2013 Movie Diary
An ongoing list of movies that I've seen in 2013.
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- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsBarbra StreisandOmar SharifKay MedfordThe life of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and entertainer of the early 1900s. We see her rise to fame as a Ziegfeld girl, subsequent career, and her personal life, particularly her relationship with Nick Arnstein.(Rewatch)
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsMia WasikowskaMichael FassbenderJamie BellA mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret.The latest adaptation is shot beautifully and exploits the novel's darkness very well, but it left me wanting more - mainly more chemistry between Fassbender and Wasikowska.
- DirectorMark WatersStarsParker PoseyJosh HamiltonTori SpellingA mentally unbalanced young woman - who is convinced she is Jackie Kennedy - flies into a murderous rage when her brother returns home to reveal he is engaged.(Rewatch) - One of my absolute favorite movies of all time.
- DirectorArlene SanfordStarsKristin ChenowethJosh HopkinsAnna ChlumskyA high-powered New York City publicist finds herself in Montana promoting a charity calendar after being betrayed by her boss and fiancé. Unfortunately, matters of the heart are just as complicated in the wilds as they are in the big city.(Rewatch) - A total guilty pleasure.
- DirectorGeoffrey O'ConnorStarsLouis TherouxLauren DrainSteve DrainLouis meets the Phelps family, who protest against an America that tolerates homosexualityI am kind of obsessed with the Phelps family... They're like a car crash that you know is awful but still can't look away. Louis is amazing though!
- DirectorPaul FeigStarsKristen WiigMaya RudolphRose ByrneCompetition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.(Rewatch)
- DirectorRoger KumbleStarsCameron DiazThomas JaneChristina ApplegateChristina Walters spent years avoiding men, then suddenly met her perfect match while hanging with her best friends, Courtney and Jane. When she finds out that he has left town, she and Courtney set out on a trip.(Rewatch)
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.Although not exactly my sort of movie, it was still an impressive piece of moviemaking, and a great companion piece to Maxine Hong Kingston's Warrior Woman.
- DirectorCraig ZobelStarsAnn DowdDreama WalkerPat HealyA normal Friday service at a fast food restaurant becomes interrupted by a police officer who claims an employee stole from a customer, but something more sinister is going on.An impressive and more than cleverly made little movie that plays it cards just right and is never distasteful or exploitative (unlike its characters).
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.Really underwhelming... Probably the least engaging Tarantino film I've seen.
- DirectorJulia LeighStarsEmily BrowningRachael BlakeEwen LeslieA haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.An incredibly difficult and rewarding piece of (dare I say it?) feminist filmmaking that left me both confused and exhilarated.
- DirectorJason MooreStarsAnna KendrickBrittany SnowRebel WilsonBeca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.Really underwhelming, especially after hearing so many people rave about this movie, calling it the next Mean Girls. It's definitely cute and has some great music numbers, but it's nothing Glee hasn't done more successfully and with far more emotional gravitas.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyJude LawAaron Taylor-JohnsonIn late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.A spectacular new vision of the oft-told tale. Knightley is mesmerizing as usual, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is spectacular as Vronsky. The cinematography, costumes and sets are all uniformly excellent.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.(Rewatch)
- DirectorMichael WalkerStarsParker PoseyEric MabiusAnnie ParissePeter, a family man who works for a failing supermarket chain finds his life shaken up by his new boss, Susan, who starts to groom him for an executive position. Money and opportunities are within his grasp, but at what price?The film itself would be far better if it would have been a straight up comedy, or a workplace satire. Either way, Posey makes this film and thankfully, she is allowed to bring her usual mix of crazy and delightful and steal the whole show.
- DirectorJonas ÅkerlundDago GonzalesStarsMadonnaStuart PriceSteve SidelnykChronicles Madonna's 2004 Re-Invention World Tour and "new" Madonna(Rewatch)
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsVictoria AbrilMarisa ParedesMiguel BoséA singer returns after 15 years abroad to perform in Madrid and finds her 27 y.o. daughter married to one of her mom's ex-lovers.Really, really entertaining.
- DirectorMadonnaStarsAbbie CornishJames D'ArcyAndrea RiseboroughThe affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.Swooningly romantic and beautifully shot and envisioned... If only the two stories meshed together a bit more profoundly. And that *beep* tree scene! Still, very underrated. Andrea Riseborough should have been awarded for her performance as Wallis Simpson.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyJames McAvoyBrenda BlethynThirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.(Rewatch)
- DirectorAlek KeshishianStarsBrittany MurphyMatthew RhysCatherine TateAn American intern at U.K. Vogue helps her friends find love.(Rewatch)
- DirectorDeclan DonnellanNick OrmerodStarsRobert PattinsonUma ThurmanKristin Scott ThomasA chronicle of a young man's rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city's wealthiest and most influential women.Umm, sure.
- DirectorBill CondonStarsKristen StewartRobert PattinsonTaylor LautnerAfter the birth of Renesmee/Nessie, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.Probably my second favorite Twilight, after the original. I'm kind of glad that, after the utter dreck that New Moon and Eclipse were, Breaking Dawn saw the franchise off with a wholeheartedly kitschy, violent, intentionally silly movie. It was kind of fun.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNoomi RapaceLogan Marshall-GreenMichael FassbenderFollowing clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.
- DirectorBen AffleckStarsBen AffleckBryan CranstonJohn GoodmanActing under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsHugh JackmanRussell CroweAnne HathawayIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsAdam BeachEvan AdamsIrene BedardArnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
- DirectorMiguel PickerStarsMonique FordhamHenry GirouxAlvin F. PoussaintMickey Mouse Monopoly analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, examines its corporate power, and explores its vast influence on our global culture.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.(Rewatch)
- DirectorBrian KlugmanLee SternthalStarsBradley CooperDennis QuaidOlivia WildeA writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man's work.Incredibly bad.
- DirectorSacha GervasiStarsAnthony HopkinsHelen MirrenScarlett JohanssonThe relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho (1960) in 1959 is explored.Really, really fun. Also a little trivial, I guess, but fun.
- DirectorDonald PetrieStarsLindsay LohanChris PineSamaire ArmstrongManhattanite Ashley is known to many as the luckiest woman around. After a chance encounter with a down-and-out young man, however, she realizes that she's swapped her fortune for his.(Rewatch)
- DirectorThomas BezuchaStarsSelena GomezLeighton MeesterKatie CassidyThree young women vacationing in Paris find themselves whisked away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress.
- DirectorGary TrousdaleKirk WiseStarsDemi MooreJason AlexanderMary Kay BergmanA deformed bell-ringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancer.(Rewatch)
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.Really, really fun and masterfully creepy!
- DirectorArlene SanfordStarsKristin ChenowethJosh HopkinsAnna ChlumskyA high-powered New York City publicist finds herself in Montana promoting a charity calendar after being betrayed by her boss and fiancé. Unfortunately, matters of the heart are just as complicated in the wilds as they are in the big city.(Rewatch)