I did this last year, so I thought I'd eke in the illusion of structure to my sporadic blogging by doing it again this year. Despite now owning two cinema memberships, and having acquired a job as a film writer for a UK geek culture website, I've been a bit lazier with the cinema this year compared to the filmicly more formidable 2012. Either way, I've seen at least 11 films, so that's enough to compile a top 10. Unfortunately my laziness has prevented me from including films that I'm sure should be included, and my resolution for next year is to go to the cinema more. I lament the celebrated pictures I missed, and will surely catch them on DVD when the time comes and perhaps blog about them then. Until then...
Byzantium
On paper, the premise 'Teenage vampire finds romance in a quiet town' should have had me running for the hills, given the precedent for such films. But Byzantium, starring the always remarkable Saorise Ronan, is a very different, rawer animal to anything that may have sprung to mind upon reading the previous sentence. Described by director Neil Jordan as 'Nirvana to Twilight's bubblegum pop,' the film is a visceral, perpetually eerie modern take on the quintessential British horror story with all the best tropes present and correct; spooky coastal villages, abandoned funfairs, blood 'n guts (used sparingly) and vampirism by moonlight - the way it should be. Inter-cut with some impressive period backstory featuring Johnny Lee Miller at his most deliciously detestable, Byzantium went largely under the public radar, as most effective British horror movies tend to do.
Frozen
The prefix 'From the Makers of Wreck-It-Ralph' would put any animated flick in good stead with me, but nonetheless Frozen really took me by surprise. An all-singing, all-dancing return to cheesy fairy tale form for Disney, the wintery adventure evokes the '90s golden age of the animation studio, placing itself alongside The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, oozing childish nostalgia despite its formidable CGI. A great, uplifting closure for family cinema in 2013, with the rather dated, anti-feminist 'values' of its memorable predecessors revised and cleaned up (falling head over heels in love at first sight with a Prince is now frowned upon and the value of self beyond status is made a factor). That aside, there's an hilarious, enchanted snowman who steals the show from the moment he pops up a third of the way into the flick. Good times were had by all.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
While last year's introduction to Panem and the grisly games is an underrated classic of dystopian Sci-fi, this year's sequel takes us further into the drained, war-torn districts of Suzanne Collins' young adult fiction series and the fallout of Katniss and Peeta's unprecedented double victory in the first film rears its ugly head as the driving force this time around. The result is a sombre, dramatic and edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that even manages to squeeze in some sharp deconstruction of the falsities of celebrity culture. Jennifer Lawrence outdoes herself with her superb portrayal of Katniss - a young woman taking a gradual turn toward the warrior society is forcing her to become, and survivor guilt plays out over every nuance of her phenomenal performance. The final act is characteristically breathtaking, and even terrifying, as the continued build-up of the police state's anger with our young survivors promises to be even more brutal before the series is over.
Thor: The Dark World
The Marvel sequel, overseen by Game of Thrones' Alan Taylor, is a far more courageously fantasy-based entry to the comic book universe than the first Thor, and shares a fair bit with its brutal small-screen cousin. Taylor delves deep into the visually stunning nine-realms of outer space, gives us more well-deserved time with the inhabitants of Asgard - glorified set-dressing the first time round - and devotes, as was predicted, a large amount of screen-time to the troubled relationship between noble meathead Thor and the superbly snide Loki. Tom Hiddleston remains the runaway hit of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there's even a surprise, riotous cameo from Captain America to whet our appetites for his forthcoming sequel. While Natalie Portman's love interest remains surplus to requirements and Christopher Eccleston's villain is strangely underwhelming, The Dark World has enough going for it to render it a fresh, fun take on the gradually tiring comic book movie - with an Earth-bound final act set piece that is rather unexpectedly comedic in its execution, and all the more memorable for it.
Iron Man 3
Hot on the heels of 2012's phenomenal superhero team-up flick Avengers Assemble, Iron Man 3 had the rather nerve-wracking task of delivering something that could match up to that effort, but with only one superhero to play with (and to improve upon 2010's lacklustre Iron Man 2). Thankfully, Lethal Weapon's Shane Black inherited the tetchy billionaire philanthropist and gave us a sharp, funny buddy movie that was rightly low key in comparison to what had come before. Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, suffering from PTSD after his explosive New York runaround, is a more reflective and empathetic creature than previously, engaging in some wonderful two-handers with Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ty Simpkins as his girlfriend, his best pal and a befriended kid respectively. There are shades of Black's '80s cop classic (the Christmas setting and the banter between Downey and Cheadle among them) and a divisive character twist with Ben Kingsley's perceived antagonist which some have called a disservice to the (dated) source material but which is really the most inventive thing anyone has done with a comic book villain in decades. If this is the be the last of Iron Man's solo outings, then it ended on a high note.
This is the End
Barely thirty seconds into this unexpected comedic/apocalyptic triumph, Seth Rogen (playing himself) is heckled by a passer-by in an airport lounge, who asks why he always plays the same character in every movie. From then on the self-aware, self-deprecating nature of This is the End is set and we know we are in safe, hilarious hands. No appearing actor is left unscathed, whether that be by the fantastical threat that threatens to impale them at every turn or by the script's own razor-sharp roasting of its non-fictional characters. James Franco plays up his smug, artisan persona while Oscar-fresh Jonah Hill is an insufferable, self-important twerp. There are two incredible cameos from a sleazy Michael Cera and a foul-mouthed Emma Watson (shredding Hermione Grainger to bits with every F-bomb dropped) and if the wall-to-wall laughs weren't enough, there are even some clever twists along the way. Of course the film delves into absurdity by the end, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
The World's End
Parallels were inevitably drawn between the aforementioned This is the End and Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy closer The Worlds' End, given their neighbouring release dates and similar contents, but if viewed as pond-crossing companion pieces, the two work surprisingly well as an unexpected double bill. While This is the End frames its apocalyptic narrative with a no-holds-barred, frontal attack on Hollywood culture and excess, The World's End is an in-your-face, satirical grumble on the monopolisation of British pub culture ("Starbucking," as one character puts it) and the loss of identity in peripheral suburb towns personified by an invading force of hive-minded robots. That, and it fully retains the trilogy's kinetic, sizzling wit and charm - with enough genre references to make a nerd's eyes bleed. Simon Pegg plays out of left field as a thoroughly unlikeable and deeply troubled anti-hero (his most interesting role to date), while post Scott Pilgrim Wright is at his directorial best with the expanding number of inventive set-pieces and rolling, visual flair in bringing to life his small-town apocalypse. Fast and funny, The World's End may not prove as memorable or quotable as its predecessors Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (though it's certainly funnier than the latter), but it is the third installment the geek-friendly trilogy deserves, and its repeat value remains in full glory alongside its genre-spanning kin.
Gravity
If you'd have told me a few years ago that two hours of Sandra Bullock floating through a black void would be some of the most intense, exciting cinema ever filmed I'd probably have laughed you out of the room. And I'd have been deeply wrong. Gravity is an intense, unsettling roller coaster ride through space taking its simple premise by force and making better use of the 3D format (something which I have decried before) than any of its contemporaries. Alfonso Cuaron, previously known for little more than a solitary entry in the Harry Potter film franchise, puts the audience squarely into the fold and as Bullock's Ryan Stone drags and pulls herself through darkest space in a life or death effort to return to Earth, you'll feel as though you lived through it with her. Time will tell whether or not Gravity will fare as well on the small screen, but as 3D event cinema goes, nothing else comes close.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
I couldn't bring myself to include last year's An Unexpected Journey in my 2012 top 10, as despite being an enjoyable and welcome return to Tolkein's fantasy world, it just didn't cut it against the rest of what I saw that year. It was overlong, with far too much unnecessary padding that felt to me as though the expansion from two films to three was leaving stretch marks on the franchise. No such issue this time around, as Peter Jackson has delivered a taut, exciting fantasy film that dusts off the problems of its predecessor and is ultimately more confident in itself, more engaging and makes better use of its rather large ensemble cast. There is a real sense of growing menace only alluded to the first time round, and yet The Desolation of Smaug never strays too far from its more youthful, jovial tone. Nor does it feel longer than necessary at any point. New arrivals, save for charisma vacuum Orlando Bloom's Legolas, all fit comfortably into the mix and help to add more and more depth to this ever-expanding world. Of course I'm talking about Smaug himself, the smoothest-talking dragon this side of Sean Connery in Dragonheart. Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, he snatches the thunder from Sherlock pal Martin Freeman and runs the film into dreaded, fiery darkness, giving us Middle Earth's greatest ever antagonist.
Filth
Irvine Welsh's grimy, unstoppable novel about addiction, degradation and insanity gets a big screen adaptation that makes Trainspotting look like Love Actually. James McAvoy's blistering police officer Bruce Robertson inhabits an Edinburgh without charm or optimism as he wiles away his crumbling existence by sleeping around, burying his face into piles of cocaine and suffering vivid flashbacks to a childhood trauma. There are no punches pulled in this documentation of a fragile yet brutal man descending into depravity at both the cost of himself and those around him. It is harrowing, arresting and darkly hilarious from beginning to end, and matches no film this year in its frank visualisation of pure, human filth. Galleries of photocopied penises, nightmares of bestiality, cross-dressing sadomasochism and continual police brutality are all present and correct in the filthiest, funniest British black comedy in decades.
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