Why So Blu?

Gregg’s Top 10 Films of 2013

What an interesting year we had as it presented us with plenty of ammo at both ends of the quality spectrum. We had the horridness known as Machete Kills, as well as the brilliance of films such as J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel. It was also another year of super heroes. Some arrived from the pages of Marvel hoping to smash evil, while others came with a glove and a jersey hoping to smash barriers.  Before we hit the rest of the list though, it is important to note there are a few significant films that escaped my grasp in 2013.  For starters, I was not able to see The Wolf of Wall Street, Fruitvale Station, Anchorman 2 or Her.  I’m sure Wolf would make a strong case for being on my list, so that one was a bummer not to catch in time.  Her, while it doesn’t look like my cup of tea, does have Joaquin Phoenix who is pretty incredible in front of the camera.  Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in a week.  So without further ado and endless jibber jabber, I present to you my top 10 favorite films of 2013.

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10.  Thor: The Dark World – The first Thor caught a lot of flack, but I enjoyed it for what it was.  Now that the stage of characters from Asgard to Earth has been set, it was easy to see the director and cast had a lot of fun with this one.  It had no shortage of tongue-in-cheek moments while still maintaining its capacity of front-and-center battles.  The post-credit scenes left me scratching my head, but it’s the film itself that we look for anyway.  Where’s my Blu-ray pre-order?

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9.  42 – The story of baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson is a well documented one.  His trials and tribulations in becoming the first African American to play at the MLB level was very effectively told in the film titled after his jersey number.  Chadwick Boseman did Robinson justice and Harrison Ford excelled as Brooklyn Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey.  What I especially liked was the detailing of Robinson’s experiences as well as portraying the grief that Rickey went through in signing and fielding Robinson.

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8.  Gravity – I’ve never experienced a film at the cinema that flew by so quickly.  It felt more like a 30-minute television episode than a 90-minute film.  That’s a good thing.  This movie grabs you almost immediately and takes you on one hell of a ride without missing a beat.  Granted, it does get a little over the top at times in the calamity department, but it’s still a movie that was a must-see on the big screen. If Jaws kept people out of the water, Gravity will keep people out of space (not that I know anyone going into orbit anytime soon).

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7. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Thank goodness this franchise rebounded from the excessive boredom of the first film.  I’ve noticed a trend of faithful fans of the book not taking to this movie, mainly because of all the liberties Peter Jackson took in making it.  Having never read The Hobbit, I had no expectations (especially after last year’s Hobbit snoozer).  Desolation threw our Dwarven and Halfling friends into the mix this time around and even provided one very stunning Evangeline Lilly as the previously unwritten elf, Tauriel.  The action was over the top and the green screen work was far too obvious on high def screens.  Still, Gandalf’s solo struggles, Legolas’ cinematic re-entry into the Middle Earth fray and Benedict Cumberbatch as the heinously wicked dragon Smaug all combined for one big attention grabber.  I was hooked from the beginning.

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6.  World War Z – This film went over budget by a kazillion dollars and still pulled off an impressive final product.  Brad Pitt assumed duties on both sides of the camera for this production and ended up with an army of crazed zombies that could give a cheetah a run for its money.  The suspense and hopelessness displayed here had me at the edge of my seat on throughout; an experience easily worthy of multiple viewings.

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5.  The Heat – Whoever made the trailers for this movie should be fired.  To me, it looked like another Identity Thief-style flick.  Thankfully, it wasn’t.  Infested with the rough blue collar humor I was brought up on, I appreciated every quip and foul word that flew out of Melissa McCarthy’s mouth because it was all written so cleverly.  Sandra Bullock served as the very opposite counterpart as the pair worked very well together in this hilarious cop tale.  For me, this was the best comedy of 2013.

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4. Pain & Gain – I didn’t know what to expect from this movie.  What I got was a cast that worked very well together, The Rock’s best performance in a film and a story that is so chaotic, it’s almost difficult to believe it actually occurred.  Mark Wahlberg leads the cast as a personal trainer determined to become wealthy.  Greed gets the best of him as he stops at nothing to fill his pockets with money.  There are so many varying twists, turns, laughs and eye-popping moments here, but Michael Bay excelled at pulling it all together.

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3.  The Impossible – This one gets a little asterisk because technically it had a very limited release in the final week of 2012.  However, it didn’t go fully national until January of 2013.  I don’t live in New York or L.A. so this is a 2013 movie in my Floridian neck of the woods.  Based on the actual events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed countless lives, The Impossible stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts as a husband and wife torn apart from each other and their children amidst an incredible natural disaster.  The moment the wave hits was a scene best experienced on a movie theater screen.  The tremendous force of the angry sea meeting land was nothing short of jaw-dropping and the story of a separated family that followed was equally gripping.

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2. Star Trek: Into Darkness – Outside of a few seasons of Next Generation, I was never much of a Star Trek fan.  J.J. Abrams has begun to change that.  This sequel was better than its predecessor and again delivered a cast whose chemistry was so recognizable that it had no trouble creating believability on the screen.  Mr. Cumberbatch makes my list twice here as yet another outstanding villain; this time as the genetically enhanced Khan.  His character was just one of many superb aspects of the film.  The effects were second to none, the acting was great and the story was awesome.  The film held the top spot on my list until late November.

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1.  The Book Thief – Seeing the trailer in late summer had me believing this could be a pretty good movie.  That was an understatement.  Taking place in Nazi-occupied Germany during World War II, The Book Thief follows the early years of a little girl named Liesel who discovers the magic of books in a time when the government burned them.  Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech) and Emily Watson (War Horse) were exceptional in their roles as Liesel’s adoptive parents, but it was the young Sophie Nélisse playing Liesel who stole the show.  I’m sure someone else will snag the Oscar for best actress, but let it be known Nélisse gets my vote.  The story was deep, moving and full of substance and the aforementioned acting was outstanding.  What else can you ask for in a movie?  Though the two are very different films, The Book Thief and Star Trek made strong cases for the title of #1, but I have to give the nod to Brian Percival’s The Book Thief.

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Honorable Mention

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Pacific Rim – Don’t let any of us writers here on Why So Blu fool you.  There is a kid in all of us.  That kid came out in this year’s sci-fi smash-up from Guillermo del Toro.  Gigantic monsters faced off against equally massive human-controlled robots in highly populated urban landscapes.  It was pure fun from start to finish with its elaborate sets, flawless CGI and great action.  Don’t overthink this movie.  Just have fun with it.  I will say, this one broke my heart not to include it in the list.  I don’t like doing ties so think of this film as #11.

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Riddick – Vin Diesel revisited what is arguably his second most popular character, as the escapee with a galactic bounty on his head found himself seeking shelter on a sun-scorched planet. I was not a fan of the first two installments in this franchise, but the fact that he had a dog this time around was enough to keep me seated.  Seriously though (I loved the dog), take a few local alien species, throw in some bloodthirsty bad guys and we’ve got ourselves a hunt!

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The Butler – For Cecil Gaines, life started as a plantation worker in the deep south.  Gaines eventually found himself seeking work as a butler, which ultimately took him to working in the White House, serving eight different presidents.  Forest Whitaker gave another top tier dose of his acting ability as Cecil Gaines.  Oprah Winfrey also turned in an admirable performance as Gaines’ wife while their sons found themselves in the heart of the Vietnam conflict and Black Panther movement.  The film was just as much about the United States’ tumultuous Civil Rights Movement as it was about Whitaker’s character.  Both topics were proficiently accomplished here.

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So there you have it, folks.  One more year of film in the books.  It’s been fun juggling the rankings of these movies over the last twelve months and determining which picture gets to take the best film of the year for me.  This will be the last article I’ll be writing on Why So Blu for quite some time…maybe forever, who knows?  Occupational duties will be taking me down a very demanding path so my focus will be totally spent there.  Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s lists here on Why So Blu.

There are some very talented writers on this site so I can assure you my departure will be overshadowed by the quality of the wordsmiths who chime in here.  I want to thank Brian White for the opportunity to write here for the last half decade.  What a blast!  The experiences that have come about from this site and Brian’s mind have been extremely memorable.  If it weren’t for Why So Blu, I would have never been able to talk to an Oscar winner (Jeff Bridges) or sit next to director Sam Raimi at the 2009 Spike TV Scream Awards…not to mention writing is my great escape from the daily grind.  Best of luck in 2014, everybody.  Happy New Year!