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Count Down 100 Movies from 2013 (Multiple users) Tele page 20

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32) The Call  Don't make promises, because you know you can't keep them.

 

One of the most intense movies I have ever seen. And I am not kidding. This is expertly directed and amazingly acted by both leads. Abigail Breslin and Halle Berry should get Oscar nominations for this. I realize the chance of that happening is slim to pretty much none, but without them, this film wouldn't have some of the power it does.

Berry of course is Jordan Turner, a veteran 9/11 operator. She is a little quicker on her feet than many of the other operators. She gets as much information as she can from the 9/11 callers and even though it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, any and every detail is important. Is it a red car, an older car, is the man black, white, asian or hispanic? Does he wear glasses and so on. She calmly asks these questions and not only does it help her do her job, it helps calm the victim.

Breslin plays Casey Welson, the young girl who gets abducted. She has the role of the terrified victim who relies on Jordan to get her out of this mess. Breslin shot to fame in Little Miss Sunshine, but this might be her best role. To make the film work, you need to feel what Jordan and Casey feel. Both actors are at the top of their game. They made me feel hopeless, sad and terrified for both of them.

Also good as the supporting players. Morris Chestnut is the calm and collected police officer on the hunt for Casey and he brings that demeanor to the role. He is dedicated and not irrational. David Otunga, of WWE (a producer on the film) fame plays his partner and with the exception of his Adonis like physique, you'd never know he was a wrestler. He fits perfectly.

Michael Eklund plays the bad guy and he is a blend of Norman Bates and the "Put the puppy in the basket" bad guy from Silence of the Lambs. He plays the character beautifully and makes you feel for the victims. Also excellent is Roma Maffia, of Nip and Tuck fame.

The director is Brad Anderson, who I first heard of him when he did a small and unnoticed horror film called Session 9, starring David Caruso. The film was decent enough but it was intense. That is what Anderson brings to this film. Intensity. It really never lets up. This can be attributed to the actors of course, but without a director to set the tone and pace of the film, it might not have been as good. From scenes in the trunk of a car to a dungeon to the "HIVE", he manages to keep us riveted throughout. I will be eagerly anticipating his next film.

The ending is one of my favourite parts. If you don't want to know how it ends, stop reading.

Ok, you're here.

Too many times, the killer does heinous things and then he gets arrested. This time,
Jordan and Casey turn into John Doe from Seven. After escaping from his clutches, after he has killed a young girl, stabbed a man to death with a screwdriver, burned another alive and was in the middle of taking Casey's scalp, the two woman end up stabbing him with scissors, giving him a concussion and then chaining him to a chair in his own dungeon. There is no escape for him unless he is Houdini. They leave him there to die, which will take weeks. This, imo, is the right ending. A man like this doesn't deserve mercy or clemency or a trial.

One of my favourites of the year so far.

***Side note:  Berry dropped out initially due to scheduling conflicts but later returned when her schedule allowed for it.

 

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31) Snitch:  I admire you, the stand you're taking.  You didn't take the easy way out.

 

This is Jon Bernthal's year.  This is his second appearance on my list and still has one more to come.  

I thought this was fantastic. It really surprised me. Heart, grit and very intense. It seems at times that The Rock is not being believable in some parts (getting beat up by some punks), but I liked that about him, he was just a normal guy in a world he knew nothing about. 

 

Based on a true story about a normal man who goes under cover to help bust a drug ring so that his son can get out of jail.  The Rock is a great physical presence but in here, he does more.  And that's what helps to make this one of the better action films of the year.

***Side note:  The true story the film is based on, is about James Settembrino who helped prosecutors by giving information about a drug ring so that his son could get a lighter jail sentence.  

 

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I'm surprised you were going into WWZ expecting it to be in any way faithful to the book. Hell, I wouldn't call it an adaptation at all, it's just a film that happens to share the same name as the book. 

 

And honestly, I loved the Jerusalem sequence. Sure the way they started it was a little forced, but it's one of the largest scale zombie action scenes I've ever seen and it really looks and feels the part.  

 

I wasn't expecting anything after hearing about all the production woes and script issues and reshoots.

 

There's a difference between being faithful and being respectful. A film can wildly diverge from the source material and still respect it. World War Z wildly diverged in ways that were very unrespectful. And considering some stuff was quite obviously ripped from the book, it is an adaptation.

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30) Pain and Gain: I'm Big.  I'm Huge!

 

This is Michael Bay's Fargo, or Michael Bay channeling his inner Joel and Ethan Coen. This is the "true story" about these three knuckleheads who really did commit the crime. While reading a few interviews with Bay, he mentioned that they had to leave a lot of the story out because it was too unbelievable for an audience to accept. He wasn't kidding.

I researched the real story this morning and Daniel Lugo, played by Wahlberg, is a brilliant but stupid schemer. Some of the stuff this guy pulled off is incredible. Here are a couple of links to the true stuff:

http://www.chasingth...in-and-gain.php

http://www.miaminewt...pain-gain/full/ This is the 1999 article about the crime from the Miami News.

The directing and editing style in the film reminded me a bit of later Tony Scott stuff. It's fast, frenetic and relentless. This is also one of the funnier movies I've seen in quite sometime as you really can't believe these guys did this and were stupid enough to stick around after they did.

I really enjoyed the film. I'm a very big Bay fan, as many of you know, and this film benefits from his style. Rock, Mark and all the rest were fantastic as well.

***Side note: The Rock was close to 300 pounds and Mark Wahlberg weighed in at 212. 

 

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29) Riddick:  You're not afraid of the dark, are you?

 

Maybe because I am not as invested in the whole Riddick character, I loved it.  I liked Pitch Black, hated Chronicles and loved this one.  The first third of the film is like Cast Away.  Just Riddick trying to survive on his own.  So many great scenes.  So much tension.  Then the mercenaries come and I'm expecting it to start sucking and it doesn't.  I even liked Bautista in the film.

 

I won't say too much except that it's one of my faves of the year, and that shocks me.  In fact, this might be one of the most shocking films of the year in my estimation.  I really expected to not like this at all.

***Side note:  Diesel financed the film himself until the bank loan came through.

 

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28) Rush: A wise man can learn more from his enemies than from his friends.

 

Unexpected from a racing film, this movie is a sure was to indulge yourself in the realm of competition and rivalries within sport. With the exception of Ron Howard, all aspects of this film where keeping me from seeing it. However, the racing (Formula 1) aspect is the least poignant part of the film. As always, Howard's multi-faceted approach to a film is a grasping angle to what this film offers. Hemsworth's role was far from the macho and mundane characters he has been type-casted in in the past, and Brulh's performance is probably the best of the film. The dynamic relationship between the two main characters and their impeccable direction of their story, from Howard, makes this film an enjoyable watch and perhaps a reference point for the genre of future racing films, that until now have always exhausted my senses.

***Side note:  Daniel Bruhl wore an overbite to mimic Nikki Lauda's overbite. 

 

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27) American Hustle:  We fight and we fuck.  That's our thing.

 

I found the first 20 minutes to be very off.  The pacing didn't match the rest of the film and it seemed like they switched editors at about the 20 minute mark because it got a whole lot better.  Amy Adams, imo, should be a shoe in for a nomination and a win.  She's absolutely hypnotic in here.  JLaw is good but completely overshadowed by Adams.  Bale is so good as well.  Overall I give it very high marks and if the beginning was better, it would get an A+.  This seems to be a common theme, at least in my estimation this year, that the beginning of many films really start off oddly.  Grudge Match, Internship and The Conjuring are just a few that you can add to the list.

***Side note:  Christian Bale gained 40 pounds for the role.

 

26) Enough Said:  When I'm on top of you, can you, you know, breathe?

 

This is as rarity in today's film market, a film about adults.  A film about adult themes that doesn't involved a mid life crisis and younger women.  This is real conversations and real issues that adults experience.  I might not have enjoyed this film 15 years ago but having lived a little more, I understand it.  James Gandolfini and Julia Louise Dreyfuss are both wonderful in it and even though they might not be mentioned on Oscar night, they are both worthy.

Side note:  Gandolfini's penultimate film.

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25) 12 Years A Slave:  I don't want to survive.  I want to live.

 

The film is very good and the acting is fantastic as well.  For this film to be anything but powerful would be a shock.  It's got a great cast and there are images in here that make you sick.  White people enslaving black people is disgusting and if it doesn't make you mad or uneasy watching this film then you are not human or you are stuck in the 1840's.  

 

I give the film very high marks because it is well made and I thought everyone was great in it, including Pitt.  Not sure why he is being centered out here as he has a pivotal role that perpetuates his essential freedom.  I liked it very much when he was on screen and there is a scene he has with Fassbender that is really well done.  As for the others Ejiofor is outstanding and he is obviously a shoe in for a nom, but imho, Hanks should win just based on pure greatness.  I'd have no issue however if Ejiofor did as well.  Fassbender is outstanding also, as is Cumberbatch, Dano, Giamatti and Sarah Paulson is deliciously evil as Fassbender's jealous and raging wife.  

 

The film is really well done I just don't think it should be called the best of the year.

Side note:  This is the third film collaboration for Fassbender and Pitt. 

 

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24) Ender's Game: In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I love him.  

Coming from someone who doesn't know one thing about this, I was completely surprised.  I went in with no preconceived notions and found myself loving it after the first ten minutes.  Part of the reason for the absolute love of the film is that Ender is so damn interesting and likable.  Terrific performances by Harrison Ford and of course Asa Butterfield as Ender, makes this a great cinematic experience.

Side note:  Jake Lloyd was once attached to star as Ender.

 

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23) Olympus Has Fallen:  How about you and I play a game of fuck off.  You go first.

 

I know how much Gopher looooves this film, so it gives me great pleasure to have it in my top 25 of the year.  I think this film will be remembered in 20 years as being one of the best action films of the decade.  It's got everything Die Hard had and in a way more.  Everything is over the top and that's the way it should be for a film like this.  Gerard Butler is a one man killing machine and the bad guys are just plain nasty.  Director Antoine Fuqua has delivered an insanely delicious film and one that I saw several times in theater.

Side Note:  Body count:  168

 

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22) Saving Mr. Banks:  Deficiencies in concentration and behavior.  Explains everything.

 

Typically movies about insides Hollywood don't do all that well at the box office.  This one has bucked the trend.  Perhaps you can attribute that to Mr. Hanks and maybe you can attribute it to something else.  I'm not really sure why this one has bucked the trend but one theory is that this is not a totally cynical film, but more a sweet one.  Besides terrific performances from Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, Paul Giammati and Colin Ferrell, you have a sweet film about why Mary Poppins was so dear to author P.L. Travers.  Sometimes films about Hollywood are too cynical.  A movie like the Player is well made and very interesting but too esoteric for a general audience.  Saving Mr. Banks wisely kept a lot of the useless minutiae out of it and only the sugar and spice for the audience was kept in.  And it works.

 

The film itself is enjoyable and while this is not Hanks' best performance the monologue he has about having to deliver papers as a kid was his shining moment.  If he gets nominated for best SA, and he probably won't, but if he does, that's the clip they show.

***Side note:  Walt Disney is actually a distant cousin of Tom Hanks.

 

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21) All is Lost:  Never Give Up!

 

An astonishingly powerful film and despite Redford uttering a few words, one of the performances of the year.  It's incredibly suspenseful and I did not know if he would survive or not.  I do have a tiny problem with the final shot of the movie.  I understand why it ended the way it did but it just would have been nice (for me anyway) to have maybe 30 more seconds of film.  But that small complaint aside, everything else about the film is close to perfect.

 

Here is a film that brings you on a journey.  You are in that boat with Redford, you are out to sea with him. When he is roasting in the sun, you feel it.  When his lips are parched from thirst, you suddenly feel the need to take a sip of your beverage.  When he finally utters his one colloquialism, it resonates in your bones.  Everything about this one character and the hopeless journey he is on, resonates.  Robert Redford gives one of the best performances of the year and perhaps his career.  A truly remarkable and incredible film.

***Side note:  Zachary Quinto is one of 17 different producers on the film.

 

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20) The Book Thief:  If your eyes could speak, what would they say?

 

Either I'm easy to please or about 95% of the movies I've seen in the last part of 2013 are really very good.  You can add The Book Thief to that list of impressive films.  A very moving interpretation of the famed novel is anchored solidly by a mesmerizing, stunning performance by Emily Watson. While she is aided by a wonderful turn by Geoffrey Rush, it is Watson who is simply breathtaking.  Keep in mind this is the same woman who was Adam Sandler's love interest in Punch Drunk Love.  In this film, she looks to have gained about 30-40 pounds to play an older German woman, tough as the salt of the Earth but terrified of the surroundings she finds herself in.  There are scenes she has with her and the child and with Rush that were simply stunning and it gives the film the sheer power that I had heard about.  This film comes as advertised. 

 

Also stunning in performance is young Liesel, played played by Canadian newcomer, Sophie Neliesse.  She anchors the film as the story is told through her eyes.  Seeing WW2 and the Holocaust told through a child's eyes is different and at times, this film was a little more powerful than films like Pianist and Schindler's List.  I really believe both actors deserve Oscar nominations but if I had to have just one, it would be for Watson.  She simply disappears into the role. 

 

The Book Thief is about a girl living through the Holocaust and how words help her cope and how they set her free.  Sappy?  Maybe.  But true nonetheless.  Young Liesel doesn't know how to read at first but as she borrows books from a rich family in the area, little by little she teaches herself how to read very well until, at times, she becomes the savior of the small village on the nights they are being bombed in the not so near distance.  She regales the terrified people with stories of her dead brother as a ghost and how she can still visit him through the power of word and imagination.

 

The Book Thief really touched me and it was partly the story that did this but it was absolutely because of the performances by Watson and Neliesse.

 

If for no other reason, this film is worth seeing if only to witness another incredibly beautiful performance by Emily Watson and to watch a truly gifted actor add another triumph to her majestic career. Sadly she has been ignored by all the major awards this year, but that takes nothing away from her performance.

***Side note:  Filmed entirely in Germany

 

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19) Gravity: Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission.

 

I was 5 in 1977.  I didn't see Star Wars in theater.  But this must have been what it was like to witness the giant space freighter gliding across the screen for the first time.  I was mesmerized by this film.  The story itself is good, very good even, but the look of the film and the way it was filmed leads me to believe it was filmed in space.  I was shocked all the way through.  I simply couldn't believe I was watching a movie.  On an emotional level, this is a terrific film.  But on a pure technical level, this is awe inspiring.  There isn't one moment where you feel disconnected from what is happening.  And when you leave the theater, you are kind of exhausted from going on this incredible journey with these two people.  

***Side note:  Ed Harris, of Apollo 13 fame, was the voice of the mission controller.

 

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18) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Eyes bright.  Chins up. Smiles on.  I'm talking to you Katniss.

 

Coming from someone who disliked the first immensely, the sequel caught me by surprise.  There's a much better cast in this one and part of what makes this film that much better is the games themselves are much better.  To keep this short and sweet, it's a terrific blockbuster and the next one should be quite interesting.

***Side note: A total of 48 minutes was shot in IMAX

 

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17) Thanks for Sharing:  Life is a journey you never have to take alone.

 

Well once again colour me shocked.  This isn't a film I thought much of going into, mainly because I really can't stand Gwyneth Paltrow.  But not only did she not bother me in this film, she actually entertained me.  

 

Thanks For Sharing is billed as a romantic comedy and imo it has elements of romantic comedy but it is much more than that.  This is a film about three and maybe even four separate stories of people not only dealing with sex addiction but they are dealing with their demons.  Every character here is right on the edge.  They are always on the precipice of disaster and some fall into the abyss and some avoid it, by the hair of their chin.

 

All the leads are outstanding in this but the one that really impressed me (as he does in every film) is Josh Gad.  He has range in here.  He starts off as the comedic fat guy but he slowly involves into a real character, with real emotions and real fears and real vices.  He has  few scenes in here that are pure, raw, emotional and power.  I loved his arc and his story.  This is his third of fourth appearances on my list.

 

And it has to be said that Gwynny was good and she really seemed to understand her character.  I didn't agree with her character's feelings all the time, but most of it she was perfect.  

***Side note:  Edward Norton Executive Produced.

 

 

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16) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:  Beautiful things don't ask for attention.

 

Walter Mitty is a film that anyone can relate to if you are a certain age.  I'm not saying that if you are under say 30, you won't appreciate it but if you are over said age you might get more out of it.  I'm the same age as Walter in the film and funny enough I am going through some of the same things he is.  So his plight, his hesitance and finally his decision to just let his guard down and just go for his adventure, really struck a chord with me.

 

Walter Mitty is a daydreamer.  In his dreams, he is a loquacious person never shy about telling people what he thinks of them, especially the rude and loud people around him who seem to think that they are the center of the universe.  But in real life, he's quiet and wishes he had more of a voice.  As seen in the trailers, when he zones out, he imagines himself in far off places doing his Indiana Jones thing.  He's also able to get the girl.  In real life, he's quiet, shy and quite introverted.  Many of us go through life like this.  Many of us are afraid to say what we think and do what we feel.  So we live a 9-5 lifestyle because that's what's expected of us.  Walter Mitty has done that and in the process, his voice has died and can only live when he is dreaming.  

 

Sean Penn plays Sean O'Connell, the photographer for Mitty's company, who is more God/Indiana Jones like and this man is what intrigues Mitty.  He travels the globe getting pictures for his magazine and when he is ready, he sends the pictures to Walter who makes sure they are all there, developed and ready for print.  They have a working relationship but have never met.  When Walter is responsible for getting Sean's last picture developed for the last issue of the magazine, he is horrified when he realizes it isn't there.  From here he goes on an adventure that will take him to Iceland, Greenland and Afghanistan just so he can get one small picture from Sean.  Making this trip a little pointless in terms of work, is that Walter and most of his work cronies are being laid off as the magazine goes from print to web.  So Walter takes this trip not for work, but for himself.  And this of course is a complete dichotomy for him.  Soon he is wrestling sharks, making a decision to get on a helicopter with a drunk pilot, jumping out of helicopters, skateboarding down a massive winding road and climbing mountains just so he can find Sean.  

 

Along the way he is contacted frequently by his E Harmony rep who wants him to fill out his profile but tells Mitty that his section of what he's done and where he's been, is embarrassingly empty.  That soon changes as every adventure his lives through is now worthy of being printed on that page.  

 

The film is about discovery, letting go and learning to live.  As I said, maybe I related a lot to it because I'm in a similar place as he is and a lot of life's choices are coming at me quickly and begging me to make that choice.  Be that as it may, I was smitten with the movie and left with a big goofy grin on my face.  

***Side note:  Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Jim Carey and Mike Myers were just some of the names attached to the film over the years.

 

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15) The Lords of Salem:  Bleed us a king!

 

Rob Zombie makes up for his Halloween abominations by giving us one of the most atmospheric and Gothic Ken Russel type films. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it is gorgeous to look at and that includes seeing his beautiful wife naked, finally. There are no special effects in this film so everything you see is done from zombies imagination and he has always been good at creating atmosphere.

 

While Lords of Salem is not a perfect movie; it is many other things. Ambitious uncharted territory (for Zombie) that is shot beautifully. Viewers who enjoy jump scares, gore, and simple plots with no ambiguity will not enjoy this film.

I applaud this film for different reasons. Initially I love its homage to so many cult/witch/satanists films from before (primarily the '70s). I love the performance turned in by Sherri Moon Zombie; who seemed from all previous films to be entertaining but limited. That was not the case in this. A very lonely and troubled recovering addict was turned in with a believable understated performance. I also love the surrealism type of horror that this film embodies. I love that the ending can seem clear to many but ambiguous to others. That is what happens when you do not make it for everyone but rather how you think it should be seen. I love that this film stepped out of the comfort zone of Zombie and really seemed less self-indulgent than his previous works (which I do enjoy).

This movie certainly is not for everyone, but it is for many. It will linger days after you have seen it because its effective. My only complaint is that some of the genre greats in this are barely used, some with no lines. Regardless, if you have a slight interest in this classic genre from decades ago, Zombie, or a different type of horror be sure to check it out. 

 

This might be Zombie's best film. 

***Side note:  Rob Zombie directed this film, "as if Ken Russell had directed The Shining."  

 

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14) Lone Survivor:  Anything in life worth doing is worth over doing.  Moderation is for cowards.

 

Many war films suffer from jingoism and that prevents them from being great. It's not to say you can't enjoy them, but jingoism can turn a great film into just a good one.  Lone Survivor is that great film, without the jingoism.  I was interested in the characters and I was engaged in the action.  This is a film where you can separate your politics and really get behind the men you are watching.  I felt they did a nice enough job allowing us to get to know the soldiers at the beginning so that when the shooting starts you really feel for them.  I was shocked and a little skeptical about all the shots these men took.  But then I read that director Peter Berg went to Dietz's (one of the soldiers in the film) father's home and he read him an autopsy report detailing the 11 bullet wounds he suffered.  The man was crying as he read the report to Berg and told him to make sure he got that in the film, he wanted everyone to know how hard he fought before he died.  Berg honoured the memory of these men by leaving nothing out.  

 

I've never been a huge fan of Berg, nothing he has done, with the exception of Hancock, has really been all that good imo.  But he has proven here that he has the chops to direct a great films.  He gets fantastic performances out of all four actors, especially Taylor Kitsch.  And the action scenes kind of reminded me of the frenetic craziness of Pearl Harbor.  They were fast, brutal, loud and unexpected.  Berg has really made a terrific film.

***Side note:  A long list of investors chipped in at least a million dollars each to get the film made.

 

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13) The Place Beyond the Pines:  If you ride like lightning, you'er going to crash like thunder.

 

I'm going to put a bit of a review in here from both myself and Jake Gittes, who said it perfectly:

 

After thinking of this for several days, I'm getting more and more convinced that this film totally worked for me almost on every single level. I'd hesitate to call it a masterpiece before seeing it for the second time, but I haven't been this impressed by a new film since Zero Dark Thirty, and I also think it blows nearly every other 2012 release out of the water. It does flirt with becoming a bit too melodramatic and overlong closer to the end, but thankfully never crosses that line, and the very ending is as perfect as the first 100-120 minutes. In any case, this is a movie every single film buff out there owes it to him- or herself to see. Ambitious dramatic filmmaking at its almost-finest.  Gittes.

 

I agree with everything he says. He's right, it comes ever so close to becoming too melodramatic or too story heavy, close, but it never gets there. It's pretty much a perfect film because it's like you are watching the film incubate from the beginning. It grows right in front of your eyes and by the time you get to the third story arc, you are almost left breathless. Most films wouldn't have the audacity to have a two hour and 20 minute run time with this kind of story, but this does and it excels in doing so. 

***Side note:  All the bank robbery scenes were done in one take.

 

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12) Blackfish:  Never capture what you can't control.

 

In brief:  Saying that places like Seaworld have done more good for sea life than bad is like saying that The Nazi's did more good than bad.  The fact is, whales, dolphins and other marine animals should not be in captivity.  It's akin to stealing your child, enslaving them and then justifying it by saying that they eat well.

 

IMO, one of the most important documentaries ever made.  

***Side note:  "Stars" Tilikum, a real Orca that has been in captivity since 1983.

 

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11) We're the Millers:  WOAH! I think Snopp Dog would fuck this fridge.

 

When you take a film about 4 misfits, mash them together and then watch the hilarity ensue, it works if you have a good script and if the actors are fearless to try new things.  We're The Millers is one of those films.  A fake family traveling across the border to bring drugs home is ripe with possibilities.  And they pretty much go for a lot of them.  There's a scene with Aniston, Roberts and Poulter where the two women are teaching him how to kiss properly as he is not only a virgin but he has never kissed a girl before.  Sudekis is standing by eating something like popcorn while it's happening.  It's very well done and one of the funnier scenes of the year.  

 

Much is made of Aniston and her stripping in the film and it has to be said here that she looks fantastic.  Her stripping is very pg in here so there is nothing to get really excited about. But she is really well cast and she does a nice job as the stripper with the no so heart of gold.  She's tough but sweet, bitter but wise.  

 

We're the Millers is the third best comedy of the year next to.... well, you'll have to read on.  I'm not sure what the critics were watching when they gave this a bad review but it certainly wasn't the same film I watched.

***Side note:  There is a scene in the blooper real where the cast plays "I'll be there for you." the theme to Friends, instead of the Chasing Waterfalls song.  Jennifer Aniston's reaction is real.

 

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Blackfish is the most poignant documentary I've ever seen. I was literally haunted by it for weeks and it now makes me sick to my stomach to even think of Seaworld. Anyways, good work so far Baumer, I didn't realize LS had a very limited release on Xmas technically making it a '13 film.

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10) Side Effects:  Depression is an inability to construct a future.

 

When I saw this film at the beginning of the year, I said it would make my top 10 for 2013.  It has.

 

Completely surprised me and completely and thoroughly blew me away. This is the kind of movie that if released during Oscar season would and still should get a lot of consideration. Jude Law is terrific, Oscar worthy and the script is one twist after the next. Maybe in my old age I am not picking up on these things as much as the next guy but I didn't figure out the conspiracy angle until well into the film. Credit the film and Soderbergh for that.

Interesting to note that many of the main actors, in fact all of them except Mara, are all alumni of Soderberg. Law (Contagion), Tatum (Haywire and Magic Mike) and Zeta Jones (Ocean's 12 and Traffic). If I'm not mistaken there is even a poster for some kind of drug in the film and that is Julia Robert's face on it. He must be really well liked to have people want to work with him over and over.

 

This is kind of a film noir with a swipe at the drug industry.  It's also a film with terrific repeat value.

***Side note:  Soderbergh had actually cast Lindsey Lohan but the producers were worried about her legal issues, so Rooney Mara got the part.

 

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9) Frozen:  Oh look at that, I've been impaled.  

 

Yep, add me to the love fest.  This might be my favourite animated movie since I was a kid.  And I could just echo what everyone else has said, but I'll go in a little bit different of a direction.  

 

Josh Gad might be my favourite actor now.  I'm not sure where this guy came from.  All I remember was seeing him in Love and Other Drugs, loving him and now everything I see him in he just fascinates me.  His voice in here really matches the character and he made a great film damn near perfect.  This is his 4th and final appearance on my list this year and in every film he has made it better.  This is his highlight of the year.  Also terrific in this are the songs, Kristen Bell's voice and pretty much everything.  A truly wondrous film.

***Side note:  Kristen Bell had previously auditioned for the Rapunzel role.  

 

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8) You're Next:  This wasn't a random attack.  Our family is being targeted.

 

I've had about 4 months to think about this film and the more it settles in the more I think this might be one of the best horror films I've ever seen.  This is what The Purge, Strangers and every other home invasion type film should have been like.  The thing about horror is that it's pretty much all be done now.  There are only so many boogie men stories to tell, only so many paranormal stories to tell and only so many slasher stories to tell. It's how you tell them and how you direct them that matters now.  And this film was told and directed brilliantly.  

 

Directed by Adam Wingard, who's most well known films are the V/H/S films, he knocks it out of the park here.  He kind of borrow some tricks from other horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street and Home Alone (kidding) but he has a style, that stands out.  He uses a lot of tight shots so that you can't see what's behind the person and then he uses a lot of Halloween style techniques where the killer is seen in the background or is blurred but obviously there.  This is incredibly effective in this film and it keeps the tension at a high level all throughout.  

 

And now we come to my favourite part of the film and that is that writer Simon Barrett has probably watched just as many horror movies as I have because he has made sure that his heroine, Erin, has also watched a lot of horror films.  When she kills someone, they don't get back up.  There will not be a Fatal Attraction kind of scene where Glenn Close pops up with a knife after she should be dead.  No no no.  When Erin kills, you are dead. She is vicious.  She makes sure that her victims are smashed and stabbed and bludgeoned about 856 times each.  They will not be getting back up.  This is one of the most brilliant parts of the film.  

 

This is the best horror film of the year (in a year of strong horror) and one of the ten best films of the year.

***Side note:  Filmed in 2011 and it played in a few film festivals, but it did not get a release until 2013

 

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