The 2013 Movie Post

Well, I haven't actually blogged in a while. I haven't even finished my trip updates! But fear not, I am still going to maintain this tradition. I mean, how can I miss the ever-important documenting of new movies that came out? I'm sure everyone wants to hear my opinion of the 2013 releases that I watched, right?

Here are my previous years' posts: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005.

Wow. I watched 22 movies. That's a lot. I didn't even realize how many movies I ended up watching! I wonder how many pounds of movie theater popcorn (especially butter) I ended up adding to my body as a consequence of watching so many movies?

Behold, the top ten list:

1. Star Trek Into Darkness - I liked this movie so well that I had to go back and watch The Wrath of Kahn. I was amazed with how well they wove plot points from the old movie into this one and still made it succeed. I thought that Benedict Cumberbatch was a great Kahn, too.

2. Ender's Game - I really liked this book a lot, and I was nervous with how they would adapt it to the screen. They really stuck with the book, and I liked the movie a lot, even with the parts that were left out. I want to see it again sometime soon. I also think it would be fun to play zero gravity laser tag!



3. Frozen - So I didn't love the snowman. Do I want to build a snowman? No! But everything else was good and funny. I liked that the main relationship of concern was the sisterly relationship. It warmed my heart. And yeah, the music was enjoyable, even if one of the songs had a hint of country music in it. I'm looking at you, Idina Menzel. Gotta love her, but I just don't want her to sing remotely in country style! It destroys my willpower to like the artist when they do that.

4. Iron Man 3 - I'm embarrassed that this is so far up the list, but in spite of its pretty hokey plot, it really made me laugh a lot. Even after I saw it the first time, I realized that there were a lot of parts where I rolled my eyes, but then I saw it again on a flight, and I enjoyed it and laughed again the second time. So there you go.



5. Monsters University - While this movie didn't feel completely consistent with Monsters Inc, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I laughed and felt like it was entertaining.

6. The Saratov Approach - I enjoyed this movie, especially as it was based on a true story and especially since I was in Ukraine earlier in the year. Hopefully I'll actually get around to posting about that.


7. Thor: The Dark World - At the beginning of the movie, I was starting to groan with its terrible plot, but then it got funny, and I really ended up enjoying it because it didn't take itself too seriously. I thought Loki was hilarious in it.


8. The Host - So maybe you are surprised that I even saw this movie with how mercilessly I mocked the Twilight franchise, but ... I liked this movie. It's true. The romantic portion of the movie was still kind of dumb, but the movie as a whole with its plot was good. So there you have it!

9. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - I know that I'll probably watch this movie a lot more than some of the movies that are higher up on this list, but I just couldn't get past some of the dumb parts of the film. The barrel part was fun and hilarious but also kind of dumb. And I just think that they overly hollywoodized the scenes with the dragon and the dwarves. Maybe there wasn't enough action to make the movie watchable without it, but that would be why you make two Hobbit movies instead of three and instead of having to add in all sorts of dumb stuff (gold statue) to fill three three-hour movies.

10. Much Ado About Nothing - I enjoyed this movie. I'll probably still watch that Kenneth Branagh one if I'm going to watch the movie, but this Joss Whedon one was enjoyable, too. It actually kind of struck me as a movie that could be made when people are hanging out at their house on a weekend just trying to fill their time. "Hey, let's just make a movie this weekend!" "Okay, how about Shakespeare?" It's like what Hollywood people do when they're bored with all their Hollywood friends.

Wow. That was a really geeky list. I mean, I knew I was kind of a geek, but there it is staring at me in the face in the form of my top ten movie list. Ah well.

Here are the other movies I watched this year in no particular order:

Turbo - I hadn't even heard of this really when I saw it. It was kind of enjoyable. The part that really cracked me up was when they uploaded a video to YouTube and then autotuned it. Ha! It caused me to have to go back and watch a few of my favorite autotune videos.

Pacific Rim - This movie was so dumb. So terrible. My brother liked it, and it just bothers him that I make fun of it. I seriously thought it was so dumb. Big robots mash big monsters/dinosaurs from other planet that come up out of the ocean. Big robots. Mash. Monsters. Stupid.

Despicable Me 2 - This was a pretty enjoyable movie. I didn't love the plot, but the minions are pretty funny usually, so I enjoyed it. If they make a third and a fourth or whatever, I'm sure it'll make them a lot of money.

White House Down - This was like Die Hard at the white house only not nearly as cool. Nice try, movie.

World War Z - This movie freaked me out. It was basically the same exact movie as "I Am Legend," so I had to go back and watch "I Am Legend" again, just to make sure, and yeah, they were basically the same movie. Not terrible, but you know, the same movie.


Man of Steel - Eh, I guess that I just don't love Superman. Except, I do like the original Superman movie with Christopher Reeves. This one felt like it was trying to be really cool, but it just wasn't that cool. It wasn't a bad movie, per se. It was alright, and it had a some entertaining parts.


After Earth - I know that this was supposed to be terrible, but it wasn't as terrible as people said that it was supposed to be. True, it wasn't awesome, but it's certainly better than Pacific Rim! Still, though, I think it was maybe a little too much like Pitch Black (which I did like) or something to make me feel like it was brilliant. Maybe it was made for younger boys?


The Great Gatsby - This was okay. Just okay. The sets, costumes and everything were pretty cool-looking, and it was good for a first time viewing, but I am definitely not clamoring to see it again.

The Croods - Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying this. I thought that it was going to be super dumb, but it was pretty good! I thought the jokes were going to be formulaic and brutish, but they actually succeeded in making me laugh.

Warm Bodies - I really enjoyed it. It was sort of in the same vein to me as The Host. It was ridiculous, and I laughed really hard because it was so ridiculous.


Mud (sort of) - I was on a flight, and it was on, but it didn't have my undivided attention, and after having watched a good portion of it, I have no need to truly watch the whole thing.

Safe Haven (sort of) - I couldn't sleep on a flight, and it was on. I knew I wouldn't like it, so I didn't listen to it and just watched it, and I can't say that I'd ever be interested in watching it with the sound. i.e. I didn't like it, even without having to hear the bad dialogue. I can take these liberties to include it without truly experiencing those whole thing because this is my blog. So there.




I also saw some movies that I listed on my blog from 2012:

Nitro Circus: The Movie - These people are crazy, but it made an enjoyable movie.
The Central Park Five - I liked it. This is kind of why I don't like to get involved in passing judgment on cases that are in the news. There's way too much sensationalism for me to feel like the truth is actually making it to the masses.
The Queen of Versailles - It was interesting to see these people's life from their perspective and what is important to them.
Frankenweenie - It was alright.
Life of Pi - I really enjoyed this one. It was truly a beautiful-looking film. There was a lot of eye candy in it with regard to color and nature.

I saw movies that either you suggested from 2012 or that I saw for some other reason:

Bernie - Thanks for this suggestion. I really enjoyed it! It was mind boggling that it was actually based on a true story, and it relates to The Central Park Five but in the opposite way! It was crazy.
Mirror Mirror - Meh. I didn't really care for it.
Beasts of the Southern Wild - I actually did like this. In fact, I've been hankering for a shrimp boil because of this movie. Does anyone want to have a shrimp boil?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I enjoyed this one, as well, even if it is a bit sad.
Pitch Perfect - I saw this on a flight, and I actually did enjoy this and laughed, even though it is trite and kind of stupid.
Argo - It was good. Not, like, best picture good but still quite good.
Hitchcock - I think that this movie wrapped up nicely, and I ended up enjoying it a lot!
Searching for Sugar Man - I really liked this one for some reason!

I also did end up seeing Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Jiro Dreams of Sushi from 2011. Both of them were enjoyable enough.

Here are some movies from 2013 that I have a little bit of interest in watching and will probably get around to watching at some point, but don't hold me to it:

Oblivion
The Wolverine
The Lone Ranger
42
G.I. Joe Retaliation
Planes
Riddick
Gravity
Captain Phillips
The Book Thief
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Are there any movies that you watched that you could recommend to me? I don't have a huge interest in any of the above, so if you could grant me some recommendations, I'd appreciate it.