1/01/2014

2013 in films - according to Film Excess

The best of 2013

The best film of 2013 seen in retrospect (so far), Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives

1. Only God Forgives - Nicolas Winding Refn

2. The Conjuring - James Wan


3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - Don Scardino


4. Side Effects - Steven Soderbergh


5. Behind the Candelabra - Steven Soderbergh


6. The Last Stand - Kim Jee-Woon


7. Monsters University - Dan Scanlon


8. Nymphomaniac - Lars Von Trier


9. Despicable Me 2 - Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud


10. Star Trek Into Darkness - J. J. Abrams


11. Evil Dead - Fede Alvarez


12. Oz the Great and Powerful - Sam Raimi


13. White House Down - Roland Emmerich



14. Pacific Rim - Guillermo Del Toro



The worst of 2013

1. The Last Exorcism Part 2 - Ed Gass-Donnelly


2. Odd Thomas - Stephen Sommers


3. The Bling Ring  - Sofia Coppola



Remarks:

I have not seen a true, cinematic masterpiece from 2013 yet, but I have seen a lot of good films, and I'm sure the overwhelming 2013 pearls have just been hiding from me so far, and I will find it or them sooner or later. I have missed a lot of the big, celebrated films, but I will get to them some time soon. Films like Gravity, 12 Years a Slave, Enough Said, Kill Your Darlings, Nebraska and Blue Is the Warmest Color spring to mind as films that seem especially worth watching.

Refn's strange, neon-bend Only God Forgives has been the best new film experience of my 2013. Lots of people don't like it, but I love it and have already seen it thrice.
Following on the top 14 list is Wan's super-hit horror spooker The Conjuring, which had me and other audiences jumping nearly out of their pants. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was a very over-looked comedy gem with some of the best stars like Jim Carrey and Steve Carell.
Soderbergh sits on the two following slots with his two excellent films of 2013, Side Effects and Behind the Candelabra. The Last Stand was a great, but commercially nonviable come-back for Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will stand the test again soon with the promising Sabotage (2014). Monsters University was a great sequel with heart and lots of laughs, and Nymphomaniac was nearly the complete opposite. Despicable Me 2 was, like MU, an incredibly fun time.
The year's good films also included the Star Trek sequel Into Darkness, the rebirthed, gory Evil Dead, Sam Raimi's effect-swooning Oz the Great and Powerful and flawed but enjoyable mega-movies White House Down and Pacific Rim.

The 3 'worst of 2013' films are all similarly bad, lacking scares (The Last Exorcism Part 2), sense of reality (Odd Thomas) and an intriguing story and characters (The Bling Ring).

Please comment on the lists and your best and worst movies of 2013

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