Friday Top Five - Giving Thanks

Obviously I have many things to be thankful for, but since this is a blog about movies, in this post I'm giving thanks for all things cinematic.

05. Bargains!
Ever since I saw the mediocre movie Prisoners, I've been wanting to watch a movie similar but so much better: David Fincher's (my favorite director)2007 masterpiece Zodiac. So I've been searching everywhere for it and finally found it at Barnes and Noble. It was $9.99. But it was also 50% off. Plus, I'm a member so I got an extra 10% off. So I ended up buying this movie for something like $3.50, which equals out to about a dollar an hour (shit is brilliant, but long!).

04. Good Movies!
If you want me to break down my grading in its most simple of forms, here goes: A = great, B = good, C = average, D = bad, F = terrible. So, in 2013 I have only given out 2 A-'s. That's a little disappointing except when I think about how many B's I've given out. A lot! There may not be many great movies this year, but there are a lot of good movies! Everything from downright dramas (Mud) to indie horror movies (You're Next) to movies about legendary baseball players (42). There are movies that will make you laugh (The Way Way Back), cry (Fruitvale Station) and do a bit of both (The Spectacular Now). So, yes, with a little over a month to go, I'd say 2013 was a pretty good year for movies.

03. Xavier Samuel
Seriously. Click on the link. And you're welcome.

02. That I live in a world where Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese are still making movies on the regular
Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese have made some of the most classic movies of all time. They are both getting up there in age. No one would blame them if they wanted to retire and take up golf or read more books or whatever. But they are both churning out borderline masterpieces this far into their career. Allen still makes a movie a year. Sure, they aren't all amazing, but as recently as 2011, he made one of his best movies (Midnight in Paris). Plus, this year's offering (Blue Jasmine) is one of the good movies I was referring to in #4. It's still securely in my top ten list. Then there's Scorsese, who altered the course of how I would think about him forever in 2011, by making a masterpiece that was also a kids movie (Hugo). [Seriously, the guy that directed Goodfellas!]. This year, he's made The Wolf of Wall Street, which is my single most anticipated movie of the year. Both of these guys were in my top ten in 2011, and it looks like they might both do it again this year.

01. Girl Power
A few years ago, an actress you probably never heard of named Brit Marling was sick and tired of the roles she was being offered - ditzy blonde, the girlfriend, the horror movie victim. So, what did she decide to do? Write her own roles! What followed was a career as an actress/writer/producer that led to movies such as Another Earth, Sound of My Voice, and this year's The East. Not to be outdone, Greta Gerwig got in on the writing scene too, co-writing and starring in France Ha (which is on its way to my house as I type this). Then there are the girls on the small screen, too. Mindy Kaling proves you can love boys and fashion and celebrity gossip and still be smart and funny. Lena Dunham is currently the showrunner/writer/star of the most love it or hate it show on TV, Girls. I personally love it, and don't see anyone writing more interesting, flawed female characters anywhere in all of Hollywood. As a semi-feminist, I'm pretty stoked to see these ladies (and I'm sure there's more, but it's early and I'm tired and can't think!) are changing the landscape of how women are seen in Hollywood.