Numbers' Numerical Numbering (A 2013 Top 50)

[4815162342]

I've been saying for a while that I would do one of these when I saw everything I wanted to see from 2013, and since it's mid-March and I still haven't seen everything, I decided I should start now. So, we'll have a countdown of my Top 50 movies from 2013, with a handful of random ancillary awards tossed in.

So let's dive in shall we?


#50

The Kings of Summer

 

Every year has its handful of movies that aim to try and be the voice of this generation of the aimless male teenager experience. The Kings of Summer is not the best of 2013's crop, but it's also not the least of them. Centered around an able performance by Nick Robinson as the disenchanted Joe, the film follows three high-school guys as they elect to run away from home and build their own private world in the middle of a forest just outside town, where they do as they please, until the real world encroaches and Joe's dreams come crashing down. The film has some rough patches here and there with pacing and characterization, but it does a strong job of showing a teenager's disillusionment and the futility of trying to create something entirely new of your own desire rather than working with what you have already. Special mention goes to Ron Swanson as Joe's dad and Moises Arias as weird kid Biaggio.

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#49

 

The Great Gatsby

 

 

 

When I heard that Baz Luhrmann would be making a new adaptation of The Great Gatsby I was somewhat concerned due to Baz being well...Baz. If Bayhem is making lots of things explode with no real connection to anything, Bazhem is making lots of things bright and shiny and "pop" with no connection to anything. And The Great Gatsby is indeed full of Bazhem, showcasing overindulgent glitz and glamor. The film for the most part does make it all work, by showcasing the emptiness of it all compared to simple yet enduring love. Leonardo DiCaprio turns in a very good performance as the titular character and Joel Edgerton and his Hitler-stache provide more than capable opposing force as antagonist Tom Buchanan. The film though is a bit weighed down by a semi-lifeless performance from Tobey Maguire and a thin turn by Carey Mulligan as Daisy.

[4815162342]

#48

 

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

 

 

I have never seen the first GI Joe film in its entirety, the bits I saw were way too campy and straight out of one of the bad Roger Moore Bond movies. So I was a bit nervous about what I would find from its sequel. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it a good bit. Yeah, I had some major issues with its plot choices (like killing off the first film's main character 15ish minutes in and forgetting that a half-dozen other major characters from the first movie ever existed). But The Rock and Adrianne Palicki were very good additions to the team, a chunk of the film's middle stays actually fairly grounded, and the Himalayan Ninja Rope Duelmageddon was just plain awesome. It's an action film done in the vein of modern Bayhem, but it is modern Bayhem done right (well, right enough so it's very entertaining even if kinda stupid all over the place).

[CoolioD1]

was just thinking earlier today; i wish more of you guys did top 50s for last year.

[4815162342]

#47

 

Now You See Me

 

 

Now You See Me is a film that thinks it's smarter than it really is, which causes it to overplot and overtwist at a few key junctures in the movie. It usually manages to explain itself out of any holes or traps it drives itself into, but they do feel a bit forced for pure surprise effect. The film's ensemble is both its biggest strength and a weakness, in that it presents a lot of interesting, well-acted characters, but fails to really give us much focus on any of them enough to really get us sympathizing with them (save for Mark Ruffalo who is the closest we have to a main character). The result is that aside from an occasional bit of banter or interplay, we never get to see the Four Horsemen really interact with one another or have meaningful development, which is frustrating since the police half of the movie with Ruffalo and Laurent is so much better at showcasing the characters involved. But for all those nits that have to be picked, the film's magic setpieces are very well choreographed and built-up, and it's a rollicking two-hour ride that is fun and full of adrenaline.

[4815162342]

was just thinking earlier today; i wish more of you guys did top 50s for last year.

 

Well unlike some, I'll actually finish mine (and at a decent clip too).

[4815162342]

#46

 

Riddick

 

 

Nine years afte David Twohy's ambitious follow-up to Pitch Black awkwardly belly-flopped in the deep end of the Box Office swimming pool, he and Vin Diesel return to the drawing board with Riddick, a threequel that aims to get back down to the basics of Pitch Black while still having some scaled-up action and connections to the overarching galactic plot. The film is mostly a success at doing that. It's quite easily broken into three acts. The first follows Riddick as he struggles to survive a hostile planet on his own, fighting Space Dingos and Cave Pond Doom Creatures, reflecting on how he got himself marooned, and getting a pet Space Dingo. The second has him signal for rescue and focuses more on the mercenaries who swoop in to try and find Riddick and their struggles in locating him, and the third is a return to Pitch Black creature mayhem with the Cave Pond Doom Creatures swarming the tiny outpost RIddick and the merc survivors are within. The characters are all a bit thin, though Jordi Molla is a standout as the Merc Bastard You Love to Hate Santana. But the action is well-staged and the thrills rarely feel cheap or cliche. This film did a good job of working out most of the kinks and figuring out the right balance. Now it's up to Twohy and Diesel to make a fourth film that puts that knowledge to good use.

[rukaio101]

Well unlike some, I'll actually finish mine (and at a decent clip too).

I'm wounded Numbers. Wounded.

 

Sure, I'm not exactly denying it either, but it still hurts.

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And now for a break until this evening, but first, our first random award of the countdown:

 

 

2013's Best Element of an Otherwise Mediocre Blockbuster Movie

 

 

 

The nominees are:

 

 

The Character Names From Pacific Rim

 

 

The Fanboy Meltdown Over Iron Man 3's "Trevor" Reveal

 

 

The Train Setpiece From The Lone Ranger

 

 

Whatever The Fuck Sharlto Copley Was Doing In Elysium

 

 

 

and the winner is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEuobuoaJRw

 

 

 

and on the flipside, the worst element of an otherwise mediocre blockbuster movie

 

[

 

Mila Kunis in Oz The Great and Powerful

[DAR]

was just thinking earlier today; i wish more of you guys did top 50s for last year.

 

 

My best of 2013 list should probably be ready by November.

[4815162342]

#45

 

The Bling Ring

 

 

Sofia Coppola directs this story that dramatizes the series of burglaries perpetuated on Hollywood celebrities by a team of teenagers. Like Baz Luhrmann, Sofia Coppola delights in a particular style of visuals and camerawork that borders on ostentatious and overwhelming, but like Luhrmann with Gatsby, she spins it to her advantage her by amplifying the critiques of materialism and a shallow consumer, fame-obsessed mentality pervading certain youth populations. For example the long shot showing from outside glass walls a pair of teens burglarizing a house is a masterstroke of framing and timing. As well as the film is staged, the main hiccup the film encounters is that the acting and character develoment is generally routine, nothing really stands out besides Emma Watson's clueless ditz. As with Sofia Coppola films generally, there's a stylistic hurdle audiences need to jump before they can start buying into the film, and with this film, it's a manageable one.

Edited March 14, 2014 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

#44

 

The Wolverine

 

 

The X-Men franchise is a curious case of loads of plot holes and logical inconsistencies smashed into a single series of chronologically-connected films. It's also a curious franchise in that the quality of an installment is pretty much unpredictable, you can get a great outing, or you can get a thoroughly mediocre or even fairly terrible one. The Wolverine is the first X-Men film to truly learn from the mistakes of its predecessors, even if it does fall into a few of the same pitfalls. Set sometime after The Last Stand, we follow Wolverine, alone and happy that way, as he is summoned to Japan where he confronts a shadow of his past, in addition to nightmares about the choices he made concerning Jean Grey. For the first two-thirds, The Wolverine is possibly the best X-Men film yet. It is carefully, methodically paced, it features action sequences that are thrilling and inventive, yet also grounded, and it takes time to display character, emotion, and weight. Unfortunately the final act hits and we barrel down into a generic action setpiece with a pair of underwhelming villains that features a giant robot (there is only one worthy mech and that is Mecha Giamatti Rhino). It is so unimaginative and by the standard action book it's a stumble for the movie. If the finale had used some more creativity, we certainly could have had the best of the X-Men. Instead we have the best of the Wolverine movies (and it is miles better than the first).

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#43

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

 

 

The first installment of the Hunger Games series was enjoyable, if plagued with a whole host of issues. Francis Lawrence takes the reins of the second film and his approach? Find every little thing fans complained about for the first movie and change it. Shaky Cam? Gone. Buttercup color? Oranged. Poor acting from Gale and Peeta? Fix-actually there wasn't anything they could do with that one. All in all, Francis Lawrence's workmanlike attitude to filmmaking suits the movie well, it's confidently and competently plotted and steered forward is it builds character and drama in the first half before sliding into a much improved Games segment, even if it does feel a bit too short. The very large ensemble does its job well (aside from Gale and Peeta), though I am still uncertain as to whether Sam Clafin and Jena Malone are more than just okay fits for their roles. In sum, Catching Fire is a better film in almost every way than its predecessor. Now that they have solved most of the nagging issues, they can go for broke in adapting the broken novel that is Mockingjay.

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#42

 

Spring Breakers

 

 

Now this was an interesting and odd movie. Following four college girls desperately trying to have the Spring Break of their dreams, it chronicles their descent into debauchery, followed by crime, followed by waking the hell up from the haze. It's more of a sensory experience than a movie, the plot is very loose and merely serves to connect music video-like segments of raving with characters mugging for the camera with isolated pieces of violence. It goes without saying that the most memorable aspect of the movie is James Franco as the white trash scum lord that is Alien. He slithers and preens around the camera, rambling and manipulating as he pushes to keep his good life going for as long as he can. It's a fascinating movie, even if it's a very thin one with not much too it beyond its wild visuals and Franco.

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#41

 

Fast and Furious 6

 

 

 

I forget where I saw it, but I read something that commented on this film by saying it sheds the car genre behind and moves fully into the superhero genre. I have to agree. Fast and Furious 6 takes the bar set by Fast Five and places it into outer space when it comes to its action setpieces. We have collapsing buildings, tunnel chases, super cars that make other cars flip over, tag-team fights between giant slabs of muscle, a tank destroying an entire highway full of people, Superman-style jumping and catching, multiple betrayals, and the longest runway known to man. It's 100% balls to the wall action. The plot is threadbare aside from the Letty connection. The villain, while not too remarkable, is capable enough to be threatening even if he is no physical match for our main heroes. It's a film all about setpieces, and boy do they excite and amaze. It's a purely fun movie, one which I have no idea how Fast 7 will top in the WOW department.

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That will be all of the countdown for tonight, but before I leave here is another random award:

 

 

Best Musical Motif for a 2013 Villain

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m3kV47Jgwg

 

Khan's Theme from Star Trek Into Darkness

 

Because Smaug's theme was featured, albeit very briefly, in the first Hobbit movie, it was ineligible for consideration, which made picking the winner for this award very easily. While as a whole, I was let down a bit by Giacchino's work for STID because it seemed to retread the same musical ground as ST09 without much new pop, his work centering around Khan was a big exception. It's a slow, eerie build of ominous notes in the quiet scenes that are empathetic even while making you uncertain of the character's true nature, that when we get the more action-filled scenes devolves into a powerful whirlwind of oppressive confidence, revealing the conquering core of the character. It's definitely one of the best musical themes for a character in recent years.

[lab276]

I'd go with:

[Plain Old Tele]

It kinda blows my mind you thought GI JOE: RETALIATION was better than GATSBY. 

[4815162342]

I really was not a fan of Tobey Maguire's ultra bland Nick. And I'm a sucker for ridiculously awesome fight scenes.

[4815162342]

#40

 

42

 

 

Sports films have always been a fascinating sub-genre, because of the myriad of ways one could approach the subject matter depending on the theme or message you want to send. 42, directed by Brian Helgeland, returns to old-school sport filmmaking. There's not much in the way of special tricks, or edgy delivery, or modern changes in storytelling. It's a classical, honest tale of one of baseball's most famous players. The result is that a bunch of scenes kinda come off hokey or sappy because of the approach, but when the film connects, such as Jackie's baseball bat rage, it wallops one into the bleachers over deep center. Chadwick Boseman is solidly earnest and capable as Jackie Robinson, holding his own on the screen even when the material is a bit thin and simple. Harrison Ford delivers a strong performance as Branch Rickey, who is as much a central figure as Jackie in the movie. Harrison tackles the 1940s atmosphere with relish and gusto, livening up the film when it sometimes threatens to get a bit stale and staid.