2013: Bottom 4 and Top 10

I only saw 38 movies in 2013, and while it’s easy to pick 10 of those that I enjoyed, I can only pick 4 of them that I feel deserve to be mentioned on a worst movies list – in my humble opinion. I’ll do the bottom 4 first, leaving the best for last.

Bottom 4 for 2013

4. Kick-Ass 2 (**)

With such a good first movie I expected more than this. It was lazy, adolescent filmmaking at best, and took what was so shocking/shockingly entertaining in the first movie and simply blunted it through over-use.

3. Arbitrage (*½)

I don’t have too much to say about Arbitrage, it was just a bland affair. It celebrates the wrong things and makes a hero of a reprehensible man. The acting might be all right, but that’s it.

2. Ender’s Game (*½)

The movie didn’t come anywhere near the book it was based on, and it minimized or ignored elements of the story that were pivotal in making the book such a well-loved story. The acting is wooden and by the time the climax should surprise you, you simply don’t care anymore.

1. Les Miserables (*)

Many enjoyed this movie, I hated just about every minute of it. The story is great, but all its impact is lost in the singing – the Liam Neeson/Geoffrey Rush rendition of this story is a million times better. One small star in the movie – Anne Hathaway’s rendition of “I dreamed a dream”; the rest of the movie is a dark hole.

Top 10 for 2013

10. Furious 6 (***½)

Action movies do not come more thrilling than this, making the viewer voluntarily forget/not worry about physics. Furious 6 is the best of the series so far, marginally better than Fast 5. Can’t wait for number 7 – sadly with only some Paul Walker.

9. Warm Bodies (***½)

No other zombie movie has this much heart and humour. Warm Bodies is the ultimate date movie, it combines romance and zombies in an allegorical way that evokes thought and discussion. A true crowd pleaser.

8. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (***½)

A vast improvement over the already entertaining first Hobbit movie (An Unexpected Journey), The Desolation of Smaug is an adventurous joy ride, epically enhanced by high frame rate filming and immersive 3D. A worthy continuation of the Middle Earth stories.

7. Oblivion (***½)

Tom Cruise does not make bad movies. Joseph Kosinski so far also has a good (though short) track record. Oblivion is an original science fiction film that takes the viewer into its world and then shakes the viewer just as much as it does its main character in the revelation of what this futuristic world really is.

6. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (***½)

Where Ender’s Game failed dismally at recreating the magic of the book, Catching Fire is a resounding success, brilliantly recreating a great book on the big screen. Visually sumptuous and highly engrossing, Catching Fire is a triumph.

5. Django Unchained (***½)

Quentin Tarantino just continues on his merry way, this time blazing through pre-civil war America and the slave trade, with no guns left un-shot and few taboos left unscathed. Django Unchained is the spaghetti western at its best.

4. Argo (***½)

A suspenseful recreation of a story so unbelievable it must be true. Ben Affleck as a director is once again a revelation in this political thriller with barely any action at all yet it still leaves everyone on the edge of their seat. Smart filmmaking…

3. Zero Dark Thirty (***½)

Another retelling of a historic event, this time closer to our current time-frame. Kathryn Bigelow delivers the story of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden with energy and an immersive and thrilling frustration. We may know the story, but this movie brings it to vivid life.

2. Intouchables (****)

French cinema at its best, The Intouchables is the best feel-good movie of the decade. A beautiful story of an unlikely friendship, this movie is hilarious and touching and will stay close to your heart for a long time.

1. Gravity (****)

Unlike any other movie you’ve likely ever seen, Gravity is an awesomely impressive experience to behold. Sandra Bullock is fantastic in Alfonso Cuaron’s sauring space thriller about a single astronaut’s fight for survival, alone and untethered. Gravity is incredible.