My Favorite Top 40 Movies of 2013
This year was an unexpectedly strong one in the film industry. So much for example if you check out my list, can't find any movies under ***1/2 stars which is definitely amazing! Therefore I made Top 40 instead of Top 30 this year. And some of the good movies are just barely out of this additional list so I could even go for Top 50. And I haven't seen some of the movies yet, like Short Term 12, In a World... The Counselor or The Invisible Woman.
Of course, this year brought some horrible piece of *beep* as well but since I don't make worst of the year list just a couple title ... only what I was saw and suffered. 1. Grown Ups 2 2. Getaway 3. A Haunted House (I haven't seen Scary Movie 5) 4. Paranoia 5. The Big Wedding 6. The Heat 7. Runner Runner 8. Only God Forgives 9. The Frozen Ground 10. Identity Thief 11. The Call 12. CBGB 13. I'm So Excited! 14. Jobs 15. The Wolf of Wall Street And now ... let's see what caused much more pleasure being part of this absolutely gorgeous year in films!
Of course, this year brought some horrible piece of *beep* as well but since I don't make worst of the year list just a couple title ... only what I was saw and suffered. 1. Grown Ups 2 2. Getaway 3. A Haunted House (I haven't seen Scary Movie 5) 4. Paranoia 5. The Big Wedding 6. The Heat 7. Runner Runner 8. Only God Forgives 9. The Frozen Ground 10. Identity Thief 11. The Call 12. CBGB 13. I'm So Excited! 14. Jobs 15. The Wolf of Wall Street And now ... let's see what caused much more pleasure being part of this absolutely gorgeous year in films!
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- DirectorPaolo SorrentinoStarsToni ServilloCarlo VerdoneSabrina FerilliJep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.The Great Beauty is really great!! Not only in title but as a film touched me so much. Honestly says, I didn't really get this pleasure of the movie like I did while I watched this one. And I saw it twice already ...
Before the first time when I saw it I was a little upset, had a fight with a person. 5 minutes after the film started all of my angriness was gone and I subjected full attention for this masterpiece. 20-30 minutes later I got a feeling I have to pee which feeling was getting stronger during the film but I kept hold on. I think it was my sweetest suffering in my entire life!!
I loved the characters - all of them was so alive and powerful! Showing two different world's perspective is never easy without pushing the director's point of view. Paolo Sorrentino did such a wonderful job, not to talking about the amazing cast with Toni Servillo on top or most of the actors, actresses even in the smaller roles.
The film about a writer who actually didn't do anything since ages - he had only one successful novel and he went to Rome, enjoying all the privilege of the ruling class. He became a journalist, made a lot of article about acts who has common interest with. Party after party in his life, drinks and drugs - a brilliant representing from this lifestyle in Rome. But fortunately not only ... essentially powerful dialogues which was not too often can be found in our age's scripts. Unfortunately!! I love talkative films what has something to say to people. 142 minutes from one extreme to another without feel boring and representing more people's life. **** out of 4, a big A+ is what I can give. And hopefully it gets more, namely Academy Awards in more categories. - DirectorFelix van GroeningenStarsVeerle BaetensJohan HeldenberghNell CattrysseElise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He's a romantic atheist, she's a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial.The Broken Circle Breakdown is such a wonderful film from Belgium! The story is about a romantic man who's in love with America, music and a girl who'll become his wife and musician partner. They also have a daughter who has cancer. Edition of the film reminds me Pulp Fiction when the storytelling is not riding the regular way - starts in 2006 and steps back in time till 1999 when they actually met. Even the film, even the soundtrack is extremely strong so think I can't wait to have both. Not a country music fan here but honesty says I like it more than Inside Llewyn Davis). I love the characters also and - would love to see more nominations of the film, especially the lead actress, Veerle Baetens's role was not too easy but she's remarkable. Thomas Vinterberg's work is a real masterpiece, proudly see it between nominees as Best Foreign Picture at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences/ The Oscars. **** out of 4, became one of my favorites in 2013. What can I wish - just half a strong year as the past one was.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.We really got something from Spike Jones, again!!
His new film play in the not too far future - this is the sentence what makes me bored to death!! But not this time ...
I can't really think another film of Joaquin Phoenix what caused such a great time like in this film. I was a little angry last year when he got a nomination instead of John Hawkes (The Sessions) but with this performance I kinda forgave him. In this film he plays a basically different character than anytime before what makes him a more likeable, more understandable one. Honestly says, I never saw him as romantic as he is in Her.
Spike Jones and his cast made a really enjoyable, loveable film what practically slashed for the number 1 on my list. The film is really demanding and high standard one. **** out of 4, another big A+, just like The Great Beauty! - DirectorWoody AllenStarsCate BlanchettAlec BaldwinPeter SarsgaardA New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks like a million dollars but isn't bringing money, peace or love.OMG, Woody! How the hell you do that you make a crap and your following movie is a masterpiece?? And it's definitely the second category.
Cate Blanchett is just amazing in the movie, can't even imagine somebody else performing her character! Of course, the story is not original, since it's A Streetcar named Desire's new adaptation but what made a great movie, is definitely the strong powerful actings from basically everyone in the film! Sally Hawkins as Cate Blanchett's sister is also amazing (like most of the time) and the supporting roles are really funny! Hope they'll both get the little statue this year!! **** out of 4. Can't wait to see it again ... and again! :-) - DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpySeamus Davey-FitzpatrickWe meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.Describing our lives is not only disgusting but hurts sometimes ! :-)
Seeing this binational couple's life in the third decade is makes me wonder why the sequels are not like this ... I really felt the problems of the characters something special to me.
The very end of Before Sunset was such a perfect than I couldn't wait to see what's next in Céline and Jesse's life. Almost 20 years when they first met in Austria, spent almost a decade separately and got together for the past 9 years.
Richard Linklater did such amazing job representing our hero's every 9th year so I'd definitely give a nomination for the screenplay (again). Strong dialogues, strong performances, strong directing! Absolutely join to **** out of 4 stars movies!! Congrats!! - DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsChristian BaleAmy AdamsBradley CooperA con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.My favorite by David O. Russell!!
Loved every single minute in the movie and wish I would see it again shortly! Amazing script with a lot of great performances, namely Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence or even Jeremy Renner. Shortly, it's another **** out of 4!! - DirectorJohn KrokidasStarsDaniel RadcliffeDane DeHaanMichael C. HallA murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsFabrice LuchiniVincent SchmittErnst UmhauerA high school French teacher is drawn into a precocious student's increasingly transgressive story about his relationship with a friend's family.François Ozon is one of my favorite director, even if he kinda disappeared in the last some years. His came back is a perfectly represented weird and wicked story what brought him back to his roots in the golden years. His storytelling was more than special back then and with this artwork at least we got something amazing again from him. Loved it, every single minute was a subconscious journey. **** out of 4. Still.
- DirectorJulian PölslerStarsMartina GedeckLuchs von KyffhäuserbachKarlheinz HacklA woman finds herself inexplicably cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the landscape.Well, this film is a perfectly surprise for me.
I never heard about the director, Julian Pölsler and not even the lead actress, Martina Gedeck.
The story is weird and at the same time, amazing - about a die-hard vegetarian woman and an invisible wall what just became around the environment, don't let her out of a circle.
The acting is extremely strong, screenplay and the ending are more stronger. **** out of 4. Again. - DirectorJoseph Gordon-LevittStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittScarlett JohanssonJulianne MooreA New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.Don Jon is definitely one of the best comedy this year!
I'm not really a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Scarlett Johansson but they both did a very good job. I'd nominated Ms. Johansson as a best supporting actress. I loved her in the movie, just like most of the smaller role played actors and actresses, including our Jon's kick-ass Italian family members. From Jersey. :-) Actually, I can't recall any other performance by Tony Danza I liked but he also did a very good job in this one. A very strong ***1/2 out of 4. - DirectorAbdellatif KechicheStarsLéa SeydouxAdèle ExarchopoulosSalim KechioucheAdèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.Blue is the Warmest Color is an amazing movie about the first love. Actually I think I never saw another film about this theme interpreted so strongly and emotionally - not to talking about the passion between the two lead actresses. I'm highly recommend the movie for people who has almost 3 hours. Yes, a little bit long but it worth it. I really enjoyed, even I couldn't imagine it!! A very strong ***1/2 out of 4.
- DirectorDestin Daniel CrettonStarsBrie LarsonFrantz TurnerJohn Gallagher Jr.A 20-something supervising staff member of a residential treatment facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.
- DirectorZal BatmanglijStarsBrit MarlingAlexander SkarsgårdElliot PageAn operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities changing dramatically after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.
- DirectorZiad DoueiriStarsAli SulimanReymonde AmsellemEvgenia DodinaAn Palestinian surgeon living in Tel Aviv discovers a dark secret about his wife in the aftermath of a suicide bombing.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsTom HanksBarkhad AbdiBarkhad AbdirahmanThe true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
- DirectorNicole HolofcenerStarsJulia Louis-DreyfusJames GandolfiniCatherine KeenerA divorced woman who decides to pursue the man she's interested in learns he's her new friend's ex-husband.
- DirectorHenry Alex RubinStarsJason BatemanJonah BoboHaley RammA drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsHugh JackmanJake GyllenhaalViola DavisWhen Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsOscar IsaacCarey MulliganJohn GoodmanA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsGreta GerwigMickey SumnerAdam DriverA New York woman apprentices for a dance company and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as the possibility of realizing them dwindles.
- DirectorAdam WingardStarsSharni VinsonJoe SwanbergAJ BowenWhen the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of the victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsMichael PolleyJohn BuchanMark PolleyA film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers.
- DirectorLake BellStarsLake BellFred MelamedMichaela WatkinsAn underachieving voice coach finds herself competing in the movie trailer voice-over profession against her arrogant father and his protégé.