Mini Reviews: The Rest of 2013

I'm planning on working on finalizing my Top Ten list for Wednesday, so, for now, here are the last of the 2013 movies that I've watched on DVD and in theaters.

Plush
Stars: Emily Browning, Xavier Samuel
Plot: A rock star trying to get over the death of her brother / songwriting partner gets involved with a groupie turned band mate who may or may not be crazy.
Thoughts: Listen, I'm all in on Xavier Samuel, so I will follow him wherever he goes. Unfortunately, this movie is not exactly a good place to go. Forget the fact that it's entirely unbelievable that Browning is a rock star. At least the music is pretty cool. But this mostly plays off as a lame B movie you might find on Showtime at 3 am.
Grade: D+

Adore
Stars: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frencheville
Plot: Two lifelong best friends begin affairs with the others grown son.
Thoughts: This could have been a very provocative, sexy, boundary pushing film. Instead, mostly because of really crappy dialogue, this movie is sort of lame. It definitely has the cast and the potential to be something sexy, but it mostly fails at that. Still, it's not a terrible movie.
Grade: C

The Kings of Summer
Stars: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally
Plot: A group of teenage friends get sick of their crazy parents and decide to run away and build a house in the middle of the woods, where they live for a summer, until girls get in the way of friendship.
Thoughts: This year has been full of really great, really original, really well done coming of age stories and The Kings of Summer is another one. It's whip smart, funny as hell and really sweet. It loses its footing a bit in the final act, but it's mostly a really worthwhile little film.
Grade: B

The Canyons
Stars: Lindsay Lohan, James Deen
Plot: A social climbing It girl is still in love with her loser / actor ex-boyfriend even though her new boyfriend is super rich, charming, controlling and a possibly a sociopath.
Thoughts: Look, I'm not about to convince anyone that this is a GOOD movie. It's not by any means of the imagination. But sometimes it's one of those movies that is so bad it's good. You know the kind... those movies that are absolutely train wrecks and you know they are terrible and, yet, you can't take your eyes off them. That's almost this movie.
Grade: D+

Inside Llewyn Davis
Stars: Oscar Issac, Carey Mulligan
Plot: A self-destructive musician wanders aimlessly around New York City, upsetting friends, crashing on people's couches, befriending cats and playing folk music.
Thoughts: Besides an ill-advised road trip sequence featuring a terribly annoying John Goodman (I never thought I'd use those words to describe Goodman, one of my absolute favorite people in the world), Llewyn Davis is pretty flawless. Llewyn is a pretty despicable guy, but because of Issac's crazy great performance, you can't help for the guy to change his asshole ways. Spoiler alert: He never does. Having just been snubbed by the Oscars, Inside Llewyn Davis is bound to reach cult status, which is exactly how it should be. Also, Adam Driver totally kills it during a singing performance with Issac and Justin Timberlake. It's worth seeing for that segment alone.
Grade: B+

Her
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Scarlett Johansson
Plot: In the very near future, when the new item in men's fashion is awful high waist pants, a lonely writer falls in love with his new computer operating system.
Thoughts: I know Her sounds absolutely ridiculous on paper, but it's damn near flawless on screen. My only problem with it is that it's just a tad too long. Other than that, it's absolutely everything a movie should be: smart, quirky, original, funny, sweet, intimate, and sad. Her is a wonderful film, and not to be missed.
Grade: A

Ain't Them Bodies Saints
Stars: Rooney Mara, Ben Foster, Casey Affleck
Plot: A young woman struggles to take care of her daughter after her boyfriend goes to jail for a crime she committed. Upon his release, he realizes she has befriended a cop from their past.
Thoughts: First off - the score to this movie is wonderful. Otherwise, it's a beautifully shot, wonderfully acted film, although it does have major pacing problems. But, honestly, I think Rooney Mara is the most beautiful girl in the entire world, so looking at her for 100 minutes isn't all that bad. Plus, I have a crush on Casey Affleck's voice.
Grade: B-

Wednesday = my Top Ten List of 2013!

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.