It's that very special time of year when I get to review the highlights and lowlights of a year of movie viewership.
We all know how I feel about this occasion.
I am really excited to note that this is my fourth annual movie round-up, and that since its beginning this blog has with thrilling success performed its role in facilitating my adherence to my 52 movies per year commitment. It has also thereby continued to play an instrumental and critical role in my clinging to anything resembling self-care as I begin this, the VERY LAST YEAR IN WHICH I WILL BE IN GRADUATE SCHOOL.
EVER.
That's a pretty amazing fact to contemplate.
As that percolates, I'll move us right along to the real business of today's post.
The PsychoCinematic Year in Movies
(2013 Edition)
1. Casablanca (5)
2. Total Recall (3)
3. The Boys of Baraka (4)
4. The Thirteenth Floor (3)
5. Django Unchained (5)
6. Mean Streets (2)
7. Sexy Beast (4.5)
8. Silver Linings Playbook (4.5)
9. Ali (4)
10. The Hunger Games (4.5)
11. The Wicker Man (1)
12. The Room (1)
13. The To Do List (4)
14. The Adventures of Robin Hood (5)
15. Oblivion (3)
16. Helvetica (2)
17. This is 40 (2)
18. Spice World (3)
19. This Is The End (4)
20. Star Trek Into Darkness (3.5)
21. A Fish Called Wanda (3.5)
22. Katy Perry: A Part of Me (4)
23. The Muppet Movie (4)
24. Kumaré (3)
25. Benny and Joon (2)
26. Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians (2)
27. Rudy (5)
28. Restrepo (5)
29. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (5)
30. The Fourth Kind (3)
31. Hitler's Children (4)
32. Twenty Feet From Stardom (3)
33. Blue Jasmine (2)
34. Lovelace (4)
35. Elysium (2.5)
36. Prince Avalanche (3)
37. Frances Ha (5)
38. Jobs (2)
39. Girl Model (2.5)
40. The Conjuring (4)
41. We're the Millers (2)
42. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (4)
43. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (3.5)
44. The Invisible Man (4)
45. Lawless (4)
46. Gravity (5)
47. The Summit (3.5)
48. Meet the Fokkens (3)
49. Land of the Pharaohs (4)
50. Repulsion (4)
51. Captain Phillips (3.5)
52. The Return (5)
53. The Cabin in the Woods (3.5)
54. Lars and the Real Girl (3)
55. After Earth (2)
56. Mud (4)
57. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2)
58. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (5)
59. Kundun (5)
OH my GOD, look at all these movies!!
Although the final count may not be as impressive as last year's, I must nevertheless observe that I totally exceeded my goal. Especially in the context of the ever-increasing demands of my graduate career, that is pretty spectacular.
Okay! So, this year's worst movies were:
For I-know-it's-Scorsese-but-it's-still-pretty-meh:
Mean Streets (1973)
For being so hilariously, terribly terrible:
For being so bad it is honestly hard to believe anyone agreed to help make this movie happen:
The Room (2003)
For being OH MY GOD SO BORING (2013 edition!):
Helvetica (2007)
For totally not even understanding what kind of a movie it was even trying to be
(depressicomedy, I guess?):
(depressicomedy, I guess?):
This is 40 (2012)
For totally, irritatingly irresponsible portrayal of the mentally ill and the care they need:
For failure to make a compelling documentary in spite of immensely compelling
primary material (2013 edition!):
primary material (2013 edition!):
For Cate Blanchett and Louis C.K.* being basically the only good things
about this awfully-written movie, or
about this awfully-written movie, or
Blue Jasmine (2013)
For having the first paragraph of this review sum this movie up perfectly:
Jobs (2013)
For being so bleh it's hardly even worth mentioning that this movie exists, or
We're the Millers (2013)
For not living up to its awesome tag line or Will Smith,
and for giving everyone a stupid and inconsistent accent that sounds like a speech impediment:
and for giving everyone a stupid and inconsistent accent that sounds like a speech impediment:
After Earth (2013)
For its not living up to the cast of "Sherlock" and being generally interminable:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Hmm. This is honestly kind of hard, especially since the list is particularly long this year. I suppose I should choose the movie I would be most annoyed for people to see instead of something good?
In that case, my choice for least favorite film of 2013 is:
In that case, my choice for least favorite film of 2013 is:
Yep. It was long. It was boring. It basically totally blew it. At least pretty much every other movie on that sad short list tried to do something interesting... They just fell on their faces while doing it.
Okay! And now to the extra fun part: the BEST movies I saw this year!
Casablanca (1942)
Django Unchained (2012)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Rudy (1993)
Restrepo (2010)
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012)
Frances Ha (2013)
Gravity (2013)
The Return (2003)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Kundun (1997)
...
Okay so per usual I'm struggling to come to a decision. I actually started drafting this post a few days ago and stopped at this point, because my brain started to squish together (a) because it was late and I was le tired and (b) this decision is hard, which I suppose is a nice problem to have.
For example: I thought "Gravity" was exhilarating and beautiful to see in theaters, and I'm so glad to have finally seen the luscious, gorgeous classic "Cassablanca" (not least because I finally get a ton of references I didn't before).
"Catching Fire" might seem like an odd entry on the list, but it was a pretty faithful adaptation of a really fun-to-read book that, in spite of a 2+ hour runtime, didn't bore me for a second (none of which can be said about that godawful hobbit movie referenced above... sigh). We all know how much I hate a poor movie adaptation of a good book, so the latest "Hunger Games" entry earns extra points for that.
I'm pulled toward "The Return," for several reasons:
1. I'm an intractable xenophile and lover of subtitles, although I am somewhat under-exposed to Russian cinema.
2. I apparently love movies about sad, cold boys.
3. The film is stunningly shot, contemplatively paced, and wonderfully performed.
In spite of the intense competition, however, I'm going with a movie that makes me really excited for the cinema to come. It is a fresh, funny, cozy, interesting, nuanced character study with a delicious réalité feel. I left the theater feeling exhilarated and embraced, like I had seen something with a new perspective that makes me eagerly look forward to the intimate, thoughtful future movies it will influence and inspire. Part of the reason I enjoyed the film so much is that it reminded me of the classic "Annie Hall" (1977), but from the titular character's perspective rather than the man who loved her. (The gorgeous shots of New York City revealed via the film's wandering tour through the main character's various scattered, haphazardly-acquired living arrangements didn't hurt, either.) Without being warped through the lens of the male gaze, this movie's heroine has an awkward, sweet, beautiful authenticity that feels at once self-possessed and vulnerable. Best of all, she is altogether whole.
My favorite movie of 2013 was "Frances Ha."
If you haven't seen it, oh my goodness, GO. You'll love it!
Looking forward to sharing the next year of movies with you!
{Heart}
* = Louis C.K. has a history of sexually exploiting women. I no longer support his work.
** = Woody Allen has a history of sexually exploiting women and of being a hand-wringing apologist in support of men who sexually exploit women. I no longer support his work.
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