I was inspired by myself from last year to compose a list of my ten favorite movies that I saw released in
2013. (Don't expect 12 Years A Slave anywhere on this list.) Honestly, numbers 5-10 are interchangeable and ranked based on the probability that I will watch them on cable tv in the future.
10. Iron Man 3Released : May 3
Rotten Tomatoes : 79%
Expectations : Below
Saw With : Allen
This was by far the movie I was most excited to see last year. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. I thought it was better than Iron Man 2, but not nearly as good as Iron Man 1. I thought the Mandarin had so much potential which was wasted in the second half. I didn't enjoy the 'Extremis' story and the Hulkbuster armor was was hardly used at all. I'm not sure they even referred to it as the Hulkbuster. Seriously, why even show the Hulkbuster armor in the preview if it's not going to be fighting an opponent worthy of the name Hulkbuster. Yes, my biggest complaint is the misuse of the Hulkbuster. Deal.
Released : August 9
Rotten Tomatoes : 60%
Expectations : Met
Saw With : Allen
This movie kind of snuck up on me this year, as I had not heard of it more than a few weeks before it was released. I enjoyed several things about Elysium. It was an original story, Sharlto Copley was a great villain as Kruger, and the special effects were well done. And I tend to like just about anything Jodie Foster is in, even Panic Room. I also disliked several things about Elysium. I didn't like Matt Damon's bald head, some scenes were a bit gory, and all the class-warfare garbage and human condition nonsense left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.
Released : November 8
Rotten Tomatoes : 82%
Expectations : Met
Saw With : Allen (I think)
There was not a lot that I loved or hated about this movie. Thor was swinging his hammer and Loki was once again enjoyable as a villain, or hero...I'm not sure where his character is headed. What made me really excited was the reveal at the end where they mention that the Aether and the Tesseract (nerd alert!) are actually infinity stones. This is hopefully headed towards an Infinity Gauntlet storyline (maybe Avengers 3?), which was one of my favorites as a young comic book reading adolescent. Thanos is far and away my favorite comic book villain, and once he starts collecting the infinity stones I'm going to geek-out hardcore.
Released : November 22
Rotten Tomatoes : 91%
Expectations : Met
Saw With : Kristin
This was an instance where an enjoyable movie experience made up for a kind of 'meh movie. (Thanks Kristin, Holland, Kaylene!) This is also a rare instance where I can pull my snob card and claim that the book was better, and the film didn't fully capture the characters and blah blah blah. I really hated the ending to this movie. It reminded me too much of The Matrix: Reloaded. And where were all the references to District 13? "There is no district 12." Ok genius, where are we going? What happened? I feel like the ending was just kind of hanging there. I only anticipate part 3, 4, 5...however many movies they split this into, because I read the books. Whatev...if Jennifer Lawrence is in it I'll watch it.
Released : April 19
Rotten Tomatoes : 61% (because people are dumb)
Expectations : Met
Saw With : Kaylene
I'm kind of cheating here because I didn't see this in the theater, but I saw it on video as soon as it was released. The story behind that is my stupid friend Melissa agreed to see this with me. Then she told me she was sick and instead went to see it with my other friend Leslie. I was so pissed that I unfriended Melissa from Facebook and haven't talked to her since. That was just one instance of her lying to me after my many acts of kindness and friendship to her. Oh, the movie...it has Tom Cruise.
Released : June 21
Rotten Tomatoes : 82%
Expectations : Exceeded
Saw With : Natalie & Ken
This was the first movie I have seen in the theater with my niece and nephew, and it was a real treat. We loaded up on punch, popcorn, and other random junk food before the movie. They were really well behaved, laughing when appropriate and not talking too loudly. I really can't think of any complaints I have about the movie. It reminded me a lot of Revenge of the Nerds, if the nerds were monsters. If you haven't seen Revenge of the Nerds, you should.
Released : June 14
Rotten Tomatoes :76%
Expectations : Exceeded
Saw With : Allen
I had one condition for this movie not to suck: Superman had to punch someone. I didn't care who. I did not want to watch another movie of Superman showing off his super strength by lifting something heavy. Not only did he punch people, (spoiler alert coming...) he killed someone. I never thought I would see Superman kill someone not named Doomsday. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure Superman ever killed Doomsday. The last thing I remember about Doomsday is that he came back to life and was manipulated by Cyborg Superman, then Superman took him to the end of time where entropy destroyed him...comic books are dumb sometimes.
Released : June 21
Rotten Tomatoes : 73%
Expectations : Exceeded
Saw With : Allen
This is the second movie I saw this year based on a book I read. I don't think that has ever happened before. With essentially the entire third act being rewritten, I was worried that this would be a bad movie. Really bad. I was wrong. It was very good. I really appreciated that the screen wasn't saturated with gore, but relied more on action and drama. Also, zombie movies tend to always be localized to a town or city. For once we got to see a zombie infection go worldwide which was just a grand treat. I also like Brad Pitt in everything, so bonus points for that.
Released : October 4
Rotten Tomatoes : 84%
Expectations : Far Exceeded
Saw With : Kaylene
I am hesitant to place this movie at number two, because the chances of me watching it at home on my tiny tv are remote. I saw this on a mini-IMAX in 3D and really enjoyed it. I believe this is the first movie I have seen in 3D since the free screening of the Katy Perry movie last year. I typically hate 3D movies and find them more distracting than entertaining, but Gravity nailed it. I could argue about some of the physics in the movie like I did with Star Trek a few years ago, but I won't. I did see the Star Trek movie this year, and I didn't like it. Let's just leave it at that.
Released : May 24
Rotten Tomatoes : 84%
Expectations : Exceeded
Saw With : Allen
This movie had The Rock, Vin Diesel, a tank, cars and airplanes. I can't think of a single thing I disliked about this movie. I even liked Paul Walker, who I thought was the weak link in the other films. It was fun and stupid, just the way I like my summer movies.
2 comments:
I find it interesting how we see a lot of movies together but we actually don't like a lot of the same movies. I'm gonna blame that on me being full of myself and thinking I'm better than a movie like Fast and Furious 6.
I should have made a corresponding list of movies I did not see this year...American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips, Her, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Philomena to name a few.
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