from 97% of reviewers.

While the Matthew McConaughey drama Mud and the Ethan Hawke romance Before Midnight earned better scores with a 98% approval rating, scores are weighted based on the number of reviews.

"It was a close race because the year was strong, particularly the end of it," says Matt Atchity, Rotten Tomatoes' editor in chief. "But Gravity had nearly 300 reviews (the others had fewer than 200 each). To get a consistently high score like that, with all of those voices weighing in, is impressive."

The Brie Larson drama Short Term 12, about a struggling twentysomething working at a foster care facility, took the award for best-reviewed limited-release movie, with a 98% score.

The awards, held since 2000, include television this year. Breaking Bad's fifth and final season earned the highest reviews among returning shows, while French drama The Returned took honors as top new show.

"We wanted to include TV because we're seeing stars, writers, directors make the jump from film to TV more than ever," Atchity says. "It's a great time for television."

While Oscar voters have a reputation for being as haughty as the critics, don't look for many tea leaves in the Golden Tomato awards, which rarely align with academy voting — though Argo claimed both statues last year.

"I've been trying for years to try to see some pattern in (Oscar) voting" through critic voting, he says. "I haven't found one yet. But that's not a bad thing. With a field like this, it's anyone's race."

The awards:

Primary awards

Wide release film: Gravity

Limited release film: Short Term 12

New TV shows: The Returned: Season 1

Returning TV shows: Breaking Bad: Season 5

Top British film: 56 Up

Top Australian Film: The Rocket

Movie genres

Action/adventure: Gravity

Animation: Frozen

Comedy: American Hustle

Comic book: Iron Man 3

Documentary: Blackfish

Drama: 12 Years a Slave

Foreign: Wadjda

Horror: The Conjuring

Romance: Before Midnight

Sci-fi/fantasy: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Thriller: Side Effects

TV Genres

Comedy: Parks and Recreation: Season 6

Drama: Breaking Bad: Season 5

Sci-fi/fantasy/horror: Game of Thrones: Season 3

TV movie/miniseries: Behind the Candelabra