My Top 10 of 2013

At the beginning of 2013 I wrote a list of my top 5 most anticipated films of the year. It’s only right then, in accordance with Internet blogger law, that I round off the year with a list of my top 10 films of the year.

In past years that’s been pretty easy. I’ve always had a bit of an idea of my top 10 throughout the year with a couple worming their way in at the last minute. This year has been different though with some films I expected nothing much from truly surprising me and others I hadn’t even heard of a week before their release forcing their way onto this list. All of which has made it incredibly difficult to pick. So to get around this I’ve also added those which just didn’t make the cut, if only to help recommend them to you, dear reader, if you haven’t yet watched them.

Whilst I have attempted to see as many films as possible this year there are some which slipped through the cracks. Short Term 12 and Selfish Giant are 2 films I particularly would have loved to see but just didn’t have time to get around to seeing. I’ve also not included things which weren’t technically films, which means that the Doctor Who 50^th anniversary special isn’t in here though, believe me, it would have been close to the top.

As per usual, this list only includes films that were released in the UK in 2013. That means that most of the contenders for the Oscars in 2014 including films like The Wolf of Wall Street, 12 Years a Slave and The Railway Man aren’t on this list as they won’t be released in the UK until January. It also means that there is one film on this list which was eligible for the Oscars last year.

But enough with the justifications. Here are my top films of the year:

Just missing out on the top 10:

20. The Great Gatsby

19. Blue is the Warmest Colour

18. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

17. Stoker

16. Anchorman 2

15. Thor: The Dark World

14. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

13. Saving Mr. Banks

12. Wreck it Ralph

11. Pacific Rim

 10. About Time

The marketing department for About Time were very very clever. They had a Richard Curtis film and wanted the typical Richard Curtis audience to turn out for it. Thus the posters and trailers all made this seem like your typical Richard Curtis affair; beautiful girl, nerdy British man, upper middle class issues and a wedding at the end. The thing they neglected to tell you is that that film ends about 50mins into this one. What follows is Richard Curtis’s most emotionally engaging and poignant writing since Blackadder went over the top at the end of Blackadder Goes Forth. This is a film for men who would never normally to see a Richard Curtis film, a tale of father and son and final goodbyes. Without a doubt one of the most beautiful films of the year with a stellar performance from Bill Nighy as per usual and some of the most heartbreaking plotting I’ve seen in a while. Bring a hanky and prepare to be surprised.

Read my 4 Star review for Cult Hub here

9. Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas had many faults but none of those were in its ambition. Whilst some of the make up is a bit distracting and Tom Hanks needs subtitles for most of the film Cloud Atlas deserves to be in this list for trying something extraordinary and coming within a whisker of pulling it off. Transforming your cast into characters of different races, genders and sprinkling them all liberally throughout time has never been attempted before on this scale and the results are often magnificent. Ben Wishaw particularly steals this one (as with pretty much every other film he is in) with his composer’s assistant for me being the heart and soul of the film. Moreover, with so many different genres at play (there’s Ealing comedy farce, sci-fi, historical epic and 70s thriller to name a few) everyone will find at least one of the stories to engage with. I can understand why some critics panned Cloud Atlas but I hope and believe that given a few years people will rediscover it and give it the credit that it truly deserves.

Read my original review here

8. Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen has been on great form in the last couple of years but probably this one probably tops the lot. If you’re looking for one of the early funny ones then you’ll have to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for an incredibly acted, wonderfully paced and perfectly pitched film which is essentially an update of A Streetcar Named Desire then Blue Jasmine is the film for you. Cate Blanchett has quite rightly been getting an awful lot of plaudits for her turn but that isn’t to take anything away from the rest of the cast. Sally Hawkins especially as the less glamorous sister is, as usual, perfect and I hope that she gets recognized come awards season.

7. The Place Beyond the Pines.

Derek Cianfrance and Ryan Gosling’s last collaboration brought us the incredibly depressing and brilliant Blue Valentine. This time out though they moved away from the small indie drama and brought us a spralling multi generational saga. Focusing first on Ryan Gosling’s outlaw stuntman, then on Bradley Cooper’s straight cop in a corrupt world the film moves seamlessly around showing how their actions so dramatically affect the future of their families. It is ambitious filmmaking with lengthy takes, car chases and sprawling stories to contend with yet it never falls flat or feels too big for the director or stars. Bradley Cooper continues his great run proving once more to be so much more than that guy from the Hangover and Gosling is, well, Gosling. Highly recommended if very little seen, I recommend you check this out now.

6. Kings of Summer

I’m a sucker for a coming of age summer film, so much so that there are 2 on this list, the first of which is The Kings of Summer. The Kings of Summer came out and quickly went away but it deserves much more of a fanfare than it received. At times this is Terence Malick meets John Hughes, a mix of lingering and beautifully shot wilderness images mixed with the despair of your best friend coping off with the girl you’re madly in love with. Nick Offerman gives his best Nick Offerman (which is in no way an insult) and the cast of relative unknown teens are all believable and, more importantly, likeable. The Kings of Summer perfectly captures that feeling of just wanting to run away from it all and start again without ever feeling depressing or reductive. Sure, we’ve seen quie  lot of this before but that doesn’t stop it from feeling relevant and original. A real unexpected gem.

Read my extended review here

5. Les Misérables

Whilst it may have come out during last years ‘awards season,’ Les Misérables was released in the UK in January so it comfortably makes it’s way onto this list. I must confess to never having seen the musical nor read the book but in my last job I was involved in some aspects of the film and thus closely followed it’s production process. When the first trailer was released I suddenly became unusually excited with Anne Hathaway’s rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ feeling real and visceral, something I rarely experience with musicals. The musical itself is obviously one of the greats but it is no mean feat successfully adapting it to the big screen. Tom Hooper and a stellar cast (yes, including Russell Crowe who wasn’t that bad) manage to pull it off spectacularly. Anyone left not teary eyed clearly has no soul. All together now “Do you hear the people sing, singing the songs of….”

Watch my Vlog about Les Miserables and musicals on film here

4. The World’s End

I’ve written quite a lot about my love for Messers Wright, Pegg and Frost before so it was with great anticipation that I approached The World’s End. Shaun of the Dead is my favourite British film of all time and in my eyes, when these 3 are together, they can do no wrong. More serious in tone and with a much more somber end note Gary King’s tale is the perfect conclusion to the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy. He isn’t the bumbling Shaun or the straight down the middle Nicholas Angel, King is a man lost and alone, clinging on to the things which made him happiest, unable to find that same joy in life again. The World’s End understands that he is a horrible person, only to flip it on it’s head in the dying moments. On repeat viewings it becomes abundantly clear just how nuanced Pegg’s performance is, so much more than the old drunk, this is man on the brink of annihilation; and that’s before The Blanks start trying kill them all. It’s fitting as well, that at the end of the day, Gary’s stubbornness allows him to be the only one who does the right thing, being both hero and villain all at once. Yes, it’s funny as well of course, at times to laugh out loud levels but it is these other moments which make The World’s End one of the films of the year.

As an aside I actually watched it again for the umpteenth time on a train journey back to Birmingham, on the way to relive a university night out with old friends. Drinking in the same pubs, dancing in the same clubs and discussing the same nonsense. And you know what, it was my happiest night out in years. Maybe there’s a bit of Gary King in all of us then?

Read my 5 star review on Cult Hub here or read my interview with director Edgar Wright here

3. Gravity

Forget Avatar, this is the film that modern 3D was made for. Alfonso Curon has created something magnificent with Gravity, a film which is essentially a sci-fi b-movie but given the gravitas (pardon the expression) of an awards season spectacular because of it’s engaging and captivate nature. The opening 13 minute shot which takes place in one constantly sweeping and mesmeric take left me feeling dizzy, disorientated, exhilarated and like I was floating miles above the Earth’s surface. The script is quite standard fair and I still think that Curon finds it difficult to end a film at the same standard as the rest of it (see also Children of Men) but none of that bothered me. I was so taken by the incredible visuals that I couldn’t care for anything but the immediate story. That may sound like false praise – the cinematography was great! – but it really mean it. The weightlessness I felt with the 3D did what 3D has always promised to do, it made me feel a part of the action; lost, tense and scared, on the edge of the world, tethered to some tin foil in space.

Clooney and Bullock are great as ever but it is those behind the scenes who deserve the real plaudits. Curon for his vision and the technical staff for their wizardry. This is cinema at it’s most breathtaking and brilliant.

2. Before Midnight

At the start of the year I wrote that this was my most anticipated film of the year and I’m happy that I did. Jesse and Céline’s story is, for me, the greatest romance in all of cinema.  The first 2 in the trilogy were filled with optimism for the future, hope, love and youthful desire. Midnight flips the model on its head providing us with the bit most films leave out; what happens next?

Jesse and Céline are no longer meeting for 24hrs, wondering around glamorous cities with no care in the world. They are living life, caring for a young family and dealing with the fall out of their actions at the end of Before Sunset. They argue, they fight, they’re in love and yet at the same time they’re quickly falling out of love. Most importantly though, they are real and this is Before Midnight’s greatest achievement. Characters that we have grown to love are no longer just characters on a piece of celluloid. Midnight fleshes out both Jesse and Céline to the point that they are real; they have real emotions, problems and desires. I cannot think of any film series in which the characters have grown and changed as much as this and for that the film deserves all the credit it has rightly received. The conclusion to the greatest film trilogy ever made.

Read my extended review on the trilogy here

1. Much Ado About Nothing / The Way Way Back

Ok, so I’ve cheated. Honestly, I just couldn’t decide. There are only 2 films this year that, the moment I walked out the cinema, I wanted to walk straight back in and watch them again. They have nothing in common really but both are joyous and incredible pieces of work in their own right.

The teaser poster for Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing”

Much Ado About Nothing is a film I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was first announced. You know the story by now – it was shot during Joss Whedon’s 2 week break between filming The Avengers and editing it, it was filmed in his own house with his own money and he used his best mates as the cast. Of course, his house is an incredible place (designed by his wife) and his best mates include Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathon Fillion and Clark Gregg but that’s neither here nor there.

The thought of black and white Shakespeare may have had some audiences reaching for a pillow and duvet but don’t let that put you off. Much Ado is the funniest adaptation of Shakespeare I have ever seen. It is laugh out loud hilarious; there’s wit, some wonderful slapstick comedy, wordplay and of course, a wedding. Much Ado is the original rom-com and this adaptation makes it feel as relevant as it ever was. Better than anything Katherine Heigl will ever be in, this is the rom-com you want to snuggle up watching late at night.

The cast won’t be recognised by any academy I fear but Amy Acker needs to be. She lends an outstanding air of defiance and strength to Beatrice which few other performances this year have been able to match. For all the films above I’ve put their trailer but here is Amy Acker’s “If I were a man” monologue, it’s all the selling point that this film needs.

I didn’t know anything about The Way Way Back before it was released. Coming out around the same time as The Kings of Summer this was the perfect antidote the end of summer. It’s the kind of coming of age tale which cannot fail to put a smile on your face. Sam Rockwell steals the show as the waterpark manager and man child of the year but the rest of the cast are just as great if more understated. Toni Collette is great as ever and it is nice to see a different side to Steve Carrell, reminiscent of his outstanding turn in Little Miss Sunshine.

The audience I watched this with were laughing throughout, more so than any other comedy I have seen all year. Sam Rockwell’s Bonnie Tyler moment (watch it, you’ll know what I mean) had me crying with laughter for about 5 minutes after the event, something I haven’t done for a while at the cinema.

No, it isn’t the most original film of the year, nor is there much here that hasn’t been done before in a number of other films. It is though truly brilliant and deserves to be seen by anyone who had awkward moments as a teenager, if only to help you remember that it all turns out ok in the end.

Have a read of my extended review here

Sunrise, Sunset, Midnight: The Perfect Trilogy

I’ve written this article before. You can read it here. Just after seeing Toy Story 3 in fact. A film which meant more to me than I can possibly describe and which made me cry like I haven’t done since I was 12 and the first girl I ever asked out turned me down. I stated categorically that the Toy Story trilogy was the greatest trilogy in the history if cinema. Better than Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, The Godfather et al. It was a big claim but one which I stuck by…until now.

Last week I left the cinema having watched Before Midnight, the 3rd in the Before series, the most unlikely film franchise of all time. It was my most anticipated film of the year and a sequel to 2 of my favourite films. Could it possibly compare, how would they move the story on, what had become of Jesse and Celine? Well, for a film which is the 3rd in a series in which people literally just walk and talk it unquestionably blew me away.

Its rare that a film series like this gets the time to explore the characters as they grow and change. In Before Sunrise Jesse and Celine are young, carefree (for the most part) and filled with the passions and desires of youth. Before Sunset finds the 2 protagonists lost and confused. A product of Generation X, unhappy with what they have but unsure what it is exactly they are looking for to fill the hole. They’re in their early 30s, trapped in relationships which don’t meet their expectations or even remotely compare to the ideals they had 9 years ago. Its a fascinating change and one which ends on a beautiful, hopeful romantic note but let’s us decide what happened next.

Midnight is what happened next. Our characters have moved on and both are gripped in a midlife crisis. Its a natural human progression – these lost souls who fell in love twice and after playing out the fairytale and whirlwind of their romance are now settling in for the long haul. “Do you think you could put up with me for the next 56yrs” asks Celine? There’s a stumble in Jesse’s answer which wasn’t there in the previous 2 films that shows just how real life has taken hold and is has caused both parties to question what their lives have become. He stated on their first night together that he’d rather marry her then and there than never see her again, we get the feeling neither would give the same answer now.

The addition of other characters to the fold only strengthens the contrast and development between films. Seeing how other couples who met in more conventional circumstances deal with the world and growth offers an incredible counter balance to Jesse and Celine. The dinner table scene is a masterclass of uncomfortableness and the performances from Hawke and Delpy are, once again, utterly superb. These aren’t characters, they’re people- real, living, breathing people.

For those worried that Midnight would ruin the perfection of Sunrise and Sunset, particularly Sunset’s pitch perfect ending, well, relax. In the screening I was attended one audience member audibly exclaimed ‘yes’ when the film ended. Not because he was happy the film was over but because it ended in the exact place that it should have. Nothing too joyful, nothing too forlorn, just that perfect in between place that life provides us with sometimes.

Is this the greatest film trilogy of all time then? Let me put it this way. What I love about film in general is its power to tell stories, whether they be real, fantastical, scary, sad whatever. The Before series tells a story of 2 people passing through life, finding each other time and time again and settling in to the ordinary whilst trying to capture the extraordinary along the way. It is story telling at its greatest and most simple, allowing us to connect to the characters time and time again, allowing them to grow as we do and see the world differently as time evolves. Yes, I think it is the greatest film trilogy of all time. I just hope it doesn’t remain so….bring on part 4.

Jesse and Celine over the years

2013: The Year Ahead

So here we are. 2013.

We’ve gotten over Christmas, are under 6 feet of snow in “The Big Freeze” (or Winter as it is known in the common tongue) and we’re in that uncomfortable territory where nobody is really sure when to stop wishing people a Happy New Year. But what does this year actually hold in store for us?

Well, whilst I may not be able to summon upon Mystic Meg powers and discuss most big events that might occur during the year (though my money is on the Mayan’s finally being right sometime during June), I can happily discuss some of the films I am most looking forward to this year.

I’ve decided to exclude the majority of releases from January and February. Most of my most anticipated films from this period are the Oscar/Bafta nominees and whilst they are released this year they feel very much like 2012 films. I will be writing something awards based soon but as most of the films aren’t in cinemas yet I don’t want to comment on them before I’ve seen them (expect something just in time for the BAFTAs on these ones). I also haven’t included any comic book/superhero films here as I’m going to write something up on them seperately. Needless to say, I am looking forward to them a heck of a lot as well.

Instead my focus is on the films we can expect to see later in the year. Some of these are big budget mega vehicles, some are much smaller but all of them have the promise, I feel, to be truly great. Of course, we all said that about Prometheus this time last year and, well, yeah…..

5. Anchorman 2 (December 2013)

He’s a man so important that you can smell the rich mahogany and leather bound books that make up his apartment all over the great city of “A Whale’s Vagina”. That’s right, the man with a voice that can make a Wolverine purr is back in December this year with the long gestating sequel to every student’s favourite quote along, Anchorman.

Whilst part of me is very apprehensive considering the drastic dip in the quality of recent Will Ferrell films, there is an unabashed joy in seeing the moustache and red suit back again. Both teaser trailers released last year were fantastic and if the gag holds up for another 90 minutes then we may be in for a real treat. Plus, at the end of the day, we all know that if the gag rate hits 60% of the time, it hits all the time (ok, so that quote was a little forced but by Great Odin’s Raven the others were good!)

4. Cloud Atlas (February 2013)

I’m going to hold my hands up and say, quite ashamedly, that I haven’t yet gotten around to reading David Mitchell’s mind bending novel. By all accounts it is incredible and I do aim to correct this mistake in the near future.

What I do know however is that this February sees the release of the Wachowski Siblings/Tom Twykers adaptation of the novel starring an incredible cast including Jim Broadbent, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Agent Smith/Elrond himself, Hugo Weaving. What’s made me most excited about this film is its incredible looking production values. Each actor undergoes a number of intense transformations to portray roles in each of the different time periods changing gender, race and moral outlook constantly throughout.

Having missed out on the major awards there has been some questions over the actual quality of the film and a quick glance around the internet shows that it has truly divided critics. Despite all of this though I am incredibly excited to see the finished product. Whether it disappoints or not is a different matter.

3. Much Ado about Nothing (June 2013)

Another year, another Whedon venture.

Shot on the ultimate shoe string budget in and around Whedon’s house during his 2 weeks off from working on the biggest Superhero movie of all time, this was the surprise that nobody expected.

Famously Joss has held Shakespeare readings for himself and friends at his house for years, though this is the first time that he has ever taken the next step and filmed one. As such, Much Ado about Nothing stars pretty much everyone you’d expect from the Whedon-verse (minus the really big guns of SMG and DB) including the beautiful Benedick/Beatrice romance portrayed by none other than Angel’s Wesley and Fred (Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker).

Expect Shakespeare and Whedon nerds crowding out screenings when it hits cinemas in June.

The teaser poster for Whedon’s “Much Ado About Nothing”

2. The World’s End (August 2013)

9 years after Shaun brought the zombies and 6 after the fuzz brought the noise Wright, Pegg and Frost are back to bring…the World to an end! That’s right, after waiting what feels like forever we are finally going to be gifted with the last part of the 3 Corenettos / Blood and Ice Cream trilogy.

The World’s End sees a group of 5 old friends meeting up to complete a pub crawl they attempted years before. However, the apocalypse has other plans! Aside from this brief overview very little is currently known about the plot which makes the whole thing even more exciting.

As a HUGE fan of all those involved I absolutely cannot wait to see what these guys churn out for the finally to this unofficial trilogy. As far as I’m concerned (and as a massive fan of each of them), Pegg and Wright are never better then when they are working together. I have very high hopes for this one (as do most of the film geek population of the UK) so honestly, August cannot come fast enough.

“The World’s End”, part 3 of Wright/Pegg’s unofficial trilogy

1. Before Midnight (TBC)

(SPOILERS FOR BEFORE SUNRISE/BEFORE SUNSET AHEAD)

Until last year I had never seen either of Richard Linklater’s “Before” films. They were films I’d heard of but wasn’t really aware of and the posters made them look like very ordinary romantic comedies. However, more out of curiosity than anything else I added them to my Lovefilm list and decided to check them out. It happened to be one of the greatest film related decisions I have ever made.

What I discovered were two beautiful indie cinema gems.

The first film, Before Sunrise, sees American boy (Jesse – Ethan Hawke) and French girl (Celine – Julie Delpy) meet on a chance encounter on a train to Vienna. In a moment of sheer awkward boldness, Jesse invites Celine to spend the day with him walking around the city. Over the course of the next few hours the two discuss love, life, their fears and their hopes, all whilst gradually falling in love. It’s a wonderful and self contained snapshot of a day that ends with the promise that, despite being half a world apart, the 2 of them will meet back up in 6 months on the same platform in the same city…

Sadly though, they never do. As such, Before Sunset picks up 9 years later and this time Jesse is in Paris promoting a book seemingly based entirely on the night he spent with Celine. Unexpectedly she shows up and the 2 embark on a real time walk and talk through the back streets of Paris. More World weary, cynical and regretful of their youthful mistakes, Before Sunset is a perfect blend of bittersweet romance and rekindling friendship. Both Hawke and Delpy ARE their characters and the chemistry they portray here is almost unrivalled in any other love story in the history of cinema.

Jesse and Celine over the years

So, why all the backstory? Well, in late 2012 news started to seep through that Linklater, Hawke and Delpy had been strutting around Greece filming the 3^rd part of the Before series much to the delight of, well, anyone who had enjoyed the previous films. Nobody knew anything about it, making the surprise all the more…um….surprising.

Before Midnight premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier in the week and reports have been overwhelmingly positive. The film appears to have lost none of what made the first 2 so perfect and the fact that we find the 2 leads in a completely different period of their lives makes the prospect all the more enticing. Ethan Hawke has said that he views the trilogy as 1 long film that just happened to take 18 years to make and I think that’s a wonderful way to look at it. It’s very rare (I certainly can’t think of any examples) for an indie romance like this to track the growth of characters so completely. It’s wonderful to look back at that first movie and see the youthful spirit in the leads compared with the new photos from Before Midnight which clearly display a couple aging and dealing with the new issues in their lives.

No UK release date has yet been announced though I’d expect that we will get it later on this year. Whatever happens, you can guarantee that I’ll be first in line when it finally arrives. Maybe I’ll even meet you back here in 6 months….?

A brand new image from “Before Midnight”