Favorite Films of 2013...So Far- Jonesy's Take

The first half of 2013 has been a surprise for me. The smaller films have been more standouts for me, and while they didn't play everywhere, most you can find on demand somewhere. Also, I seem to be gravitating towards the funnier films, which is great because the later half of the year is always full of downers and dramas.

Now onto the movies! And all the films are in no particular order.

Jonesy's Top Ten Movies of 2011

Jonesy here. This year I saw about 180 movies (including movies seen before, new to me, and 2011 releases) between the theatre and TV. There were some fabulous trends I noticed from the releases from this year such as character films making a big impact and smart family-friendly films not made my Pixar. All of my films on this list are from my gut. Some of them have many problems, but I still enjoyed them. These are the movies I either have recommended multiple times to people, or I couldn't stop discussing it.

So for better or worse, here are my favorites (in no particular order):

Top Movies of the Year- He said

Inglourious Basterds: Long story short this is a movie lover’s movie. You can definitely tell the love that Tarantino has for classic films in this movie. He has finally honed his peculiar style of long periods of conversation into something almost universally praised. While the movie does feel more like a few different episodes of the same show strung together, it is still a great and exhilarating experience. The perfect pacing in the elongated conversation scenes are the bread and butter of this movie. I find the relatively subdued violence a big surprise given how the movie was marketed. Either way, this is definitely Tarantino’s finest work (don’t shoot me Reservoir Dog fans). I do hope Christoph Waltz gets nominated for an Oscar


District 9: Umm biggest surprise of the year much? Neil Blomkamp, gets rejected for the Peter Jackson-produced Halo movie, and then smacks all them fools with this movie. A really obvious apartheid-commentary that some could argue breaks down to a crazy alien action movie on the last third, I still think that just like Inglorious Basterds and Avatar this movie is for movie lovers. The geeks freak out that this cost like 5-10 million, yet it looks so good. Bros can dig the gratuitous violence and using pigs as weapons. As was commented on the /Filmcast, this movie and Avatar are slightly the same story told differently, but once again it is how you do it. And let me tell you I like how this movie tells it.

Up: Biggest Tear Jerker of the year; if you don’t cry, you have no soul. Up is another unconventional Pixar movie that it is a funny, tragic, and entertaining movie. It is a movie that shows you that you can always grow up no matter what your age is, and how letting go can be the hardest and most rewarding thing you can do. I feel little can be said that hasn’t been said before so I’ll just tell you to get this movie ASAP

(500) Days of Summer: In the case of this movie, we have a honest-to-goodness movie that deals with love and loss. It is not a dramedy, nor is it a romantic comedy, but something in between. It was a sad experience to watch because the portrayals of heartbreak by Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Tom are done in such a real way that I swear I actually lived through them. The ever-amazing Zooey Deschanel plays a deceitfully ambiguous character, Summer, who drags poor Tom through emotional mud, and yet you don’t hate her. This is because these characters are not some cliché that you find a horrible Jennifer Garner romantic comedy. There is no dumpy best girl friend or crazy guy friend that cannot commit, just real people. The story doesn’t end happily ever after but rather on a high note, and sometimes that’s all you get out of intense heartbreak.

Up in the Air: Once again, just Avatar, my review can explain my love for this movie. On the other hand, the second time I saw this movie, I was able to notice more details that enriched the experience for me. There are details such as the subtly changing styles of cinematography depending on the scene, that I did not notice the first time around. Case in point- being the wedding scenes switching to a handheld, Rachel Getting Married, style of shooting, from the more precise shooting from the beginning. Overall, it makes you feel and think in the best way a movie can.

Where The Wild Things Are: The much talked about and anticipated adaptation that captivated audiences with its memorable trailer felt like it came and went. The critical reviews might have been mixed, but no one can deny that there is an amount of beauty and love that is apparent in this film that no one can deny. With a 10 page story expanded to an almost two hour movie, there was a lot of stuff that could have gone wrong, and in my eyes it did not fail. It was a portrayal about childhood, and all of those feelings that come with it. Among those feelings are, the need for acceptance and love, maybe some attention and support, but also uncontrollable rage. Where the movie truly shines is when Max slowly starts to fail as a king for the Wild Things,

Avatar: Read the review- One of the best experiences in the cinema ever. Only few others have compared, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and I think something like ET.

Antichrist: For such a “failure” of movie, I can honestly say this is one of the most hauntingly amazing movies. Much like most of these movies it is an experience that is bigger than the sum of its parts. As someone that could be described as moody, this movie makes me look like freaking Barney. The story could be misogynistic; it could be Satanic, but who cares? It is compelling. Charlotte Gainsborough’s performance is amazing. This was made while Lars Von Trier was under a bad depression, and it shows for better or worse. The movie is not without faults, such as forced symbolism with the animals in the forest. You get to become more intimate with Willem Dafoe’s anatomy than you would expect, and the ending is confusing beyond all hell. Still this movie moved me, in a way I cannot shake, much like the black alien symbiote did with Peter Parker but unfortunetly not with cool superpowers.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: This movie oozes so much charm like George Clooney, it’s ridiculous! Yes the style f animation is a little funky at times, but it is a stylistic choice. The story adapted from Roald Dahl’s book is one that hints at darker things below the surface. This made me enjoy it a bit more, because it gave it the same complexity that made Up so great. All the voices here are part of the Wes Anderson group, like Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. Meryl Streep and George Clooney perform fantastically here too.  Overall, it is a cute movie; it is relatable, and you’ll have good laughs. More importantly, I didn’t get the urge to kick Jason Schwartzman in the face with this performance. That counts for something!

The Hangover: Carlos, Tyson, Ed Helms singing a sweet improvised song; what else can you need for a good time at the movies? Seriously though, I’m not sure you will find a movie this funny and is able to hold its own in terms of story. It’s no Apatow type material, but as we saw this year, with Funny People, if you blur the lines between drama and comedy, the results will be mixed and leave audiences dumbfounded. This movie wants you to have a good time and it delivers. It gave Zach Galifianakis more exposure, which was sorely needed, and then it gave us hope that maybe Bradley Cooper is decent leading man.

Watchmen: Seriously I almost feel inclined to have this movie here because it was even made. Yes, it had flaws and some awkward pacing, but seriously, this movie for all senses and purposes shouldn’t exist. Thanks to legal troubles and an inadaptable source material, I am truly amazed that this movie turned out as well as it did. The actors overall did a great job, especially Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. The way Zack Snyder was able to recreate a lot of the scenes from the book made freak out like a complete nerd. Overall, it felt like this was the best movie that could have been made, and I’m glad it exists. Not since the Dark Knight have I loved anything from the comic world so much. If you check it out, you need to read the book though. I’m pretty sure if more people were familiar with it then, the movie could have been more successful. Either way Zack Snyder’s work resonated greatly with the nerds that it was targetin.



Honorable Mentions:
Coraline,  Zombieland,  Moon,  The Hurt Locker

Top 10 Worst movies of the year
Twilight: New Moon,  All About Steve, Year One, Xmen Origins: Wolverine,  Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Top Movies of 2009: She said

District 9- What a year for sci-fi! I never thought of myself as a sci-fi fan, but since there are two movies on my top 10, I think I should really reconsider that statement. District 9 completely blew me away. I was completely sucked into the story and the world that Neil Blomkamp created, and to achieve it with a mere 30 million dollar budget is unheard of. What I loved best about this movie is I kept thinking about it afterwards, and I wanting to dissect every layer of the movie. This movie was so smart. It made social commentary about the apartheid that happened in South Africa and how humans treat others that are considered “different”.  It kept me thinking way after the experience was over. Again, this movie was brilliant, and my favorite of the year.

Up in the Air- This was so close to being my top movie…I wish I could have two top movies of the year. Jason Reitman’s film about a man who seemingly has everything figured out was so much more than I expected. What I loved most about this movie is the story and characters don’t take the route you expect them to, which is so refreshing. There are many times where the movie could take a cliché turn in the plot, but Reitman’s script is so brave, it decides to take its own direction. I cannot believe this is only his third movie; I cannot wait to see what he comes out with next.

Inglourious Basterds- This was actually the first Tarantino movie I’ve seen in theatres, and it’s brilliant. Tarantino proves again he is a master storyteller. He develops these long, drawn out scenes that makes you think they’re going in one direction, but then completely takes you in an alternate route that usually ends in gun fire. If this is how WWII really ended…history class would have been much more interesting in school.

The Hurt Locker- When you stop breathing during a movie, that’s the sign of something special. From beginning to end, The Hurt Locker is an intense look at the dirty job of disarming bombs in the army. In this job, you could die, literally, at any moment. This was by no means a hit during the summer-popcorn movie season; however, The Hurt Locker was the most unpredictable movie I’ve seen this year.

The Princess and the Frog- I love classic Disney movies. They were one of the staples of my childhood. Now, I enjoy all the Pixar movies, but sometimes, you need a reminder of how things were. The Princess and the Frog takes animation back to its Disney roots. Every character has a song that makes you want to sing-a-long with. There’s the evil bad guy, the good-hearted prince, the heroine who lost her father, her bubbly best friend, a jazz-trumpet playing gator, and a Cajun firefly. This movie was pure magic and fun and a favorite for me.

Up- Every summer when Pixar comes out with their new movie, I always wonder how are they ever going to top the year before? Wall-E was one of my top movies last year, and I was convinced they were never going to top it. I was wrong. Up is a near perfect animated movie. It also made me cry…which I never do in animated films. The story and characters were so well written, I felt as if they were real. Up also played with our inner-child imaginations because who didn’t want to fly away with balloons as a kid?

Harry Potter- I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I love the books, and yes, I even love the movies. I understand that the movies cannot hold a candle to the books, but I can respect the movies in their own entity. The Half-Blood Prince is the best HP movie to date. Yes, the script left details out from the book, but I never missed them. I am excited that David Yates has found his own within this movie which makes me stoked that he’s directing the final two movies.

Avatar- Avatar reminded me why I love movies so much, and why the experience of going to the movies is so important. I love going to the movies and seeing something I’ve never seen before. The world of Pandora that Cameron created brought movie magic back to life. This is a movie that has appeal for everyone: romance, action, sci-fi, fantasy. By the time this list goes up, I will have seen this movie again. It’s the kind of movie you need to see twice because it is that amazing and to take in more of the world of Pandora.

The Hangover- It’s not hard to make people laugh in a movie. It’s hard to make people laugh at the same jokes when they see the movie a second time. Any movie that can achieve that is comedy gold. The Hangover was the comedy of the year. The Hangover takes a little bit of the heart of Apatow, unexpectedness of Smith with a dash of American Pie crudeness to create a well-rounded hilarious movie.

Zombieland- Thanks to Zombieland, I found a new favorite genre in movies: horror-comedies. I don’t know if that is really a genre, but I like it. This was the most fun I had at the movies this year. It was the perfect combo of blood and humor. Also, any movie that pokes fun at Garland, TX holds a special place in my heart.

Honorable Mentions:
Moon,  Drag Me to Hell,  Where the Wild Things Are,  Star Trek, (500) Days of Summer

Worst Movies:
9, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,  X-Men Orgins: Wolverine