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The DVDVR Best Films of 2013!


caley

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02. Gravity - 65 Points (11 Votes, Highest Votes: Cameron Swift and The Damn Yeti's #1 Film of 2013! Other High Votes: The Natural [#2], Fat Spanish Waiter [#3], Jingus [#3]).

 

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron.  Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

 

WHAT CRITICS SAID: "Believe the hype: Gravity is as jaw-droppingly spectacular as you've heard - magnificent from a technical perspective but also a marvel of controlled acting and precise tone." -Christy Lemire.

 

WHAT DVDVR SAID: "Just got back from seeing this in IMAX 3D and it was one of the absolute most incredible experiences I've ever had in a theater. Words cannot describe how amazing this movie was. When it was over I sat there till the end of the credits just taking in what I'd seen. Give Sandra Bullock the oscar now, give the movie best picture, special effects, cinematography, score, etc..

 

If anyone is reading this and you haven't seen this yet, go see this in the theater in 3D (IMAX if possible) NOW.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a film that benefited from 3D and IMAX like this..."

-keith_h

 

Leonardo-DiCaprio-and-Jonah-Hill-in-The-

 

01. The Wolf of Wall Street - 75 Points (9 Votes, Highest Vote: Niners Fan in CT's #1 Film of 2013! Other High Votes: The Damn Yeti [#2], Fat Spanish Waiter [#2], throughsilver [#2], Ron L21 [#3], Hollinger [#3], Chaos [#4], Cameron Swift [#5]). 

 

Directed by Martin Scorsese.  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chanlder, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau and Jean Dujardin.

 

WHAT CRITICS SAID: "Scorsese unleashes a furious, yet exquisitely controlled, kinetic energy, complete with a plunging and soaring camera, mercurial and conspicuous special effects, counterfactual scenes, subjective fantasies, and swirling choreography on a grand scale." -Richard Brody

 

WHAT DVDVR SAID: "A lesser director would have stuck some moral judgement in there, but Scorsese just throws it all in your face.  It's brilliant in a way.

 

Way too long, but Leo goes all out.  There is also some midget tossing and probably one of the best drug freak out scenes of all time." -Jrag

 

(My apologies if this is any kind of spoiler, but TWoWS was the only one in the Top 5 I haven't seen, so I had to guess on a scene that was available on Youtube!)

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Captain Phillips ended up being a casualty of me changing up the scoring a little bit.

 

In the first scoring method I used, we ended up with a Top 10 of

1. Wolf of Wall Street

2. Gravity

3. Her

4. 12 Years A Slave

5. American Hustle

6. Before Midnight

7. Prisoners

8. Act of Killing

9. Inside Llewyn Davis

10. This is the End

40. Captain Phillips (It had 6 votes but no one put it higher than 11th)

 

I liked this well enough, but it ended up putting a bunch of 1-vote films into the Top 20 which I thought looked a little silly, so I went with method #2 which kept the #1 films on the list, but outside the Top 20.  On that second list,  Captain Phillips was 49th.

 

I'm not really thrilled with the scoring methods, still, but I'm not smart enough to come up with anything better.  It's kind of awful that a movie with 6 votes didn't make our list (Only God Forgives had 4 votes and also didn't make the list) while ones with 1-2 did, but I wanted to reward movies that people LOVED rather than people went "I saw it and it was a movie!" and throw it on the end of the list.

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BTW, here's my Top 10

 

01. Nebraska

02. Her

03. Short Term 12

04. To the Wonder

05. Inside Llewyn Davis

06. Upstream Color

07. Gimme the Loot

08. Prince Avalanche

09. Mud

10. Gravity

 

So, 8 of those placed, so I'm fairly happy.

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I really need to post here more. That I was the only vote for Filth was something that could have easily been rectified had I just told people to watch it. Absolutely brilliant stuff. 

 

Side Effects was pretty good, but when it came to the list, I forgot I even saw it. 

 

The Act of Killing is awful. Brilliantly made, and insanely moving. But I feel dirty recommending it to anyone. Truly the dark side of human existence. 

 

There are just too many films I missed at the cinema. Boobs. I'll be better in 2014.

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I really need to post here more. That I was the only vote for Filth was something that could have easily been rectified had I just told people to watch it. Absolutely brilliant stuff. 

 

Side Effects was pretty good, but when it came to the list, I forgot I even saw it. 

 

The Act of Killing is awful. Brilliantly made, and insanely moving. But I feel dirty recommending it to anyone. Truly the dark side of human existence. 

 

There are just too many films I missed at the cinema. Boobs. I'll be better in 2014.

I've been toying with a 'Best of 2014' thread that runs all year long, so people can post half-way lists, discuss 2014 flicks, list other folk's lists (critics and such) and bring attention to underseen films.  I'm not sure if enough people would post in it to make it worthwhile, though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

tumblr_mkn37z8KuU1rhighzo1_5001.jpg

20. The Place Beyond the Pines - 15 Points (3 Votes, Highest Vote: The Damn Yeti & Chaos [#5]).

Directed by Derek Cianfrance. Starring Ryan Goslin, Eva Mendes, Bradley Cooper, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne, Bruce Greenwood, Ray Liotta, Emory Cohen and Dane DeHaan.

WHAT CRITICS SAID: "This is a story about legacy, the sins of the father, the restlessness in our souls. It's powerful, bold, it hits you hard." -Steven Rea

WHAT DVDVR SAID: "The Place Beyond the Pines was really good as I expected, just not in the ways I expect

ed. It might be th

e last year, big time sleeper crime film. There were points at the start where I was going to give up on it but if you stay with it... damn."-Curt McGirt

I agree about the patience. The movie went in a different direction than I was expecting.

Great movie.

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I thought the first story of Place Beyond was really spectacular, but the second and third chapters did basically nothing for me whatsoever.  They weren't bad per se, but they didn't strike me as anything worth recommending.

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The Act of Killing is awful. Brilliantly made, and insanely moving. But I feel dirty recommending it to anyone. Truly the dark side of human existence.

 

While the subject of this story is in the past, it made me feel the same way the amazing "It's not happening here, but it is happening now" campaign for Amnesty International does: Supremely uncomfortable for all the right reasons.

 

 

8YRPhhJ.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just watched Prisoners, and it would probably sneak in to my top 5. Definitely top 10. Intense violence, while mostly implied, great performances from everyone, and an epic, brooding evil that permeates every scene after the first 5 minutes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Saw 'Kings of Summer' last night and that would have figured prominently onto my list had I seen it in time.

 

Also, dammit, Preston, you could've helped 'Nebraska' (Also my #1) go even higher!

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