INDY'S TEN BEST AND TEN WORST OF 2013

[indianasmith]

This is the first time I have ever kept track of all the movies I watched in a given year.  Many of these are old releases, and some are repeat viewings, but the first thing that crosses my mind as I look over the list I have kept on this site is "Good grief!  I watch WAY too many movies!"  Anyway, scrolling through my list, here are my ten best and ten worst for the year.

BEST (in the order I watched them):

1. CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR:  I missed the first 10 minutes of this one, but was  very impressed with the rest.  A neat bit of history wrapped in a highly entertaining film.
2. SINISTER:  This is probably the scariest movie that I watched all year.  Some scenes were absolutely blood-curdling!
3.  ARGO: I am still not sure it deserved "Best Picture," but it was pretty darned good.
4.  THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY:  I had seen this one in the theaters, but I also bought the DVD when it came out.  A very solid movie, IMO much better than THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG.
5. LINCOLN:  Probably my favorite movie of the last 10 years, I watched this with a couple of my history classes.
6.  DARK SKIES: A wonderfully creepy alien abduction movie, probably the best of this genre I have ever seen.
7.  THE CALL: Hallie Berry puts out a wonderful performance as a 911 operator trying to rescue an abducted teen.
8.  42: The story of Jackie Robinson, pure brilliance with Harrison Ford in a strong supporting role.
9.  WOULD YOU RATHER: Jeffrey Combs chews up the landscape as a sadistic millionaire who forces a group of unfortunates to compete to the death for a chance to solve all their financial problems.
10. FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY: Mega-creepy World War II horror film with a German madman making an army of twisted, half-man half machine monsters to fight the Russians.  Some of the best visual effects of any horror film I've ever seen.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: (Since I ran out of top ten spots before I ran out of favorite films!)  STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS,  THE CONJURING, DEAD IN TOMBSTONE, BYZANTIUM, MAN OF STEEL,  RED 2, KICK ASS 2, WHITE HOUSE DOWN, PARKLAND, and CASSADAGA.

Hall of Shame:

1. THIRTY NIGHTS OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITY WITH THE DEVIL INSIDE THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: All you need to know about why Hollywood can't make a decent parody anymore.  Awful!!!
2.  THE MONSTER FROM BIKINI BEACH: Tries to recreate the cheesy fun of HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP.  Fails.
3.  BATH SALT ZOMBIES: Pretty much what the title implies.  painfully bad.
4.  H.P. LOVECRAFT'S COOL AIR:  Worst Lovecraft adaptation EVER!  SOOOOOO BORING!!!!!!!!
5.  DJANGO UNCHAINED: Thinly disguised reverse racism combined with gross historical inaccuracy.  I can't believe this was nominated for best picture.
6.  ZOMBIE ASS: TOILET OF THE DEAD:  Another Japanese film that leaves you scratching your head and saying "WHAT did I just watch???"
7. SHARKNADO:  Bad in a good way.  I haven't laughed so hard in ages!!
8. ZOMBIE LOVER:  Incomprehensible, badly done British zombie flick.
9.  FAMILY PROPERTY:  Just avoid this film.  It's too late for me but you can save yourselves!!!
10.  BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO:  Spent the whole movie waiting for something, anything to happen.  Nothing did!!!

DISHONORABLE MENTION:  BEAST: A MONSTER AMONG MEN, HIDDEN IN THE WOODS, THE RIPPING, TOAD ROAD

Now, shall we start a 2014 thread?

[Jack]

I'll have to check out Frankenstein's Army sometime, sounds interesting.

And now you can get zombiefied by using bath salts?  Yikes!  I assume moisturizing bath beads are still safe though...right?

[zombie no.one]

5.  DJANGO UNCHAINED: Thinly disguised reverse racism combined with gross historical inaccuracy.  I can't believe this was nominated for best picture.

I'm not bothered about historical innacuracy. It was just a bad film, period. I'm a big enough Tarantino fan that I can cut him some slack here and there but Django Unchained was just self indulgent tripe

[claws]

I always keep forgetting to check out Frankenstein's Army. Thanks for the reminder.

[messedup]

I always keep forgetting to check out Frankenstein's Army. Thanks for the reminder.

Same here...but the "To watch"-Pile is just getting bigger and bigger

[Gst0395]

Wasn't Django Unchained really just anti-slavery rather than anti-white? For me, I suppose I'd find it a good action flick, especially considering I have enjoyed other Tarantino works.

And on the subject of Argo, I'm quite surprised at how Ben Affleck has improved his career, most notably as a director. Prior, I only heard things about how he had been a sub-par actor in flops like Gigli and Daredevil (which I found alright for the most part). He was especially a target for ridicule on South Park at the time.

[Mofo Rising]

My response:

Good:

I liked most of Argo, other than it's fascination with Hollywood. The manufactured "this all needs to happen right now" ending, clumsy. Enjoyable movie, not great. I feel it only won "Best Picture" because Hollywood loves itself.

Lincoln: Loved it. I'm glad they did not focus on the assassination, but the politics of the time. Brave decisions, albeit decisions not always made for the most selfless of reasons, should be celebrated.

42. I liked it, but not as in depth as I was hoping. Seemed simplified.

Bad:

Django Unchained: Quite liked it, but certainly a step down from Inglourius Basterds. I'm hoping we'll see more frank discussions of the unrelenting awfulness of slavery, but you know how these things go.

Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead: I see Noboru Iguchi's point, he's the Lloyd Kaufman of Japan. That being said, I don't want to see either's movies. Haven't watched this, probably never will.

Berberian Sound Studio: Loved the explication of sound work in movies. Especially in regards to eurotrash '70s films. Susperia is one of my favorite movies in regards to sound design. (In all other aspects it's kind of awful.) Not a completely successful movie, it is kind of boring. But in that respect it is very similar to Beyond the Black Rainbow, another kind of boring movie with amazing sound design.

That's all I have to say.

[ChaosTheory]

Wasn't Django Unchained really just anti-slavery rather than anti-white?

Yes.   And there's a pretty strong argument to be made that Schultz is really the most heroic character.  But if there's one thing Straight White Males love to do, it's declare themselves the real victims in any given scenario.



What I saw last year
The Good -
BLACKFISH
PACIFIC RIM (yeah, I liked it.  You can all suck it.)
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (see above.)
THE ICEMAN
ROBOT & FRANK
TRANCE
THE CONJURING
OBLIVION
REDEMPTION
KILL LIST
42


The OK -
EVIL DEAD
THE EAST
STOKER
MUD
JACK REACHER
THE CALL
STAND-UP GUYS
AFTER EARTH

The Lousy -
DEAD MAN DOWN
MAMA
THE GUILT TRIP
IDENTITY THIEF
GATSBY
HIT&RUN
BACHELORETTE
ALEX CROSS
THIS IS 40

Still need to see - HER, WALTER MITTY, 12YAS, THE HOBBIT, WOLF OF WALL STREET, AMERICAN HUSTLE. 

[Allhallowsday]

5.  DJANGO UNCHAINED: Thinly disguised reverse racism combined with gross historical inaccuracy.  I can't believe this was nominated for best picture.

I'm not bothered about historical innacuracy. It was just a bad film, period. I'm a big enough Tarantino fan that I can cut him some slack here and there but Django Unchained was just self indulgent tripe

I think that's how I felt about INGLORIOUS BASTERDS.  Despite some truly great moments, I was left offended, annoyed, horrified, revolted... and if I misspelled that damned title, I'll correct its errors to make them correctly wrong.