Thursday, January 16, 2014

Ten Best Movies of 2013

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.

8. AMERICAN HUSTLE
Great cast, questionable hairstyles, good story.  That about sums it up.

7. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
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.

5. THE CONJURING
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.

4. MAN OF STEEL
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.

2. HER
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. 

1. THE WAY WAY BACK
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.

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