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Top Ten Favorite Films of 2013

Happy Oscar Day, everyone!  Here are my favorite films of 2013!  I hope everyone enjoys the show and I hope the movie stars don't get too cold and wet tonight!
*My comments may have what some might consider spoilers.*

10. Don Jon

I still refuse to like Scarlett Johansson.  I didn't have high expectations for this one.  I expected it to be amateurish because it was Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial debut, but I shouldn't have underestimated him!  It's not a particularly original movie - it's about a porn addict who tries to have a normal relationship, but his addiction creates problems - but it's executed very, very well.  It's funny, it's charming, and it's surprisingly human.  The script is really good, and the acting is good as well.  Yes, even Scarlett is good...but I still don't like her!

9. Saving Mr. Banks

Snubbed, I tell you!!  Snubbed!!  I understand why Tom Hanks wasn't nominated, I mean he was good, but maybe not the BEST.  But Emma Thomson was outstanding!  Her performance as Mrs. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, is truly heartbreaking.  I loved what she did with her character.  At first you hate her, but as the story progresses, you start to feel sorry for her, and then you completely understand why she's such a bitch!  You know who else is super good in this movie?  Colin Farrell.  He deserved so much more recognition for this film.  He was incredible!  Probably the best I've ever seen him!  His role is the primary drive for the story.  Mary Poppins didn't come to save the children, she came to save Mr. Banks!  And Mr. Banks, who was based off of Mrs. Travers's real father, needed to be saved.  I really enjoyed this film.  I'm a bit disappointed that it was left out of the Oscar race this year.

8. The Bling Ring

I adore Sofia Coppola!  She made a very good movie about where today's youths are headed, and they are not headed in a good direction!  It's a direction where being cool is more important than being a good person.  Where a couture bag has more value than morals.  Where striving for fame trumps striving for self fulfillment.  Where reality stars are worshiped above strong role models.  The movie is based off the true story of a bunch of kids who burglarize celebrities' houses and steal their clothes and jewelry.  Coppola is very smart in that she doesn't make a spoof or a mockery of these girls' behavior.  That would be too easy.  She doesn't over humanize them to make you feel sorry for them either.  That would be too obvious.  She simply tells it like it is.

7. The Butler

I liked the Butler - a lot, actually!  Hell, it's on this list, isn't it?  How come people gave it such a hard time?  I feel this movie was unfairly left out of the Oscar race.  The story is touching, the acting is exceptional, and the costumes and set design are amazing (we are taken on a journey that expands over eighty years!  That's some serious production design!)  The ending almost made me shed a tear!  Cecil Gaines was a butler in the White House serving eight presidents, witnessing the evolution of America's civil rights movement.  In the end, long after he retires, he goes back to the White House to meet Obama, the first black president.  When the new head butler tries to escort Cecil, Cecil refuses, saying, "I know the way."  So moving!

6. The Wolf of Wall Street

I have never seen Leo act this way before!  What an outrageous, acid trip of a movie!  I want Leo to win tonight.  I don't think he will win, and I don't think he gave the best performance of all the nominations, but damn it, I want him to take it home!!  He completely went balls to the wall in this movie and let loose!  Most of the characters he's played have been classy, sophisticated, and/or smart, civilized characters.  Not this one!  There's a scene where Leo literally rolls around on the floor drooling because he's so doped up on drugs.  It's my personal favorite scene in the movie.  If you haven't seen Wolf yet, I urge you to see it simply for the ridiculous spectacle of it all!  It is everything everyone's been saying about it.

5. Her

I still refuse to like Scarlett Johansson.  At least I didn't have to look at her in this movie!  I went in with high expectations for Her, and I was not disappointed.  For a film with a very "out there" concept, it was very well executed.  Well, on second thought, maybe it's really not that "out there" to think we might one day live in a world where we could fall in love with an operating system.  After all, how many of us declare that we "LOOOOVE" our phone/tablet/smart TV/etc?  So many of us would "die" if we couldn't have our technology.  So is it so hard to imagine falling in love with your operating system, who understands you better than anyone based off of data collected from your online habits?  I don't think it's too much of a stretch in the future, and I feel Spike Jonze did a wonderful job in presenting us this bizarre, yet very possible future.  Not only that, he does it with such heart and care.

4. 12 Years a Slave

This movie is really sad.  And I feel like I should use a more powerful word than "sad," but it's the only word that comes to mind.  It's a word that just gets straight to the point.  I think it's winning Best Picture tonight, and honestly I think it should win.  I know my #2 choice is also up for Best Picture, but I feel 12 Years a Slave is more of a Best Picture movie than my #2.  If that makes sense.  Anyway, I digress.  That Steve McQueen...damn!  He's only made three films, but they have all been exceptional!  Few directors have pulled off such an impressive early career.  (Side note: my Ben is one of them!)
     The acting is downright spine tingling!  First off, Chiwetel Ejiofor has totally elevated himself from "Peter in Love Actually" in my eyes!  His performance was absolutely outstanding.  I didn't see Dallas Buyer's Club, so I can't speak about Matthew McConaughey, but I think Ejiofor should take home the Oscar.  I know I just said that I want Leo to win, but I think Ejiofor deserves it the most.  There's a scene in 12 Years where Solomon is singing with the other slaves during a funeral.  The camera just stays on Solomon for a good three or four minutes while he sings, and you see him completely break down.  It's the moment where Solomon gives up hope.  It's kind of like Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" scene but WAY better.  Yeah, I said it!  Way better!  Secondly, Michael Fassbender - exceptional!  He's so good!  Again, I didn't see Dallas Buyer's Club, and I know Jared Leto is going to win, but my vote goes to Fassy.  Lastly, we have a head to head competition between Lupita Nyong'o and Jennifer Lawrence.  It's a CLOSE call.  Personally, my vote goes to Lupita because her performance so gut wrenching, but I think Jennifer is going to win.  All in all, the movie is just so...sad.  To quote Shakespeare in Love: "Sad, but wonderful!"

3. This is the End

I don't know how or why this has happened, but I've been totally in love with James Franco lately!  He is just so dreamy!  And he's HILARIOUS in this movie!  I never thought of him as a comedic actor until I saw Pineapple Express and now I can't see him as anything but!  I love that these guys played a mockery of themselves.  It seems like a very conceited move, but actually it's quite genius!  I feel that it makes the movie that much funnier.  And This is the End is hands down the funniest movie of the year.  (Actually, with the exception of We're the Millers, I was let down with the comedies that came out in 2013.)  This movie had me rolling on the floor with tears in my eyes from laughing so hard!

2. Gravity

God DAMN this movie is good!  This is the ONLY movie I've ever felt NEEDS to be seen in 3D.  NEEDS TO.  I've seen a good amount of movies in 3D (not a lot) and I can say without a doubt, Gravity uses it the BEST.  Honestly, I wouldn't even want to watch it in 2D.  Honestly, I don't think the movie would be as good in 2D.  It's the first movie where the 3D actually enhances the film.  Avatar and Life of Pi were two movies I felt used 3D very well, but I would totally watch both in 2D no problem.  Not Gravity.  When you watch Gravity you feel like you're in zero gravity with Sandra Bullock.  You feel like you're lost in the middle of outer space!  I have an irrational fear of outer space, so this movie was EXTRA intense for me!  I was legitimately freaking out through the whole movie!  I am so happy for Alfonso Cuaron!  He's one of my favorite directors!  I've loved him since Great Expectations in 1998, and I am so pleased that his career has gone the way it has!  He is a true artistic genius and absolutely deserves to win Best Director tonight.  Gravity is not just a movie.  It's an experience!

1. The Great Gatsby

Does this surprise anyone?  Maybe I'm a little bias.  It's my favorite book turned into a movie directed by my favorite director, starring one of my favorite actors.  Okay, FINE, I'm bias!  I wish The Great Gatsby was up for more than just costume and set design.  I would give it at least Best Actor nomination for Leo and Best Supporting Actor nomination for Joel Edgerton.  They were both phenomenal!  That scene in the Plaza suite was AMAZING!!  That's my favorite scene in the book, and to see it come alive with such intensity was a treat!  The part where Gatsby and Tom touch foreheads, almost about to rip each other's heads off...so good!  Soooo good!  I always thought the line in the book, "Gatsby looked like he had just killed a man," seemed a little over exaggerated, but it was PERFECT in the movie!  And Leo really DID look like he just killed a man!  Although that scene was outstanding, my favorite scene in the movie is the scene where Gatsby finally reunites with Daisy.  THAT is how you do an anticipated meeting scene!  With the rain, and the million orchids, and the, "I'm certainly glad to see you again."  I about DIED!  SOOOO GOOD!!  Baz hasn't done a scene like that since the fish tank wall scene in Romeo and Juliet!  Oh AND!  Gatsby's introduction in the movie?  BEST REVEAL OF A CHARACTER EVER.  The fireworks, the raised glass, the SMILE (see picture).  Baz, you're too much!!
     So purists of the book hate this adaption because they say it's not at all true to the book.  They are WRONG.  I love the book.  It's the only book I've read more than twice.  I know it fairly well.  But I'm also open to lavish interpretations.  Literature and film are two COMPLETELY different mediums, and what works in one may not necessarily work for the other.  The Robert Redford version is generally considered the best version, even better than Baz's version.  Well, I'm sorry, but the Redford version is SOOOO BORING.  Tonally, it probably is more of an accurate portrayal of the book: serene, ethereal, very "lost generation."  Great for a book.  Boring for a movie.  I am so pleased that Baz pumped some adrenaline into his version, and used his trademark "do it until you think it's too much, and then do it some more!" style of filmmaking.  It was the roaring 20's after all!
     Another thing purists of the book didn't like about this movie is the part about Nick being in a sanitarium because that's not in the book.  It actually makes perfect sense for Baz to do that, and here's why:  If you read the book closely, it's clear that Nick is writing it.  He's not just the narrative voice, he's actually writing it.  There are lines in the book where he says, "Looking over what I've written so far..." or he refers to "the reader" of his text.  So Nick definitely wrote The Great Gatsby.  Now for the film, he needs a reason to write the book.  Why not have it be an exercise given to him by his psychologist in an sanitarium?   After all, Nick wanted to be a writer, but got into bonds instead.  And he did suffer a very traumatic experience!  His friend was brutally murdered, and his cousin turns out to be a murderer and an asshole.  Any good natured mid Western boy would suffer emotionally from that.  It makes sense that he'd be in the loony bin, and it makes sense that his doctor asks him to write his story down.  Just because it's not in the book, doesn't mean it won't work for a movie!
     Now.  The music.  You know who else puts modern day music in historical films?  Quentin Tarantino.  Do people give him crap for that?  NOOOOO!!  So why do they give Baz crap for it???  I don't get it!!  Why can't flapper girls dance to Jay-Z?  Just because it didn't happen in real life, doesn't mean it's not a creative and genius move!  Jazz music was hip and cutting edge in the 1920s.  It's not anymore.  But hip hop is!  In order for us as a modern audience to experience how people must have felt about jazz music in the 1920s, you have to present us with what's cutting edge now.  In the original book, Nick goes to some upscale restaurant with Gatsby and meets Wolfshiem, an organized crime boss.  The whole experience is a bit overwhelming for Nick in the 1920s.  But for 2013, that experience wouldn't shake anyone.  What can we do to bring that experience to a modern day audience and have them feel what Nick felt in the 1920s?  Oh I know!  Let's have him go to an underground club and blast, "HUNNED DOLLA BILLS!!" into his ears!  THAT is an experience!  It's so genius!  I get it, Baz.  I get you, and I LOVE you! (Side note: "100$ Bill" should have been nominated for Best Original Song!  Or at least "Over the Love" by Florence and the Machine.)
     I'm sorry; I've rambled on.  My commentary on this movie is mostly in defense of it, which is kind of sad, but I just can't accept that the reason why people didn't like this movie was because it wasn't exactly like the book.  And when people say they like both the movie and the book, they are told, "Well, you clearly don't TRULY understand the book."  Bitch, please!  I read a lot, and I have a degree in film.  I can like both and understand both!!!  Maybe YOU didn't truly understand the MOVIE!

Here are my thoughts on the rest of the nominated films:

American Hustle -  Great movie, but I don't feel like it should be up for Best Picture.  I think Jennifer Lawrence is going to win because everyone freakin' loves her (don't get me wrong - I love her too!), but I don't think she should win.  Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper don't stand a chance.  Their competition is too tough.
Captain Phillips - I didn't see it.
Dallas Buyer's Club - I didn't see it.
Nebraska - I didn't see it.
Philomena - I didn't see it.

Wow...I didn't see very many of the nominated films this year.  What are your favorite films of 2013 and who are you rooting for tonight?

As a P.S. I just wanna say, it's been a great year for outrageous sex scenes in movies!  Witness the following:
-Leonardo DiCaprio blowing cocaine into a woman's butt in the opening of the Wolf of Wall Street
-James Franco performing fellatio on a gun in Spring Breakers (perhaps this is where my new James Franco obsession comes from?)
-Joaquin Phoenix having sex with his operating system in Her
-Jonah Hill getting raped by a demon with a huge penis in This is the End
- Cameron Diaz having sex with a Ferrari in The Counselor
Am I missing any more?

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