Sometimes you walk out of a movie and you
just know it’s going to be one of your favorites. You go home and pre-order it on Amazon; you
download the soundtrack; and you leave some strongly worded sentiments in the
Comments sections for journalists who gave the film a negative review. Then there are those movies that you
initially like to a lesser extent, but come to find that over time their value
appreciates in your mind. So with the
benefit of hindsight and twelve months worth of movies as a frame of
reference, I’ve come up with these ten titles as my favorites of 2013.
Not quite the type of zombie narrative that
is currently en vogue, Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer bring to screen a
post-apocalyptic take on the Beauty and the Beast narrative.
In what is most likely his last solo effort
in the franchise, Robert Downey Jr. makes a movie that is more about the man
than the machine in classic Shane Black style.
Great cast, questionable hairstyles, good
story. That about sums it up.
This was one of the few action movies from
2013 that was actually fun. Purists may
have not like J.J. Abrams’ second trek adventure but most everyone else did.
This movie had no business making it onto the
big screen and no business being super funny.
And yet it did and it is. Danny
McBride owns this film.
in a time when most horror movies feel like
cheaply made cash grabs that are short on thrills, The Conjuring proves not
only to be legitimately frightening, but also well acted and directed.
No movie about Superman will ever fully satisfy the masses because everyone has a different idea on how the most iconic
fictional character in the world should be treated on screen. That aside, Zack Snyder does a very good job
of rebooting the man, the myth, the legend.
It’s not the most robust plot, but there is
no denying that it is an amazing visual experience. The amount of directorial creativity that
Alfonso Cuaron had to exercise in order to make this film makes it all the more
impressive.
No movie made me think more after a viewing
than this one. It’s not perfect and at
times stretches my disbelief but Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant and
Scarlett Johansson’s casting is spot on.
This film is well written and features a great cast, but make no mistake about it. Sam Rockwell is the straw that stirs this drink. He isn’t going to win any awards for this performance, but I consider his work in this film to be the best of his career. A must see.
