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Thursday, August 29, 2013

MY TOP 5 FILMS OF THE SUMMER 2013



The summer movies season is over so it’s time to deliver my top 5 films of the summer.

I watch a lot of films but I don’t see everything and outright ignore certain films (Lone Ranger, Fast & Furious 6). During the summer I don’t watch as many indie films so this list is blockbuster heavy, so without further ado….

#5 - The Conjuring



The Conjuring doesn’t do anything I haven’t seen before but it’s hard to ignore the craftsmanship on display. As a result, what could have been another drive through terribly familiar territory turns into of the most engaging and effective horror films of the year.

#4 - The World’s End



Honestly, I was ready made to love this movie. I’ve loved all of Wright, Pegg and Frost previous works (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) so I’m an easy mark. Still, I was surprised at how much heart and contemplation was on display. In addition to the zany fun and sharp dialogue of course.

#3 - The Great Gatsby



I love Baz Luhrmann as a filmmaker, he’s not for everybody’s taste but he’s given me some of my favorite movie going experiences. Needless to say The Great Gatsby was pretty high on my list of most anticipated film of the summer and he delivered in spades. I was thoroughly engaged with the film from start to film and left impressed with Luhrmann’s restraint in the 2nd half of the film. This was my favorite movie of the summer for a good while.

#2 - This is the End



The cast of This is the End is made up of actors and comedians I love so I was worried it’d never live up. Thankfully it didn’t. I’ve seen the movie twice and each time I laughed so much that I’d felt like I’d just finished up an ab workout.

#1 - Pacific Rim



Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite and dependable directors. Pacific Rim was right up my ally from the start. This is one of the few films I’ve seen that actually made me feel like a kid again. There were a handful of moments that literally gave me chills. This is a perfect summer film which deserved a much bigger audience.


Biggest Disappointments:

Star Trek Into Darkness

Being a Trekkie, this was the film I was most looking forward to this past summer. Sadly, it left me terribly disappointed. Everything in it was predictable. It wasn’t a huge surprise since so much of it was simply rehashed from previous films. It really seemed like a waste of talent. I really hope the 3rd one, Karl Urban agrees, blazes a new original path. All that being said, I am going to give this another shot on video.

The Hangover 3

I can’t say I had huge expectation for the 3rd film but I’d hoped it deliver some laughs with the non recycled plot. I think I only laughed 2 or 3 times during the whole. Please put a fork in this franchise.


Random surprises:

2 Guns

The trailer was a lot of fun but really didn’t know what to expect with the actual movie. Sure it’s stupid even though it’s overly complicated but its also a lot of fun!

The Purge

The Purge was a lot better than expected especially since I probably would have skipped it if there was something else playing that weekend. Personally I’d love to see sequel to flesh out some of the ideas thrown out.

I think I might have overrated:

Man of Steel

I gave Man of Steel a B- originally but I can’t say I remember much about it outside of a few bits here and there. I’ll give it another watch on video to make sure I liked it as much as I thought I did.

World War Z

Meanwhile, I won’t be watching World War Z again. I did give it a fair shot when I saw it and I think I ended up being too lenient on it. It was decent but fairly generic and forgettable.



That’s it, that’s all of it.

Now on to the Fall movie season!

12 comments:

  1. Awesome post! I would say my Top 5 are

    5) Tie: Despicable Me 2 and Fast and Furious 6
    4) This is the End
    3) Pacific Rim
    2) Tie: Iron Man 3 and The Great Gatsby
    1) Elysium

    Haha sorry for all the ties. I couldn't make up my mind. I also think I might have overrated Man of Steel a bit, but I feel that it will be more enjoyable on the comfort of my own couch when I can skip past the action when it gets to the 30 minute mark. Probably overrated Hangover 3 too even though I enjoyed being with the Wolfpack one more time.

    Biggest Disappointment:

    Only God Forgives (probably the biggest of my movie-going career)
    Star Trek Into Darkness

    Nice Surprises:
    We're the Millers
    The Conjuring

    Once again, cool post, Daniel!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was tempted to make it a 3 way tie for the #1 movie to be honest, I really loved all 3 of those movies.

    Star Trek was a major letdown, I really hope I like it a bit more the second time.

    I'll be watching We're the Millers at some point, really like Sudeikis.

    Thanks for reading Jordan!

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  3. Great list - I tried to comment last night but my phone wouldn't let me!

    I agree with your list however I would definitely remove The Great Gatsby and swap it with Byzantium.

    I would also swap This is the End with Fast6 although This is the End is probably the most surprising film of the summer as I wasn't expecting to like it

    I am glad The Conjuring appeared in the list and I 100% agree about Pacific Rim being number1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you K. I still need to see Byzantium but my love of Gatsby probably won't change. Just picked up the Bluray this week, can't wait to see it again.

      This is the End is one of the first comedies I think broke through your comedy shield!

      The Conjuring is just such a strong film. I knew Pacific Rim was going to be my number 1 as soon as I walked out of the movies.

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  4. Due to my limited budget, I haven't seen any of the films that you have on the list, however Iron Man 3 is my definitive favorite of the year thus far. Overall, this summer isn't even close to last year's summer, although that really seemed like an impossible task after the awesomeness we had last year.

    I am still kicking myself over watching Lone Ranger and not Pacific Rim, because the Lone Ranger.

    Man of Steel is also the movie that I majorly overrated. Even thought I did enough it and will probably buy it on Blu-Ray when it gets cheap, it was so over hyped!

    The most surprising great film of the year for me was "42." I rented it last week and loved it.

    I am a little surprised "2 Guns" didn't make your Top 5 list since you gave it an A.

    -James

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    Replies
    1. EDIT: I forgot to finish by thoughts on the Lone Ranger: "because the Lone Ranger gets worse the more I think about it. I believe I may have overrated it as well.

      -James

      Delete
    2. Ouch, statements like that make me want to avoid it all together on video.

      Delete
    3. I really enjoyed Iron Man 3 but for some reason it didn't stick with me like these 5 films. I agree though, this summer isn't close to last summer.

      I'll have to say, Lone Ranger over Pacific Rim that's rough man. Pacific Rim is one of those big screen experiences, regardless I hope you enjoy it on video.

      I feel the same way about Man of Steel, the more I think about it, the more I think I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I did.

      I still need to watch "42" at some point, I've heard nothing but good things.

      I really enjoyed 2 Guns but I'll be the first to admit that's it's got some big flaws which I glossed over mainly because of the cast. I'll still be picking it up on video but it's not in the same category as five films listed above.

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    4. More about the Lone Ranger. I still enjoyed it, but my rating of 7.7/10 was too high, it was more of a 7.2/10. Still a lot of fun, but it had several noticeable flaws.
      Another surprise for me was the G.I. Joe sequel, which I will probably review next week. While I will admit it was dumb, it was a ton of fun to watch and actually gave me what I wanted from the franchise, similar to what the first Transformers did.

      -James

      Delete
    5. When it comes out on video I'll have to decide if I want to give Lone Ranger a shot.

      The GI Joe sequel was a lot of fun. I agree it really delivered something closer to what I expected from an adaptation.

      Delete
  5. Cool List. Pacific, Gatsby and Conjuring rocked my world, while Purge and WWZ were just frustrating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks man. The Purge was a low expectations situation which left me impressed.

      Delete

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