Saturday, January 11, 2014

Weekend Weigh-in: Tell Us Your Top 10 of 2013

Your turn!

All week you've read and listened as we listed off our favorite movies of the last year. Now we want to know yours. If you can't do 10, tell us your top five. If you can't do five, just tell us your favorite. If you can't tell us your favorite, it's time to reevaluate your life.

Remember, this is a safe place -- don't worrying about your list being judged or mocked in any way. These are great places to start discussion, so let's use them as such.

52 comments:

  1. 1. Gravity
    2. Short Term 12
    3. The World's End
    4. Before Midnight
    5. 20 Feet from Stardom
    6. Frances Ha
    7. Nebraska
    8. 12 Years a Slave
    9. The Wolf of Wall Street
    10. You're Next

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  2. 2013 turned out to be a great year for movies at almost the last second, and I'm grateful that it did. Here we go:

    10.) American Hustle
    9.) Spring Breakers
    8.) The World's End
    7.) Frozen
    6.) This is the End
    5.) Nebraska
    4.) Gravity
    3.) Her
    2.) The Wolf of Wall Street
    1.) Prisoners

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    Replies
    1. And chances are that once I see Inside Llewyn Davis, it will knock off American Hustle and land somewhere on this list, but I haven't been able to catch it yet.

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    2. Oh, and honorable mentions go to Captain Phillips and Furious 6. How I wish I could include you on this list.

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  3. I haven't seen enough for a proper top 10 (still haven't seen Llewyn Davis, Her, Gravity, Nebraska, or several others) but here's my top 5 as it stands now:

    5. You're Next
    4. Stoker
    3. Spring Breakers
    2. The Wolf of Wall Street
    1. The World's End

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  4. Jeez I need to get to the movies more...the curse of finally getting Netflix i suppose.

    Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
    American Hustle
    20 Feet from Stardom
    About Time
    Spring Breakers
    The Worlds End

    Honourable Mention: Look of Love

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  5. Great fun reading all the lists and the EOY podcasts. Always great to hear lively conversation about the films of this year.

    1. Her
    2. 12 Years A slave
    3. Before Midnight
    4. Act of Killing
    5. Inside Llewyn Davis
    6 The Spectacular Now
    7. No!
    8. All is Lost
    9. American Hustle
    10. Blue Jasmine

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  6. I also did not have the opportunity to see Her before the year died out, but I'm confident it would have placed high on my list. Surprisingly, I have a lot of love to lavish on my list this year, something I didn't think was going to happen even as late as August. Thank goodness for the last 1/3 of this year.

    1. Gravity
    2. The World's End
    3. Monsters University
    4. Frozen
    5. Nebraska
    6. Inside Llewyn Davis
    7. Captain Phillips
    8. Pacific Rim
    9. The Spectacular Now
    10. 12 Years A Slave

    Runners up in the Ten Spot: Stories We Tell and American Hustle

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  7. 10-4 are pretty fluid, but:

    10. Pacific Rim
    9. Kon-Tiki
    8. From Up On Poppy Hill
    7. I'm So Excited
    6. Her
    5. The World's End
    4. Upstream Color
    3. Gravity
    2. Blue Jasmine
    1. Inside Llewyn Davis

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  8. Sigh. So hard to winnow it down.

    10. Drug War
    9. What Maisie Knew
    8. Good Ol’ Freda
    7. The World’s End
    6. Gravity
    5. The Act Of Killing
    4. Stoker
    3. Nebraska
    2. Before Midnight
    1. Upstream Color

    So many excellent #11 contenders; Lords of Salem, Drinking Buddies and Iron Man 3 (yes) could easily have slipped in there. Same for You're Next or This is The End. or maybe 20 Feet From Stardom. I was kind of surprised since I had thought this was a blah year that there was actually a lot of good stuff that made it hard to rank!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, and by a complete coincidence the dead last movie on my list is The Internship.

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  9. 1. Prisoners
    2. The Wolf of Wall Street
    3. Inside Llewyn Davis
    4. Her
    5. Gravity
    6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    7. Upstream Color
    8. American Hustle
    9. Captain Phillips
    10. Out of the Furnace

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  10. I agree with Patrick. The first two thirds of 2013 didn't inspire a lot of confidence in the year, but it did rally towards the end. Also while 2013 was a year full of high quality movies, there wasn't one that I really fell in love with.

    1. Stoker
    2. The World's End
    3. Gravity
    4. This is the End
    5. Short Term 12
    6. Mud
    7. American Hustle

    (My Top 7 is extremely fluid - it could go in any order).

    8. Captain Phillips
    9. Philomena
    10. Frozen

    Unfortunately, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years a Slave don't get released here til later this month. We also don't get Nebraska until the end of February. I imagine some of these would have filled out the last three spots.

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  11. In no particular order, my favorite films of the year:

    -New World
    -The Berlin File
    -Mud
    -Nebraska
    -Gravity
    -Inside Llewyn Davis
    -Rush
    -Pacific Rim
    -Captain Phillips

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  12. It was such a great year I couldn't narrow it down to 10. Here's my top 20.

    1. Spring Breakers
    2. Pacific Rim
    3. Gravity
    4. Good Day To Die Hard, A
    5. Last Stand, The
    6. Only God Forgives
    7. World's End, The
    8. Star Trek Into Darkness
    9. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
    10. Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The
    11. Wolf of Wall Street, The
    12. Frankenstein's Army
    13. Kon-Tiki
    14. Sightseers
    15. Out of the Furnace
    16. World War Z
    17. Miami Connection* (1988)
    18. Lords of Salem, The
    19. Elysium
    20. Drug War

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    1. I wished I could like ONLY GOD FORGIVES as much as you did, Matt. I missed the punchline or the punchline missed me on that one.

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  13. 10. Sound City
    9. Stoker
    8. Upstream Color
    7. Captain Phillips
    6. Gravity
    5. The Sapphires (US release was March 2013…so there)
    4. Spring Breakers
    3. Frances Ha
    2. Inside Llewyn Davis
    1. 12 Years a Slave

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  14. Wow, looking at these lists I realized that I've really been slacking off at the movies this year. I have a lot to watch, but what's 2014 for if not to finish seeing 2013 releases.

    1. Spring Breakers
    2. Inside Llewyn Davis
    3. The World's End
    4. The Lords of Salem
    5. You're Next
    6. Stories We Tell
    7. Stoker
    8. Gravity
    9. This is the End
    10. The East

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    1. Glad to see The East getting some love. It didn't make my short list, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

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    2. Definitely liked THE EAST. Hope Brit Marling keeps doing her own thing.

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  15. In the 'Underrated/Overrated/Ugly Podcast' Patrick mentions he can't fathom anybody putting "Man of Steel" as the worst movie of the year. Well, as impartially as humanly possible and for the challenge of it, I ranked all the new movies I saw in theaters from best to worst (why stop at 10 or 20?). And wow, look what ended up at the bottom?

    *: US theatrical premiere of an unreleased/heavily-altered older movie.

    58. Man of Steel
    57. Kick-Ass 2
    56. Pacific Rim
    55. Machete Kills
    54. Escape Plan
    53. After Earth
    52. Faust (2011)*
    51. The Fifth Estate
    50. The Lords of Salem
    49. Cousin Jules (1973)*
    48. Grudge Match
    47. John Dies At the End
    46. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
    45. Rifftrax Live: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)*
    44. Welcome to the Space Station (2009)*
    43. Violet and Daisy
    42. 20 Feet from Stardom
    41. Elysium
    40. Birdemic 2: The Resurrection
    39. Saving Mr. Banks
    38. Oldboy (2013)
    37. The East
    36. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
    35. Rifftrax Live: Night of the Living Dead (1968)*
    34. Iron Man 3
    33. The Armstrong Lie
    32. The Grandmaster
    31. Rifftrax Live: Starship Troopers (1997)*
    30. Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
    29. The Bling Ring
    28. Side Effects
    27. The Wizard of Oz: The IMAX 3D Experience (1939)*
    26. In a World...
    25. American Hustle
    24. Salinger
    23. The Past
    22. The Selfish Giant
    21. A Touch of Sin
    20. Philomena
    19. About Time
    18. 12 Years A Slave
    17. The Spectacular Now
    16. Gravity (3D)
    15. The Great Beauty
    14. All Is Lost
    13. Prisoners
    12. Captain Phillips.
    11. TIE: Inside Llewyn Davis/The Act of Killing
    10. Wadja
    9. Her
    8. Frozen
    7. The Wolf of Wall Street
    6. Nebraska
    5. Blue Jasmine
    4. TIE: This Is The End/The World's End
    3. Blue Is The Warmest Color
    2. The Lone Ranger
    1. Fill the Void.

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    1. Not that anybody needs more "bad" movies to watch, but ONLY GOD FORGIVES and 47 RONIN were definitely not as likeable or watchable as MAN OF STEEL.

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    2. Missed those. This ain't "Pokemon," I don't gotta catch them all. ;-)

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  16. This year, for the hell of it, I'm ranking the Top 10 (out of 33 total) new-to-me repertory movies I caught in theaters for the first time in 2013.

    10. MODERN ROMANCE ('80, 35 mm): A romantic comedy about how a neurotic Angelino can be driven more batty than usual by love. Kathryn Harrold is short-changed by Albert Brooks hogging the best lines/scenes, but only a man as talented as him could make a character talking to himself be howlingly funny and sad at the same time.

    9. PEEPING TOM ('60, 35mm): The penchant for show-off sweeping shots and over-the-top histrionics in "Peeping Tom" (and The Archers' entire filmography) are clearly in evidence in Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall Street." The plot doesn't really add up or makes much sense, but as style over substance it's a a statement of cinema's ability to make its audience sympathize with crazy people.

    8. A PIG ACROSS PARIS ('56): A trip by a pair of Parisian hustlers through Nazi-occupied Paris with contraband pig meat in their bags (with dogs, Nazis and rude drunks constantly getting in their way) is like a road movie for WWII cinema buffs that want to laugh along at people's ingenuity during life under evil.

    7. TIE: Shaolin Temple Against Lama ('80, 16mm)/Odd Couple ('79, 35mm): Typically schlocky low-budget Hong Kong kung fu cinema flicks that nevertheless either go so over the top as to become 'top the topper' spectacle ("Lama") or beautiful demonstrations of well-choreographed movie fight ("Odd Couple").

    6. W.R. MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM ('71, 35 mm): European cinema behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era was a wild time for experimental 'hide from the censor' techniques, and this mixture of real/fake documentary ("This Is Spinal Tap" was clearly inspired by this) and sexual liberation anarchism paved the way for the decade's embrace of erotica as a cinematic art form.

    5. PICTURE SNATCHER ('33, 35mm): James Cagney plays a just-released-from-jail mobster trying to apply his street smarts to the tabloid photography trade, steal a girl's heart (if he can get past her police captain father) and avoid getting into trouble with his old gang. Tight, fat-free and snapping like a fire cracker, this and all of Cagney's '33 pictures are models of old studio system assembly line efficiency.

    4. Ms. 45 ('81): Despite bad acting and horrendous music, a sympathetic lead performance by Zoë Lund and feminist revenge canvas paints and delivers both cheap thrills and honest-to-goodness pathos for poor Thana's grindhouse plight.

    3. WE WON'T GROW OLD TOGETHER ('72, 35 mm): Piercing and brutal look at the years-long, on-and-off relationship between a filmmaker (Jean Yanne) and his much younger mistress (Marlène Jobert), with the man's wife (Christine Fabréga, pulling a low-key Beatrice Straight in "Network" gig) patiently letting life pass her by. Anyone who's ever been in love or obsessed will see themselves here and not like what they see, which I guess it's precisely the point.

    2. TIE: EL TOPO ('70)/THE HOLY MOUNTAIN ('73): After putting off for way too long this was the year I discovered the anarchic, intellectually savage and spiritually-sideways cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky. And I embraced them the way they were meant to be seen: after midnight, in a packed theater full of noobs like me and veterans coming back for seconds.

    1. MAUVAIS SANG ('86): A Godard-inspired heist/lovers-on-the-run/action film in which Carax's ability to use cinematic tools like montages, music and mood (example: David Bowie's 'Modern Romance') conveys character feelings better than any A-Z story could. A 17 year-old Julie Delpy, Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant show greatness long before stardom hit.

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    1. I discovered Jodorowsky on Netflix a few years ago, but over the past year or so I too got to see El Topo and The Holy Mountain at midnight screenings... and what a hell of an experience they were.

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  17. I did a top five. Caveat: These are personal faves, not highbrow-film-theory-and-criticism “best-ofs.”

    5: Monsters U.
    4: Thor: The Dark World
    3: Good ol’ Freda
    2: Frozen
    1: The World’s End

    I haven’t seen Llewyn Davis or Wolf of Wall Street yet. I’m shying away from “downer” movies, even the well-made ones, and I’m worried these two will be total depress-fests.

    I’m so glad someone else mentioned Man of Steel. You said on the podcast not to call it worst movie of the year, yet it really is the absolute worst.

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    1. Our lists (the ones we read on the podcast) are "favorites" as well, only because I wouldn't know how to objectively call something the BEST.

      And I totally get not liking Man of Steel. I'm not crazy about it either. I just can't call it the WORST because it's at least competently made (made, not told) for the most part. There are things I can point to that I like, which is not true of the movies I would consider the worst of the year.

      But it's all subjective anyway.

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    2. I have not yet seen Man of steel but I couldn't imagine it being worse than Planes or Justin and the Knights of Valour. I have younger siblings and take them to the cinema quite often so unfortunately I saw both of these terrible movies. Soulless and can I say offensive?

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  18. Honerable Mentions to Mud, The Conjuring and The Wolverine.

    10) Stoker
    9) Elysium
    8) Captain Phillips
    7) The Counselor
    6) The World's End
    5) Prisoners
    4) The Place Beyond the Pines
    3) American Hustle
    2) Upstream Color
    1) The Wolf of Wall Street

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    Replies
    1. Ahhh you big dummy,

      Gravity goes in at #3, bump everything else up 1 spot (sorry Stoker, you was so close).

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    2. Happy to see The Counselor get a shout out. That movie is very entertaining.

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  19. Honorable mentions for Iron Man 3, Kiss of the Damned, Grabbers and Ninja: Shadow if a Tear.

    I didn't get to see a whole lot of the big movies of 2013(I'm still catching up with 2012). Hence, I miss a lot of films that probably would have made my top 10. And now without further ado...

    10. Star Trek Into Darkness
    9. Much Ado About Nothing
    8. Safe Haven from V/H/S 2
    7. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
    6. Spring Breakers
    5. Furious Six
    4. Only God Forgives
    3. This is the End
    2. Maniac
    1. The World's End

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    Replies
    1. Forgot about "John Dies at the End"! Definitely belongs on my honorable mentions.

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  20. 1. Frozen
    2. The World’s End
    3. Gravity
    4. The Heat
    5. Blue Jasmine
    6. Philomena
    7. Stoker
    8. This is the End
    9. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
    10. Stories We Tell

    In the coming weeks I am going to be seeing Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street an 12 years a slave as well as trying to catch up with some mentioned on the show and website! I also really want see The Wind Rises as a Studio Ghibli fan.

    Honourable mentions:
    11) Powder Room 12) You’re Next 13) Monster's University 14) Wish (Hope) 15) Rush 16) Mud 17) Kings of Summer 18) In the House 19) Sunshine on Leith 20) Le Week – End

    I wanted just say a little about three of the smaller movies on my list:

    Powder Room: A movie so tiny I think it only had one screening in our local cinema and we managed to catch it! If anyone can find it I would recommend it, it is a very small movie, in scale and budget as, for the majority, takes place in a women’s toilet in a club. It focuses on a handful of female characters and seems to be a look into ‘ladette culture’ as well as female relationships. Even though it does feel like a filmed stage play at times, and even stumbles every now and then, I feel it is smart, sharp and it is refreshing. I would like to see more female centred films about friendship follow and please critics stop calling it the British attempt at Bridesmaids, as this just shows how tiny the pool is with comedies about female friendships! Even though I know this is a flawed movie I feel it needs some support and hopefully we will see more from those involved such as writer Rachel Hirons (who adapted this from her own stage play) as well as first time feature film director M. J. Delany.

    Wish (Hope): I saw this as it was part of the London Korean film festival and this was showing at a local cinema so wanted to come a long and support the festival as a fan of South Korean cinema and Kyung – gu Sol, whose performance grounds the film. Even though the film is sometimes quite theatrical, the father/daughter relationship gives this film a lot of heart. I think that anyone who watches this, especially if you have much younger siblings (as I do) or children, would find this hard to watch but at the same time find it very powerful and moving. I want to give it a lot of credit for tackling a taboo subject matter bravely, frankly and with grace. I think one of the most beautiful moments came out of a family coming together and dressing up trying to bring some happiness to So – won (the little girl at the centre of the movie, with a great performance from Lee Re) and Dong – hoon's (her father, played by Kyung – gu Sol) many attempts to connect with his daughter. I was really blown away by it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_(film)

    Le Week – End: The more I think about this film, the more I love it. Despite being bleak, it is a compelling view of an older couple, Nick and Meg, who are incredibly dynamic and complex characters. As well as being a film that reminded me of Voyage to Italy, it also references films such as Bande à part. Aside from that it is a movie with a lot to say about the nature of human relationships. At first I did not have this on my list just because I found the ideas in it too desolate. However, it is a film I wish to re – visit as I feel the ideas are weighty and ones that need to be digested on a repeat viewing.

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    1. I also want to give a shout out to the amazing Fist of Jesus, please go support the movie by buying a Tshirt or a poster: http://www.fistofjesus.com/ I remember that JB gave this a shout out on the show but I wanted to give it another as I think it is so innovative, exciting and funny. I got to see this as I volunteered as an usher for the Sci Fi London Film festival and got to sit in on their Shorts Programme and Fist of Jesus brought the place down! I also want to give a shout out to Nyanco, it was the official selection so creator Hikaru Tsukuda was there and I managed to have a really great conversation with him about how he made it, his ideas for the future and a continued conversation about movies as he is now a facebook friend. He is very smart and enthusiastic so I am looking forward to seeing more from him.

      If this went on UK release dates I would want to work in Cloud Atlas, Zero Dark Thirty, The Guilt Trip and possibly Robot and Frank (I would want to re-watch it first).

      Something I also really want to see is I am Divine! Has anyone had a chance to see this yet?
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUF3w0M_e7U

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    2. Very interesting suggestions, Gaby. Thanks a bunch. :-)

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    3. Echo the sentiment for THE WIND RISES.

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    4. I want to see The Wind Rises too. Get out of my brain Mark Ahn!

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  21. Lots of good lists. Thanks for sharing, everyone! I notice a lot of the same movies repeat across many of the lists; does this mean that the number of great movies is more limited than we might have thought or does it just mean that we have similar tastes, which would explain why we all convene here?

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    1. I think it's a bit of column A and a bit of column B. It feels like it WAS a great year for movies, but only really toward the end of the year did the best ones appear, which only allows for a limited number of "greats" in that span of time. I think a lot of people were enamored by that same stable of 5-10 movies after a lackluster summer, just with varying degrees of passion.

      But I also think there's something to the "similar tastes" theory. I definitely tend to agree with a lot of opinions held by the F This Movie community.

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    2. I think maybe it is a bit of both. It is not a year flooded with great movies, but some of them I will really love having on DVD and getting to re-visit quite often. From what I have heard it has been a pretty solid year for documentaries though. I do think that we share a lot of similar tastes at this site mainly as I think Fthismovie is refreshingly different. With some websites you get top tens filled with either just the most popular at the box office, the critics' darlings or tiny independent films only shown at film festivals. At Fthismovie it seems we all feel comfortable liking what we like from any of those three categories and even give some credit to those that were given a hard time.

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    3. To your point about documentaries, Gabby, that does seem to be an opinion that is widely held here this year. I wish I had seen more of them, but I'm sure I will catch them eventually.

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  22. late to the party on this post but here's mine (no particular order)
    1. Upstream Color
    2, Berberian Sound Studio
    3. The Rambler
    4, Killer Joe
    5. John Dies at the End
    6. The Conjuring
    7. White House Down
    8, The Way, Way Back
    9. A Band Called Death
    10. Magic Magic

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    1. The Way, Way Back. Oh yeah, that was a surprisingly great movie. I love how it was so um..."domestic" but it caught so many people's attention.

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    2. Someday you will have to explain your love for the 2015 lesbian moth movie and Berberian Sound Studio, Chaybee!

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  23. I'll add the standard caveat here that the order is rather loose and could change on any given day. Also, though the rule seems to be that qualifying movies had their release date in 2013, Cloud Atlas, which I didn't see until last May, is hands down the movie I loved most this year.

    10. Fast & Furious 6 (for making me grin the widest)
    9. Prisoners (for reminding me that Hugh Jackman can do more than sing and wear claws)
    8. Stories we Tell
    7. Good ol' Freda
    6. Drug War (Patrick did not overhype this - WOW - could go higher after another viewing)
    5. You're Next
    4. This is the End
    3. American Hustle
    2. Gravity
    1. The World's End

    Edgar Wright gets the Vintner Award for making movies that age like fine wine - as much as I liked The World's End I wasn't thinking it would be my favourite of the year - initially I would have said This is the End was better - but each subsequent viewing has been more rewarding than the last and it seems to find more of my buttons to push every time.

    All in all a pretty good year for movies - a lot to like, if not a lot to LOVE. Looking forward to Wolf of Wall Street, Inside Llewyn Davis and Her to cap things off!

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  24. 1.12 Years a Slave
    2. The Wolf of Wall Street
    3. Spring Breakers
    4. Inside Llewyn Davis
    5. Gravity
    6. Fruitvale Station
    7. Mud
    8. Pacific Rim
    9. To the Wonder
    10. Prisoners
    The World’s End
    You’re Next
    Her

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