My favorite films of 2013:
The Wolf of Wall Street - Scorsese, DiCaprio team up again in a mesmerizing, real-life tribute to excess. A must-see.
American Hustle - David O. Russell does it again, bringing together a superb cast and story together.
Inside Llewyn Davis - The Coen brothers musical, sort of. Has my favorite song of the year, "Please Mr. Kennedy."
Blackfish - The year's most powerful doc, your views of Seaworld will forever change.
Nebraska - The year's best character driven drama from Alexander Payne. Bruce Dern and June Squibb shine in touching roles.
Gravity - Sandra Bullock is excellent in Alfonso Cuaron's sensational, riveting space drama. My favorite film of 2013.
Captain Phillips - Tom Hanks is back in a super intense real life drama from Paul Greengrass. The final moments are truly harrowing, and Hanks' final minutes should earn him another Oscar nom.
12 Years a Slave - The year's most intense, well-acted movie. Difficult to sit through, but a must-see.
Blue Jasmine - Cate Blanchett gives one of the year's best performances as one of Woody Allen's most unlikable characters.
Twenty Feet From Stardom - The year's most uplifting, fascinating documentary, a tribute to backup singers.
Honorable Mention
Elysium - The summer's best action film starring Matt Damon.
Fruitvale Station - Powerful, well-acted true life drama starring newcomer Michael B. Jordan.
Short Term 12 - One of the year's best indie films starring another newcomer, Brie Larson.
All is Lost - Redford is superb in one of the year's most unconventional films. Silence is golden.
Philomena - Judi Dench will be nominated once again in this bittersweet drama.
Saving Mr. Banks - Hanks and Emma Thompson are excellent in this sentimental story of the making of Mary Poppins.
The Spectacular Now - Dark, touching and superbly acted, the year's best teen drama.
Friday, December 27, 2013
The Worst Films of 2013
The Worst Films of 2013
A Madea Christmas - Madea is back for her worst film yet, along with Larry the Cable Guy.
Grown Ups 2 - Adam Sandler sequel. Need we say more?
Movie 43 - What a horrible, horrible waste of many talented actors. The biggest mess of the year.
Scary Movie 5 - Um, no thank you. Not at all.
After Earth - Will and Jaden couldn't save this awful tribute to Scientology.
The Lone Ranger - How do you waste $200 million? Watch this movie to find out.
The Hangover Part III - Did we really need another? No. The worst by far of the three in this series.
Getaway - Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke in the year's worst action film.
R.I.P.D. - Another summer stinkeroo, with a super annoying Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds.
Paranoia - Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman went down in flames in this uber-flop.
Not the worst, but the Biggest Disappointments:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - I was expecting so much more from Ben Stiller. Love Kristen Wiig though.
Man of Steel - The first half of this was great. Then it turned into "Superman" versus "Transformers" and it fell apart. And went on and on much too long.
Grudge Match - Considering the talent, including Stallone and DeNiro (phoning in another take-the-money-and-run performance), not to mention Alan Arkin and Kim Basinger, it's a huge disappointment.
The Great Gatsby - Sure, the film was a big hit. The visuals were stunning, the empty story disappointing.
Oz: The Great and Powerful - This lackluster, grating prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" featured shoddy special effects, a smirking James Franco and an annoying talking monkey.
The Most Overrated Films of the Year
These films are also not bad per se, but not worthy of all the excessive critical praise heaped on them.
The Place Beyond the Pines - The handsome Ryan Gosling continues to be one of cinema's most intriguing actors, but this heavy-handed, overlong drama was uneven, slow and sluggish. As least the section with Gosling was the best part of the film.
Prisoners - This drama starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal was well-acted and stirring, but also slow-moving and epically overlong (2 hours, 33 minutes) for a crime drama. It also misused one of my favorite actresses, Viola Davis.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - I may get some flak for this one, as it has many fans from the 2004 film. Will Ferrell is a talented, often funny comedian, but the problem is that excessive stupidity is truly funny for about 5 minutes, better suited for a sketch (or in commercials) than a 115-minute movie. Its 74% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes is genuinely baffling.
Lee Daniels' The Butler - The movie is mildly entertaining and well-acted, especially by Forest Whitaker, but it has many more flaws, including weak plotting, overacting by Oprah and a gallery of distracting cameos by actors who look nothing like the historical figures they're supposed to represent (except for Jane Fonda, memorable as Nancy Reagan). Baffling is the number of SAG Award nominations it received.
A Madea Christmas - Madea is back for her worst film yet, along with Larry the Cable Guy.
Grown Ups 2 - Adam Sandler sequel. Need we say more?
Movie 43 - What a horrible, horrible waste of many talented actors. The biggest mess of the year.
Scary Movie 5 - Um, no thank you. Not at all.
After Earth - Will and Jaden couldn't save this awful tribute to Scientology.
The Lone Ranger - How do you waste $200 million? Watch this movie to find out.
The Hangover Part III - Did we really need another? No. The worst by far of the three in this series.
Getaway - Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke in the year's worst action film.
R.I.P.D. - Another summer stinkeroo, with a super annoying Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds.
Paranoia - Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman went down in flames in this uber-flop.
Not the worst, but the Biggest Disappointments:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - I was expecting so much more from Ben Stiller. Love Kristen Wiig though.
Man of Steel - The first half of this was great. Then it turned into "Superman" versus "Transformers" and it fell apart. And went on and on much too long.
Grudge Match - Considering the talent, including Stallone and DeNiro (phoning in another take-the-money-and-run performance), not to mention Alan Arkin and Kim Basinger, it's a huge disappointment.
The Great Gatsby - Sure, the film was a big hit. The visuals were stunning, the empty story disappointing.
Oz: The Great and Powerful - This lackluster, grating prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" featured shoddy special effects, a smirking James Franco and an annoying talking monkey.
The Most Overrated Films of the Year
These films are also not bad per se, but not worthy of all the excessive critical praise heaped on them.
The Place Beyond the Pines - The handsome Ryan Gosling continues to be one of cinema's most intriguing actors, but this heavy-handed, overlong drama was uneven, slow and sluggish. As least the section with Gosling was the best part of the film.
Prisoners - This drama starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal was well-acted and stirring, but also slow-moving and epically overlong (2 hours, 33 minutes) for a crime drama. It also misused one of my favorite actresses, Viola Davis.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues - I may get some flak for this one, as it has many fans from the 2004 film. Will Ferrell is a talented, often funny comedian, but the problem is that excessive stupidity is truly funny for about 5 minutes, better suited for a sketch (or in commercials) than a 115-minute movie. Its 74% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes is genuinely baffling.
Lee Daniels' The Butler - The movie is mildly entertaining and well-acted, especially by Forest Whitaker, but it has many more flaws, including weak plotting, overacting by Oprah and a gallery of distracting cameos by actors who look nothing like the historical figures they're supposed to represent (except for Jane Fonda, memorable as Nancy Reagan). Baffling is the number of SAG Award nominations it received.
Saving Mr. Banks - B+
Rated PG-13, 120 minutes
Touching "Saving Mr. Banks" will be one of your favorite things this holiday season
Poignant and superbly acted by two brilliant, Oscar-winning actors, "Saving Mr. Banks," the story behind the making of the classic Disney film "Mary Poppins," is one of the year's best films. P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) goes to Hollywood to assist with the making of the musical "Mary Poppins" based on her series of books, she struggles with the upbeat adaptation helmed by Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) as she thinks back on her rough childhood and her father (Colin Farrell) who was the inspiration for the story's patriarch, Mr. Banks. Directed by John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side") and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, "Saving Mr. Banks" is a stirring, affecting look at the story behind a Disney classic film, grounded by two winning, Oscar-worthy performances from Hanks and particularly from Thompson as Travers. Hancock smoothly blends the flashbacks with the current day story, though it's far more effective as a behind-the-scenes tale, which have the most entertaining scenes. Paul Giamatti, B.J. Novak ("The Office"), Jason Schwartzman ("Moonrise Kingdom") and Bradley Whitford ("The West Wing") all contribute strong supporting turns as Travers chauffer, the songwriting duo The Sherman Brothers and screenwriter Don DaGradi, all of whose jobs were not made easy by the persnickety, opinionated Travers. Though you have a sense of where the film is going, especially if you know how the hit film "Mary Poppins" turned out, "Saving Mr. Banks" is very touching, with the Thompson-Hanks chemistry the most memorable part of the film; there are a couple of scenes near the end of the film that only underscore this, particularly Hanks' final monologue to convince the need to turn over the rights to the film, and Thompson's emotional outpouring while watching the completed film. Just as Travers and her Mary Poppins were an escape from a particularly sad, rough upbringing, "Saving Mr. Banks" is a fascinating, often wonderful escape to another world. Stay over the credits to hear the real Travers on tape as she bosses the Disney crew around.
Wes's Grade: B+
Touching "Saving Mr. Banks" will be one of your favorite things this holiday season
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| Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson |
Wes's Grade: B+
The Wolf of Wall Street - A-
Rated R, 179 minutes
Mesmerizing, overlong "Wolf of Wall Street" is Scorsese and DiCaprio's tribute to excess
It's hardly ironic that acclaimed, award-winning film director Martin Scorsese and his current muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, would make a three-hour film about Wall Street excess and debauchery. It's also to Scorsese's credit as a remarkable filmmaker that his three-hour epic film "The Wolf of Wall Street" (based on a true story) is rarely dull, darkly funny and vastly entertaining. DiCaprio is real-life Wall Street investor Jordan Belfort, who becomes an overnight success and starts his own company with Donnie (Jonah Hill), selling penny stocks to unwitting investors. Belfort lives, plays and works to excess, with a gorgeous wife (Australian actress Margot Robbie), a mansion, yacht, lots of drugs not to mention a FBI agent (Kyle Chandler) hot on his trail, ready to convict Belfort for his schemes. Based on Belfort's biography of the same name and written by "Boardwalk Empire's" Terence Winter, Scorsese's charming Wall Street is a spellbound, well-acted tale from the opening moments, full of so much sex, drugs and revelry that it puts Gordon Gekko to shame. "Wolf" isn't a film for everyone, but only Scorsese could get away with showing this much gluttony and so well that you think you're a part of it yourself (full female nudity and scores of cocaine lines fill the movie). DiCaprio commands the screen so powerfully and expertly, it's easy to see why Scorsese casts him so often The supporting cast is just as good: Matthew McConaughey makes a sublime but very brief appearance in the first act, and watch for Rob Reiner as DiCaprio's father, Jon Favreau as his lawyer and Jean Dujardin as a corrupt Swiss banker. Hill is also quite good as DiCaprio's portly business partner in crime, giving Hill, otherwise known for immature, low-brow comedies, his best role to date. Scorsese's three-hour film about excess and wild times is hardly surprising but also unnecessary, becoming so redundant by the time it gets to its second act that you have a sense that there's nowhere for Belfort to go but down. The entertaining "The Wolf of Wall Street" is full of dark, amusing moments and Scorsese's frenetic style, pacing and editing (from his usual, award-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker) fits the film perfectly. Yes, it's long and we get the point early on, but you won't look away, either. A must-see for Scorsese and DiCaprio fans.
Wes's Grade: A-
Mesmerizing, overlong "Wolf of Wall Street" is Scorsese and DiCaprio's tribute to excess
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| Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio |
It's hardly ironic that acclaimed, award-winning film director Martin Scorsese and his current muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, would make a three-hour film about Wall Street excess and debauchery. It's also to Scorsese's credit as a remarkable filmmaker that his three-hour epic film "The Wolf of Wall Street" (based on a true story) is rarely dull, darkly funny and vastly entertaining. DiCaprio is real-life Wall Street investor Jordan Belfort, who becomes an overnight success and starts his own company with Donnie (Jonah Hill), selling penny stocks to unwitting investors. Belfort lives, plays and works to excess, with a gorgeous wife (Australian actress Margot Robbie), a mansion, yacht, lots of drugs not to mention a FBI agent (Kyle Chandler) hot on his trail, ready to convict Belfort for his schemes. Based on Belfort's biography of the same name and written by "Boardwalk Empire's" Terence Winter, Scorsese's charming Wall Street is a spellbound, well-acted tale from the opening moments, full of so much sex, drugs and revelry that it puts Gordon Gekko to shame. "Wolf" isn't a film for everyone, but only Scorsese could get away with showing this much gluttony and so well that you think you're a part of it yourself (full female nudity and scores of cocaine lines fill the movie). DiCaprio commands the screen so powerfully and expertly, it's easy to see why Scorsese casts him so often The supporting cast is just as good: Matthew McConaughey makes a sublime but very brief appearance in the first act, and watch for Rob Reiner as DiCaprio's father, Jon Favreau as his lawyer and Jean Dujardin as a corrupt Swiss banker. Hill is also quite good as DiCaprio's portly business partner in crime, giving Hill, otherwise known for immature, low-brow comedies, his best role to date. Scorsese's three-hour film about excess and wild times is hardly surprising but also unnecessary, becoming so redundant by the time it gets to its second act that you have a sense that there's nowhere for Belfort to go but down. The entertaining "The Wolf of Wall Street" is full of dark, amusing moments and Scorsese's frenetic style, pacing and editing (from his usual, award-winning film editor Thelma Schoonmaker) fits the film perfectly. Yes, it's long and we get the point early on, but you won't look away, either. A must-see for Scorsese and DiCaprio fans.
Wes's Grade: A-
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - C+
Rated PG, 125 minutes
Enjoyable new version of "Mitty" a mixed bag
There's nothing really wrong with the likable, peppy new version of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," directed by and starring Ben Stiller and loosely based on James Thurber's 1939 short story and the 1947 Danny Kaye film, except that it's bland and unmemorable. When Walter Mitty's (Stiller) job at Life Magazine along with that of his co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig, lovely) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey to find a missing picture that will be used for the magazine's final print issue. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a pleasant but unfocused film with a few fun moments and a great cast, including Stiller, whose schlubby Mitty you want to hug. Yet this uneven "Mitty" loses its way midway through, and you never get a strong sense of what Mitty is trying to accomplish as he episodically goes from one adventure to another or when he daydreams of a better life, taking a trek across the world to discover who he really is. Sure, it's a worthy dream, but the script by Steve Conrad (B"The Pursuit of Happyness") lacks a strong emotional core, even if it uses the Bowie song "Major Tom" very wistfully. Wiig is a lovely addition given very little to do, as does Oscar-winners Sean Penn and Shirley MacLaine, respectively, but it's nice to see "Park and Recreation's" Adam Scott as a weirdly bearded bad guy. I liked this version of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and it's filled with many pleasant moments, but it's mostly just good and not great.
Wes's Grade: C+
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| Kristen Wiig and Ben Stiller |
There's nothing really wrong with the likable, peppy new version of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," directed by and starring Ben Stiller and loosely based on James Thurber's 1939 short story and the 1947 Danny Kaye film, except that it's bland and unmemorable. When Walter Mitty's (Stiller) job at Life Magazine along with that of his co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig, lovely) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey to find a missing picture that will be used for the magazine's final print issue. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a pleasant but unfocused film with a few fun moments and a great cast, including Stiller, whose schlubby Mitty you want to hug. Yet this uneven "Mitty" loses its way midway through, and you never get a strong sense of what Mitty is trying to accomplish as he episodically goes from one adventure to another or when he daydreams of a better life, taking a trek across the world to discover who he really is. Sure, it's a worthy dream, but the script by Steve Conrad (B"The Pursuit of Happyness") lacks a strong emotional core, even if it uses the Bowie song "Major Tom" very wistfully. Wiig is a lovely addition given very little to do, as does Oscar-winners Sean Penn and Shirley MacLaine, respectively, but it's nice to see "Park and Recreation's" Adam Scott as a weirdly bearded bad guy. I liked this version of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and it's filled with many pleasant moments, but it's mostly just good and not great.
Wes's Grade: C+
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Justin Bieber's Believe - C
Rated PG-13, 92 minutes
Bieber's good, but bland "Believe" doc is for his fans only
All I wanted for Christmas is another Justin Bieber concert documentary, said absolutely no one, except for maybe his die-hard fans. "Believe" is the flavorless follow-up and sequel to his 2011 hit concert documentary, "Never Say Never" and again stars the popular pop singer in his element, directed by Jon Chu, who successfully helmed that first documentary. His large following will enjoy this bland limited-time offering from Bieber, which combines more concert music with behind-the-scenes footage, which supposedly gives insight into Bieber's personal life, as well as extensive interviews with the singer and his parents, his manager Scooter Braun and colleague Usher. For the rest of us over the age of 15 and unfazed by all the Bieber fever, this is seemingly excruciating, but it's not all unwatchable. Bieber is admittedly a talented musician, and the concert scenes are especially impressive and pop with energy, but the rest of it provides little more than a Tiger Beat-style depth and approach to Bieber. See him write music! See him cry! See him get dressed for his concert! Blah. For Bieber's next film, I would wait at least 5 years to see where he is in his twenties. It'll be revealing to see if he's still around at all. Bieber's popular fan base already has enough to "Believe" in him, and this will just give them more to scream about. For Bieber fans only.
Wes's Grade: C
Bieber's good, but bland "Believe" doc is for his fans only
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| Justin Bieber |
All I wanted for Christmas is another Justin Bieber concert documentary, said absolutely no one, except for maybe his die-hard fans. "Believe" is the flavorless follow-up and sequel to his 2011 hit concert documentary, "Never Say Never" and again stars the popular pop singer in his element, directed by Jon Chu, who successfully helmed that first documentary. His large following will enjoy this bland limited-time offering from Bieber, which combines more concert music with behind-the-scenes footage, which supposedly gives insight into Bieber's personal life, as well as extensive interviews with the singer and his parents, his manager Scooter Braun and colleague Usher. For the rest of us over the age of 15 and unfazed by all the Bieber fever, this is seemingly excruciating, but it's not all unwatchable. Bieber is admittedly a talented musician, and the concert scenes are especially impressive and pop with energy, but the rest of it provides little more than a Tiger Beat-style depth and approach to Bieber. See him write music! See him cry! See him get dressed for his concert! Blah. For Bieber's next film, I would wait at least 5 years to see where he is in his twenties. It'll be revealing to see if he's still around at all. Bieber's popular fan base already has enough to "Believe" in him, and this will just give them more to scream about. For Bieber fans only.
Wes's Grade: C
Grudge Match - C
Rated PG-13, 113 minutes
A fine cast goes down for the count in predictable "Grudge Match"
It's "Rocky" versus "Raging Bull" in the new comedy that's as old and tired as its two stars. Two retired Pittsburgh boxers (Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro) settle a
long-standing beef and hope to settle some debts by heading back into the ring one more time. Admittedly, there are a handful of few fun moments, mostly sarcastic one-liners, in the lazy "Grudge Match" but it grows redundant and weary by the end. Directed by Peter Segal ("Get Smart") this must have seemed much funnier in premise than what actually appears on screen, as many of the jokes may be lost on younger viewers unfamiliar with "Rocky" or "Raging Bull." The immensely likeable cast, including Stallone, DeNiro, not to mention comedian Kevin Hart, Kim Basinger and Alan Arkin are mostly wasted; Basinger seems lost, Arkin is his usually cranky self while the overrated Hart just mostly screams his lines. You have a sense of where this is going faster than you can countdown from 10, but there are a few entertaining moments as Stallone and DeNiro trade barbs inside and outside the ring (and honestly, these guys really are much too old for something like this, even in comedic form). The mildly enjoyable but forgettable "Grudge Match" could've been much better, and the ubiquitous DeNiro in particular seems to phone it in, but it's worth a look for a couple of laughs.
Wes's Grade: C
A fine cast goes down for the count in predictable "Grudge Match"
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| Sylvester Stallone and Robert DeNiro |
Wes's Grade: C
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