Wednesday 1 January 2014

Favourite Movies of 2013

When I was writing out my list of favourites for my blog today, I realised that I have too many for one post. I filled up a whole page with things I loved from 2013 and if I want to explain the reasoning behind each one, it would become a short novel in no time. Lord knows I like to waffle on. So instead I decided to split it up and do a few post of favourites back to back! Exciting right? I thought I’d start with movies, because it was the hardest to determine. I had 9 answers to this but managed to narrow it down to my top action, drama, kids, comedy and then the rest.

Action: Iron Man 3

As the highest grossing movie of 2013 I’m pretty sure there are a lot of people who will agree with me on this. The film’s wit and cynicism breaks through the violence and unbelievability of the matter to make it incredibly entertaining. I find Tony Stark is one of the most entertaining characters in film at the moment. The storyline was different to the common superhero movie fodder, which I suppose it had to be by the third one to keep people buying tickets. Between this and Thor (which I didn’t like quite as much) I am so excited for the next Avengers.




Drama: Great Gatsby

Leonardo DiCaprio hits it out of the park in another of Baz Luhrman’s masterpieces. I do not love this quite as much as I love Romeo + Juliet, but nothing was going to come close to the pedestal on which I hold that film. DiCaprio portrays Gatsby just as I imagined while reading the book and even Toby McGuire grew on me throughout the film. The dreamlike shots and awesome soundtrack helped distract from the fact that the film was so long. 





Kids: Frozen

Frozen took the top spot in the kids section from Despicable Me 2 by a hair. I am a old school Disney girl at heart so a movie about magic princesses who sing would have sucked me in no matter what. The lead characters were traditional in the best ways but they got rid of all the gender imbalance and racism the older films struggled with. I was so happy that the true loves kiss didn’t save the day and everyone was outraged when Ana announced her engagement to a man she just met. These are the kinds of messages we need to share with the children of today. The soundtrack was outstanding and only deepened my admiration of Kristen Bell and Ida Menzel. Olaf and Sven, the adorable witty sidekicks, were just the icing on the cake. 

Comedy: We’re The Millers 

The second I saw Kenny do the rap in Waterfalls I was sold. I’m not really sure what made this film stand out over the other two comedies in my favourites this year, but when it came down to the crunch I just had to choose this. It is the great American road trip with a twist, a heap of drugs. I would have thought this movie to be too gross and inappropriate for my tastes, but it has a certain endearing quality that comes from the characters becoming a family. In my eyes, Jennifer Aniston can do no wrong and the second best part of the film was the end credits when they surprised her with the Friends theme song. 




Honorable Mentions Go To: 

Identity Thief - A combinations of two of my favourite actors from two of my favourite TV shows of all time (Melissa McCarthy - Gilmore Girls and Jason Bateman - Arrested Development) and fantastic screen writer Craig Mazin (see Saturday’s post about Internet Favourites). This movie is hilarious and thats all I need. 

Now You See Me - Though I wasn't intrigued the whole way through, it was an interesting premise that I had never seen before. At the start it lost me for a little while because I didn’t see it going anywhere interesting, but then it got me back and I was hooked until the end. The twist nearly killed me! 

The Heat - I went to see this with my Mum for her birthday and even my Grandma couldn’t stop laughing (granted I have a really cool Grandma). Melissa McCarthy is undeniably hilarious and should be in every comedy film ever made. Sandra Bullock makes any movie she is in a hit. With some classic one liners and an interesting take on the buddy cop trope, The Heat is one of the funniest movies of the year. 

Despicable Me 2 - I have already said that this movie is one of the best and it deserved its spot as the 2nd highest earning film of 2013. It is a testament to the writing and production that I went to see it with a group of teenagers and we all loved it far more than we thought we should have. I can’t be the only one who wanted their own minions after seeing it (preferably pink ones, just to mix it up). 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Last but not least is the movie that far surpassed my love for the first film. Though people complain about the abrupt ending, as a big fan of the book series, I understand that this was how the stories roll. Jennifer Laurence is simply the best human being out there and that is final. 



Make sure to check back in tomorrow - you can follow the blog if that is easier - because I’m going to be telling you about my TV and Music favourites of 2013. 

Lots of Love, 

Shannon xo

Make sure you follow me on twitter for more fun and games: @shanny_hudson


PS: I know I’m posting this a day early, but since I’m posting everyday for the next few days I thought it wouldn’t do any harm to post one early. 
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