2013 In Movies

I'm a hoarder. That's no secret. I keep receipts for the month until i can check them off against my bank statements, then i throw them in the bin. But not before ripping them into tiny squares.

By the same token, I also keep my ticket stubs from the cinema. I was tidying and arranging them into months and decided I'd do a post about the movies i've seen this year on the big screen, and maybe i'll give them mini one line reviews. Admittedly there's one that I can't remember what it was about. It was in January. I'll have to Google it as I just cannot for the life of me remember it. So here goes...

*breaks* WAIT! disclaimer: I am no film critic. I like what i like. There are no in depth reviews here, just a review of my year in movies. In turn there are no spoilers either. Where I like a film i will say so and where i didn't i will say that too. I watched Film 2013 before Christmas one night and the critics on there just seemed to be over analysing everything about Anchorman 2. I just wanted to jump in the screen and shout "it's not meant to be high brow, lighten up". Maybe it is meant to be high brow? But they just seemed to over-read into things that i don't think were even there! Okay, mini rant on film critics over. Read on, troops.

January
First movie of the year Les Miserables. I absolutely loved this film. The songs just hit you in the face and by the end I was a blubbery wreck. A great film. If you like musicals, see it. If you don't it's still worth seeing.

Next up Zero Dark Thirty. Based on the story of the capture of Osama Bin Laden. You all know how that went in the end. It starts off with a black screen and audio only of phone calls form the twin towers. Chilling.

February
Django Unchained. I'd seen the trailer for months and was excited to see this. Blood and gore and swearing and...well if you like that kinda thing you'll want to see this. I liked it a lot.

Beautiful Creatures. I remember I only went to see this as there wasn't really much else on that weekend and I was at a loose end. It was surprisingly good. Better than those Twilight films in my opinion. It's from a teenage novel series I believe and was a pretty decent watch.

To The Wonder. This is the one i'll have to go and Google. Sorry... Ah yes. Ben Affleck. This was soooo confusing at parts. I got bored easily. I wanted it to be great, after seeing Argo a few months previously. It wasn't really. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

March
Broken City. Wahlberg and Crowe. Dirty cops etc etc. A good Sunday film.

Safe Haven. Cheesy romantic film with Josh Duhamel. I LOVED THIS. It appealed to my romantic side. I dreamed it was me being rescued. I also cried. Cried so much. A weepy.

Oz: The Great and Powerful. Another take on the Wizard of Oz. Great solid Disney fair. Franco is a great Oz, I thought.

Side Effects. Psychological thriller with a great big twist. Jude Law helps things along nicely, ladies!

Welcome To The Punch. James McAvoy in one of the two movies he was in at the time. I thought this one was much better than Trance. Cops and robbers. Car chases. Shoot-outs. Great watch. Mark Strong, bonus.

Trance. Great soundtrack, pretty confusing, twists and turns. Worth a watch, but see also the movie above.

April
The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Another Disney movie. A good little Saturday afternoon feel good movie. With Lovely Joel Edgerton in it too - bonus!

The Place Beyond The Pines. Much anticipated. Overall disappointing. I wanted to love it. I liked it, in places. Ryan Gosling just about saves it. Just.

Olympus Has Fallen. Surprisingly fine. Gerard Butler's accent though! Once you get past that it's a pretty good action movie. Aaron Eckheart is so fine in this. In fact, I've watched it again over the Christmas holidays as it's now available on Netflix.

Iron Man 3. Robert Downey Jr is just electric on screen isn't he? He's just got that X factor. I watched Mark Kermode's movie review on BBC news the other day. He said the Iron Man franchise is the biggest comic book movie franchise, ever! (In terms of earnings i think).

May
Dead Man Down. Colin Farrell and 'the girl with the dragon tattoo' actress, Noomi Rapace. A thriller. Quite good. I somehow didn't believe her character though. She just didn't suit being girly. That sounds weird I know.

Star Trek: Into Darkness. Now, disclaimer time, i absolutely am not a fan of science fiction or older Stark Trek movies. Somehow something drew me to this one. Zachary Quinto maybe? (Oh dear there's a them running through my movie attendance, isn't there...). Anyway,  it was okay. A weird Alice Eve full body shot that would've pleased the guys, but quite unnecessary.

Fast and Furious 6. The trailer for this had me at first sight. I hadn't watched a FandF movie since about number 2. I think this was more darker, less glitzy. Mostly set in the UK, perhaps that was a factor. I thought it was a great action/car chase movie. The music was great too. Sadly a few weeks before Christmas Paul Walker was killed in a car accident. How apt maybe. Such a shame. I really liked what they'd done with his character in 6.

The Great Gatsby. Perhaps the greatest disappointment for me all year. I'd seen the trailers since about December and they kept putting the date back. Then I heard lots about the soundtrack and how Jay-Z was on board. I thought this would've been amazing. For me the music felt like it was just plonked in as an afterthought. Much of the dancing and pretend singing didn't go in time with the music that was playing. Sure it's a nice story. i think the true love story was between Gatsby and Nick Carraway (of course, Di Caprio and real left bestie Tobey MacGuire). Carey Mulligan, whilst a great actress, I just can't hold any feelings for the characters she plays. That's just a me thing though. Oh, i didn't hate it. But after all the hype surrounding it's release I was disappointed.

June
The Hangover part 3. I liked this. I wasn't expecting anything intellectual here, but hoped for laughs and that's what i got. It all got tied up at the end too, so to speak.

July
Man of Steel. Much talked about Superman movie with a way-too-pumped-up Henry Cavill. Good film, I'd love Russell Crowe to be my dad. Well, my dad from the other world. This is the story of how a young boy discovered his powers. Amy Adams really is great isn't she.

Now You See Me. It's all a game, an illusion. And very well played it was too. I liked this film. Isla Fisher isn't in nearly enough films if you ask me. She'll always be Shannon from Home and Away to me though. Great twist at the end that I'm pretty sure you might not get.

The World's End. Fabulous film. Coming to this having never seen any of the other movies in the trilogy i didn't feel left out. I fell for Gary King, hard. It's a bit silly in places but you get over that with the fantastic soundtrack and great lines. I would recommend this one if you haven't seen it.

The Wolverine. I'm a massive Wolverine/X Men fan. I found this good but do admit to checking my watch sometime through it. For me that's a sign it's not holding me. It's a dark one. Hugh Jackman is more pumped than he's ever been in previous Wolverine incarnations. I'd watch it again though. I liked the end teaser for the net X Men!

August
Kick Ass 2. This was a charity screening i went to see. It cost me money. It was okay. Funny in parts. I wouldn't ordinarily have paid for it.

The Heat. Sandra Bullock back in her comedy role, playing another FBI agent. A real belly laugh movie. Melissa McCarthy great also. A movie that makes you laugh. Sometimes you just need to go and see one of those.

September
The Way Way Back. Sam Rockwell was in the trailer. Sold! I didn't expect this to hit me the way it did but i think this is a strong contender for movie of the year for me. Really. It was a touching story of a young boy finding himself, who goes to his mum's boyfriends summer house and ends up with one of the best friendships I've seen on screen in a while. Steve Carrell was also great as the villain of the piece. A brilliant little movie, you should see this.

White House Down. Almost identical story to Olympus Has Fallen. Another great action movie. What else can i say.

Prisoners. Dark. Thriller. Who done it type story. You never really know until the end. I really liked this. Including Jake Gyllenhaal's ticks.

October
Runner Runner. JT and Ben Affleck. I hoped it was better than the last Ben Affleck film I watched. It was. A good Sunday movie, which for me is about a 2.5/5 film.

Sunshine on Leith. Cheesy. A terrible Scottish accent on one of the main characters. But listening to the Proclaimers songs on the big screen was absolutely uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. Sometimes you list to songs and never hear the words. This gives you a chance to take the words in and appreciate what great songwriters those be speckled brothers are. A rather feel good film that made me feel good. Does what it says on the tin.

Filth. Another Irvine Welsh book i haven't read. I did enjoy the film though. James McAvoy was great playing this part. It's sweaty, it's got drug use in it and isn't very pc at parts. Liked this a lot.

Prince Avalanche. If you ask anyone who Paul Ruud is, probably less than 50% of people would know who he was (pre Anchorman 2 maybe). Show them a picture and they'll likely say 'oh that guy'. He's been in lots of movies over the years but I'd be hard pressed to think of a film where he was the only star (The Object of my Affection was where I first saw him, i think!). Anyway, in this film it's mostly just him and Emile Hirsch. Roadworkers who spend a summer in isolation painting yellow lines on the roads. Oh it's a bit more than that really but it was beautiful in parts, especially when he helps the old woman at whats left of her wrecked house. See it.

November
Thor. Oh god, i said i wasn't a comic book movie fan and here i am again. I really liked the first one. I didn't like this as much, although I'd definitely still watch it again. Hiddleston is great, i liked what they done with his character... And Christopher Ecclestone, one of my all time favourites.

The Counsellor. Hands down the worst movie I've seen this year. Well maybe not the worst. It was all a bit too complicated to follow with the long winded dialogue that was a bit riddle-ridden. I just couldn't take it in at parts. And my goodness, I don't know what it was but all i kept thinking was how old Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt were looking! Anyone else?

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I only watched the first one (reluctantly) about 3 months ago on Netflix but i absolutely loved it so i was looking forward to this one. It didn't disappoint. I liked this lots. Jennifer Lawrence is brilliant isn't she. Elizabeth Banks plays a great part too in my opinion. This film is over the top and then it just ended, just at the part where I thought something else was going to happen. Drat. S'pose I'll have to wait until the next one then.

December
Homefront. Jason Statham. You know what you're going to get here, don't you. All the same i don't mind his films, his accent was real dodgy though. I'd have him fighting on my team any day.

Anchorman 2: the legend of Ron Burgundy. I haven't seen the first one. I don't think i needed to. It was silly, it was funny. Steve Carrell is brilliant. There was a guy sitting in the same row as me. Laughed out loud from the start with one of those 'hey look at me I'm a big fan and I'm laughing so hard and loud' laughs. It wasn't that funny. Okay i laughed but not all of the time. And that's just fine by me. There's a really great part near the end where all manner of people make cameos. Yeezy!

So there you have it. Most of the films I saw this year (I'm sure I missed a few out due to missing ticket stubs). All thanks to my Cineworld unlimited card. Roughly saving myself £115 on the above movies by paint £16 a month. Worth it? yes. I wouldn't go to the cinema nearly as much as I do now. Plus, i love hiding in a huge dark room with a bunch of strangers staring at a giant screen.

Angela x