Top 10 of 2013

There’s something magical in watching a movie, having the lights fade overhead and being engulfed by the sights and sounds that the movie brings.  The magic is sharing this experience with friends, family, and strangers alike.  For a few timeless hours the world is left at the door as one looses oneself in the motion picture.

As 2013 closes I find myself once again struggling to make my annual top ten favorites list of the year.  I enjoyed the majority of what I saw this year, despite some mediocre (Pain & Gain, R.I.P.D.), astonishingly disappointing (Ironman 3, Oz: The Great & Powerful), and just down right bad (After Earth, Room 237) flicks.  However, every coin does have two sides and this year brought some great surprises (The Way Way Back, 100 Bloody Acres). Also there were movies I was expecting to enjoy that I ended up enjoying more then expected (Man of Steel).  Also with the publication of this list, there are 2013 releases that I have yet to see that I want to (Her, Inside Llewyn Davis).  The flicks are in limited release and will make there way here for me to see soon.  This happens every year and many great flicks, Zero Dark Thirty & Tinker Tailor Solider Spy for instance, have been left off the list in years past.

As always I tend to enjoy the social aspects of movie going far more then the feature itself.  (A small disclaimer real quick, that previous statement is a testament to me enjoying the company of family and friends and not to diminish the quality of the film being viewed.)  This year many friends, family, and loved ones gathered for midnight premiers, afternoon matinees, evening showings, and the odd trip to the reparatory screening.

Also this year, as years of recent past, brought some favorites back to the big screen. The flicks included Planet of the Apes, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service among many other excellent 007 features (though I am biased cause in my mind the worst Bond movie is better then the best movie in any other franchise), a variety of Hitchcock films, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to just to name a few.

Please note, when reading this list, I don’t review movies, in fact I despise the current model of film critics all together, and avoid reading reviews like they are the plague.  I do however enjoy debating, discussing, and the experience of the movies and try to pass that love on here. When reading this list remember I’m a guy in the ticket line, sipping on an over sized soda, and enjoying the movie being laid out before me.

So with out further ado please enjoy my top ten favorite films of the year with a bit extra at the end I’m entitling “The Best of the Rest”. 

10. Olympus Has Fallen

I enjoy a good action movie and this one was simply awesome!  Yes its predictable and corny.  With the foreknowledge of how events will be portrayed, I easily got consumed by the movie playing before me and throughly enjoyed the over the top action, the occasional one liner, and once again seeing Morgan Freeman command a desperate national crisis. 

9.  Ender’s Game

2013 brought a variety of science fiction movies.  Gravity, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Into Darkness to name a few.  Ender’s Game however leads the pack and makes it to the top ten list.  I was intrigued by the military dominated world created in this movie, much the way I was by 1997‘s Starship Troopers.  The film had some twists and turns, one I figured out, but the big reveal was a surprise.  I’m sure if I had read the book that fact would of been different.  I also loved seeing Harrison Ford return to the genre that made a star out of him.

8. Fast & Furious 6

Hands down the most entertaining movie of the summer, and one of the year.  The franchise celebrated its sixth film in twelve years and has managed to stay fresh.  The franchise has expanded from car chase/race flicks to include heist and espionage movies.  The car chases still take center stage and any action sequence would be the climax in any lesser film and the finale took my breath away.  The flick serves as a great example that movies can be and are FUN! 

7. Stories We Tell

I love a good documentary and as far as documentaries go for 2013 none were better then Sarah Polley’s look into her own immediate family.  The film was thought provoking from beginning to end all while presenting a complex and well balanced family drama.  Treat yourself one night and rent, or borrow my, copy of a film you will long not forget. 

6. Out of the Furnace 

I love an atmospheric movie, slow paced & moody.  Suspiria & Killing Them Softly are great examples of the atmosphere and pace that engulfs Out of the Furnace.  I fell in love with Christian Bale’s performance, as I always do when he appears on screen.  Woody Harrelson portrays the antagonist and is perfect.  I didn’t want the movie to end as I was intrigued by the story and was enjoying being on the edge of my seat.  After two nail biting hours  the ending came on unforgettably strong and I left the theater more then satisfied with the movie that had just been laid out in front of me.

5. Dallas Buyers Club

Matthew McConaughey & Jared Leto are at the top of their game in this movie and both deserves the academy award for such strong performances.  It’s a rarity for me to have a lump in my throat, when seeing a movie, and this one put a lump there the size of Texas.  The movie does not sugar coat the era of its subject, nor the subject’s life style.  The movie goes into detail on both counts and comes out strong and unforgettable. 

4. The Way Way Back

I had very little knowledge of this movie going into it.  That means I knew Steve Carrell & Sam Rockwell starred in it and the directors were fresh off their Oscar win for writing The Descendants.   There was also something about a water park.  Coming out of the theater an hour and a half later I was more then thrilled with the movie I had just seen.  I laughed and cheered with the central characters and related to the awkwardness of growing up.  Sam Rockwell’s character was a weird comic blend of mentor, screw up, and the glue that holds a group together.  He played it well and in doing so helped create a really special movie.

3. Man of Steel

SUPERMAN RETURNS!! and I’m not referring to the 2006 atrocity.  Hands down the best superhero movie this year.  I loved how the Superman origin story was treated more as a science fiction movie then the previous Superman flicks. The movie had epic battles and awesome effects.  Also this was one of the best cast of the years.  Beyond an incredible ensemble everyone was perfect in his or her role.  Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, and Lawrence Fishburne lead the supporting cast as Henry Cavill’s Superman and Michael Shannon’s General Zod do battle throughout the planet. 

2. In A World . . .

This movie makes its point without insulting my intelligence all while being a fun movie.  The film follows a young woman, who spends her days voice coaching, as she breaks in to the male dominated movie trailer & voice over profession.  The movie’s got a sophisticated since of humor that I fell in love with and is genuinely entertaining.  It’s mind boggling that I almost passed on seeing this gem of an indy film that now sits in the top tear of my favorites of the year.

and joining the ranks of my top film of the year is . . .

1. The Conjuring

Horror made a strong return to form this year with movies like The Conjuring, You’re Next, & Insidious Chapter 2.  The Conjuring sticks out as the best of them all this year, and this year.  It was a pleasure to see a horror movie that doesn’t go for the “shock value” scares that is currently trending within the genre.  The scares come from whats lurking in the shadows and hiding around the corners.  Like films such as 1963’s The Haunting or 1980’s The Shining, the blood and guts are minimal and are there to support the story not the other way around.  The Conjuring is a unique horror movie that still lingers in the recesses of my mind.

“THE BEST OF THE REST”

MALE PERFORMANCE (lead or supporting): Matthew McConaughey Dallas Buyers Club
FEMALE PERFORMANCE (lead or supporting): Emma Thompson Saving Mr Banks

SCREENPLAY: In A World . . .

MIDNIGHT MOVIE MAYHEM & RUNNER UP (Note this is not the best movie seen at midnight but rather the best midnight release parties). I’m listing the film and the menu I prepared and served during the dinner portion of the evening.

THE FAVORITE: Pacific Rim

MENU: Ribs, garlic cheese fries, & cajun green beans

THE RUNNER UP: Now You See Me

MENU: grilled bbq chicken & Corn on the cob all done by the pool.

TOP 3 REPARATORY SCREENINGS:

1. The James Bond Retrospective presents On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

2. Retrofantasma Classics presents Planet of the Apes (1968)

3. Escapism Film Festival presents The Princess Bride (1987)

THE NEVERMORE FILM FESTIVAL TOP 3:

Nevermore is a film festival held yearly at The Historic Carolin Theater of Durham.  The film festival brings new independent horror films as well a classic or two together for a weekend long event.

1. The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh
2. Found
3. Dawn of the Dead

While attending the Nevermore festival my preference is to see as many of the indy films as possible, the opportunity to see Dawn of the Dead on the big screen was one that was not to me missed.  It was an incredible experience that will long be remembered.

I could go on and on about movies, as I tend to do, but I’ll just say “I’ll see you at the movies!”