2013 Movies
My Top Picks
Oz the Great and Powerful: Simply Beautiful to watch.
Day of the Doctor: Not perfect but certainly a film which makes good use of 3D. It certainly has its moments.(and I'm biased).
Star Trek into Darkness: Some of the best 3D I've seen in a long time, probably since Avatar (though admittedly I don't make a habit of choosing 3D when I got to the movies). Action packed and passable story.
Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The: This series keeps getting better. On most other years, this would be at the number one spot but lately movies have been getting better.
World War Z: Didn't expect much, especially not in 3D but it was a very good film which proves that you don't need to be gutsy to be scary.
Kick Ass 2: While not as awesome as its predecessor, Kick Ass 2 was still an awesome and very funny film.
Dark Skies: Very impressive UFO Horror. Some genuinely scary moments and a great immersive soundtrack.
Frozen: One of the best Disney animations in a long, long time.
The Hobbit (2): The Desolation of Smaug: Everything that the first one should have been though still a bit too long.
Identity Thief: Simply one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long, long time. Great, like a sort of female version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Iron Man 3: This was a lot better than it had any right to be.
Olympus has Fallen: One of two movies this year about the White House being invaded. It was surprisingly good, probably what Die Hard 5 should have been.
Conjuring, The: First time in years that I've had goose bumps for half of a movie. The second half was a lot tamer though.
Gravity: Yes, I know this probably should have been number one but personally, I got a bit bored with all the drifting stuff in the middle - and also Mr Clooney's endless chatter in the beginning. I know it was all "scientifically accurate" but I think accuracy in fantasy worlds is an overrated concept. The 3D was very good (I think) but because we never really had a lack of depth in any shots, you tended to forget about it and lose appreciation for it as the film wore on.
Escape Plan: A return to form for Arnie, plus the quote; "You hit like a vegetarian!"
Notable Mentions ("Surprise" Films)
Oz the Great and Powerful: I wouldn't have seen this at all it it weren't for unusual circumstances. I'm glad I did though. It was very good.
Mama: Expecting a run of the mill horror - wow, this was different and very good.
Warm Bodies: Went into this expecting a run of the mill comedy/zombie flick. Very surprised.
Ender's Game: Everything about this was wrong but it turned out to be very good.
Internship, The: I didn't even mean to see this film (We were staying elsewhere and couldn't find the TV remote). It was actually quite good, funny in places and not too clichéd. A bit like a cross between the office and the IT Crowd but tamer. Probably a bit too tame.
Croods, The: This looked cheap and nasty, so I was about to write it off but then I read some good reviews. It turned out to be much better than expected.
Pacific Rim: Not a fan of the giant monster or the giant robot genre however this film was pretty good. It showed us what Transformers should have been.
We're the Millers: I guess I expected a cheap attempt at ripping off Meet the Parents. But it was nothing like it. More like Vacation. Very funny.
Lone Ranger, The: This one was very much on my "don't bother watching" list as I've never liked Lone Ranger or Zorro type movies. I'd also heard that it was really long and that it starred Johnny Depp more or less playing Captain Jack. I like Depp but I was a bit over Captain Jack Sparrow. It took me a couple of years to get around to watching this. I was amazed that it turned out to be pretty good after all.
Epic: A surprisingly solid kids entry though perhaps I'm a bit biased because I like pugs.
The Purge: Looked like an ordinary run of the mill horror film but has some delicious twists to it. Also, it's perfectly set up for as many sequels as it wants.
Monsters University: I wasn't expecting much from this prequel but it turned out to be rather good.
Beautiful Creatures: For what was essentially a "twilight-knockoff" it was pretty good.
Phantom: Despite an ending that was a bit too... x-files, this was a pretty good film.
Jurassic Park 3D: Ok, technically not a new film but wow what a big difference 3D makes to Jurassic Park.
Man of Steel: Much better than expected. Didn't use the 3D as well as it should have though. Also, Lois falls in love with Superman, not Clark Kent.
After Earth: This was supposed to be terrible - if the critics are to be believed but it was a nice little sci-fi actioner which worked for me.
World's End, The: A very funny film with a great ending.
The Call: For a movie which was low budget and pretty much unadvertised, this wasn't too bad. Sure, there were some amazing co-incidences and some "yeah, sure, right..." moments where the characters did things like found secret trapdoors in the dark when the local police couldn't find them in broad daylight. Overall, it kept me interested.
Planes: Sometimes expecting the worst can leave you with a better feeling about an understated film.
The Biggest Disappointments
John Dies at the End: Unwatchable. I had to give up.
Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The: I don't know why I couldn't get into this, maybe it was bad timing, maybe it was because I've not read the book or maybe it was just not a great film.
Elysium: Great start but then it became dull, dull, dull. I kept falling asleep and waking up to see Matt Damon punching someone.
Snitch: If you're looking for a general actioner, this isn't it. Mediocre at best. In fact, one week after seeing it, I can't remember anything about it.
The Last Stand: I so desperately wanted Arnie to come back to the cinema but this... oh, this is just so bad.
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D: This would have been fine if they hadn't mucked about with the format. Nobody wanted to hear kids voices overdubbed on non-functional dinosaur mouths.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: After the first one was so unexpectedly good, I got my hopes up.
Evil Dead: It should have been pretty easy to make a decent remake of this, after all, wasn't Evil Dead 2 a remake of Evil Dead 1? In any case, this is terrible.
Oblivion: Tom Cruise, Sci-Fi, Yep. It should be good - but it wasn't.
Riddick: We waited so long for the next Riddick film but it wasn't really worth the wait. Much better than the second one but nowhere near as good as the first.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters: After the unexpectedly good first one, I was looking forward to this but it was awful. Boring and full of characters you don't care about. Harry Potter it ain't.
Jack Reacher: Started off very good but got tired and boring as it went on.
All the films I've seen at the Cinemas in 2013
Oz the Great and Powerful
A Good Day to Die Hard
Iron Man 3
Snitch
World War Z
Gravity
Thor: The Dark World
Captain Phillips
Doctor Who - Day of the Doctor
Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The
Films from 2013 I've seen on the "small screen"
About Time
After Earth
Beautiful Creatures
Big Wedding, The
Call, The
Carrie
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
Conjuring, The
Croods, The
Dark Skies
Despicable Me 2
Elysium
Ender's Game
Epic
Escape from Planet Earth
Escape Plan (aka The Tomb)
Evil Dead
Frozen
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Great Gatsby, The
Grown Ups 2
Hangover Part III, The
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Haunted House, A
Heat, The
Her
Identity Thief
Insidious Chapter 2
Jack the Giant Slayer
John Dies at the End
Last Exorcism 2, The
Last Stand, The
Little Mermaid 3D, The
Lone Ranger, The
Mama
Man of Steel
Monsters University
Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The
Oblivion
Olympus Has Fallen
Pacific Rim
Parker
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Place Beyond the Pines, The
Planes
Phantom
Prisoners
Purge, The
R.I.P.D.
RED 2
Riddick
Runner Runner
Seventh Son, The
Side Effects
Smurfs 2, The
Turbo
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D
Warm Bodies
We're the Millers
White House Down
Wolverine, The
What's Left to See from 2013
The boldfaced titles are the ones I'm most interested in;
Those with an asterisk * are ones I've acquired but not watched yet.
2 Guns*
21 and Over
42
Admission*
Anchorman: The Legend Continues
Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner
Battle of the Year
Black Rock*
Broken City
Bullet to the Head
Closed Circuit
Dark Truth, A
Dead Man Down*
Delivery Man, The*
Disconnect
Fast and Furious 6*
Gangster Squad
Getaway
Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, A
Haunts
Host, The
Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The
Last Vegas
Madea Christmas, A
Malavita
Movie 43
Much Ado About Nothing
Now You See Me
Oldboy
One Direction Concert Movie 3D
Pain & Gain*
Paranoia
Rush
Safe Haven
Satanic
Saving Mr. Banks*
Stand Up Guys
Stoker
Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor
Texas Chainsaw 3D*
To Do List, The
Upstream Color*
We the Peeples
You're Next