A caveat: several of the year's most highly acclaimed films never came to theaters in my area, so I haven't seen Upstream Color, Before Midnight, or 12 Years a Slave yet -- I anticipate all of them would have made this list otherwise.
10) Warm Bodies. On the one hand, it's a fairly standard young adult romance: the isolated loner meets the sheltered sweetheart and they realize they have more in common than they first expected. On the other hand, it gives me a chance to use the phrase "zomromcom." Nicholas Hoult's tortured "R" has a funny, snappy inner monologue and John Malkovich gives a surprisingly restrained performance as Julie's father. It's not going to change the world, but it's a sweet little film that tries for more than it had to, and it's a refreshing change of pace from the insistent doom-and-gloom of most zombie flicks. *** out of ****
9) Much Ado About Nothing. I'm a big fan of Whedon's. This adaptation of Shakespeare's play is problematic in some respects, particularly its retention of the virginity plot, which just doesn't play well in 2013. Nevertheless, the film is slick and elegant and the two lead performances are quite engaging. It's also encouraging evidence that, in an era of megabudget blockbusters (one of which Whedon directed), the art of filmmaking on a small scale is still alive and thriving. *** out of ****
8) Stoker. Brutal, disturbing, and beautiful. Park Chan-wook, of Oldboy fame, delivers another stunningly sumptuous visual feast with his trademark attention to (literally) gory detail. The performances are top-notch. It's not for everyone (a scene with pruning shears was almost too much for me), but as a Gothic drama directed with precise, gorgeous vision, it's hella good. *** out of ****
7) The World's End. It's not as good as Shaun of the Dead, but it's got a lot of the same quirky charm that that film had. Like Shaun, it veers between the mundane and the bizarro, but Simon Pegg and his ensemble give funny, solid performances that keep the film grounded. *** out of ****
6) Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The second Hunger Games movie improves in a lot of ways on the first. No more shakicam! The first hour and a half is the most interesting part of the film for me in its satire of media consumption culture, while the games themselves feel a little rushed. The performances throughout are strong and the visuals -- especially in IMAX -- are stunning. ***1/2 of ****
5) Frozen. I was less immediately enamored with Frozen than I was with Brave (like Merida, I have crazy curly red hair), but both are significant in their challenges to the traditional Princess Romance plot. In Brave, Merida rejected a suitor altogether and the plot centered on her relationship with her mother instead. In Frozen, the two young women do end up with romances (spoilers, I guess?) but the progress towards the Happily Ever After ending is constantly checked and confronted in interesting ways. The animation is, as usual, sumptuously gorgeous. ***1/2 out of ****
4) Mud. After movies like Reign of Fire and Failure to Launch, my idea of Matthew McConaughey was as a good-looking man who had charisma but wasn't a terribly good actor. The past couple of years have changed my mind. His performance in Mud, like Killer Joe and Magic Mike, is gutsy, raw, and compelling. The film itself is by turns sweet and sad, much like coming-of-age itself. ***1/2 out of ****
2) Gravity. It's a very simple, direct story: People get lost in space. People try to survive. See what happens. Neil deGrasse Tyson gave it a serious fact-checking, but Alfonso Cuarón's vision is a still a feast for the eyes. Hands-down THE best use of 3D I've ever encountered. I also appreciate the almost singular focus on a female character in a major action movie, unencumbered by being someone else's love-interest or sidekick -- it doesn't happen often. Gravity might play it simple on the story front, but as sheer filmic pleasure, it's hard to beat. **** out of ****
1) The Wolf of Wall Street. A lot of people seem to think Scorsese's latest film glamorizes Wall Street greed. I don't see it that way. Sure, there is plenty of excess on the screen, but it's played as hollow and sordid, the empty enjoyments of shallow people without souls. Over the course of the film's three hours viewers come to understand that Jordan Belfort is a desperate, disgusting man who doesn't care who he hurts in his pursuit of wealth, not an aspirational idol. The dialogue, written by Sopranos alum Terence Winter, crackles and even though the film is long, it never drags -- a major directorial feat. DiCaprio as usual gives an amazing performance. **** out of ****
No comments:
Post a Comment