Ranking the MCU Films: April 2015 Edition

This is going to be a short post because I’ve already talked about these movies a lot in the past. With that said, here’s how I currently rank the 10 films (pre-release of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I guess you can say this is a ‘Top 10’ list because, in my opinion, there’s yet to be a ‘bad’ MCU film. Sure, there have been some ‘mediocre’ entries in the franchise but none that were ‘stinkers’.

10. IRON MAN 2

While it’s nowhere near as ‘bad’ as some say it is, the writing is still a bit of a mess, ultimately resulting in a case of ‘sequel-itis’; a film that tried to do a bit too much.

9. THE INCREDIBLE HULK

I do still prefer this film over the 2003 ‘Hulk’ and I like the film’s effective (maybe a little over-done) use of emotional moments. But, with the recasting of Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo in the role of Hulk, this film ultimately is the least connected of the MCU nowadays. Not as messy of a story as ‘Iron Man 2’, though.

8. THOR: THE DARK WORLD

‘Thor: The Dark World’ does some things better than its predecessor, namely smoother action sequences and polished visuals. But in the end it suffers from having the weakest of the MCU villains, mostly because the film gave more screen-time to Loki due to his increasing popularity, and for playing things a little more safe, especially compared to the other Phase 2 films. It’s still a lot of fun to watch, which if you ask me is what really matters.

7. THOR

What could’ve been a disastrous entry in the MCU lineup due to it potentially coming off as being cheesy ends up not falling victim to that at all, being the first to truly expand the MCU beyond Earth and benefitting from solid direction from Kenneth Branagh, a brilliant lead performance by Chris Hemsworth, and above all else a nice balance in tone as it shifts between Earth and Asgard.

6. IRON MAN

It may seem shocking to some of you that I rank the first ‘Iron Man’ film so low, but ultimately this just goes to show how far the MCU has come since its early days. That’s nothing against ‘Iron Man’ though as it’s a well-directed, well-written, and well-acted superhero flick with an excellently set-up origin story for arguably the MCU’s most popular hero.

5. IRON MAN 3

Easily the most underrated MCU film to date, mostly because it gets a lot of unfair flak, mostly due to the Mandarin twist, WHICH ACTUALLY WORKED!!!

4. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Chris Evans’ earnest and charismatic performance as the Cap makes this a fun, old-school summer blockbuster and one with one of the greatest non-Avengers ensemble casts in the entire MCU.

3. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

But suffice it to say, ‘Winter Soldier’ took Captain America, and the MCU, one step further. The bold routes taken in this film made a huge impact on the MCU as a whole but ‘Winter Soldier’ is also a well-constructed homage to the spy thrillers of the 70’s with excellent direction by the Russo Brothers and a great ensemble cast.

2. THE AVENGERS

All of the great build-up of the MCU’s Phase 1 led to this… a truly epic team-up of the MCU’s well-established heroes under the great direction of Joss Whedon. What’s not to love?

1. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

So why do I like this film more than either ‘Avengers’ or ‘Winter Soldier’? Because while I was initially hesitant about this film due to it focusing on a much more obscure superhero team in the Marvel Universe, I was thankfully proven wrong as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ had much to love about it; great direction from James Gunn, a phenomenal ensemble cast, and, as I noted yesterday, a highly underrated villain, first of all. But then you factor in the fact that this film is the funniest of the MCU films while also effectively balancing the humor with genuinely heartfelt emotional moments. And that’s why ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is my favorite MCU film to date.

Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe Villains

With the release of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ almost upon us, I was looking into doing a post related to the MCU. But of course, since I’ve already talked about all of the 10 films that have, at the time I am writing this, been released here in the U.S. (‘Iron Man’ to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) in a very considerable amount of detail over the past few years, I realized that there weren’t many ideas for me to work off of without retreading too far into material that I’ve already written about in the past. Ultimately, I decided to do a list, but not of the films though for the record, a brief post of my current rankings will be released tomorrow. Instead, I’m going to look at one of the major aspects of the MCU; the villains. With that said though, it’s safe to say that there are a lot of people out there who feel that the villains are actually the weakest part of the franchise save for one; Loki. As I noted before in my Spoiler Post of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, I feel that we should stop comparing other MCU villains to Loki because I fear that Loki’s turn as the villain in the first ‘Avengers’ film set the bar so damn high that now other MCU villains are, in my opinion, getting unfairly compared to Loki. Not every superhero movie needs a ‘stand-out’ villain and in the case of the MCU, I feel that the great amount of character development for the main heroes more often than not makes up for their villains’ shortcomings.

Now with that said, I do agree that there has definitely been some ‘weak’ MCU villains. Not all comic book movie villains are going to be great and some of the MCU villains have definitely been proof of that. But I don’t think that all of the non-Loki MCU villains are, quote on quote, ‘bad’. In fact, I find that some are even a little underrated, again this being due to the fact that I don’t hold them all to the high standards set by Loki. So today I’m ranking the 8 main villains of the MCU so far. Why 8 even though there’s been 10 MCU films to date? Well first off, when I get to Loki, I’m accounting for both of his two turns as the main villain in an MCU rather than just splitting them up into two separate entries. But not only that, I’m not going to include ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ on this list because I feel that there isn’t a ‘main villain’ in that film, per se. Technically speaking, HYDRA are the ‘main villains’ of the film but I’m focusing more on the singular character ‘villains’ just to keep things fair. And no, I don’t consider ‘The Winter Soldier’ as a ‘main villain’, even though his name is in the title of the film, because he’s more of a ‘henchman’ for HYDRA. So now that I got all of that out of the way, it’s time to rank the main villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from worst to best.

8. Malekith- THOR: THE DARK WORLD

At the end of the day, the weakest MCU villain to date is easily Malekith, played by Christopher Eccleston, from ‘Thor: The Dark World’. While this film is nowhere near as bad as some might say it is, unfortunately Malekith’s role in the film kind of serves as the shining example of why many feel that almost all of the MCU villains are weak and while of course I disagree with that notion, there’s no denying that Malekith is an incredibly mediocre main villain. I’ve heard that a lot of his backstory in the film ended up on the cutting room floor, including a whole subplot about his family. If it’s real, then that stuff is never brought up once in the entire film and it’s just a case of him seeking revenge against Asgard after Thor’s grandfather Bor defeated his forces of Dark Elves many eons before the events of the film. So okay, the villain’s under-written… that wouldn’t be such a big deal if the villain at least had an entertaining screen presence. But that’s not the case here; Eccleston is hindered not only by all of his character’s makeup but also the fact that he speaks most of his lines in the Dark Elves’ dialect. And ultimately he really wasn’t that intimidating as he was easily defeated by Thor and his friends at the end. It’s sad that a great actor like Eccleston was wasted here, primarily due to the fact that the filmmakers decided to give Loki a far more substantial role than originally intended due to his increasing popularity in the wake of ‘The Avengers’. So in other words, because Loki was so damn popular, it resulted in Malekith becoming the MCU’s weakest big baddie as a result of being pushed aside.

7. Whiplash- IRON MAN 2

We go from one weak villain wasting a potentially awesome casting choice to another with Ivan Vanko AKA Whiplash, the main villain of ‘Iron Man 2’… or to be more specific, the main villain for the first third or so of the film who then becomes the pawn of the other ‘villain’ in the film, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), in the second act, and then puts himself back in charge again for the finale. Suffice it to say ‘Iron Man 2’ was a bit of a mess in terms of its story, and Whiplash’s overall role in the film is proof of that. Even Mickey Rourke was pissed at Marvel for how they handled his role in the film. Unlike Malekith, Vanko’s back-story is actually set up generally well for the most part. It’s shown that his father Anton used to work with Tony’s father Howard, who had him deported to Russia when he tried to sell the arc reactor invention that they both developed. So because of this set-up, establishing that he probably had a rough life due to his father losing all of his credibility after being deported, Whiplash had potential to be a memorable villain. But, as I just noted earlier, he becomes the secondary villain for the second half of the film and because of it never really gets the chance to shine. Justin Hammer is a more memorable villain than he is. A sad disappointing turnout for what could’ve been a really fun villain but if anything, he wasn’t shoved aside just because another villain was highly popular like Malekith.

6. Emil Blonsky- THE INCREDIBLE HULK

Now we’re getting into the MCU villains that I did like, starting with Emil Blonsky, AKA Abomination, from ‘The Incredible Hulk’. Now while I’ve heard some people list Blonsky as the weakest of the MCU villains, or near the bottom for the most part, I’d say that he’s actually a bit of an underrated villain. First of all, Tim Roth’s presence in the role is pretty damn memorable (“If that thing shows up again, you’re going to have a lot of professional tough guys pissing in their pants.”). That in my opinion is why most of these Marvel Cinematic Universe villains are better than what most give them credit for; their overall screen presence more often than not makes up for their shortcomings in terms of character development. With that said, I do think that Blonsky’s still an interesting villain. He’s a soldier who’s ‘past his prime’ who finds an opportunity to recapture his former glory when General Ross enlists him to help track down Bruce Banner. It soon leads him into taking a small dose of the ‘super soldier’ serum but it doesn’t stop Hulk from pretty much decimating him in battle. However, Blonsky ends up surviving this little encounter and slowly becomes insane, which leads to him transforming into another giant monster; ‘The Abomination’. First off, I love the visual design for Abomination; he’s basically a tan-colored version of the Hulk but with bones protruding from his back. The finale between Abomination and Hulk is pretty awesome as they smash through Harlem. So overall, I’d say Blonsky is an entertaining MCU villain; nowhere near the best, hence why he’s only at Number 6 on this list, but nowhere near the worst either.

5. Obadiah Stane- IRON MAN

Leading off as the first villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Tony Stark’s mentor/business partner Obadiah Stane, played by Jeff Bridges, in the first ‘Iron Man’. Nowadays, it’s pretty interesting to look back upon the first ‘Iron Man’, first released at a time where no one would’ve ever guessed that Marvel would be able to create a successful ‘Cinematic Universe’ that would bring together Marvel’s greatest heroes. Of course we all know how that has since turned out but while there have been better MCU villains that have come in the years since ‘Iron Man’, Stane is still a pretty memorable adversary for Tony Stark. Of course you can’t go wrong when your villain is played by a charismatic actor like Jeff ‘The Dude’ Bridges. There’s some solid build-up for his character too, as we slowly but surely see how he’s going behind Tony’s back, orchestrating his kidnapping by the Ten Rings and developing his own ‘Iron Man’-like suit after recovering Tony’s Mark 1 suit that he used to escape imprisonment. While the finale of ‘Iron Man 2’ rehashed the ‘Iron Man suit vs. Iron Man suit’ final battle, the finale of the first ‘Iron Man’ is still pretty memorable even though it of course has since been out-shadowed by other MCU film finales. So ultimately I’m mainly basing this around the fact that ‘Iron Man’ was the first MCU film back when the MCU was in its infancy. A lot has happened since then but I still find Obadiah Stane to be a memorable ‘first villain’ for the MCU… things were only going to get better as time went on.

4. The Red Skull- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Taking the award for being one of the best, arguably the best, cast MCU villain to date is Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull, the main adversary in the first ‘Captain America’ film. Weaving of course had already made quite the impression as the villainous Agent Smith in the ‘Matrix’ trilogy and that translated well into the character Johann Schmidt, head of the Nazi science division known as HYDRA. It is revealed that he also took the same ‘super soldier’ serum that Steve Rogers takes but at the time the serum hadn’t been perfected yet and it resulted in some permanent side-effects, namely the red-colored skull that earned him the nickname ‘Red Skull’. The makeup work for Red Skull is quite excellent and Weaving’s performance helps make something that could’ve been cheesy look pretty darn intimidating. And on that note, another great thing about Red Skull is that he has such a great presence. He may not actually do ‘that much’ within the film itself but you can certainly see his influence on major events throughout the course of the film. While it seemed like Red Skull was killed off at the end of the film, dissolved by the Tesseract, there have been rumors that he could return for a future film. I even saw some people speculate that it was going to be revealed in ‘Winter Soldier’ that Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) was the ‘Red Skull’. Of course that was proven false but unfortunately it doesn’t look like Weaving is going to reprise his role in a future MCU film. Regardless, he did make quite a good impression in ‘First Avenger’ and that’s all that matters.

3. Ronan the Accuser- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Now here is where I majorly disagree with critics. Lee Pace’s Ronan, the main villain of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, has generally been considered to be the weakest part of the film, with reasons ranging from the usual ‘underdeveloped character’ argument to him being too serious in a film that was much more light-hearted and funny in nature. Not only that, but James Gunn did say in an interview with Screen Junkies that he did have to cut some of the stuff with Ronan. Despite that, though, I think Ronan’s a severely underappreciated villain. And there are three main reasons for this, which I’ve talked about before in the past in my Spoiler Post for the film. For one thing, there is at least a clear motivation for his character; he’s a radical Kree who seeks to take over Xandar in retaliation against the recent treaty between his people and the Nova Corps of Xandar. To do so, he allies with Thanos to go after the Power Orb, which of course we learn is actually an Infinity Stone, so that he can bring it to Thanos who would then help him destroy Xandar. I mean, if anything, it’s a better motive than just being evil… because! And at least he got more to work with than Malekith in ‘Thor: The Dark World’.

Also unlike Malekith, Ronan is actually a pretty intimidating adversary for the Guardians. Case in point? During the finale, he actually does manage to get back up after seemingly being defeated not once, but twice in the span of about 10-15 minutes. As I noted earlier in this post, you didn’t see that with Malekith. But then there’s one more major reason why I think Ronan is a far better villain than most people give him credit for; HE DEFIES FRIGGING THANOS!! Yes, after stealing back the Stone back from the Guardians, Ronan takes it for himself in an act of defiance against the Mad Titan. Yes, he’s still defeated in the end by the Guardians but going up against Thanos, and no I don’t care about the fact that he’s yet to do anything major in these films, and basically saying ‘screw you’ to him? That takes guts; you didn’t see Loki do that in ‘Avengers’ now, did you? That is why I’m much more positive about Ronan and Nebula than most, even though the latter was screwed over by the fact that she wasn’t given anything to do in the first half of the film, because they did something that no other MCU villain has ever done. Could there have been more done with them? Yes, and thankfully Nebula did survive the final battle so hopefully she’ll be brought back in future films, maybe even ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. But as is, Ronan is far from being a ‘weak’ villain and in fact, I’d say he’s one of the MCU’s best villains. ‘Guardians’ wouldn’t be my favorite MCU film if I thought that he wasn’t a memorable villain.

2. Aldrich Killian- IRON MAN 3

‘Iron Man 3’ is easily the most underrated film in the MCU… as such its villain, Aldrich Killian, is a pretty damn underrated MCU villain. Now of course, we all know what happened with this film in regards to the controversial twist involving the Mandarin. The person who we thought to be the Mandarin as advertised in the promotional material for the film was actually a drunk British actor by the name of Trevor Slattery who was merely a pawn in the master plan of Killian. During the final battle, Killian proclaims that ‘he is the Mandarin’ though, as revealed in the MCU One Shot ‘All Hail the King’, there still is a real ‘Mandarin’ out there and suffice it to say he ain’t happy about what Killian and Slattery have been doing. Hopefully this isn’t a result of the backlash against the controversial twist. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the twist did actually work from a story perspective and was actually a nice little bait-and-switch that, to paraphrase the iconic line from Slattery, ‘we never saw coming’. As for Killian, first of all it’s great to see Guy Pearce continuing to get good work in Hollywood because he really is quite the underrated actor. Pearce makes Killian a great foil to Tony and yes his whole villainous plot is very much reminiscent of Syndrome’s in ‘The Incredibles’ right down to the same general specific beats of the plot. But that’s okay because Pearce still manages to make Killian a pretty damn compelling/charismatic villain. I know that there are people out there who are still pissed about the whole Mandarin twist but I implore those folks to let that frustration go and give this film, and its entertaining baddie, a second chance.

1. Loki- THOR/THE AVENGERS

At the end of the day, though, despite all that I’ve said in defense of most of the other MCU villains, there’s no denying that Loki is still the greatest ‘film’ villain that the MCU has ever had; I say ‘film’ because, as I mentioned earlier this month, I feel that Kingpin, through ‘Marvel’s Daredevil’, has actually overtaken Loki’s space as the best MCU villain to date. But of course Loki’s turn as the big bad in ‘Avengers’ is still a highly iconic supervillain performance, even if it now results in everyone unfairly comparing other MCU villains to him. Of course this wasn’t the first time that Loki had been the main villain of an MCU film as he originally started out as the main villain in the first ‘Thor’ film. However I hate to say it, but despite Tom Hiddleston’s excellent performance in the role and a really solid amount of set-up for the character in regards to his relationship with Thor and his overall scheme (get Thor banished so that he could become king of Asgard), I didn’t really find him to be that much of a threat in the first ‘Thor’ film. I mean it’s probably just because this was a film centered on a literal God of Thunder but despite all that Loki did in that film, he was ‘sort of, kind of’ easily defeated by Thor.

In ‘Avengers’, however, with his newfound ability to take control of the minds of his enemies, which he uses on Dr. Selvig and Hawkeye, and his army of Chitauri soldiers, suddenly Loki became much more intimidating. Now he was a legitimate threat, one that required more than just his brother to stop him; this was a job for ‘The Avengers’, setting the stage for one of the most epic superhero films of all time. And here was where Hiddleston really started to get into the role, oozing charisma more than any MCU villain that came before or after him. He was so popular that his role in ‘Thor: The Dark World’ was expanded upon… at the cost of the character development for that film’s villain, Malekith. See what happens when you build something up like that, folks? It can ruin other things, like a villain that could’ve been awesome but ultimately was shoved aside in favor of the far more popular one. Still, who doesn’t love Loki? And with the ending of ‘Thor: The Dark World’ showing that he was now secretly in control of Asgard in place of Odin, it’ll be very interesting to see what happens next with everyone’s favorite ‘God of Mischief’.

So that’s how I rank all of the major MCU villains to date. Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow for my updated rankings of the first 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2013: Honorable Mentions and #12-10

If I were to describe 2013 in film in just one word, it would only be ‘okay’. What do I mean by that? Well, as I established in my ‘Worst of’ list, the bad movies this year were REALLY bad; unfunny comedies, poor action movies, etc. But the reason why I don’t consider this year to be a terrible year is that the good movies were still really good, particularly during the last few months of the year. However, in the case of some of the movies that came out this year, some of you might argue against whether or not they were any good because I have to say, this was a really divisive year as far as audience reception went. A lot of big summer blockbusters, films that received generally positive reviews from critics and seemed to be guaranteed successes both critically and commercially, ended up splitting audiences right down the middle. I will admit… a couple of the films on my list are some of those films. I guarantee you that you will all disagree with me on at least one movie on this list. So, with that in mind, here are my Top 12 favorite films of the year. For the record, yes I am doing a ‘Top 12’ list again just like last year and that is something I think I’ll be doing each year now. That is because I do see a lot of films each year and I want to cover as many of the good films I’ve seen as I can, most of them are films that will not be a part of the Oscar race.

Before I start this off, let me lay down the usual ground rules that I have for this list. First off, this is a Spoiler Post (!); I will be discussing major spoilers for pretty much every film on this list so you have been warned. If you haven’t seen any of these films, I suggest you watch them first before reading what I have to say. Second, like pretty much every year, I have not seen every film that has come out in 2013. Films like ‘Nebraska’, ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, and ‘The Spectacular Now’ will not be on this list so don’t be surprised if you don’t see them here because I haven’t seen them. Finally, and most importantly, please be respectful of everyone’s opinion. Obviously as I’ve said earlier, some of these films haven’t gone over well with audiences, so I guarantee you guys that you will no doubt disagree with me at least once on this list. Just don’t go and be an idiot and say something along the lines of ‘my opinion doesn’t matter’ for liking a movie that you didn’t like. This is just my personal opinion; everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. If there’s one thing that pisses me off more than a bad movie, it is when no one’s respecting others’ opinion.

First up, here are the Honorable Mentions and this year I have five.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY



It’s really good to see Pixar return to form after two rather lackluster films in 2011’s ‘Cars 2’ and 2012’s ‘Brave’… well, almost. No, I don’t think this is the best Pixar film, but it is still a very good movie nevertheless. It’s a prequel that may have been a little unnecessary but it manages to avoid some of the things that plague most prequels, like phoned in references to the previous film. Not only that, but the story itself has a very heartwarming message; being able to believe in who you are against all odds. That is the story of everyone’s favorite one-eyed monster, Mike Wazowski, once again voiced by the incredibly talented Billy Crystal, who is repeatedly told that he doesn’t belong in the University’s Scare Program but continuously works to prove everyone wrong. John Goodman reprises his role as Sulley as well and like the last film, the two of them work off each other very well. Unlike ‘Monsters, Inc.’ which was more focused around Sulley and his relationship with the little girl Boo, this is more Mike’s story and yet it also gives Sulley a really well-developed character arc as well. At first, he actually comes off as a bit of a jerk but as the movie goes on, not only does he change his ways but, like Mike, he also starts to discover his talents as for most of the movie, he mainly gets by on his family legacy. As we see, even that legacy has had a rather negative impact on him. With a terrific voice cast, beautiful animation, and a lot of humor, ‘Monsters University’ is easily one of the best animated films of the year (though not really the best, as we’ll see in a bit).

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG



I do really like the first ‘Hobbit’, despite the fact that it felt too long. It made the number 11 spot on last year’s list after I initially gave it a 4/5 rating. This year, ‘Desolation of Smaug’ just misses the cut… despite the fact that I gave it a better rating, 4.5/5. Why? Well, to be honest, this was a bit more crowded of a year. Regardless, I think this film is a big improvement over ‘An Unexpected Journey’ mainly because this one has better pacing. Benedict Cumberbatch steals the show as the titular dragon Smaug, which is easily one of the best dragons ever in the history of film. However, at the same time, now I have a new worry about this ‘trilogy’ of films that shouldn’t really have been a trilogy in the first place. Obviously considering the fact that ‘The Hobbit’ is a very small book compared to the massive ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, Peter Jackson and the filmmakers obviously have to include more stuff in to fit what will no doubt be a 9+ hour trilogy. But this is at the expense of some characters getting the shaft when it comes to character development, like most of the dwarves. The only major dwarves that have gotten any real character development in these movies are Thorin (obviously because he’s the lead), Balin, and Kili. Remember, there are 13 dwarves and I’m pretty sure that I’m still not able to remember all of their names because most of them haven’t done much in these movies. Also, for a film called ‘The Hobbit’, the actual Hobbit himself, Bilbo, is a side character for most of the movie. Still, the film is well-acted, the new additions (like Orlando Bloom returning as Legolas and Evangeline Lilly as an original character, Tauriel) are welcome, and it’s still just really nice to be back in Middle-Earth. However, I hope that ‘There and Back Again’ will be able to conclude this trilogy as best as it can.

PACIFIC RIM



‘Pacific Rim’ is just one of those ‘shut off your brain’ movies. Yeah, this movie is stupid, and it is most certainly a case of style over substance, but I think that was what director Guillermo Del Toro was going for with this movie. It delivers on exactly what it promises; giant robots, giant monsters, and giant robot/giant monster battles. This movie is an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end and if you can accept it as that without being too overly critical on the writing, then you will really enjoy this film. Sure, the writing is not exactly perfect, and the characters may not totally be that well-developed. But at the same time, the film isn’t completely devoid of character and substance. The actors all do pretty good jobs, particularly Idris Elba and Del Toro regular Ron Perlman. All in all, ‘Pacific Rim’ probably won’t be winning any Oscars (unless they’re for technical achievements, like visual effects) but it’s just a fun popcorn flick that’s very, very enjoyable.

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES



Most sequels usually end up being not as good as the original, especially if that sequel is a comedy. Most comedy sequels tend to suck but thankfully ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’ is not one of those films. Sure, in the end, ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ is still the better movie, mainly because it’s so quotable. Still, I have to give Will Ferrell and Adam McKay credit for being able to not only continue the story but to also make a film that is just as funny as the original. Ferrell and the rest of the returning players from the first movie (Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, and David Koechner) all return to their roles with ease and their camaraderie/chemistry is second-to-none. ‘Anchorman 2’: One of the rare comedy sequels that is actually pretty good.

SAVING MR. BANKS



Seeing how this is a Disney film, there was a possibility that the filmmakers might have been pro-Disney in telling the story of the production of their 1964 classic, ‘Mary Poppins’. They could have just had Walt been ‘right’ all of the time and try to vilify P.L. Travers for disagreeing with everything Walt did, but thankfully they don’t do that. Both are portrayed positively and the story is actually more about Travers, as it should be. We see how she’s worried about how Disney is going to adapt her beloved story to the big screen, as most authors probably are when their works are adapted to film. We also see why this story means so much to her, because it was heavily inspired by her own childhood, with the story’s patriarch, Mr. Banks, directly inspired from Travers’ alcoholic but loving father. Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, and Colin Farrell all shine in this dramatization of the story. Sure, the whole story may not have translated onto screen (like Travers’ disgust with the finished project or Walt ultimately overruling most of her objections) but as a whole it’s just an interesting story. It does take a little while to get going, but it still worked out in the end.

And now we officially kick things off at number 12 with a film that many are predicting will be one of the top contenders at this year’s Oscars, along with another film that, spoilers, you’ll be seeing much later on in this list. Why then is it only at Number 12, you ask? Well, to be honest, it’s a truly amazing film but more on a technical level.

12. GRAVITY



I’ll openly admit that while I do stand by my original rating for the film (5/5), ultimately I ended up liking the next 11 films on this list a little bit more. But that’s not to discredit what a truly amazing film this is. From a technical standpoint, this film is a visual masterpiece. It has incredible special effects, gorgeous cinematography, and is a very effective thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. However, at the same time, the film really isn’t the best when it comes to the writing. Still, I wouldn’t consider it bad; it’s just simple. There’s only two main characters in this, and they are your basic character archetypes. Sandra Bullock’s character is the rookie astronaut, while George Clooney’s character is the veteran who’s on his last mission. Yes, the character development may seem very simple, but I don’t think that’s the fault of the filmmakers, specifically director Alfonso Cuaron. I believe that his focus was more on making this film a visual masterpiece and he most certainly succeeds at doing that. Even with the simplified character development, both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney do great jobs nevertheless. Bullock, who basically is the only one on screen for the majority of the film, more than holds their own and while Clooney is not in the film that much, he’s still quite charming as he usually is. I won’t say ‘Gravity’ is the best film of the year, but it is still pretty darn good.

As I said earlier, ‘Monsters University’ was one of the best animated films of the year, but I didn’t call it the overall best. Number 11 is my pick for the best animated film of the year, and coincidentally, both films were released by the same company; Disney.

11. FROZEN



Like with Pixar and ‘Monsters University’, it’s good to see Disney’s main animation studio get back on track after a rather shaky start in the early 2000’s. I haven’t seen ‘Princess and the Frog’ and ‘Tangled’ in full, but ‘Wreck it Ralph’ was my pick for the best animated film last year and lo and behold, ‘Frozen’ gets that honor for this year’s list. It’s a film that goes back to the tradition of old-school Disney musicals like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or ‘The Little Mermaid’ but at the same time it’s done with a modern flair. Sure, it seems like Disney’s starting to move away from traditional animation, but at the same time their computer animated films are now starting to reflect certain stylistic designs from their traditionally animated films.

This film has a great cast of characters. The main leads Anna and Elsa are both very engaging and the sister dynamic between them is really nice, something I don’t think Disney’s really done before. In a bold change from the original source material, Elsa the Snow Queen is not the villain of the film and both she and Anna are not the typical Disney princesses of old. They’re not prim and proper and they don’t need a man to do their work for them. The mountain-man Kristoff and his reindeer Sven are also fun characters mainly because they have a fun camaraderie, with Kristoff ‘translating’ all of Sven’s thoughts. But easily the best character in this whole film is the snowman Olaf. Not only does he get all of the best lines, but the fact that he’s a snowman wishing to experience summer for the first time is just hilarious. However, not all of the characters work though. The prince that Anna falls in love with, Hans, is pretty bland and even when he’s revealed to be the main villain, he’s still not that memorable. Another bland character is the Duke of Weselton (voiced by the sadly underused Alan Tudyk). At first it seems like he’s going to be the main villain but in the end they do nothing with him.

The music by Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez is pretty good but in the end, one song stands out above the rest. That song is Elsa’s big solo, ‘Let It Go’. Going back to what I said earlier about her characterization, this song really defines her character not being the main villain of the film. At this point in the story, she’s become an outcast after her powers have been revealed to the people of Arendelle. Before, she was told to keep her powers a secret but now she’s no longer afraid to do so. Again, this isn’t for evil purposes, she’s just finally free to use her powers to their full potential. This is easily one of the best Disney songs in recent years and I’m pretty sure it’s a shoe-in for ‘Best Original Song’ at this year’s Oscars. As a whole, ‘Frozen’ may not exactly be the best Disney film ever (the claim in the marketing that it’s ‘the best since ‘The Lion King’ is a little pretentious, especially to me considering that ‘Lion King’ is my all-time favorite Disney film), but it’s certainly one of their best of the last few years.

Number 10 is the first of the ‘fairly controversial’ movies that I mentioned in the intro. This is one of the summer blockbusters that had a rather mixed reception, despite the fact that it did pretty darn well both critically and commercially. Actually, as far as the box office was concerned, ‘pretty darn well’ is an understatement. This was the highest grossing film of the year (over $1 Billion), and I think it’s also one of the most unfairly criticized films of the year.

10. IRON MAN 3



There are 3 ‘complaints’ that many are having with this film, and I believe that these are rather unfair in regard to a movie that is far better than what many are saying. These three main complaints are:

A. The lack of the other Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.



Many question where the other Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. were during the course of the entire movie. Aside from a few references and a key cameo in the post-credits scene, Tony Stark was the only Avenger on screen. Well, I can answer that… they had their own crap to deal with. I think that it’s unfair to judge every superhero movie now for not having a whole team of superheroes; films like ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ are in this category as well. Sure, we would all love to see ‘Avengers’ movies year-after-year, but it’s not that simple. Not every superhero film can be a big team-up film and be directed by Joss Whedon. They need time to develop these films and the Cinematic Universe that they reside in. How do they do that? By doing solo films, which you know, they’ve been doing since 2008’s ‘Iron Man’? As I keep bringing it up, the solo films are the main reason why ‘The Avengers’ worked as well as it did. Solo superhero films are just as effective as the team films, and this one is no exception. If someone asked, “Hey, where are the other Avengers? Where’s S.H.I.E.L.D.?” during every single action sequence, then that would get really, really annoying. Besides, isn’t Iron Man like the most popular of the Avengers anyway? His movies are the highest-grossing in the MCU (not counting ‘Avengers’, of course).

B. Tony Stark not being in the suit much



Tony Stark isn’t really in the Iron Man suit that much over the course of the film… just like in ‘Iron Man 2’… and yes folks, even the first ‘Iron Man’ movie. Looking back at that film, he’s not in the Iron Man suit that much either. More importantly, like with how the need for more superheroes isn’t necessary for every film, this shows that these films can work if the characters are well-developed, and in the case of Tony Stark, it most certainly is. Think about all of your favorite comic book superheroes; Batman, Captain America, the Hulk, Superman, etc. They all have one thing in common; their superhero identity is not their only one. It’s not the suit that makes the man; it is the man who makes the suit. They can’t cover up Robert Downey Jr.’s face all of the time, you know.

And of course, the most controversial aspect of this film:

C. The Mandarin Twist





Yeah, you’ve probably heard about this by now, but if by some chance you haven’t I’ll give you the rundown. As the movie begins, we’re introduced to who we presume to be the main villain, the terrorist/mastermind known as ‘The Mandarin’ (played by Ben Kingsley). He’s established to be quite the threatening villain early on, mostly by destroying Tony’s house after he threatens him on national television. Yes, that ‘threating a terrorist’ part’s pretty stupid, but I’m not too bothered by it because I think he was just emotionally compromised because his former bodyguard, Happy Hogan, had just barely survived one of the Mandarin’s ‘bombings’. But things start to change at the halfway point. Tony infiltrates the Mandarin’s base in Miami and comes across the Mandarin himself and as it turns out, the guy we thought to be the Mandarin… is just a drunken British actor by the name of Trevor Slattery. He was only playing the part of ‘The Mandarin’ while the main villain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) was controlling everything behind the scenes. I’m just going to come out and say it… this is one of the best twists in any film in recent years.

First off, I have to give a whole lot of credit for everyone involved for managing to keep this secret. In this day and age where any major detail about a film could be spoiled at any moment (see my number 4 for proof of that), I applaud them for keeping this as hidden as they did. To paraphrase the ‘Mandarin’, or Trevor Slattery to be more precise, we truly ‘never saw this coming’. But more importantly, in the end what’s important is this… it actually worked from a story perspective. Let’s be honest, the Mandarin that many were hoping for is not really PC these days, and co-writers Shane Black and Drew Pearce make a bold move in changing things up. At the same time, it works because the main villain Killian was able to successfully create ‘an image of fear’ that keeps the heat off of him, the true mastermind behind all of this. Near the end of the film, when Tony is fighting Killian, he proclaims that ‘he is the Mandarin’. I understand the idea, but I don’t necessarily view Killian as the real ‘Mandarin’; it’s still just the image.

For reference, let’s briefly discuss another major character change in another superhero film, ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’. That film changed up the design for the character of Galactus. Instead of being a gigantic man in a purple outfit, he was changed to a cloud. I understand why they decided to do this, because the former design is not exactly that practical. But as far as that film went, it was purely a cosmetic change and there was no reason why the character had to be a cloud. Here, I understand that it’s a drastic change from the source material, but Black and Pearce do give the proper explanation as to why it is. Ben Kingsley certainly got the most out of the role. When he’s ‘The Mandarin’, he’s properly menacing and commanding. When he’s Trevor Slattery, he’s properly goofy. He succeeds at being two characters at once and I would be interested in seeing this character again in perhaps either ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ (and please don’t get me started on how, like this film, that show has been getting a bit of a unfair rep) or even an Marvel One-Shot, which apparently they are doing where they will actually have the ‘real’ Mandarin in it. That will be very interesting to watch.

With that in mind, that gives you an idea of what kind of movie director Shane Black made here. It’s radically different from most of the other superhero films out there. I mean, how many superhero films are set around Christmas? As far as I know, none aside from this one. From a writing perspective, this film also does a great job at concluding the story of Tony Stark, whose now haunted by the events of ‘The Avengers’, sort of making him a shell of the man he once was. This is also Robert Downey Jr’s best performance in the role. He dials back on the arrogance that was a little too much on display in ‘Iron Man 2’ but still maintains his usual cocky but yet still likable persona. The ending, where Tony gets the shrapnel in his chest removed and destroys all of his Iron Man suits, does leave a rather big question about what kind of role he’ll be playing in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ but I’m pretty sure they’ll find a way to properly incorporate him into the story. The rest of the cast is terrific as well; Don Cheadle gets more to do in this film than the last one and his camaraderie with Downey Jr. is much better. Gwyneth Paltrow still sort of gets stuck in the ‘damsel’ role at times as Pepper, but her chemistry with Tony is still excellent and she does get more to do than what she usually does. I mean, she actually kills the main villain… that’s actually pretty awesome.

As the main villain, Guy Pearce (who thankfully has been getting more work in recent years… he is a much underrated actor) is excellent. I’m not so sure yet if he’s the best villain in the ‘Iron Man’ universe (as I kind of prematurely claimed in my original review), but I think he was given a real nice amount of character development here. I like the backstory for Killian, as he tried to discuss business with Tony when the two of them first met in 1999 but was ignored (and yes, this is just like in ‘The Incredibles’… I get it). However, if there’s one character who kind of got the short end of the stick, it would be Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen. Hall’s fine in the role, but she doesn’t get much to do. In fact, they don’t really establish whose side Maya is on. At first it seems like she’s going to be an ally of Tony, but then we learn her boss is Killian and she starts working with him again but then it seems like she’s still on Tony’s side. Not only is it unclear, they don’t effectively establish who she ultimately sided with… because they killed her off. Still, despite that, this is another fantastic entry from Marvel that I think has been getting a bit of a bad rep.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2, for Numbers 9-7.

2013 MIDYEAR RECAP

We are now halfway through the year of 2013, and while there are still a lot of films coming out in the next few months, it’s time to take a look back at the year so far. All in all, 2013 has been a pretty solid year for movies. I can’t really say that it’s been as good of a year as last year (which saw so many good movies come out that I had to do a ‘Top 12’ instead of a ‘Top 10’) but there have been some very good movies that have come out this year. I say that even though a lot of films this year have actually gotten rather mixed reviews from critics and some have even received a mixed reception from audiences. In fact, my Top 3 films of the year right now have all received a rather mixed reception from not only critics, but most likely audiences as well. What three films are they? I’ll get into those later, but for now I’ll be looking back at all of the films that I have seen so far. I’m not really looking at these films in any specific order, but more in terms of overall ‘quality’ from worst to best. With that said, let’s start with the lowest of lows in 2013.  

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR (SO FAR):

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD

Wow, this was a straight-up insult to a once great franchise and it’s very sad that a generic action film has to be a part of the Die Hard franchise. None of the things that made this series great are present in this film; the villains are horrible, John McClane is no longer the ‘everyman’ that he was in the past, and worst of all there’s absolutely no tension. John and his son Jack (no chemistry between them, by the way) are pretty much superheroes that go through so much and yet come out with barely any scratches. Actually, ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ does have two of the biggest villains in franchise history; director John Moore and writer Skip Woods, who are responsible for this piece of s***. There are plans for a sixth Die Hard film, but if you ask me, they should just end the series now; just to prevent any further embarrassments.

SOME OTHER FORGETTABLE FILMS:

I’m not saying these films are the worst of the year, but they’re not films I’ve remembered fondly of since seeing them.

G.I. JOE RETALIATION

My opinion of this film has changed quite a bit since I saw it and since I posted my review of it. I’ll admit I don’t think I was able to give my full thoughts on the film at the time because this was one of the worst theater experiences I ever had (there were people behind me who did not shut up throughout the entire film. Heck, I can do a whole post on how annoying things like that have been over the last few months). Still, looking back, this is a film I won’t be remembering down the road. Sure, in a way, ‘Retaliation’ is a better-made film compared to its predecessor but I actually have to admit that, recently, I’ve come to like ‘Rise of Cobra’. It’s a fun little popcorn flick that is entertaining when not taken seriously. As for ‘Retaliation’, I’m not as big on it. It’s not as ridiculously over-the-top but that does not excuse some weak writing and character development. Also, this film has some of the B.S. marketing in recent years due to the whole controversy surrounding supposed reshoots to give more screen time to Channing Tatum. Guess what? They didn’t change a damn thing.

GANGSTER SQUAD

 ‘Gangster Squad’ was the first film I saw this year; a film that was pushed back from a 2012 release because the filmmakers had to do reshoots because of a scene where gangsters shoot up a movie theater in the wake of the Aurora shootings. As for the film itself, it’s okay. It’s a fun little gangster popcorn flick but the major thing that holds this film back from being good is the writing (and I also like to point this out… the writer of this film was hired to pen ‘Justice League’). Character development is there, but only for the two main characters in the film (played by Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling). As for the rest of the cast, including Anthony Mackie, Emma Stone, and Robert Patrick, they’re really not given anything to do. I don’t really want to say anything more about ‘Justice League’ but unless they decide to go for a different writer, I’d be a little worried if I were you, DC fans.

PAIN AND GAIN



Okay, I’m rather surprised that this film ended up in this category because it’s a Michael Bay film and until now, all of his films (good and bad) are always memorable. For the record, like with every Bay film, this film is entertaining but as a film that’s based off of a true, ridiculous, and rather horrific story, the route that Bay takes with this film is an odd one. This is intended to be a comedy and for the first half of the film, which revolves around the main characters kidnapping a rich/spoiled businessman, the film does succeed at doing that. But then the second half of the film starts to change things up, where the ‘protagonists’ (and I use that term loosely because these are murderers we’re talking about here) end up killing two people. This scenario is just too dark for a ‘comedy’, so as a whole, the film is quite uneven. The cast is pretty good (the standout being Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) but if you haven’t seen the film yet, I warn you… this film may not be for everyone.

NOTABLE RECOMMENDATIONS:

Here are a few films that I do recommend…

42



The true-life story of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American baseball player to break the color barrier, is represented pretty well in this film, which can serve as a great introduction to Robinson’s accomplishments. Admittedly though, the film is kind of romanticized. The film is a bit too clean and the struggles that Robinson went through in his first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers weren’t really fully looked into, like the death threats that he received (that’s just mentioned once). But that does not mean that this is a bad film. The acting is solid, especially from newcomer Chadwick Boseman as Robinson, and it’s an entertaining and well-made film even though it could have been a bit more edgy.

WARM BODIES



At first, I wasn’t really that interested in this film because it looked like a zombie version of ‘Twilight’. But once the film started getting good reviews, I decided to give it a chance and thankfully, the movie actually was good because while the story does look like the zombie ‘Twilight’, this is far better written than ‘Twilight’ with much more likable leads. I also have to give kudos to Nicholas Hoult, who does a fantastic job as the male lead ‘R’, who is both charming and likable. Hoult is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors thanks to not just this movie, but another film as well that also came out this year. That other film…

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER



While the box office may say otherwise, I’d say Nicholas Hoult is having quite a year so far. The reason I mention the box office is because right now ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ has been the ‘John Carter’ of the year, having performed poorly at the box office against a rather huge budget. It’s unfortunate because the movie is a fun adventure flick even with a fairly formulaic story. Hoult once again is fantastic in the lead role of Jack, displaying the same charming and likable personality we saw in ‘Warm Bodies’. A solid supporting cast, including Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci, also help the film. So, in the end, this is a fun film even if it may have flopped at the box office.

OBLIVION



In the film industry, we see so many sequels, reboots, and remakes all the time that it’s quite refreshing when an original film like this comes out. Director Joseph Kosinski does a fantastic job at setting up a post-apocalyptic universe and the story keeps your interest throughout along with the interesting characters. Also, like with Kosinski’s last film, the music here (done by M83) is terrific and it’s one of the best scores of the year so far. However, the writing falls apart at the end of the film; it doesn’t really tie up all of the film’s loose ends. Still, as a whole, Oblivion is a rock-solid science fiction film and another solid outing from Kosinski (along with 2010’s ‘Tron: Legacy’). I believe this won’t be the last we hear from this director.

NOW YOU SEE ME



As I said in my review of this film, I get the idea that magicians aren’t really as popular as they were back in the 90’s or earlier than that. I myself have always been of a fan of magic which could be as to why I did really like this film. It’s an entertaining thriller with a top notch cast. But aside from that, the movie actually manages to surprise you, which is quite rare in this modern age where the internet can reveal everything about a movie. Even if you aren’t really a fan of magic, this is a film I do recommend.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY



After back-to-back misfires with ‘Cars 2’ and ‘Brave’, Pixar finally gets back on track with this prequel to Monsters Inc., a film that’s recently become one of my personal favorites from Pixar. It’s a charming and creative look as to how Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan AKA Sulley met while at college after initially being rivals. It’s more appealing to the kids but I’m sure that adults will find it entertaining as well. It’s still not one of Pixar’s best, but after two less than stellar films, it’s good to see the company getting back on track.

THIS IS THE END



Who knew a movie about the end of the world would be so funny, in a good way? That’s exactly what ‘This is the End’ does, thanks in part due to its main cast; each actor/actress playing a fictionalized version of themselves. The six main leads (Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride) work off each other very well, which leads to some very funny, but also really bizarre, moments. It’s easily the best comedy of the year so far.

FAST AND FURIOUS 6



It’s amazing how far the ‘Fast and Furious’ series has come since its beginnings in the early 2000’s. The series has gotten better and better ever since Justin Lin took over as director of the franchise and that’s once again evident with the sixth film. At this point, the filmmakers are aware of how silly this franchise can be and they just roll with it. This film doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. It’s a fun and exciting action film that does defy logic and physics any chance it gets. But still, this is another great entry in a series that has gotten better over the years. Dare I say this is actually the best one yet? Plus, while sadly Justin Lin will not return for the 7^th film, the post-credits scene of this film sets it up pretty darn well.

And now, here are my…

TOP 5 OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

5. IRON MAN 3

‘Iron Man 3’ is another great comic book film from Marvel, especially as the first post-Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For one thing, this film proves that even after a film like ‘The Avengers’, a solo superhero film can still work. ‘Iron Man 3’ is a quite different take on a superhero film, as evident from the creative choices that director/co-writer Shane Black makes in this film, especially a big twist regarding the supposed main villain. As controversial as it is, it worked enough in the story even if it’s quite a drastic change from the comics. Robert Downey Jr. gives what is arguably his best performance as Tony Stark yet in another great outing from Marvel.

4. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS



I had listed this film as my most anticipated film of the year, so did it live up to my expectations? Well, for the most part, it did not disappoint. Sure, it’s not as good as the previous Star Trek film, which is mostly because there are some elements of the film that aren’t really developed as much as others. Also, while the film also features a terrific performance from Benedict Cumberbatch as the main villain, the reveal that he is one of Star Trek’s most iconic villains, Khan, raises an important question; is this film trying to be the modern version of ‘Wrath of Khan’, because there are many similarities between this film and what is easily the best Star Trek film to date. Still, aside from that, the way Khan is used in the film is a pretty good change from what we saw before, the relationship between Kirk and Spock is a definite highlight of the film, and Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are both fantastic in the roles once again. Even with a third act that is admittedly a bit rushed, ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is a rock-solid follow-up to the 2009 reboot.

3. MAN OF STEEL

It may not have been my most anticipated film of the year, but this film had the most going for it, as it’s the film that might set up a ‘DC Cinematic Universe’. I’m pleased to say that ‘Man of Steel’ was quite good and is easily the best Superman film since the first two Christopher Reeve films. It is quite a different take on Superman, but it works very well and you can thank director Zack Snyder for that. Sure, Christopher Nolan might be producing the film, but this is clearly Snyder’s film. Nolan’s influence is more in the writing, which is excellent because it’s the first Superman film to really focus on the character of Superman himself and how he struggles to live amongst us humans when he is an alien from another world. This is actually more the story of Clark Kent, but don’t worry Superman is still just as important. Casting is also superb; Henry Cavill is great as Superman, and both Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner are excellent as Superman’s two fathers and you can see the influence that both have on him. This is pretty much the ‘Batman Begins’ of the Superman franchise and yes, I’m eagerly awaiting not just a sequel, but a Zack Snyder directed sequel. Yes, I doubted him at first after ‘Sucker Punch’ but kudos to the guy for making a great Superman film.

2. THE GREAT GATSBY



Director Baz Luhrmann’s take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel of the same name is easily the most exciting adaptation of the story, thanks in part to Luhrmann’s trademark visual style and very unique soundtrack, which mixes jazz with modern rap and believe it or not, this actually works really well. However, even amidst the visuals, the major themes of the story are still there, including the idea of excess and the decline of the American Dream. The cast is also brilliant, including Leonardo DiCaprio in another Oscar-worthy performance as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as the narrator Nick Carraway, and Carey Mulligan as Gatsby’s old lover Daisy. The writing is fantastic and Luhrmann’s visuals are not distracting to the point that the story and characters aren’t important anymore. It’s a damn fine film, ‘Old Sport’.

1. OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL

It’s hard for a prequel to actually be good, especially when considering that this film is a prequel to one of the most beloved films of all time, 1939’s ‘Wizard of Oz’. I really didn’t go into this film with high expectations but I surprisingly ended up liking this film more than I thought I would. For one thing, it doesn’t suffer from ‘prequelitis’, and the references made towards ‘The Wizard of Oz’ are well-done and are not crammed in there just to be there. Obviously, the visuals are fantastic and this is also one of the few films that I actually recommend seeing in 3-D, as it is well-used here and not distracting. But the writing is also pretty good along with the acting (especially from Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams as the witches Evanora and Glinda, respectively). There is one notable exception in the cast, but that’s more during the second half of the film when that person’s character goes through a change. This is one of the best fantasy films I have seen in a long time and while it may not be as good as the original Wizard of Oz (but come on, that’s a tough act to follow), director Sam Raimi’s take on Oz is certainly the best Oz film since the original classic. Right now, it is my favorite film of 2013 so far.