Honorable Mentions
'All Is Lost' (full review here) - very well made, very well acted with an Oscar worthy performance from Robert Redford, and quite tense.
'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues' (full review here) - About 20 minutes could've been trimmed from the movie but I was laughing hysterically throughout the whole thing so I can't act like I wasn't impressed. Yes it's all stupid and dumb and bizarre, but it's all so goofy and hilarious that it doesn't matter.
'Blue Is The Warmest Color' (full review here) - unnecessarily explicit but realistic look at love and relationships anchored by great performances from the two lead actresses, which greatly helps the nearly 3 hour running time go by.
'Frozen' (full review here) - very funny, beautifully animated with some pretty good songs and the 3D was also very good.
'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' (full review here) - I had a blast watching this movie in the theater back in January of last year.
'The Wolf of Wall Street' (full review here) - three hours of debaucherous behavior and greed with great acting. It's funny and entertaining...but definitely NOT for everyone. This is the first movie where I was warned by the cashier about the content in the movie.
'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' (full review here) - three hours of dwarves, elves, wizards, a dragon and a hobbit. Abrupt ending aside, it's still a lot of fun and entertaining.
My Top 10 movies of 2013
It's a very well made, very creepy horror movie that is bolstered by strong performances and a consistently creepy atmosphere that for the most part never lets up. Sure, it's cliched, but the movie is so well made that those cliches can be overlooked. By far the best horror movie of 2013, and by far the better of the two movies that James Wan directed in 2013. There will be more on that other movie in my next blog post.
9. 'Zero Dark Thirty' (review)
What?? That came out in 2012!! BOO! Zero Stars. Technically, yes, it came out in 2012. However, it initially had a limited release in December 2012 to be in awards contention before finally being released nationally in January 2013. Therefore that is why I count it among 2013 movies. Since it's a movie about the CIA tracking down Osama Bin Laden I already knew how the movie was going to end. But even though I knew the ending I still thought it was very suspenseful with a very strong lead performance from Jessica Chastain. It is a little bit of a long sit and sometimes a little difficult to watch, but if you have the time I do highly recommend watching this one.
8. 'Silver Linings Playbook' (review)
This also came out in 2012!! YOU SUCK!! Zero Stars. Once again, it had a limited release and didn't get to a theater near me until 2013. Great acting all around and the movie perfectly balances between being very funny and being very serious when necessary. By far the better of the two movies from director David O. Russell that I saw in theaters this year. There will be more on that other movie in my next blog post.
7. 'Star Trek Into Darkness' (review)
Even though I'm not really a Trekkie, I still thought this was really good and a lot of fun. There was plenty of action, funny, great special effects, suspenseful with plenty of twists and turns in the last half of the movie, and a great villain.
6. 'The Spectacular Now' (review)
One thing that I've started doing throughout my college years was watch smaller, independent movies that have received critical acclaim at various festivals. 'The Spectacular Now' was on that radar and I'm very glad that I watched it. It's a very good/nearly great movie with a realistic view of love, relationships, and dysfunctional families. It's also funny, sad, and sweet with great performances from the two leads.
5. 'Despicable Me 2' (review)
The best animated movie I saw this year. Simply put I loved this movie and liked it a lot more than the first movie. It's extremely funny and extremely cute.
4. '12 Years A Slave' (review)
A disturbing, cruel movie that will resonate with you for awhile and personally left me speechless after I saw it. Extremely well made and well acted. While I do recommend the movie, I will admit it's not for everyone. But at the same time, it is important to watch this movie and see a realistic depiction of slavery in the deep south.
3. 'Lee Daniel's The Butler' (review)
In August this was the best movie I had seen up to that point. Very well acted for the most part (in retrospect John Cusack as Nixon was a bit of a stretch), well shot, powerful and sad, but it does have it's moments of humor that lighten the mood.
2. 'Gravity' (review)
At first I was really iffy about seeing this one. In my opinion the trailers for 'Gravity' didn't look all that good, but after hearing and reading about it's overwhelmingly positive reviews I decided to go see it. And boy were my initial impressions about this movie wrong. This movie was amazing. Breathtaking cinematography, great special effects, great acting from Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, very tense and terrifying, and also very quiet. It is also one of the few movies I've come across where watching it in 3D actually greatly improved the experience of watching the movie and wasn't just a gimmick. For the most part of the last few months I kept going back and forth in my mind about whether I liked this movie or 'The Butler' better. But then came my number one favorite movie of 2013.....
1. 'Saving Mr. Banks' (review)
Sure, this was the most recent movie I've seen and of course it's more fresh in my memory than most of the other movies I've seen this year. But no other movie this year gave me that feeling that I was watching something truly great and wonderful. Leaving the theater once it was finally over, I said out loud that this was the best movie I had seen this year. Great acting, great score, great story, great use of flashbacks, very nostalgic.....I just loved every single minute of this movie. And this was another movie where the initial trailer I saw for it (in front of 'The Butler') didn't leave me all that impressed but man was I surprised. The 'PG-13' rating for this movie is a bit surprising since there isn't anything really objectionable in this movie. It's perfectly fine for my 10-year old brother to watch...and he actually does want to go see this movie.
So there you have it, my Top 10 of the year along with honorable mentions. What have been some of your favorite movies this year?
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