While the school year is coming to a close someone gave me the idea of doing a top ten best movies of the school year list. But, in an effort to make it more unique than a top ten I decide to do a top six instead.
6. Loope
Joseph Gordon Levitt is going to be the next big hollywood star. He has had some big roles in the past but in the next five or six years he’ll be considered one of the best actors in hollywood easily. Looper is just one of those movies that gets your brain turning, it doesn’t insult your intelligence with past sci fi time traveling conventions. The acting in Looper is just warm and laid back until everything goes sideways and then the action starts picking up, and when it does it is relentless. Looper is just a joy to watch, and will age nicely.
5. Argo
The first time I watched Argo, my immediate reaction was, yeah it’s alright nothing special. Well recently after seeing The Great Gatsby the same day and being utterly disappointed by the over the top acting, I decided to flip on Argo and give it another go. And I was completely floored watching it a second time. Everything was perfect down to the bone, everyone’s performances were excellent because of Ben Affleck’s direction. The key to the movie’s success was that everyone underplayed their roles, so when the tension built it was a lot more effective because we actually cared. Ben Affleck’s no longer the wannabe anything because he has Argo to his name. Take a bow sir, you deserve it.
4. Silver Linings Playbook
There are few times when a movie so thinly plotted can carry this much emotion. But Silver Linings does this with such grace that all the other quips are easily overlooked and you can just enjoy real actors. Jennifer Lawrence is the true star of Silver Linings but praise can’t be overlooked in Bradley Cooper who dares to wear his heart on his sleeve. But the man who let’s all his emotion hang loose is Robert DeNiro, redeeming himself after the last five years of sellouts and disappointments. DeNiro is so on point in this movie that I almost started crying in one particular scene when he starts bearing his soul. And I never cry in a movie or admit to it when I have. David O. Russell has now reached the peak of his career hopefully he stays at this high point, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem.
3. Side by Side
Side by Side, is a documentary about film vs. digital. Film is literally celluloid film that’s been used to shoot movies since the early 1900’s but digital is the usage of pixels to make a moving image (essentially what you use an iphone camera for). Most people can’t tell the difference but the difference between film and digital is huge in the fact that it changes the way actors respond on set and certain decisions made by directors. It may only be interesting to me but I enjoyed it because it says a lot about movies and their power over people. It is a documentary very much for the times we are in right now but it’s a more enjoyable experience than you may think.
2. The Master
The Master is a movie of layers, and every frame is a work of art. First let me explain this film is not for everyone. The Master is an art movie but unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I could try to explain it but I’d just sound stupid so I’m going to sidestep that land mine. All you need to know is that The Master is an abstract piece of work that requires thought and if you enjoy that sort of thing, believe me this is the movie for you. If not you should still watch it for educational purposes.
1. Django Unchained
Everyone who knows me has heard me go on and on about Django Unchained, so it’s only natural it’s at the top of the list. But, originally Django wasn’t my number one, Moonrise Kingdom was. The Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola whimsical masterpiece, but since the film came out in the summer of last year unfortunately I couldn’t put it on the list. However, Django is my favorite film of the year for many reasons, but the main reason is it’s like watching a great American novel. I say that because it’s pretty long but also there are so many great characters in Django Unchained, such as Calvin Candie, Django Freeman, then of course my favorite Dr. King Schultz, the famed dentist turned bounty hunter. Christoph waltz kills it in every scene that he’s in but then again so does Jamie Foxx, but then also you have Leonardo Dicaprio killing it, then simultaneously you have Samuel L. Jackson frying our nerves with nail biting suspense. I was literally flipping out of my seat when all four of those men were on the screen together because it’s pretty entertaining to watch these men work as solo acts but when you gather everyone of them together it’s something beyond explanation. It is just so much of what I love about movies wrapped into one, and I believe in time it will be considered one of the greatest westerns of all time. While people continue to speculate, it’s too violent, or too many curse words. That doesn’t matter, because what transcends time isn’t the controversy but the emotion of great actors and the chronicling of great characters.
Honorable Mention: Moonrise Kingdom and The Dark Knight Rises
