End-Of-Year: Top 25 Films of 2013

To say this list is a bit behind schedule would be understating things, but here we are nearly four months after this year's Academy Awards and I'm finally posting my favorite films of 2013. Hell, 2014 is nearly halfway done, but for completeness sake I thought it was better (super) late than never. Overall, I saw about 115 films that came out theatrically last year. The number isn't super exact since a good chunk of those came in the early months of 2014 in an effort to catch up. Anyways, here are my top 25 with my very (very) brief impressions months later...

#25 Captain Phillips - Superbly and tensely directed with riveting lead performances.
#24 Fruitvale Station - Harrowing, emotional, and introspective.
#23 Frances Ha - A delightful not-quite coming-of-age New York tale.
#22 Blue Jasmine - Blanchett steals every scene in all her caustic glory.
#21 The Way, Way Back - Charming and fun summer fare.

#20 Trance - Sexily and wonderfully trippy with some extra style.
#19 Now You See Me - Fresh spin to the heist genre with witty twists and performances.
#18 The World's End - A fitting and epic end to one of the best modern trilogies of our time.
#17 Broken Circle Breakdown - A bittersweet look at love, family, and loss.
#16 The Great Gatsby - Audacious adaptation that visually dazzles for better or worse.

#15 Pacific Rim - Huge blockbuster visuals without the loss of character.
#14 About Time - Awkwardly charming time travelling tale.
#13 The Wolf of Wall Street - Funnier than I expected with DiCaprio doing a career best performance.
#12 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Confident sequel that's better in every sense than the first film.
#11 The Heat - Hilarious to the max with heart to spare.

#10 Frozen - An instant Disney classic whose songs have yet to outstay their welcome.
#9 Short Term 12 - Powerful in its subtlety and focus on its heartfelt and real characters.
#8 Out in the Dark - Best gay film of 2013, touching, affective, and beautifully realized.
#7 12 Years A Slave - Tough to watch at times, but it's a definite must see for the story/acting.
#6 Stories We Tell - Crafty piece of documentary filmmaking that is touchingly personal.

#5 Much Ado About Nothing - Utterly delightful, hilarious, full of charm and then some.
#4 Inside Llewyn Davis - One of the Coen's brothers best; a joy to watch and listen.
#3 Her - Inventive and illuminating, Phoenix and Johansson shine in unexpected roles.

#2 Before Midnight - Funny and poignant; superb performances from Delpy and Hawke as usual.
#1 Gravity - Masterful in its direction and effects, the film is an unforgettable experience.

There were a few other films that just missed my list such as World War Z, What Maisie Knew, The Bling Ring, Place Beyond the Pines, 20 Feet From Stardom, G.B.F., The Spectacular Now, Don Jon, The Kings of Summer, and a bunch more. Didn't you see the part where I said I saw 110+ films last year? Anyways, here's to another year full of movies (and hopefully better time management)!

More year-end film posts:
- 2013 Film Winners
- Favorite Movie Couples of 2013

Looking Forward To...

Midnight in Paris
Release: May 20, 2011
Distributor: Sony Classics
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Michael Sheen, Rachel McAdams, Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates, Tom Hiddleston, Alison Pill, Léa Seydoux, Carla Bruni, Mimi Kennedy, Corey Stoll, Kurt Fuller, and Owen Wilson

That is so fetch...

This post is part of Nathaniel's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series in which the participants must post a single image from a movie he or she deems as the "best shot" for any particular reason.

Today's movie is Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The film came out April of 2004, still a few years away from Lohan's eventual train-wreck, but only two months away from McAdams' starring vehicle The Notebook. The one-two punch of playing bitchy Regina George and then opposite future fiancé Ryan Gosling made 2004 McAdams' unofficial coming out party to Hollywood. This whole thing is a bit tangential to my "best shot" post, but I'm still amazed at how much would change for these two actresses in the next six years.

With many shots/scenes to pick from, I decided to focus on two people not named Lohan or McAdams. Instead I picked a shot from a scene that not only succinctly showed the rampant cliquishness of high school, but also highlighted two very fine comedic actors. The scene involves Janis, played by Lizzy Caplan, along with Damien, played by Daniel Franzese, taking Cady (Lohan) under their wings. First lesson? How to navigate the cafeteria, complete with a fantastically-drawn map:

Here. This map is gonna be your guide to North Shore. Now, where you sit in the cafeteria is crucial, because you got everybody there.

Janis then lists the different groups on the map as the camera swoops into the drawing as it transforms into the actual cafeteria. The audience is then showed each group as she narrates quickly panning from one group to the next.

You got your freshmen, ROTC guys, preps, JV jocks, Asian nerds, cool Asians, varsity jocks, unfriendly black hotties, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don't eat anything, desperate wannabes, burnouts, sexually active band geeks...

And without missing a beat, she slips in one of my favorite moments (and shot!) in the entire film:

...the greatest people you will ever meet...

I remember when I first saw the film, I had to actually rewind it because I was taken aback by this shot. It was such a blink-and-you-miss moment in the film, but I just found it absolutely hilarious. Most of that can probably be attributed to Caplan's expert delivery, but how do you not smile when you see those faces? Franzese is blowing a kiss while Caplan looks on goofily. The camera quickly pans to the next, and final, group.

...and the worst. Beware of The Plastics.

A beautifully done sequence with a funny and unexpected shot thrown near the end. And as I end this post, just want to give props to the characters Janis "Dyke" Ian and "Too Gay To Function" Damien. In a movie with many more well-known names, they managed to steal the show quite a few times. It was a pleasant surprise for me when I saw both actors just this summer reuniting on screen for one episode of the shortly-lived show Party Down. Unfortunately, the two didn't share an actual scene together, but I swear, it was totally fetch.

Movie Meme: Day 11

"31 Day Movie Meme"


Day 11 | A movie that disappointed you

When I thought about the question for today, two very recent films came to mind almost immediately: Brideshead Revisited and State of Play. The fact that both films are adapted from acclaimed British miniseries is just a coincidence. Or actually maybe it's not.

Maybe the fact that both stories were already so well-served and presented in their long-form versions made them that much more difficult to fit within a two-hour film. This is certainly true for State of Play since I actually did see the 6-hour brilliant miniseries it was based on and the film just never reached those levels. I'll give them an out by noting that I was very sleepy the day I saw the film, but I still remembered being extremely annoyed with them taking out some of the more interesting elements and characters from the miniseries to shorten the film. I also thought that Russell Crowe was severely miscast.


Admittedly I never saw the original 11-episode miniseries version of Brideshead Revisited that aired in 1981, but with roughly five more hours to fit into standard movie time than State of Play, it was always going to be difficult making it work. And it felt like it. The characters themselves were great and the film itself started out well enough, but the latter half sort of meandered into nothingness as the film trudged along to end.

With actors such as Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Ben Whishaw, Matthew Goode, Emma Thompson, and Michael Gambon I had high enough expectations for both of these two films. Ultimately, they just didn't deliver.

Looking Forward To...

Sherlock Holmes
Release: December 25, 2009
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, Eddie Marsan, and Robert Downey Jr.

What's Playing in August?

I always thought of August as a dead month for movies. Most of the summer blockbuster have come and went and then there's a lull until the fall/Oscar/prestige/holiday flicks start appearing in the cinema. Now maybe that's not true. And I'm sure I've seen loads of films releases in August, but for some reason this year there seems to be a glut of movies that I WANT to see that are being released next month.

Funny People (July 31st)

Technically this film comes out the very last day of July, but it's pretty much an August flick. This is Judd Apatow's third film and all of the reviews right now make it seem like it's Apatow trying to get himself taken more seriously. I've enjoyed his previous films, but the trailer for this film definitely didn't feel Apatow-esque. I have no idea if that's a good or bad thing yet. It stars Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, and Eric Bana.

Julie & Julia (August 7th)

It's Meryl Streep and Amy Adams again and instead of nuns they'll respectively be playing the legendary chef Julia Childs and the out-of-her-luck Julie Powell who takes inspiration from Childs. From the trailer it seems as if Streep was born to play Childs, but yet again isn't Streep born to play almost anyone and anything? Adams' story seems to be overpowered by Streep and from the early reviews, it seems that is the case.

District 9 (August 14th)

I only really heard about this in the past few weeks seeing a commercial for it on TV. And honestly I still don't really know what's it's about except that it has something to do with alien beings living on Earth, but being cordonned off from the general public (i.e. like a public version of Area 51) and the movie is being "presented" by Peter Jackson. That's usually good enough for me.

The Time Traveler's Wife (August 14th)

This movie has been in my radar ever since I heard it was being made. I never read the famous book it's based on, but I've always wanted to. Getting two of my favorite actors to star as the leads, Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, has also made me very excited for this film. The film is about a woman who falls in love with a man who involuntarily time travels. If that's not chock full of drama, then I don't know what is. Plus it's VERY similar to the recently cancelled show Journeyman which I really liked.

Inglourious Basterds (August 21st)

Quentin Tarantino's latest brings an over-the-top (redundant?) WWII film centered on soldiers bent on making the lives of Nazis hell. The trailers emphasize the rompness and the violence that Tarantino is known for. The film stars Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, and Diane Kruger. This might be something I see on DVD, but still something to watch out for.

Taking Woodstock (August 28th)

Based on a book by Elliot Tiber, this movie takes the coming-of-age story of a guy and put it amidst the backdrop of probably the most famous concert in the history of the world, Woodstock. I could be completely wrong, but that's what it seems like from the trailer and in any case, I would still see this movie alone for the cast with Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirch, Paul Dano, Liev Schreiber, and finally Demetri Martin.