By Mickey Jhonny
Yes, finally, the best, but, really, what does "best" mean? It's kind of relative to the one giving the opinion. The matter of choosing the best movie of the year is additionally complicated by the fact that not all the entries are in yet. Most noteworthy from these concerns, we have to hedge our bets a little, since we still haven't seen part 2 of The Hobbit.
I'm guessing though that - having been produced pretty much simultaneously with the first part - it will share the initial installment's charms and weaknesses: more fresh humor than you'd expect, but maybe just a little too loud. LOTR did a good job for the most part of keeping the right balance between action adventure and introspective soul search. The first part of the Hobbit leaned too far into the action genre. We remain hopeful though that part 2 will redeem the franchise. But we'll see.
Between though what's been released and what our secret sources have given us access to ahead of the gen-pop, we feel comfortable in declaring for the best movies of 2013 - or, more precisely, the best movie! One criterion of course is to let the people have their say. They vote with their hard earned dollars and that at least deserves honorable mention.
The winner in this category would appear to be Iron Man 3, which this morning Box Office Mojo had listed as pushing $410 million Shekels gross. This fact, I confess, blows my mind. Who would have predicted that the star of The Pick-Up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy, or the purveyor of Larry Paul from the Ally McBeal show, would wind up being the superhero star of a megabuck successful action franchise? Not I. That's almost as weird as Tobey Maguire being the superhero star of a megabuck successful action franchise. Almost as weird.
But, gentle sirs (and ladies), by no means is The Best Movies of 2013 dot Net a democracy. We'll have none of that, here. We have our own esoteric and somewhat elitist standards, thank you. And, I assure you, bums in seats ain't it. We have to at least give honorable mention to a film that many will consider the best of the year. Sound City is a wonderful documentary that tells the story of one of the treasures of American rock and pop music. Tucked away in the San Fernando Valley, this remarkable studio, on the strength of its technical superiority became a recording Mecca for many of contemporary music's iconic figures.
From Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young to Nirvana and Metallica, they came to refine their sound. The story is told through the experience many of the iconic musicians that found and benefited from the acoustic magic. No arguing that this film is a great experience. It's highly recommended, but, come on, now. You know we're not so namby-pamby as to declare a documentary as our best movie of the year.
No, rather, we're leading the charge, ahead of the curve, throwing down the gauntlet: declaring that soul scorching flick, Le Week-End as our the best movie of the year. Don't freak out, it's not some obtuse foreign film (that would be as bad as naming a doc best movie). The Frenchified title points to the film's location, in Paris. It's there that we find a British couple in the throes of marital ennui. They are fantastically portrayed by still astoundingly gorgeous Lindsay Duncan and the painfully dowdy Jim Broadbent.
We don't want to give too much away, the dialogue is too rich and delicious to spoil, but if you're a fan of Richard Linklater's great Before Sunset series, imagine Jesse and Celine right at the end of their relationship, where cleverness has been reduced to passive aggressive cruelty. It really is though more fun than that makes it sound.
Also needing special mention is the supporting role provided by Jeff Goldblum, another stellar contribution to his later career forte. This one still hasn't equaled the dark menace of his great contribution to Igby Goes Down, but it's still a pretty great performance. One for which I suspect the tall guy will long be remembered.
So, that's our story and we're sticking with it. There were some other really good movies in 2013, which have received a well deserved not. It is though Le Week-End, dark and brooding, funny and cruel, scorching the soul and maybe welling up just a tear or two, which is our pick for the very best movie of 2013. And, if you think we're wrong, well, tell us why.
I'm guessing though that - having been produced pretty much simultaneously with the first part - it will share the initial installment's charms and weaknesses: more fresh humor than you'd expect, but maybe just a little too loud. LOTR did a good job for the most part of keeping the right balance between action adventure and introspective soul search. The first part of the Hobbit leaned too far into the action genre. We remain hopeful though that part 2 will redeem the franchise. But we'll see.
Between though what's been released and what our secret sources have given us access to ahead of the gen-pop, we feel comfortable in declaring for the best movies of 2013 - or, more precisely, the best movie! One criterion of course is to let the people have their say. They vote with their hard earned dollars and that at least deserves honorable mention.
The winner in this category would appear to be Iron Man 3, which this morning Box Office Mojo had listed as pushing $410 million Shekels gross. This fact, I confess, blows my mind. Who would have predicted that the star of The Pick-Up Artist and Two Girls and a Guy, or the purveyor of Larry Paul from the Ally McBeal show, would wind up being the superhero star of a megabuck successful action franchise? Not I. That's almost as weird as Tobey Maguire being the superhero star of a megabuck successful action franchise. Almost as weird.
But, gentle sirs (and ladies), by no means is The Best Movies of 2013 dot Net a democracy. We'll have none of that, here. We have our own esoteric and somewhat elitist standards, thank you. And, I assure you, bums in seats ain't it. We have to at least give honorable mention to a film that many will consider the best of the year. Sound City is a wonderful documentary that tells the story of one of the treasures of American rock and pop music. Tucked away in the San Fernando Valley, this remarkable studio, on the strength of its technical superiority became a recording Mecca for many of contemporary music's iconic figures.
From Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young to Nirvana and Metallica, they came to refine their sound. The story is told through the experience many of the iconic musicians that found and benefited from the acoustic magic. No arguing that this film is a great experience. It's highly recommended, but, come on, now. You know we're not so namby-pamby as to declare a documentary as our best movie of the year.
No, rather, we're leading the charge, ahead of the curve, throwing down the gauntlet: declaring that soul scorching flick, Le Week-End as our the best movie of the year. Don't freak out, it's not some obtuse foreign film (that would be as bad as naming a doc best movie). The Frenchified title points to the film's location, in Paris. It's there that we find a British couple in the throes of marital ennui. They are fantastically portrayed by still astoundingly gorgeous Lindsay Duncan and the painfully dowdy Jim Broadbent.
We don't want to give too much away, the dialogue is too rich and delicious to spoil, but if you're a fan of Richard Linklater's great Before Sunset series, imagine Jesse and Celine right at the end of their relationship, where cleverness has been reduced to passive aggressive cruelty. It really is though more fun than that makes it sound.
Also needing special mention is the supporting role provided by Jeff Goldblum, another stellar contribution to his later career forte. This one still hasn't equaled the dark menace of his great contribution to Igby Goes Down, but it's still a pretty great performance. One for which I suspect the tall guy will long be remembered.
So, that's our story and we're sticking with it. There were some other really good movies in 2013, which have received a well deserved not. It is though Le Week-End, dark and brooding, funny and cruel, scorching the soul and maybe welling up just a tear or two, which is our pick for the very best movie of 2013. And, if you think we're wrong, well, tell us why.
About the Author:
Mickey Jhonny regularly writes on television and popular culture. Learn about a popular culture phenomenon in his great piece on The Walking Dead Fanfiction.