2013 in review: Film

This list feels incomplete without having seen 12 Years a Slave or Her, two of the best reviewed movies of the year, but I want to post my list before it's too late (it's probably already too late--oh well!).

My picks for best films of 2013:

1--Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)

Gravity is a film with tension to spare. Filled with gorgeous visuals, creative direction, and a stellar performance by Sandra Bullock, it makes for the best film I've seen in 2013. So much of the film is a wonder to behold that I don't really want to see how much of it was accomplished behind the scenes. Special effects artists: I love your work. It's magic. But knowing how the trick was accomplished hurts the trick, you know? Anyway. Fantastic film.

2--Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach)

I can honestly say I wasn't a fan of this during the first twenty minutes or so. Then something clicked and I started relating to the character and her ordeals. Frances Ha is both funny and sad, embarrassing and charming, and ultimately a revealing look at creative youth. Does the film owe a lot to Woody Allen (especially the visual style of Manhattan)? Yes. Does that diminish my appreciation for the film? No. This is Baumbach's best film and Greta Gerwig is fast becoming one of my favorite actresses.

3--The World's End (Edgar Wright)

Is it as good as Shaun of the Dead? Well, no. But it's a modern comedy classic anyway. Bold, stupid, and a different kind of brilliant. I love this film.

4--Mud (Jeff Nichols)

Young director Jeff Nichols is not well known to general moviegoers, but he's slowly building up a filmography full of great movies. I liked Shotgun Stories. I really, really liked Take Shelter. And I love Mud. I am continually shocked by what a great actor Matthew McConaughey has become in recent years. The rom-com actor has quickly become one of the more daring leading men of independent film. His performance as the title character Mud is the best work of his career.

5--Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve)

A dark, twisted thriller with great performances from Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. I think much of the film's greatness is thanks to cinematographer Roger Deakins, who instills almost every frame with a cold sense of dread. A superior thriller.

6--Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass)

Tom Hanks and newcomer Barkhad Abdi do excellent work here in Greengrass' true-story thriller. Tom Hanks' final scene is probably the best work of his career.

7--American Hustle (David O. Russell)

I love this cast, especially Bale, Lawrence, and Adams. Every actor does some of their best work here. The film owes much to Scorsese's GoodFellas (except instead of gangsters we're dealing with con artists), but it still has the style and voice of director Russell's finest films.

8--The Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance)

The film operates in a way that I found rather fascinating. Without saying too much, the film focuses on Ryan Gosling's character as if it is his film, then Bradley Cooper enters the film and it becomes his film, then it radically switches things up again. Interesting storytelling. Watching the film felt much like reading a good book, where we act as the only witnesses to the good and bad deeds of the characters on display.

9--The Conjuring (James Wan)

I'm so happy this film became a financial and critical success. We need more horror movies like this. I'm also happy for director James Wan, who is unfortunately remembered as the creator of torture porn because he started the Saw series. First of all, the initial Saw film is still pretty good. But more than that, Wan proves that he's come a long way with The Conjuring, and doesn't require blood and pain to create a good scare. So many cool shots in this film. So many good moments. So many creative scares. It's a shame that good horror film making isn't respected more. This is the work of a true talent.

10--Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro)

I don't believe there was a film I was looking forward to more in 2013. I love Godzilla and kaiju. In a way, I might even think of this film as a disappointment, as it took me two viewings before I came to fully appreciate it. I do wish that the characters felt a little bit more fresh, and I would have liked a somewhat more epic story than just the final days of the resistance, but it is what it is. It's fun, colorful, optimistic storytelling. The visuals of Pacific Rim are so grand and beautiful. It's not Guillermo del Toro's best film, but it's probably Hollywood's best attempt so far at the modern giant monster film.

I'd also like to give some honorable mention to. . .

The Act of Killing--Chilling documentary. Never seen anything quite like it. Don't know if I ever want to see it again.

The Wolverine--The best superhero flick of the year. Every superhero story need not be about saving the world or a city. I quite liked this more personal story and would be happy seeing more like it.

The Lords of Salem--Rob Zombie's best film and a great piece of horror.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire--The first film was good but this is a big step up. I loved some of the comments from uninformed moviegoers at the end "I guess with an ending like that they're hoping to make a third one, huh?" Heh.

Much Ado About Nothing--Joss Whedon does Shakespeare at his house with some of his friends and films it all. It's a fun movie for fans of Whedon's past works, but in addition to that it's also a fine Shakespeare adaptation. Nathan Fillion steals the show.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug--I don't have a lot of love for An Unexpected Journey, but this is a step in the right direction. Still not up to the level of The Lord of the Rings, but it's a fine fantasy film, and it makes me excited to see Part 3.

The Wolf of Wall Street--Good but not great Martin Scorsese film.

Blue Jasmine--If Cate Blanchett doesn't win Best Actress at the Oscars then something is very wrong.

Spring Breakers--I might hate every character in the movie, but I was entranced by the film. James Franco's a mad man.

Man of Steel--It's my favorite Superman movie. . . What?

Drug War--Johnnie To is one of the best action filmmakers in the world. The final 20 minutes of Drug War are amazing.

Before Midnight--So raw, so angry. Sad, yet maybe hopeful. Maybe. It's not as charming as Before Sunrise or Before Sunset, but it's an interesting, bold take on life and love when the best days of being together are in the past.

Europa Report--A 'found-footage' sci-fi thriller that works quite well.

Blackfish--I'm never going to SeaWorld again.

Stoker--Chan-wook Park's first English film isn't quite as good as his Korean works, but the visual storytelling and dark ideas are still there. This is a film I look forward to revisiting.

Lone Survivor--A very good war film. Thrilling action but emotional, too. Peter Berg's best film.

All in all, a very good year for film. Looking forward to seeing all the greats that I missed, plus all the new 2014 films on the horizon.

2013 in review: Books

My favorite reads of 2013

I must confess that I did not read any 2013 novels (at least I can’t remember any—so if I did, they’re not worth mentioning). Most of my reading was focused on older books, some of them published long before I was born.

Top 3 favorite novels read in 2013: 

1) The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut—One of my favorite books of all time is Slaughterhouse Five, which I read a few years back. Since then, I’ve been picking up a new Vonnegut book whenever I can. The Sirens of Titan ranks as my third favorite of the Vonnegut books I’ve read so far (behind Slaughterhouse Five and Mother Night). It’s epic, funny, sad, endlessly imaginative, and perhaps the most challenging of all Vonnegut’s novels (a main character has a name change half-way through, without warning or immediate explanation). The Sirens of Titan is the work of a genius author.

 

2) Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz—Friends and family had been recommending this book to me for years. Finally picked it up and found the book well-deserving of their praise. At first, I must admit, I did not like it. I was not prepared for the hour-by-hour storytelling (most the book takes place over a few days). Once I got past that, I found the book very readable, with a charming lead character, and a full universe of weird characters and supernatural weirdness. This is my favorite Dean Koontz book. I may read the other Odd books later on.

3) Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut—Perhaps Vonnegut’s funniest novel. A story full of weird, sideways looks at the meaning of life, God, humanity’s madness, and used cars as only Kurt Vonnegut could tell it. It’s a little light on plot, but it has all the other goods.

Favorite graphic novel/comic:

Godzilla: The Half-Century War by James Stokoe—Hey, I think this was a 2013 release! Okay, I don’t read a whole lot of comics anymore, but I try to keep up with the good ones, and the releases related to my favorite fandoms. I love Godzilla. Half-Century War features some awesome art and an original Godzilla story, spanning 50 years of one soldier’s obsession with killing/hunting/understanding Godzilla. I really enjoyed it.

Short Story: 

Zombie by Chuck Palahniuk—Ooo, this was from 2013, too! How ‘bout that? I haven’t read many of Chuck Palahniuk’s books, but I love this little short. It’s sad, strange, and kind of wonderful. Telling the story of the youth of the nation willingly lobotomizing themselves with the use of defibrillators to avoid responsibility and conflict, Palahniuk navigates some dark territory, but I think he ends the story in a beautiful way. It can be read online on Playboy’s safe for work website. Here: http://playboysfw.kinja.com/zombie-a-new-original-short-story-by-chuck-palahniuk-1465542446

Non-Fiction:

A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series, Second Edition by David Kalat—Did I mention I like Godzilla? I do! I also like David Kalat, he’s a great film historian and has recorded some really good film commentaries over the years. This is a great textbook detailing behind-the-scenes information and the deeper meanings behind the Godzilla films. Whereas most are willing to write off Godzilla movies as brainless entertainment, Kalat raises some interesting points about the political subtext in the finer films, but isn’t afraid to admit when a movie sucks. I think this is the best book I’ve ever read on the Godzilla series. (note that the book cover presented here is for the 1st edition, not the expanded 2nd edition which I read)

2013 in review: TV

So I’m a couple weeks late doing this, but whatever.

2013.

Big year. Kind of a sucky year in a lot of ways, but I can’t ignore its importance for the world, and for me.

I just want to give some love to the books, movies, music, and TV that were introduced to me in 2013.

Best TV:

1—Breaking Bad—I actually didn’t start watching Breaking Bad until 2013, so the final season was the only season I watched ‘live’ with the rest of the world. After watching just two episodes of the first season, I realized what an error I had made, and quickly zoomed through everything to get caught up. The final season of Breaking Bad was great. It will be remembered as one of the finest shows ever made and it deserves that kind of recognition. 

2—Mad Men—2013’s season started off kind of wonky, but quickly became one of the series’ best. The finale hints at interesting things to come. And now with Breaking Bad out of the way, the discussion of what is the best show on TV just got a little bit easier.

3—Hannibal—I’ve always liked the Thomas Harris books and their film adaptations, so I was uncertain what to think when it was announced there would be a Hannibal TV show—and on NBC? It didn’t sound like a good idea to me, but the show is some kind of fantastic. Hugh Dancy creates the best version of Will Graham to date and Mads Mikkelsen is great as Dr. Lecter. Mikkelsen plays the part as though he had never seen Hopkins in the role and the show is better for it. Hannibal is charming, yes, but he’s more a monster than Hopkins ever allowed himself to be. The writing is great and the cinematography is at a level higher than anything I can remember seeing on network TV. Hannibal is the best new show of 2013. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here—I only hope that the ratings improve so that the show is around for years to come.

And some honorable mention for The Americans, The Bridge, Sleepy Hollow, Orange is the New Black, and The Blacklist.

Lacking an HBO subscription, I haven’t seen the latest Game of Thrones season yet. Otherwise it’d probably rank pretty high, too. The Blu-Ray shall be mine!

The show that took the biggest step back from greatness in 2013 for me was Justified. I don’t know if the show will ever be better than it was in its second season (though season 3 came close), but last year wasn’t that great. I mean, it was okay, it was still Justified. . . but something about season four just seemed kind of tired. I’m hoping that doesn’t mean 2014’s season will be just the same. But hey, Patton Oswalt was cool!

Most disappointing new show of 2013: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.—I wanted this to be good. Seemed like it should be good. I mean, Marvel was doing almost everything right lately. How could this show go so wrong? It’s not what I expected (I thought it’d utilize the lower ranking superheroes of Marvel’s roster, but no. . .), but that’s not the reason it disappoints. The show is kind of entertaining, but it’s so damn safe. It’s losing viewers every week, which should be a wakeup call to the showrunners, but I don’t know if they’re going to fix it in time to save their creation. They seem willing to pull every punch possible, resulting in the least daring action TV show of 2013. I mean, not everything has to be edgy (I wouldn’t call Marvel’s films edgy, with the exception of maybe Iron Man 1 & 3). The show is a thriller where everyone invariably lands on their feet with a smile. Maybe that’s cool to some people. For me, it’s getting old. The show needs a massive overhaul in season two.

Worst new show of 2013: The Following. So stupid it’s almost funny.

Here’s to 2014! More Mad Men, Hannibal, Justified, Game of Thrones, and all the rest, plus the return of 24, and some promising looking newbies like Helix, Black Sails, True Detective, and maybe Rake.

Good bye, Breaking Bad. I feel like I was just getting to know you.

Writing advice you never asked for: Make 'Em Suffer

“Life is suffering and suffering is life.”

~sounds like a quote from an Ingmar Bergman film~

No life is worth living in which we are not challenged in some way.

No book is worth reading when the characters are not similarly challenged.

I’m sorry to say it, but there are some bad days ahead for all of us. It’s true. Know what though? There are plenty of bad days behind us, too. But we survived those bastards, so we can sure as hell survive whatever the future has in store. Because we’re smarter now, stronger somehow, and maybe a little bit braver. The bad days have helped define who and what we are just as much as the happy days.

A tale with characters that learn nothing, fight the easy fight, and come out unscathed is worthless to me. You have to make them suffer in some way to bring about change. You have to show them at their worst before they can be their best. You have to break them before they can ever be whole.

That’s not to say that everything need be depressing. You don’t need to pour that suffering on like syrup over pancakes (I like the Butter Pecan syrup the most myself -- but that's not important, I suppose). You should get an idea of a reader’s expectations before you decide to make the main character a one-eyed little girl who can’t walk or talk and lost her puppy last year to Tropical Storm Billy. Different genres have different expectations of a character’s crisis. For example, comedies full of death can either be bold or off-putting. Know what you write and write what you know. You know?

A character’s suffering can come in many ways. A divorce? A zombie horde taking everything the hero has ever known? The super villain who wants to reveal the hero’s day job? The serial killer who works in such a way that it’s driving the protagonist to the edge? The death of a loved one? The painful misunderstanding that led to the loss of a friend? 

Crisis. Sadness. Suffering. Madness. Pain. Depression. Oppression. Love/Loss. Whatever.

We can draw from our own lives if it’s applicable or we can draw (carefully) from real-world happenings or fictional dramas. There’s no rule for where you have to get your inspiration. Suffering can be very real or very unreal, but it’s required in some way to make the characters real. 

It’s the fuel that drives all fiction.

Without it, your fiction is born lifeless, with nowhere to go, with nothing to learn, and without a reader who cares.

So give ‘em hell.