Glenn Walker’s Top Five Films for 2013

Everybody at Biff Bam Pop! is talking about Top Fives this week, so I guess it’s my turn. There were so many good things going on this year in movies, it will be hard to narrow them down to just five in each category, but I’ll try. Next, after the jump, we’ll look at my top fives (give or take) in film for 2013.

Early Entries

Let’s look at the movies first. A couple of my picks are from early in the year, but that I saw in 2013. Upon further viewings, I actually dug them more. I was initially unimpressed with the film version of The Hunger Games. It’s been done better, mostly when it was called Battle Royale, and Jennifer Lawrence did nothing for me in her role in it, but when I saw her in Silver Linings Playbook, I was blown away, and so were the folks who gave her an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Ms. Lawrence and Silver Linings Playbook were very deserving of the praise.

Also early on, and one I reviewed right here at Biff Bam Pop! (click here) is Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed ‘southern’ (as opposed to ‘western’) Django Unchained. Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and the rest of the cast are perfection, and the soundtrack, always a Tarantino hallmark, remains in rotation on my iPod even now. This gets better with every viewing, a movie for movie lovers.

Marvels of the Year

Speaking of Samuel L. Jackson, the onscreen Nick Fury, the next two flicks on my top five come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. First up is the opening salvo in the summer blockbuster season this year, Shane Black’s Iron Man Three. I covered this one twice, once with no spoilers praising the director’s choices right here and once over on my blog praising the movie’s big secret. I dug it a lot. I hope Shane Black gets to try his hand at other Marvel movies, maybe Captain America or Black Widow, or maybe Netflix’s new streaming Marvel series.

In November it was hammer time for the year’s second Marvel offering, Thor The Dark World. This epic fantasy/science fiction/superhero flick was everything a comics fan could hope for. Chris Hemsworth is finally comfortable as Thor, Natalie Portman improved in role and performance, and Tom Hiddleston, well, he is Loki. I can’t wait for this one to be released on disc. You can check out JP Fallavollita‘s review of the film here.

The Tie for Number Five

My fifth place is a tie of sorts, sorry, I couldn’t just choose only one. I loved the predictable but spectacular Pacific Rim, but then again, I’m a sucker for giant monsters and giant robots. Like Django and Iron Man above, I have enjoyed this movie more and more on each additional viewing. I love Pacific Rim, and the state of the special effects gives me genuine hope for the upcoming American remake/reimagining/version of Godzilla. I can not wait, and hope there’s a Rim sequel in the works as well.

I also have to give props to the documentary, Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words, a biography of the classic silent film actress, and also Disney’s animated reimagining of “The Show Queen,” Frozen. Then there’s also Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite, which besides having a long-winded title, and being a computer animated Lego movie, had the fun and fanboy enthusiasm that the makers of Batman Vs. Superman should be thinking about.

For those who know me, and follow my “Doctor Who” reviews here at Biff Bam Pop!, this last flick should be no surprise. An Adventure in Space and Time is a wonderful nostalgic look back on the origins of the “Doctor Who” TV series at the BBC. With wonderful acting and writing, it gives a new spin to a time already seemingly run down by shows like “Mad Men” and “The Hour.” If you haven’t seen it, check it out.

The Bad and the Ugly

The fact that I couldn’t narrow down my choices to five, by the way, in no uncertain terms means that this was a good year for film. On the contrary, some of the worst movies in some time were brought to my attention in 2013. To much unnecessary fanfare, on the small screen The Asylum treated us to Sharknado, and on the big screen, the folks behind the Pirates of the Caribbean movies raped The Lone Ranger. Our own Marie Gilbert disagreed with me here, so what do I know?