Films 2013

         There were a lot of great films in 2013, but there were also a lot of poor ones. If you missed any then I would suggest keeping clear from The Internship - where Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson rattle off their usual characters in a very average comedy. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunter - a very poor spin on the fairytale, which has Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton performing well below par.and Hangover: Part III - the worst of an average trilogy. They should have kept it at one film, but they got all excited with how well it did and had to kill it. The awful Fast and Furious 6 - There's been about 6 films too many in this series. Last of all, Pacific Rim - this is probably my worst film of 2013. Yes it was quite exciting watching Godzilla fight the Transformers, but the acting was atrocious and even the awesome Idris Elba couldn't save this abomination.

          There were also quite a few disappointments...A Good Day To Die Hard - I was so looking forward to the next instalment, especially after how great Die Hard 4 was. I loved the trailer and that got me really excited, but the film was painfully average. Anchorman 2 - suffered from similar problems. The trailer was very funny, but it was a timid shadow in comparison to the original. Many of the jokes fell flat and some scenes were just too silly. The Wolverine was another failure, but then again the first Wolverine wasn't that great either. I was also not that impressed with The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug - I accept that there will be a lot of softness, as Percy Jackson loves a bit of corniness and wetness, but I actually thought in this 2nd Hobbit instalment that some of the characters were going to break out into song. Hopefully the final film will restore my faith in this rather unnecessary trilogy.

         Anyway, enough of the crap from last year and now to the good shit...Some of the enjoyable films of 2013 were World War Z - Brad Pitt does his usual top notch job in a very exciting and action packed spin on a "zombie flick". Special mention has to go to Chris Hemsworth for his two brilliant performances in two of the top films of last year, in Rush and Thor: The Dark World. I didn't think that Thor was going to be any good, but it was one of the happy surprises of 2013. Hemsworth was awesome, as was the very talented Idris Elba as Heimdall and Tom Hiddleston as Loki. What really made this a good film was the amount of humour that actually worked! Hemsworth also did a very good job in Rush, as the legendary Formula 1 driver, James Hunt.
I enjoyed Ironman 3, even though not many other people seemed to. It was the least best out of the 3 but it still had all the characteristics to be a very good blockbuster. The lovely Robot & Frank should also get a mention. This is a great film to watch if you want to see a strong performance from Frank Langella who plays an ageing man in the near future and becomes friends with a robot who you cannot help but like. Alan Partridge 'Alpha Papa' is funny and adapts well to the big screen, as Steve Coogan reprises the role of the hilarious Alan Partridge who gets caught up in a siege in his own radio station.

         Now for my top 5 films of 2013


5. Mud
Matthew McConaughey proves once again how good an actor he can be in a very tense and well made thriller. Good acting by the children also has to be mentioned, as so many films can fall short when it comes to the kids needing to act.

4. Lincoln
This epic feature by Steven Spielberg had to be up there. Daniel Day Lewis deserved his awards for portraying Abraham Lincoln so well. Even though the film was almost flawless it doesn't make my top 3 because it just needed that extra 'something' which the top 3 films in my opinion had.

3. Star Trek: Into Darkness
I loved the first Star Trek back in 2009 and as ever I am always wary of sequels to great films. Because as shown with Anchorman it's not that easy to recreate a good thing. However, Star Trek: Into Darkness managed it. Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock made a fine pairing once again. Also Benedict Cumberbatch was superb as ever, as the villain Khan.

2. Captain Philips
I always look forward to any film that has Tom Hanks in and I certainly wasn't disappointed with another master class performance. This was a very well written and edge of the seat thriller, based on the true story of a Captain Philips who had his ship taken over by Somali pirates.

1. Django Unchained
My best film of 2013 has to go to one of the first films I saw in 2013 and that is Quentin Tarantino's awesome Django Unchained. Jamie Foxx put in his best ever performance by far and the wonderful Christopher Waltz was at the top of his game. Leonardo Dicaprio and Samuel L. Jackson are brilliant and very likeable bad guys in this wild west epic with a classic Tarantino spin. I would also have to say that Django has to be one of Tarantino's best films, maybe just behind Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

The Best and Worst of 2012

Top 10 films

1. Seven Psychopaths
       I was surprised this was my best film of the year. I thought it was going to be good, but never expected to be blown away by the great story, top acting performances, writing and humour.

2. Skyfall
       One of the best Bonds of all time and easily Daniel Craig's best Bond film. I enjoyed this so much I had to see it twice. It was also a great goodbye to the legendary Judi Dench as M.

3. Moonrise Kingdom
       An all star cast in this unusually brilliant film. There was great acting from the children and the film was hilarious from the off. A film that had the imagination, originality and great writing to be up there with the best of the year.

4. The Dark Knight Rises
       A great end to a fantastic Batman trilogy. Probably not as good as The Dark Knight, but still a brilliant film, with great music and an ending to die for.

5. Looper
       Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt perform at their very best in an action packed futuristic thriller filled with twist, turns and some of the best action scenes of 2012.

6. The Descendant
       A well written and solid film with nothing really wrong with it. Funny, emotional and enjoyable.

7. The Artist
       A favourite for the critics and it raked in the Oscars. An original and well made film for the 21st century.

8. Lawless
       A great film based on a true story, filled with action, gore and well placed comedy.

9. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
       A wonderfully written film with a lot of humour and great acting from some of British acting's ageing elite.

10. Killing Them Softly
       Superb acting from Brad Pitt and Richard Jenkins in a cool and dark thriller.


Best Performances

Judi Dench - Skyfall/The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Brad Pitt - Killing Them Softly
Bruce Willis - Looper/Moonrise Kingdom



Worst films

1. War Horse
      A ridiculous farce, where a young man loves a horse more than his friends and family.

2. Dark Shadows
      Bitterly disappointing and curiously boring. Even Johnny Depp struggled through this one.

3. Here Comes The Boom
     Generic with not one original idea to be found in this unimaginative attempt at a story.

4. Expendables 2
     Unsurprisingly one of the poorest films of 2012, with laughably poor acting and an obvious storyline.

5. Life Of Pi
     Magnificent special effects, but corny, critically overrated and lacking characters to connect to.

Worst Performances


Sylvester Stallone - Expendables 2
Rebecca Hall - Lay The Favourite
Maggie Grace - Taken 2