Gravity. People complain that it loses a little oomph the second time through because the second time through all of Alfonso Cuaron’s brilliant direction isn’t a novelty any more, but whatever, it’s still brilliant. And I take issue with people who complain about Sandra Bullock in this movie; she’s the anchor of the film because her fear and panic are normal, human reactions to the insanity that is going on, and Sandra Bullock does “normal person overcoming fear” better than just about anybody else. She grounds the film and gives it the weight it needs; the most amazing shot in the movie is not any of the staggering Things Happening In Space shots, but the triumphant final shot of Bullock that closes it. So to sum up, Sandra Bullock is pretty good in this. So is George Clooney. (The dialogue is average at best, but so what.)
12 Years A Slave. It’s not an entertaining movie by any means – this is really a movie you have to endure rather than enjoy – but it’s simply a masterwork on so many levels (the acting, the direction, the dialogue, the cinematography – there is not one aspect of this movie that is not auteur-level work) that the endurance is worth undertaking. When the biggest complaint people have is that Brad Pitt’s character seems like a deus ex machina when those events are actually what exactly happened in Northrup’s actual life, then you know you have a fine movie on your hands – it deserves to win Best Picture in a walk, and even if it doesn’t we all know what the actual best picture of 2013 is.
Frozen. Tangled was the first sign that modern audiences actually still did want to see Disney Fairytale Musicals ™, the relative failure of The Princess and the Frog notwithstanding. (Did Frog make only a middling amount of money because of a black cast or because it was hand-drawn rather than CGI? Either way, it was a good movie, so this is further proof of my never-wrong theory that Audiences Are Often Stupid And Wrong.) But where Tangled is an solid B+ entry into the Disney musical canon, Frozen is an A; better songs (the weakest song in the movie, “Love Is An Open Door,” is silly and light until you realize, later on, it’s the villain song, not the love song), better characters, excellent and very active subversion of standard Disney “princess movie” tropes, numerous animation sequences that are absolutely breathtaking and all of the gags hit. Just staggeringly good and entirely deserving of the immense mountain of money it’s making.
American Hustle. There is so much about this movie that shouldn’t work: Christian Bale’s horrible combover and Noo Yawk accent would in any lesser movie scream out “I’M ACTING!” but in Hustle it fits because it’s a movie about liars. Multiple voiceover narrators should never work ever but in Hustle it makes sense because it’s a movie about liars. Gaudy filters to make the movie look “70s” should be mockworthy but in Hustle it works because it’s a movie about liars. Hustle‘s commitment to its own con mirrors its protagonists’ commitment to their cons and their desperate belief that their cons are morally acceptable; the entire movie is a justification. And it’s brilliant. Also it’s a really funny movie (“you don’t put metal in the science oven!”).
The World’s End. A lot of digital ink has been spilled recounting how meticulously Edgar Wright put this together; much more has been spilled trying to tie together the “Cornetto trilogy” as if that were a thing for real instead of Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost just bullshitting their audience endlessly that three basically unrelated films made by the same guys are in fact a thematic sequence of some kind. (SPOILER: they aren’t really.) But The World’s End is smart, and affecting, and definitely a movie made by guys in their early forties because as you approach that age the whole “what happened? Wasn’t I young?” thing gets more and more prominent and you start to understand why assholes buy sports cars even if you’d never buy one yourself. In this movie, the promise of being an immortal robot is the sports car, and so is the idea of a drinking marathon, and although those two things are in conflict they’re also not, and that’s the genius of it. And they behead a lot of robots and that’s good too.
Next five: Kon-Tiki, The Wolf of Wall Street, Before Midnight, The Croods, +1
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When I think about how good The World’s End was, I remember that I was really enjoying the movie even before the sci-fi turn.
I mean, they are thematically linked in as much as they are genre parodies (well, World’s End is barely, at best, a parody. More of a straight up sci-fi/comedy hybrid.) that deal with modern males at various stages of life…
Yeah, okay, it’s a stretch. They are a thematic trilogy insomuch as they are FUCKING GREAT.
Thank you for giving props to Princess and the Frog. It has sadly been my experience that pretty much every white person I know who follows Disney films completely ignores it in an “Oh, that’s the one they made for black people. I didn’t see that one/my daughter didn’t want to see that one” kind of way: note how frequently Tiana is left out of any sort of edgy “re-claiming” of Disney princesses.
Which is too bad — folks missed a damned good film. I think the music — with its lack of whiny ballads, utterly over the top and affected girl power ballads, and power ballads — is way better than just about any other recent Disney film’s.
Hmmm, no Wolf of Wall Street or Inside Llewyn Davis? Or have you not seen those yet? (I haven’t either, I’m just asking. This is the first I’ve heard of anyone putting American Hustle above either of those two.)
I would have liked The World’s End better if it had eased up on the anti-communism. Cold War is over, Edgar.
My one issue with Frozen was a part of the ending. I feel like it detracted from the sibling relationship (i.e. the story’s strongest element) to have the couple end up together. Which is not to say that they should’ve cut out that bit entirely. I just would’ve liked it to be a bit more ambiguous, so that the focus could remain on the two sisters.
I appreciate The Croods getting mentioned. A solid animated film, more in line with Pixar wonder and good will than what the more crass (though still enjoyable) stories we get from DreamWorks. The pure rejection of realistic flora and fauna helped make this movie-the audience gets to discover this curious and fantastic world with the characters.
I don’t think World’s End was as much anti-communism as it was paying homage to old-school SF films which were anti-communism.
Personally I was disappointed with World’s End, but only because I consider Shaun and Fuzz to be near-perfect movies. The jokes seemed less witty, the characters less compelling, and overall the movie wasn’t as packed with awesome as the first two.
Remember near the start of Shaun, how Nick Frost casually sets out their plan for the day, which unknowingly foreshadows the plot of the rest of the movie? It’s a brilliant touch that you can only appreciate on second viewing (at the earliest).
But what is a one-off Easter Egg joke in Shaun then becomes the entire premise of World’s End. To me, that’s indicative of how TWE is the weakest of the Cornetto movies.
Plus you have the least satisfying character arc:
Shaun –> Simon Pegg learns to grow up
Fuzz –> Simon Pegg learns to make friends
World –> Simon Pegg learns to shave
(Thing is, it was still one of the best movies I saw in 2013. Good work, 2013)
I really enjoyed The Princess and the Frog, but even two days later I couldn’t remember any of the songs. A month after seeing Frozen I still have the tunes running through my head. I prefer the visuals of Princess and the Frog, but that’s the main reason Frozen wins out for me.
@The Prankster:
Wolf was way too long. I got bored about two hours in. And it loses sight of its message too, in my opinion.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Sandra Bullock’s performance in Gravity, in fact it was quite good. It was more the oddness of there being a barely-trained normal person on the mission at all.
Astronauts attach gizmos to other gizmos all the time, don’t they? Couldn’t the veteran trained astronauts have handled it?
I really liked it, but Frozen had the major problem that it was mainly about Anna when it should have been about Elsa. Anna was a good supporting character, but Elsa was the one with all the plot. So it left me feeling disoriented because I was watching a movie that inexplicably spent all of its time on a supporting cast member.
I’m sure someone will say that it was about both of them, and that’s obviously what Disney was trying for, but it didn’t work because the movie spends all this time developing Anna’s romance with Cristof instead of Elsa.
This actually bothers me a lot because it feels like a truly great film was lessened (not ruined because it’s still good) because they didn’t spend enough time revising the script.
Solid choices, though I haven’t seen them all. For 2013 my highest rated would be A Band Called Death, Mud, and Side Effects.
My top ten at present:
10. Captain Phillips
9. Frozen
8. The Wolf of Wall Street
7. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
6. 12 Years A Slave
5. The Spectacular Now
4. Wadjda
3. Before Midnight
2. Blue Jasmine
1. Gravity
The thing that impressed me most about ‘The World’s End’ was that Pegg pulled no punches with his performance. Gary King was a superficial, selfish, self-destructive jackass, and Pegg did nothing to leaven the character. He didn’t play him as a loveable rogue, he didn’t soften his performance, he made a character who you could honestly believe that everyone else hung out with only out of pity and nostalgia. It was very unflattering, but it was exactly what the movie needed to work. If Pegg had done that same performance in a drama, we’d only be talking about how many Oscars he should get.
American Hustle is so bloody good. What made the movie work for me is that in the middle of all the conning, there were very clear moments where a con wasn’t being run at all. Those very human, emotional moments grounded the movie and made every con that much more believable.
Also, holy hell it’s funny.
My current, very flexible top 5 (keeping in mind I live in the middle of nowhere and prestige films like 12 Years don’t play within an hour of me)
5. American Hustle – A masterclass in acting across the board carries it past a sometimes dodgy story and straight ahead direction.
4. The Wolverine – Just a completely badass action film.
3. The World’s End – Well covered above.
2. Much Ado About Nothing – I was a theater major. I worship Joss Whedon. Amy Acker is one of the most beautiful women in the world to me. So, yeah, this was damn near perfect.
1. Gravity – And this was a literally perfect film going experience. I have never had an in-theater experience like Gravity. Ever.
“(Did Frog make only a middling amount of money because of a black cast or because it was hand-drawn rather than CGI?”
It came out in 2009. 2009 Animated movies: Up, Coraline, 9, Secret of Kells, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Monsters vs. Aliens. It was an *amazing* year for animation. Princess just got swamped and overlooked.
I saw 6 new movies this year, and four of them were in the top five. I did an excellent job of watching good movies, this year! I enjoyed Pacific Rim a *lot* more than The World’s End, though.
I really enjoyed Frozen. I think it suffered from Disney’s conviction that they need a goofy sidekick for a kids’ movie. Specifically that they need one that talks. Get rid of the snowman and you lose nothing. People laughed at the reindeer, but I’m pretty sure no one laughed at the snowman.