My Top 10 + 1 Favorite Films of 2013
My favorite movies released in 2013.
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- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsChristian BaleAmy AdamsBradley CooperA con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.With last year's Silver Linings Playbook and this year's American Hustle, David O. Russell has created a near masterpiece of American filmmaking and solidified himself as one of the best directors working today.
Russell joins forces with some of the actors he's worked with on his two previous projects (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper from Playbook and Christian Bale and Amy Adams from The Fighter) for what can only be called a perfect storm of cinematic perfection.
Hustle is a glitzy, twisty tale about con artists and how they survive by conning other people and even themselves. In American Hustle, it's never quite clear who is conning who and that's what makes the film so great. It keeps you guessing the whole time.
Hustle is surprisingly funny as well, and the whole cast gives an amazing performance. Hustle also includes one of the years best soundtracks. It's been a long time since I've seen a cast with this much on-screen chemistry. To me, American Hustle is an instant classic. - DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHugh JackmanJake GyllenhaalViola DavisWhen Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.One of the hardest films to make in Hollywood is a good mystery. The viewer is always trying to figure out "who done it". This can sometimes take the suspense out of the film. This doesn't happen with Prisoners because the story is so tightly sewn it constantly keeps you on your toes.
Hugh Jackman gives a career best performance as a father that will go to any lengths to find the man that kidnapped his daughter. Jake Gyllenhaal is also strong here as a detective who's spread thin by the burden of finding the man responsible for the disappearance of the two little girls and a father who is hell bent on his own form of justice. - DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsSandra BullockGeorge ClooneyEd HarrisDr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first time on a space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.The eagerly anticipated Gravity by director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) is one of those films that has to be seen in theaters on a big screen.
I don't care how big your TV is or how great your surround sound system is, it can't do justice to this spectacle of filmmaking. Gravity also puts 3D to great use, a fad that has quickly cooled off, really adds to the feel of Gravity and immerses you in the environment.
The story of Gravity is kind of bare bones, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's about the primal urge to survive at all costs that lives in every human. Is there anything that is easier for an audience to relate to?
Gravity is pretty much a one woman show. Bullock carries every scene and gives a gut-wrenching performance. A performance that tops what she did in the Blind Side, a film for which she won an Academy Award. - DirectorNat FaxonJim RashStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteAllison JanneyShy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.The Way Way Back is your typical coming-of-age story, but the film is elevated by a strong cast.
Duncan, a shy teenage boy, spends the summer with his mother and her new boyfriend in the boyfriend's summer home. The boyfriend is played by Steve Carell in a rare "bad guy" role. Right from the start of the film he tells Duncan he's a 3 out of 10. A devastating blow to the psyche of any teenage boy.
Duncan soon finds a job at a local water park where he's taken under wing by a super slacker named Owen, played by Sam Rockwell in one of his best performances. Owen's carefree attitude is infectious and helps Duncan come out of his shell.
The relationship between Duncan and Owen is the best part of the film. A young man trying to find himself and an adult man-boy who is perfectly happy in his life, even though it seems like he's stuck. One of the more uplifting films of the year. - DirectorChris BuckJennifer LeeStarsKristen BellIdina MenzelJonathan GroffFearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter.I can't tell you how many people say to me, "I don't watch animated films, they're for kids." I pity anybody who echoes these sentiments because animated films are some of the best films being released by Hollywood today.
Frozen joins the ranks of classic Disney animated films and brings the studio back to where they were in the 80's and 90's when they were on an amazing hot streak with such films as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King.
The songs are catchy and memorable with the best being "Let It Go", an empowering song about being who you really are. A definite Oscar contender for best song.
Frozen is stolen by one of the funniest and most memorable Disney characters created in decades, a snowman name Olaf, who dreams of summer and all the warm splendor that comes with it, unaware of the fact that summer will threaten his very existence.
The best part of Frozen is that it doesn't subscribe to the normal animated cliches. The evil queen isn't really evil. There's a perfectly good explanation for why she is who she is. She's a victim of circumstance. Also, the prince doesn't always necessarily have to save the day. At its core, Frozen is a story about the bond between sisters. - DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsTom HanksBarkhad AbdiBarkhad AbdirahmanThe true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.In Captain Phillips, Paul Greengrass continues to bring true stories to life and make you feel like you are with the people experiencing these traumatic events. Like he did with United 93, Greengrass makes it feel as if you are aboard the boat right along side Captain Phillips.
Greengrass' signature shaky cam works perfectly with the natural ebb and flow of the ocean. It never feels annoying or overused.
Tom Hanks plays Captain Phillips in a truly "everyman" performance. There's no hint of Hollywood to be found in his acting. It's easily the best performance by Hanks in nearly a decade.
What stands out for me about the film is the fact that they didn't turn the Somali pirates into blood thirsty savages. The film portrays them as desperate men who get in over their heads. What they are doing is still wrong, but you can't help but feel bad for them as they get closer to their inevitable demise. - DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsEmma ThompsonTom HanksAnnie Rose BuckleyAuthor P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.It was a strong year for Tom Hanks. He's been one of the best actors for decades, but he hit a little bit of a dry streak in recent years.
Here he plays Walt Disney with a childlike energy that can only come from the man that created the happiest place on Earth. Saving Mr. Banks is about Disney's quest to bring Mary Poppins to the big screen.
Emma Thompson gives a wonderful performance as P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins who is reluctant to let Disney bring her work to life in fear that he will turn it into pixie dust filled fluff.
Thompson plays Travers as a though cookie that can be downright rude. In reality, she just wants to make sure a character that means so much to her isn't ruined.
This is where the rest of the film comes into play. We see Travers as a little girl growing up in Australia. This part of the film centers on Travers and her father, played by Colin Farrell in one of the best performances of his career.
It's through these flashbacks that we see why Mary Poppins means so much to her. Banks is rounded out by a fantastic cast that includes Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novack.
Saving Mr. Banks is one of the more satisfying films of the year. The trailer is a bit misleading, the film spends a lot more time in flashback than they let on, but this is where the heart of the film really comes out. - DirectorRyan CooglerStarsMichael B. JordanMelonie DiazOctavia SpencerThe story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.Fruitvale Station tells the true story of Oscar Grant, a young African American man who was murdered by an L.A. police officer for no apparent reason while being detained in a subway station.
The murder was caught on tape and the images quickly swept the nation, inciting riots and bringing the difficult discussion of race back to the surface.
Fruitvale Station isn't concerned with any of that. It takes you through Oscar Grant's final day and lets you live a day in his shoes.
He's not a perfect person, but he's far from a faceless thug that seemed destined to be turned into just another statistic.
The main reason this is all pulled off to perfection is Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights, The Wire, Chronicle). Jordan is one of the best up-and-coming actors working today. His performance shines light on all aspects of Grant's life. He's not portrayed as a bad guy, but he's certainly not portrayed as a saint.
The best scene in the film has Jordan juggling a wide spectrum of Grant's emotions and who he is as a person. While in the supermarket where he was just recently fired from, Grant joyfully catches up with a friend, smoothly flirts with a woman, has a touching conversation with his Grandmother on the phone and menacingly threatens his old boss for his job back. A truly great scene by an actor with tons of skill.
That scene alone encompasses the entire film and Grant's plight. He wasn't a good guy or a bad guy. He was just a person. A person whose life was just getting started and was tragically cut short by a senseless, avoidable action. - DirectorJoseph Gordon-LevittStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittScarlett JohanssonJulianne MooreA New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.Don Jon was written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, making an already great actor into a triple threat talent.
In Don Jon, Gordon-Levitt plays a typical Italian guy from New York. He loves his car, he loves working out and looking good, and he loves his family. Did I mention he also loves porn? Like, a lot.
For Jon, watching porn isn't just something he does from time to time. It's every day, like clockwork. A part of his routine like making coffee. The craziest thing is that he doesn't see anything wrong with it. That is until he meets Barbara, a gum-popping bombshell played by Scarlett Johansson.
It doesn't take long for Barbara to find out about Jon's hobby and it ruins their relationship. Don Jon is a clever film. It's main theme is about how our perceptions of the opposite sex have been warped and formed by the mainstream media.
For Jon, he looks at women as somebody with a perfect body, somebody that's amazing in bed. He hardly sees them as a real person. They only exist for pleasure.
Barbara's perception of men has been equally poisoned by romantic comedies. Her idea of a man is a guy who will do anything for her on a whim and then grab her and kiss her as the sun is setting. They live happily ever after, the end.
Relationships aren't like that and it's not until Jon can truly understand what love is that he can truly even enjoy having sex with a woman.
I know a lot of people didn't really like Don Jon, but I feel the film is getting unfairly labeled as the movie where Joseph Gordon-Levitt watches porn all day. Sure, it can be uncomfortable to watch sometimes, but the message is a timely one. - DirectorJeff NicholsStarsMatthew McConaugheyTye SheridanJacob LoflandTwo young boys encounter a fugitive and form a pact to help him evade the vigilantes that are on his trail and to reunite him with his true love.Matthew McConaughey has had an amazing year. Mud was made in 2012 but released this year, he's also received rave reviews for his performance as a man with aids in The Dallas Buyers Club and also does a great job in The Wolf of Wall Street.
It's clear to me now that McConaughey might just be fulfilling all the promise that people bestowed upon him as a young actor that seemed to lose his way in the graveyard of romantic comedies.
In Mud, McConaughey plays a mysterious drifter who becomes friends with two local boys who find him on a deserted island created by a drought living in a boat that's stuck in a tree. The boys agree to help Mud repair the boat so he can escape.
At first, the boys aren't sure if they can even trust Mud, but it soon becomes clear that he isn't dangerous. McConaughey slows his southern drawl down even more and loses himself in the dirty, sun-baked skin of Mud. A man who almost seems like he's not real. Like some figment of the imagination.
He is real however and he's an important part of the lives of the young boys and helps them see the world for how it really is. Unfair, uncompromising and dangerous. - DirectorJames WanStarsPatrick WilsonVera FarmigaRon LivingstonParanormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.The Conjuring is one of the better horror films I've seen in a while. It's a true horror film and feels very much like the horror films from years ago.
The staple of any good horror film is the slow build up. I think this is something a lot of current horror films have forgotten about. The Conjuring does this perfectly and the payoff is that much more satisfying.
The film centers around The Warren's, real life ghost hunters, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. There are some really great scenes in The Conjuring that stand out even months after seeing it.
Best of all is a scene where Lili Taylor is playing the clapping game while walking through the house. A true jump-from-your-seat scene if there ever was on.