The Top 10 films of 2013: The Small, the Passionate, and the Spectacular

 A toast to the year of 2013

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

2013 has come to an end and boy what a good year for film it’s turned out to be. 2013 was a little bit of a surprise as a really good year of film as it sure didn’t turn out that way until the bitter end. This time about four months ago things were looking pretty bleak. Despite a few minor standouts (which scored high for me only it seems in relativity to the other films of this summer) the summer crop of blockbusters were either disappointing or awful, providing one crushing moment after another. There were a few saviors, mostly from the ever more prevalent indie scene, (some of which you’ll see on this list) that provide some hope for what the year could turn out to be. For the most part though it seemed like a disappointing down year after the fantastic year of 2012.

Then the fall hit and, as seems to be the norm now days, the floodgates for good movies opened and suddenly the year didn’t look so bad. In just a few months the year went from not being able to conceive making a top ten that was viable by the end of the year (see at that time the end of the year seemed bleak as well) to making this list all of a sudden very, very difficult to cut down. Beyond the top four films - which feel more definite in their placement as my top four – the films on this list could be put in a different order or, in some cases, be replaced with my honorable mentions This year was fantastic, but for the most part it seems not in all the areas everyone seemed to expect. There are a lot of small films on this list and many more in the honorable mentions, films a lot of people didn’t get a chance to see that brought a lot of energy to a sometimes tired feeling formula of studio films.  It’s a wonderful trend and I hope that smaller films continue to push the formulas of bigger films that many of us are becoming more aware of.

Of course the usual caveats: first of all this is my top 10 list and is not representative of an overall or objective top 10 list. These are the films I enjoyed or appreciated the most this year, nothing more nothing less. Second of all I am not a professional film critic so I don’t have the chance to see as many of the films in 2013 as many critics do including very acclaimed ones. This is usually a big sticking point for me and I usually come back and revisit this list come Oscar times when all the 2013 contenders have come out in the area in which I live, but this year my top 10 feels much more definite to me and the only film I think that I really missed out on was Her (which doesn’t open in Vancouver until January 10^th and I couldn’t find a screening sadly) and I think I can cut my losses and add it to the 2014 list. A final caveat is that there are films on  this list that I have not had a chance to review yet due to time constrictions or the fact that I saw them only a few short days (or in some case hours) before making this list. I’m going to try and get everything talked about on this list sometime within a week of posting this and I’ll post those links into this list as they get posted…

But enough explanation let’s get down to business. Here are my top 10 films of 2013:

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

The Spectacular Now, Fruitvale Station, The Hunger Game Catching Fire, Frozen, Mud, Spring Breakers, Blue is the Warmest Color, Prisoners

10. American Hustle

This was the probably the toughest spot to narrow down. There were four or five other films that could have easily snuck into this spot and I would have been perfectly satisfied with the list. American Hustle won out in the end through the power of sheer fun through really good filmmaking. The acting in this film is top notch featuring a variety of great performances from an all star cast, some great energy and an explosive second half that sold all of this film for me. American Hustle is just a blast of a familiar style of filmmaking. It may have been imitation Scorsese but it was very, very good imitation Scorsese.

9. Captain Philips

It’s great to have Paul Greengrass back on the very top of his game. Captain Philips is one of the most visceral rides that the motion picture provided in 2013, one that kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire film. But thrills weren’t the only thing Captain Phillips was packing because at the core there is a great central character arc involving one of the best performances of the year from Tom Hanks. It all culminated into a fantastic final sequence that featured perhaps the greatest stroke of acting Tom Hanks has ever put on screen and one of the great realistic finishes of the thriller genre. Mostly though Captain Philips sank its teeth in and never let go and providing one of the tensest movie going experiences in a long while.

8. Nebraska

No one can make a film quite like Alexander Payne and Nebraska was another example of why. Payne brought his gift of perfect tonal diversity to the semi road trip bonding film to the table again, as Nebraska followed up moments of side splitting hilarity with moments of profound melancholy. The best part of it as it all blended perfectly thanks to the themes of nostalgia and how memories don’t really match up to reality. The themes are exemplified even more by the black and white camera work and two great performances from Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Everything in Nebraska just clicks in a way that it never on paper should, and it’s a testament to the magic of Alexander Payne’s fimmaking abilities.

7. Inside Llewyn Davis

Like Alexander Payne no one makes films quite like the Coen Brothers. Inside Llewyn Davis is a return to the quirky comedy style of Coen Brothers film but at the same time manages to defy traditional expectations. This is not a predictable beet for beet rags to riches musician film that this could look to be on the surface, but was a film that often reveled in the melancholy of the failure of its main character quite often. The leading performance from Oscar Issac was one of the year’s absolute best performances one that is beautifully quiet and subtle. The final great piece to the puzzle comes in the form of the soundtrack, perhaps the best of the year, and the visual and verbal styling of the Coens all culminating in a small but wonderful movie going experience.

6. Upstream Color

Perhaps the smallest of the little films that could in 2013 Upstream Color was a small but beautifully realized film that was written, directed, staring, produced, scored and distributed by Shane Carruth. The result was a strange and beautiful meditation on themes of love, the nature of togetherness and how we see the world in general. Upstream Color was a film unlike anything I’ve ever seen before or will see afterwards, a mix of beautiful images and wisps of sounds that only film can show. It’s a dense and magical experience that will make one think long after the credits role.

5. Frances Ha

Noah Baumbatch’s Frances Ha is old Woody Allen for a new age. It’s a near perfect comedic telling of the challenges the uncertainties of people in their mid twenties. It’s a familiar topic but Frances Ha succeeds in finding the perfect balance of vibrance and melancholy that so few filmmakers can capture. Led by the perfect and naturalistic performance from Greta Gerwig the film shines through moments that are hilarious, others that are sad, and some are even cringeworty on the way to a trip of self discovery. Frances Ha is the film in 2013 that resonated with me the most in 2013 a film about the uncertainty of young life that nailed almost every aspect of its subject matter.

4. 12 Years a Slave

The most brutal film of the year, Steve McQueen’s horrifying 12 Years a Slave was unlike any American film regarding slavery before it. McQueen didn’t hold back in his portrayal of the brutality both physically and psychologically that the slaves were subjected to throughout the pre civil war era. Chiwetel Ejoford gives arguably the best performance of the year as Solomon Northup, one that gave McQueen’s unforgiving film a great soul to follow throughout. It may be hard to re-watch but 12 Years a Slave is an incredibly important film that should stand the test of time as a reflection on race relations in America both past and present.

 

3. Gravity

It’s great to see such an innovative film such as Gravity gain so much traction from audiences everywhere since its release in October. The great thing about Alfonso Cauron’s film is that it begins to rewrite the book of what filmmaking can accomplish. It took many years to develop the tech to create this film and boy did it ever pay off. Gravity is a visual feast, filled with long sweeping tapes of the disaster that unfolds in cold dead landscape of space. It’s also a film that provided the most thrills of the year through both its cinematic language (the amazing sound design takes center stage, never has a film been so eerily silent and viciously loud as this film), great unconventional acting (Sandra Bullock is brilliant in this film), and great action set pieces (never has utter destruction and disaster worked this well). Gravity is a beautiful, revolutionary film that needs to be seen in the biggest, loudest venue possible. The extra money for the big screen experience is absolutely worth it.

 

2. The Wolf of Wall Street

It’s amazing that at 71 years of age Martin Scorsese can still make films that have more passion and energy than films that are made by much younger potentially angrier filmmakers. The Wolf of Wall Street is three hilarious hours of pure angry filmmaking at its finest documenting the life of the money grubbing stockbroker Jordan Belford with such satirical viciousness at every angle. The great script from Winter with dialogue that sprung from the page and Leonardo DiCaprio’s absolutely unhinged performance only added to Scorsese’s brilliantly passionate direction. The Wolf of Wall Street was never dull for a second of its nearly three hours of pure filmmaking, going from one piece of debauchery to another with an insurmountable amount of energy. Not to mention this film is also had many of the funniest scenes (including perhaps the greatest piece of physical acting of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career) of 2013 and made me laugh more than any “more overt” comedy of the year. It boils down to this: no one does Scorsese quite like Scorsese himself (despite many imitators one that’s earlier on this list), and it’s no more evident anywhere than in The Wolf of Wall Street.

1. Before Midnight

The best film I’ve seen since 2008’s The Dark Knight (after a second and third viewing it surpassed the Tree of Life) Before Midnight is a truly special film that depicts love unlike any other film in Hollywood history. The honeymoon period is over and now comes the struggle to stay together once the differences begin to arise. This is a romance film about the harder times, the ones not usually chronicled in the realm of films. This is a beautifully written and acted film that touches some truly grounded and real subjects of the true sustainability of love and the challenges of a long term relationship. It’s wonderful to see Jessie and Celine back on screen again and July Delpy and Ethan Hawke are as real and grounded as ever and you can feel how personal this story is to them and director Richard Linklater. Every frame of this film is personal, beautiful and passionate, every conversation rings from the most beautiful dialogue of the year, and every moment is piercing with love and sadness. The only crime regarding this film is that very few people actually went out see it! For the many who haven’t I urge you to watch this film you won’t regret it for a single second.

That’s finally it for 2013 folks! Let the 2014 movie season begin!

The Wolf of Wall Street Review

A toast from Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street

Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

The Wolf of Wall Street

A+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

It’s amazing that at the tender age of 71 Martin Scorsese continues to reinvent himself. A few years ago he stepped into his first attempt at a children’s film in the beautiful Hugo and now he steps into his first attempt at overt comedy since After Hours with The Wolf of Wall Street. The result is a film that’s bursting with energy and walks the tight rope between sidesplittingly hilarious and the ferociously angry. There is never a dull moment in the nearly three hours of cinema Scorsese presents, an amazing achievement and one of 2013’s absolute best.

The Wolf of Wall Street follows the life of stock broker Jordan Belford (Leonardo Dicaprio), average family man who looks to make it big and get rich fast on Wall Street. He is picked up by a big firm early on run by Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) who mentors Belford and gives him his lessons of Wall Street. Just as Belford gains his license Black Monday hits and Belford is out of work. Soon after he starts on penny stocks, eventually figuring out he can fraudulently push them and thus starts his own company along with his seriously creepy and drug addicted new partner Donnie (Jonah Hill). Together they grow the company to great heights and very quickly Belford transforms from family man to massive party boy. He sleeps with strippers, gets hardcore into drugs and divorces his first wife in favor for a hot blond model Naomi (Margot Robbie). The quick rise of Belford’s empire quickly amasses attention with FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) who looks to bring down Belford and the company he put together.

For a three hour film The Wolf of Wall Street sure moves. The film sprints from plot point to plot point with a ferocity leaving a wave of dark hilarity in its wake. The film beautifully hides its jokes within its plot points and character analysis as they come less from overt gags but rather within the analysis of the stupidity of the characters the film presents. It ultimately gives the film a lightning feel, one of nearly pure energy, as it places moments that done in any other film or context would be dark and disturbing and transformers them into something of utter hilarity.

A lot of this comes from the brilliant script from Boardwalk Empire creator Terrence Winter. Lots of the energy of this film is found within his dialogue which sparkles at every turn providing some truly great monologues including the always snappy, self mocking voice over from Belford and the great speech McConaughey’s character makes at the beginning. The characters are allowed to attempt to talk smart but never actually seem to achieve intelligence in their speech, as they often talk about trivial matters or make consistently dumb decisions under pressure. Winter’s script also never lets these characters off the hook both plot wise and audience perception wise. These are dumb people who try to talk smart, who try to get rich through despicable means but keep making mistakes through over extravagance and plain old stupidity and Winter’s script never holds back from depicting it in a snappy and hilarious manner.

Another source of pure energy and greatness comes from the utterly unhinged performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. This is the best performance that DiCaprio has delivered yet as it brings him from one insane set piece to the next and asks him to be as crazy and comedic as possible. There is no restraint in this performance, it’s big and hilarious at every turn yet at the same time Dicaprio manages to find nuance within the madness. It’s a performance of sheer brilliance that carries both the film and DiCaprio’s career forward.

The Supporting performances aren’t too shabby either. Jonah Hill feels perfectly cast as his strangely funny often times oddly creepy Donnie seems like the performance that fills all his earlier tropes and expands on them. Mathew McConaughey is only in about three scenes the entire film but is fantastic in all of them as well he provides one of the most memorable speeches in the entire film. Margot Robbie also does some great supporting work managing to make the role of Belford’s second wife into a very sympathetic one. There are other great small supporting turns as well including a brilliant small performance from the great Rob Reiner who plays a character with many interesting gears and appearences from Spike Jonze and Jon Favreau to help spice up the cast.

As usual though the direction of Scorsese is probably the best part of the film comes through the style and direction provided by the magnificent Scorsese. The camera is moving around and the cuts come quick and fast giving the film the kinetic nature the script requires. Scorsese also gives the film a similar, yet updated visual and audio style found in Goodfellas providing an energetic camera mixed with some of the time pop music. It’s an aggressive directing style and brings out both the hilarity and anger of the script exceptionally well. No one can do it quite as well as Scorsese and it shows throughout The Wolf of Wall Street.

The Wolf of Wall Street is an intense and hilarious three hour ride. The energy of the film is off the wall through the mix of a great script, great acting and the amazing direction of Scorsese. The Wolf of Wall Street is most amazing because it shows that at 71 Martin Scorsese doesn’t only still have it, but instead can make new and more out there films that continue to redefine what the great director can accomplish.

Homeland “The Star” Review: A Clean Slate

Saul goes to find information on Homeland

 A Quick review of Homeland’s third season finale as soon as I sharpie a star on a memorial wall…

“I want it to be over.”

-Brody

With “The Star” Homeland returned to trying to provide some emotional presence with its characters and the show as a whole. The finale finally took the time to reestablish the emotional connections to characters that were at many points this season hard to like. For once I began to like the idea of these characters again and what the future might have in store for them as we reset the pieces on the chess board…

…Too bad the path the show took to get there was filled with absolute ridiculousness.

Not that this surprised me at all I mean this has been happening all season long, but the way the show got from point A to point B almost made the good emotional moments to feel like cheats. Oh boy where to start… Oh so yeah after killing the head honcho of Iran, a place in that on this show has been made out to be completely unreachable, Brody just kind of gets out, without having a problem at all. Seriously he should have been dead as soon as he left the compound or at the very least there is, you know, security there. The whole opening sequence was a mess of logic, albeit not too far off from the ridiculousness the series has been displaying this season.

It’s disappointing too because it leads to a series of scenes between Carrie and Brody that actually work from an emotional standpoint. The moment where Carrie puts the pregnancy bomb on Brody is a beautiful moment that helps reestablish the relationship between two characters that at times on this show had began to get tired. Almost everything that happened in the safe house was very satisfying emotionally, but ultimately felt undermined by the stupidity of how the show had gotten to where it had.

Then came Brody’s death, which was another great emotional scene that was undermined by the plot surrounding it. First off, despite the fact that I will miss Damian Lewis a tremendous amount, it was a relief that the show finally got rid of Brody. It’s not like anything to do with Brody had been particularly bad this season but it was just time for the character to go. That being said turning Brody’s death into Javadi’s chance to turn Iran into a paradise is utterly ludicrous and completely false given the pretense of the whole show. Sure maybe improving relations with Iran or just having a guy on the inside making sure nothing bad happens to America might have worked, but pretty much turning the US and Iran into buddies in four mounts is one of the more ridiculous things that Homeland has asked me to believe. Mark the second great emotional moment undermined by Homeland’s plot.

The final one that really bugs me is comes after the four months later where Carrie gets to have some good emotional moments with the baby and her fear of the future. Where this one gets undermined is the fact that Saul gets let go and Carrie, someone who has had a history of not following orders, gets one of the highest positions in the CIA without batting an eyelash. It just doesn’t make much sense logistically and there solely for us to move from point A to point B.

That all being said I do like that we have a clean slate for the show. I hope where we go in season 4 is interesting as the writers can literally do anything at this point.

I just wish it didn’t have to be so ridiculous along the way.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think about the finale and the season as a whole?

The Top 10 TV shows of 2013

Where will Breaking Bad end up on my top ten of 2013?

It’s about that time of year the end of TV season is here. This year like with the movies I’m going all in on reminiscing on this year in TV. We start with the fun side of things with my random less serious awards, then bridge the gap with the shows that just missed the top 10 cut (as there were a ton of great shows this year) before finishing with the cream of the crop, the top 10 television shows of 2013. Now it’s time for the best of the best, the top 10 TV shows of 2013. This was an incredibly tough list to make, and these shows represent the best in a year full of unbelievably great programs. This list, as always comes with the note that I didn’t see everything that this year had to offer, but I’m actually confident that I’ve seen enough this year to make this a very competent top 10. So without further a due here are my top 10 show of 2013:

10. Boardwalk Empire

My number 10 show, Boardwalk Empire completed its best season to date in 2013. The addition of Jeffery Wright’s brilliant Dr. Narcisse, the promotion of Chalky White to essentially the co-lead of the show, and the brilliant tragic final arc for Richard Harrow made this season more satisfying dramatically. Couple that with Boardwalk’s usual action, amazing cast, and novelistic storytelling approach and you have one of the best shows to air on TV in 2013.

9. Parks and Recreation

While it may be in its twilight years, Parks and Recreation just keeps trucking along as the best comedy on television. While this set of episodes may not have been as perfect as the last few it still provided us memorable moments like food sickness, Leslie loosing the council seat, and the London episode one of the best episodes of this show’s legendary run. The show is as sweet and funny as ever and if it gets cancelled after this season it will be a sad day for television.

8. Broadchurch

 

There were many long form mysteries on television in 2013 and in order to stand out one would have to bring something unique to the table. Broadchurch, BBC America’s (and Showcase’s in Canada) attempt at one brought emotion to the table, lots and lots of emotion. Throughout its eight episodes Broadchurch managed to turn a fairly standard murder mystery into an emotionally devastating ride through the psyche of a small town that is ill prepared for the consequences of a murder investigation. It provided one great moment after the next that forced many a tissue to be used.

7. Hannibal

The surprise of 2013, Hannibal proved that there was still room for a great serial killer drama on television. Mads Mikkelsen’s impeccable down to earth performance may just be the best interpretation of Dr. Lector to date (at least the most interesting) and Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham was just as great if not better. Then you add the beautiful cinematography (arguably the best on TV) and the intelligent writing on the part on Brian Fuller who managed to somehow not glorify the brutal murders it presented and you somehow have an adaptation of the over adapted Thomas Harris novels that not only manages to work, but to work brilliantly.

6. Masters of Sex

In 2013 cable television has fallen on the anti hero troap way too much. Then along comes the marvelous Showtime drama Masters of Sex, that while having a somewhat difficult character at its centre, manages to show that not all big cable dramas have to be about the bad guys. The period detail that never seemed to interfere, the witty writing, and the characters made Masters of Sex different and one of the best shows on Television. Hopefully it will be a spark in a different direction for television one that includes some more barrier breaking creativity that has defined the industry for the last decade.

5. Rectify

Sundance Channel has had a great year in the original series department in 2013. Rectify was one of its best efforts providing a slow but beautiful look into the head of a man being released from death row after new DNA evidence surfaced. The magic of Rectify is that on the surface one could call it a murder mystery but the show tried to be anything but, as it focused much more on Daniel’s movement through the world instead of whether he was innocent or not. Long dreamlike shots of Daniel staring at elements of a world that he feels alienated from. On surface level Rectify may have been slow moving murder mystery with no resolution but dig even an inch deeper and you’ll see something truly special.

4. Top of the Lake

The other great Sundance Channel series of 2013 Top of the Lake was a first class police mystery that explored all the elements of a small, creepy seaside town as it dealt with the chase for a very young pregnant teen. Sound familiar, well Top of the Lake was far from it. What made the miniseries special was the mood and atmosphere of ever frame, the writing and direction form Jane Campion that explored every inch of the land it explored, and the performance by Elizabeth Moss which was the best female performance of the year bar none. The show provided a lot of haunting and thought provoking images that will stick with me for a long period of time.

3. Orange is the New Black

While House of Cards and Arrested Development may end up getting more awards attention, Netflix’s best entry into the original series business was the female prison drama (and yes to me it’s a drama) Orange is the New Black. The show provided a massive cast of great characters that only deepened as the first season went on, some brilliant and tragically funny writing form Jenji Khoen, and some of the best acting of the year, all from virtually unknown actors. Orange is the New Black is the only must watch Netflix original so far, one with brilliance brimming from ear to ear.

2. Mad Men

I still don’t understand why awards shows and critics are beginning to starting to shy away from Mad Men. It’s still at the top of the television heap after seven years, deal with it! Mad Men’s 6^th season was no dip in quality from what came before (in fact I liked it better than last season) even as Don Draper started to slip back down the road of cheating and alcoholism. The show pushed Don and crew into darker places than ever providing a darkly fascinating journey to an even more darkly fascinating end point. Mad Men continues to be the show I can write about the most as every shot and theme are so meticulously and lovingly put together. Mad Men continues to be as great of a show as ever which is why some of the awards and critical reception has made me feel NOT GREAT BOB!!

1. Breaking Bad

Was there ever a doubt? What else could the best show of 2013 be other than the best final stretch of episode a television drama has ever put together? Nothing that’s what! Breaking Bad, an already pantheon level show, marked its place in television history with a bang with its final season (and yes to me it’s a season) that had me farther on the edge of my seat than any television show has ever managed. Every tension ridden moment of the show’s final season built the perfect climax of Ozymandias and then moved through the beautiful epilogue that tied all the series themes and ideas into a great final two episodes. Breaking Bad’s final season was an instant classic and the best thing to air on television in 2013. This show will be missed dearly.

As I've said at the end of all my TV thoughts this year... That's just me though. What did everyone else think?