Hey, guess what? 2013 was a great year for movies. I needed that after a disappointing 2012. Since I've seen a lot of the movies, like the past two years, I'm going to weigh in on how much I liked or disliked all of them. I've also included a link to may Reaction or Delayed Reaction for all of them (that took too long). I've included everything I've seen, so Her, Lone Survivor, and several others are not here yet. Be patient. My New Year's resolution was to find a way to have an even less active social life so I'll be getting to a bunch in time.
2012 Edition
2011 Edition
Top 10
1.
Gravity - I don't care if it's not an interesting pick. This was one of the few movies this year that can be described as "an experience". Alfonso Curran takes an idea which doesn't sound all the interesting and a real time approach that should be suffocating and makes it into a tight, gripping 90 minutes. Sandra Bullock is easily better than her award winning turn in The Blind Side even if the final trophy count doesn't reflect it.
2.
About Time - I don't know where this movie came from. It was unfairly dismissed at the box office because it looked like a odd RomCom. Really, it's a high concept reflection on the decisions we make and how to live life to the fullest. It's such a charming and effective movie. I almost don't think a second viewing could live up to my current opinion of it.
3.
Before Midnight - I only just discovered the "Before" series this year, and boy am I glad I did. It's a very simple movie. Not much more than a collection of conversations. After three movies, Jesse and Celine continue to be full and fascinating characters you want to listen to. The Greek setting is gorgeous too.
4.
The World's End - My first end of the world comedy on this list. If I had one word to describe this movie, it would be 'dense'. That's nothing new to Edgar Wright fans. For some reason, it hit me especially hard this time. It's impossible to catch everything the first time you watch it. All the actors are hilarious, including Simon Pegg playing gloriously against type.
5.
12 Years a Slave - I wanted to dislike this movie because it looked like Oscar pandering. I mean, another slave narrative? That would be severely underselling it though. After Shame then this, I am all about Steve McQueen's direction and the performances, especially Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, and Michael Fassbender's are dazzling. This is a movie that proves that to be a great movie, you don't have to do something new as long as you do everything right.
6.
V/H/S/2 - Why doesn't this series expand to theaters?! This anthology is inventive, scary, and most importantly, bat-shit insane. I don't think anything this year was as intense as the third story in the film. Oh my god, if you appreciate horror movies at all, see this movie (and the first for that matter).
7.
This is the End
- I'm a sucker for Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen scripts. This is the
best comedic ensemble of the year without a doubt (although Anchorman is
close) and the movie manages to be hilarious with a healthy mix of
meta, slapstick, grossout, and dark humor while at it's core telling a
story about friendship.
8.
Frozen - As much as I enjoyed last year's Wreck It Ralph, this felt like a real return to form for Disney Animation Studios which has felt like Pixar's little brother for some time now. It didn't feel that way with Frozen. It is such a charming and delightful movie and it gets bonus points for bringing me back to the Renaissance days of Aladdin and The Lion King.
9.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Sometimes, it's hard to be objective about things. I don't know if I can justify rating this so highly but every time I rated the movies I saw this year (which I did multiple times because I'm a lunatic) this kept rising to the top tier. I love the production of the Middle Earth cinema world and honestly, I'm much more likely to watch this movie over most of the ones below it on my list.
10.
Spring Breakers - This made the top 10 for one reason: I couldn't shake it. When saw it in March, it was as a guilty please and due to sheer curiosity. It was a hypnotizing movie that I haven't been able to forget like so many others. James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, and Harmony Corine give some really underrated performances in this (in Hudgens' case far exceeding what I thought she had in her). I still can't settle on what I was supposed to take away from the movie. So, congratulations Harmony Korine. Your'e in my head!
The Rest (in relative order)
I spent a couple hours to order these, but when you are talking about say my #45th versus #46th rated movies, there's some expected day-to-day variance.
The Wolf of Wall Street - Give me another week to stew on it and this could probably make my top 10. For now, it is another impressive effort from Martin Scorsese and Leonardo
The Way, Way Back - I don't think any movie left me in as good of a mood. A very fun movie from Jim Rash & Nat Faxon.
Pacific Rim - Big, bold, beautiful, and did I say big. Plot left something to desire but it was always just an excuse for some of the biggest and most impressive fight sequences of the year.
The Spectacular Now - Miles Teller. Wow. He's good. So is Shailene Woodley proving that The Descendants wasn't a fluke.
American Hustle - Sort of a David O. Russell cocktail with a bunch of great performances, a sharp sense of humor, and a "been there, done that" story.
Rush - Best sports movie of the year. It's nice to see Ron Howard at the top of his game again. So disappointing that more people didn't see it.
Prisoners - You don't see a many smart, complex, and adult crime dramas anymore. This was a reminder that it can still be done.
Captain Phillips - Tom Hanks was great. It manages to keep the tension despite knowing the ending. Fine work from first time actors too.
Saving Mr. Banks - Tom Hanks was great. So was Emma Thompson. Both go without saying. Only thing hurting it is a somewhat uneven story.
The Heat - Funny movie. Great follow up to Bridesmaids for Paul Feig. Certainly Melissa McCarthy's better leading role of the year.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - Joke machines shouldn't feel so long. Very funny but exhausting.
Side Effects - An entertaining movie that I didn't see coming. The less you know about it going in, the better it is.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire -This is like
Evil Dead 2. Better made than the original but bascially the same plot as the first. The quality is there. I'm waiting for the story to be as well.
Frances Ha - I get why people love Greta Gerwig so much now.
Man of Steel -It looked great. Adams and Cavil and a great Lois and Clark. I wasn't a big fan of a lot of the parts early on in the movie. Too much right place, wrong time for my taste.
Fast & Furious 6 -No, Paul Walker's death did not inflate my rating at all. At this point, the series is a strong action series with little or no depth elsewhere. As long as the action works though, I approve.
Blue Jasmine -Cate Blanchett is great. Really great in a "I kind of what to kill her" way. Strong supporting cast from a lot of people I didn't expect too (ex. Andrew Dice Clay, wtf).
The To-Do List -I love Aubrey Plaza and I don't think it's her fault the movie failed. It had an odd sense of humor that I don't think people knew what to make of.
The Conjuring -Proving that as long as the execution is there, the ideas don't have to be original in the horror genre.
Star Trek Into Darkness -I don't have to dogmatism about the original series so I don't mind a few changes. The tone that made the first movie so much fun wasn't there this time.
Kick-Ass 2 -The darker tone was less welcome this time around. The story was a lot rougher and the whole production reeked of "not a priority to anyone involved". Still, it had Chloe Grace Moretz, so that knocks it up a few pegs.
Iron Man 3 -So many Iron Man suits destroyed! I focused a lot on the bad, but even bad Iron Man is better than a lot of action movies out there.
Thor: The Dark World -Thor and Iron Man battled for the best Marvel movie this year. Sadly, it was for which was more mediocre.
Oz The Great and Powerful -Did I need to see a
Wizard of Oz prequel? No. Did I enjoy the one I got? Sure.
Monsters University -Not one of Pixar's best efforts. Still, it is a Pixar effort, so that's something.
Dallas Buyers Club -The performances from McConaughey and Leto are great. The story needed some more to it.
Pain and Gain - A warped little movie. It's a pretty perfect Michael Bay movie, which I don't use as an insult as much as others do.
Ender's Game -The battle scenes were more intense that I expected. A lot of young talent in front of the camera.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty -It's hard to blame a movie for aiming too high. That only forgives so much though.
Insidious Chapter 2 -The first movie was really inventive. The second ties together enough with the first that it makes me believe they always assumed there'd be two parts.
The Wolverine -A massive improvement over the first Wolverine movie (low bar). I still don't get the point of isolating him in Japan for a whole movie though.
Lovelace -I'm sorry, but every time I think of this as "less good
Boogie Nights". Even naked Heather Graham (circa 1997, hell, probably even now) is better than naked Amanda Seyfried. This movie is always going to be hurt by direct comparison.
Warm Bodies -Less of a comedy than I expected. Still a pretty good Romeo and Juliet story. Nicholas Hoult and Theresa Palmer are both people I'll look out for now.
Fruitvale Station -Michael B. Jordan is stellar in an otherwise ok movie.
The Last Stand -More fun than it should've been. It is exactly what it looks like and relishes it.
The Great Gatsby -It's clear all the thought went into the casting (how is this the only movie I could find with Carey Mulligan in it this year) and the party scenes as those were completely worth the 3D ticket.
42 -It's a shame this movie had to come out after historical sports racism movie fatigue set in.
Oblivion -A shockingly generic SciFi movie. It did nothing wrong but it also did nothing new.
Now You See Me -The more I think about the movie, the less clever it is.
Evil Dead - It has to get bonus points for being a horror movie that I legitimately couldn't sit through.
Carrie -I wasn't very impressed with this. It was a completely unneeded remake. Most of the points I'm awarding it come from Chloe Grace Moretz.
Elysium -And I thought District 9 lacked subtlety in its message. I had a lot of trouble understanding how the world the movie created works. It made very little sense.
The Hangover Part III -At least this movie didn't try to do the exact same thing again. It didn't even try to be as funny though and without all the jokes, there's not much to keep me coming back to this series happily.
Identity Thief -I wanted to enjoy this for the Melissa McCarthy of it but it repeatedly went for the easiest jokes that weren't all that funny.
Gangster Squad -I'm curious what the pre-Aurora cut of this looked like.
Grudge Match -Tried to be a drama and a comedy which created a weird balance.
I Give It a Year -It's hard to hate any movie with Rose Byrne and Anna Faris in lingerie. It still found a way.
The Internship - For a 90 minute Google infomercial, it wasn't half bad.
Jack the Giant Slayer - I can see why they kept delaying the release of this.
The Counselor - It's hard to believe that I could dislike something with the credentials of this movie.
21 and Over - Aiming to be a younger
Hangover. When will people figure out that
The Hangover audience is young enough?
Machete Kills - It's hard to knock an exploitation movie like this. It is supposed to be bad. It was a lot of fun.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Well, thank god they delayed this a year so they could add 3D. That made it so much better.
Olympus Has Fallen - Not the one with Channing Tatum. It's as generic as it gets for an action movie.
My Bottom 5
Safe Haven - This is not a genre I like much to begin with. I'm yet to see proof that Julianne Hough should be the lead in a movie. The twist is kind of nifty. This is primarily hear because of my taste in movies. For what it is, it's effective.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone -Where to begin...A comedy cast of Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey, and Olivia Wilde was completely wasted on a movie that made 10 years too late and simply wasn't at all funny.
The Lone Ranger -This was the hardest movie to not walk out on I've seen in some time. It meanders for so long that by the time it gets to the action, that was pretty well done, I'd completely checked out.
A Good Day to Die Hard -The most unneeded sequel of the year. This belongs in the
Die Hard series about as much as...well, shit. This is my benchmark for pointless franchising...
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters -I clearly missed the point, right? The title is the joke. The rest is filler. This couldn't possibly be a serious action movie because no effort went into that. It's not a comedy because there weren't any jokes. If the intent was something like
Army of Darkness then it missed it's mark.
A Couple from 2012
There were a couple 2012 movies that I couldn't get to in last years list and I wanted to address. They are in order of what I liked most too, although a five movie list is shitty for context.
Zero Dark Thirty -It's naturally a boring story, but damn was it well directed. And Jessica Chastain? I approve.
Amour -That was depressing. Very well made. Even more depressing.
The Impossible -The tsunami was made terrifically. The story after that dragged.
Life of Pi - So, there was no tiger on the boat? This story is bullshit.
Jack Reacher -Pure pulp. If I could buy Tom Cruise as a bruising badass, I could probably get behind it a lot more.
I'm going to pat myself on the back for a minute. I'm sure this is littered with typos, but in my initial run through, I only had to fix two or three name spellings
