Captain Spaulding's Favorite Movies of 2013

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Miss Vicky's Loyal and Willing Slave
You never miss an opportunity to pimp your reviews, do you?
Nice to see it hasn't taken you all that long to get to know me and what I'm all about.

I read and +repped that review back when you posted it.
Oh I see. For some reason I just assumed you wouldn't have seen it. Not sure if I was thinking that the review was a good bit older or what



#16) Byzantium

Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Saoirse Ronan; Gemma Arterton


Thanks to Twilight, vampires are no longer viewed as monstrous creatures who hide in the shadows and feast on blood. Instead they shine like diamonds in the sun and mope and pout and fall in love with high school girls. So color me surprised when I fell under the spell of Byzantium despite it bearing more resemblance to Edward Cullen than Nosferatu. Byzantium breaks numerous vampire rules (the biggest offense: no fangs -- the characters grow a talon instead). The film is moody, drenched in angst and dreary atmosphere; the writing is sharp; the visuals are lush. I've been impressed with Saoirse Ronan since Atonement; she continues to prove herself as one of the most talented and promising young actresses. Gemma Arterton is appropriately sexy and alluring. My favorite aspect of the film is how deftly it weaves the flashbacks into the narrative, effectively telling two stories at once. The flashbacks resemble the traditionally Gothic narrative, invoking Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and others, while the modern day narrative is a superior take to the post-Twilight portrayal of vampires. In my opinion, Byzantium is the most overlooked film of 2013. (Of course, I'm completely ignoring the fact that it technically debuted in 2012, because f**k you, Swan! ) One of the better vampire movies I've seen.

#15) Dallas Buyers Club

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Matthew McConaughey; Jared Leto; Jennifer Garner


It's one thing to witness actors exhaust themselves emotionally while the camera is rolling, but when the commitment to their craft bleeds into the real world, taking a physical toil on their bodies and their health, my respect rises tenfold. Suddenly the acting feels less like an occupation, less like a choice. It loses its glamour and becomes an obsession. It's the sort of mentality more often seen in athletes than actors. The sight of the malnourished bodies of McConaughey and Leto in the biographical Dallas Buyers Club inspire pity and shock, yet their physical transformations also provide a level of realism and empathy needed for the story to reach its potential. I actually think the performances are better than the movie itself, since the writing and directing feel a bit too workmanlike at times. At least the script steers clear of the emotionally manipulative tricks typical of movies that portray HIV or other life-threatening diseases. Despite being firmly in Woodroof's corner, the movie doesn't shy away from showing his selfish, ugly side as well. I also admire the movie's ability to take several well-deserved jabs at the medical community, pharmaceutical trials and the FDA without oversimplifying the complicated nature of such matters. Overall, Dallas Buyers Club does a lot right, but it's the career-best performances of McConaughey and Leto that maximize the movie's potential, turning a good movie into a great movie.
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You didn't think Rayon was too much of a stereotype?

- Gay
- Wears women's clothes
- Has AIDS


I mean, she makes Hollywood Montrose look like Rambo.
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Of those two I have only seen Dallas Buyer's Club. Like most I thought the performances were great, beyond that it didn't do a lot for me. It was the second movie in a year that I had seen that is singing the praises of illegal self medicating and then as an after thought tells you, "yeah that didn't work worth a flip either". That really bugged me.



You didn't think Rayon was too much of a stereotype?

I mean, she makes Hollywood Montrose look like Rambo.
Rayon may possess stereotypical traits, but unlike Hollywood Montrose, she isn't a caricature.



i thought blue jasmine was really good, and it's also my second favorite allen, after annie hall.

captain phillips was pretty good and one of the tensest thrillers i've seen in a while.

dallas buyers club is pretty good but mostly because of leto and matty m. otherwise it's pretty much average.



#14) Prisoners

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Hugh Jackman; Jake Gyllenhaal; Paul Dano; Terrence Howard; Viola Davis


I've seen a few members of the forum say that they prefer the similarly themed Big Bad Wolves of the same year, which surprises me, since I personally found Big Bad Wolves a bit cartoonish in its execution and lacking the moral ambiguity and suspense that made Prisoners the best thriller of 2013. Unless Sexy Celebrity and I adopt at some point in the future, I doubt I'll ever have kids, so I can't even imagine the level of panic and fear that a parent must experience when a child is abducted. However, thanks to Hugh Jackman's career best performance, I now know what such a feeling looks like. If the Best Actor pool hadn't been so stacked with talent, I'd say Jackman deserved a nomination for exposing himself to such a dark frame of mind, since he perfectly embodies the anguish, fear, frustration and desperation of his character. Paul Dano is turning into one of my favorite character actors; his role in Prisoners does nothing to change that. Gyllenhaal imbues his intense performance with just a hint of mischief, which adds yet another piece to the puzzle, since at times I questioned if he had something to do with the disappearances. (The fact that he's named Loki almost serves as a red herring.)

I don't think Prisoners is perfect. I agree that it's too long, and I think it stumbles toward the finish line; but it's also an incredibly suspenseful, dark, disturbing, thought-provoking thriller with gorgeous cinematography and a host of strong performances from a great cast. If I didn't know better, I'd think Fincher directed this film, which is a huge compliment. What made Prisoners so effective for me personally is how well it played with my ethics and made me question what was right and what was wrong. When it seemed that Dano's character was guilty, I justified Jackman's barbaric method of interrogation. Despite cringing at the torture, I felt that Jackman's character should do whatever it took to find his daughter before it was too late. Then a later development would reveal that Dano's character might be innocent, which would cause me to feel an immense sense of self-guilt and disgust at how I had encouraged such actions. In my opinion, that's the sign of a successful film: forcing viewers to feel uncomfortable, to feel incriminated, to put themselves in the same situation and ask: how far would I go?

#13) American Hustle

Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Christian Bale; Amy Adams; Bradley Cooper; Jennifer Lawrence; Jeremy Renner


I caught American Hustle in the theater on opening day. At the time it was considered the frontrunner for Best Picture. Given the hype and the phenomenal cast, my expectations were huge. I'm not going to say that I disliked it, but I was very disappointed and underwhelmed. I walked out of the theater thinking that it was the most overrated movie I had seen in years. Thank God for second chances. I rented American Hustle a few months later and re-watched it with family, even telling them beforehand to temper their expectations. Perhaps it was the fact that my own expectations were no longer shackled to the film, or that I already knew how the complicated plot played out, allowing me to focus all my attention on the characters and all their little idiosyncrasies, but my opinion did a complete 180.

In place of the muddled, sprawling, slightly dull mess of a film I had initially experienced, I found one of the most vibrant, playful, funny, entertaining films of the year. The soundtrack is excellent. The performances are excellent. The writing is excellent. Watching a hefty Christian Bale perfect his elaborate comb-over, or Jennifer Lawrence drunkenly strut and sing along to "Live and Let Die," or Bradley Cooper's hilarious interruptions of Louie C.K.'s ice-fishing story, is an absolute blast. Adams and Lawrence are two of my favorite modern actresses. Both are superb in the film -- not to mention sexy as hell in their revealing outfits. The hairstyles and wardrobe choices are simultaneously awesome and comical. The cast displays impeccable chemistry. I still think the film gets off to an unnecessarily slow start, due to the voice-overs and the backtracking for each character, but once the movie gets out of its own way and the actors' showcase begins, American Hustle transforms into an exhilarating ride that it is almost Scorsese-like in execution.



I thought Prisoners was a good thriller. I agree it stumbled at the finish, but I probably dinged it a little more than you for it. Thrillers that entertain me throughout and then fumble at the goal are kind of a pet peeve of mine. I just feel too many do it.

Glad you gave American Hustle a second chance. I agree with everything you said about your second viewing, this movie was never meant to be about the story. Hustle was my #2 of the year behind Gravity. I love them both. I am interested to see where your list goes. I feel like you either love or hate Gravity, in other words have strong feelings about it, but can't remember which.



Lord High Filmquisitor
I like American Hustle, but I can't help but feel like it is less than the sum of its parts. You have Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and an uncredited Robert DeNiro, in a movie that's written and directed by David O. Russell. It basically combines the talents of The Fighter (great film) and Silver Linings Playbook (better film), but fails to live up to either of its forebearers. It simply wasn't as exciting, endearing or entertaining as the films it was chasing. And although it was a good film in its own right, it was probably the biggest disappointment of the year for me.

But seeing how your initial reaction seemed to have been nearly identical to my own, I might have to give it another chance. I love being proven wrong about a bad / disappointing movie.
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I've seen a few members of the forum say that they prefer the similarly themed Big Bad Wolves of the same year, which surprises me
It surprises you?

Everyone's heard of Prisoners. Nobody's heard of Big Bad Wolves. That's why certain people from this forum prefer it, obviously.



#13 for Hustle in 2013 is way too low I say. But that's my opinion. Hopefully Gravity is top 5.
Hopefully gravity brought Gravity down to the very, very bottom.