oh man guess I have to get ready again!! what an exciting day off. I haven't left my couch all day.

Alright I'm grabbing 2013, a stupidly strong year in movies. I'll just run through 10 that I loved and then make a laundry list after that.

One woman's fight to survive ridiculous odds in GRAVITY. She is the perfect embodiment of the human spirit and indeed the American spirit.



Speaking of Fellini, the Italian film The Great Beauty channels the master in a way that few films have done in the past. Little dodgy at the beginning, but builds into something great. The cinematography and score are both strong, like ox.



This is a year where the females just trounced the men in acting roles, and Short Term 12 is another one with a great female lead. My girl Brie Larson getting it done as a counselor for foster children.



A bit of a divisive movie, but I loved Frances Ha. Little like the movie Manhattan transported to the year 2013, with a few hipsters thrown in. Very Woody Allen-esque....



...and Woody Allen put out another fine drama Blue Jasmine, about a slightly deranged, and newly broke, socialite. Blanchett got the Oscar for it, but Sally Hawkins is her equal in their scenes.



Tobias is saying I need a little more blue, so also gotta mention Blue is the Warmest Color. A powerful coming of age story in France, a story of sexual discovery and growing up. This is a great movie to watch with your parents. Adele is ridiculous in this movie, both in acting ability and hotness.



Wolf of Wall Street, another fine piece of family filmmaking, is Scorsese tackling Wall Street with his modern day De Niro, Leonardo Dicaprio. Hilarious, riveting, revolting, entertaining. Scorsese gonna Scorsese.



Inside Llewyn Davis is another divisive film, although I think people merely reject the simplicity of the story. I had some really interesting things to say about this movie at one point, but I've since forgotten them. Anyway, I really enjoyed this. The Coens are allergic to making bad movies...very few duds in a long filmography.



2013 saw the conclusion of Richard Linklater's decade-spanning trilogy with Before Midnight. A mature film about the triumphs and pitfalls of a relationship, and a satisfying ending to the tale of these two souls.



This year also had a bunch of very good documentaries. From The Act of Killing (below) to Blackfish to Dirty Wars to Stories We Tell, and my personal favorite, a quirky love story called Cutie and the Boxer.



Honorable mentions: Rush, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Mud, The Past, Place Beyond the Pines, Side Effects, The Way, Way Back, and Prisoners. A lot more after that, too.

There were even two pretty damn good horror movies in 2013: The Conjuring and You're Next.

Oh man that's a great pick. Don't forget 2013 was also the year Ridley Scott made the divisive but truly phenomenal film The Counselor.

Cro is on the clock. Please PM him domer. Thank you!

domer,

That 1957 list is hot.

I just say Witness for the Prosecution. Saw 12 Angry men (again) not too long ago. Just mentioned Seventh Seal repeatedly in the other thread - love that.

I haven't seen the others (not even Paths of Glory). Will be seeing if any of them are on Netflix tonight.

some great choices in the 16hrs I slept!
busto thanks for posting my write up.

all the years were good (tho I haven't watched as many 1889 films as I've been meaning too :/)

esp love 93.

true romance is one of my all time fav films, and one of my all time musical scores.

one of my fav lines of dialogue in tombstone:

someone says to doc holliday:

"where's Wyatt?" (after crazy shootout)

"he's down by the river walking on water"

god val kilmer killed that role.

so in my delirious state of exhaustion i made a pretty big misstatement when i said unforgiven and TAOJJBTCRF would be tied for my fav westerns ever.

there is a 3rd that might top both of them, but i won't mention it as the year hasn't been drafted.
just had to get that on record.

i'm taking 2012, Yodas Butler has been PMd. writeup coming soon

ya great write ups on both your picks.

i LOVED inside llewyn davis.

also loved your screen shots for that n WOWs.
that pic of leo on the boat so great.

microbet,

watch paths of glory immediately.
absolute masterpiece.

Paths of Glory is great. Shut off all the lights, grab a six pack, and enjoy.

Paths of Glory is on Netflix instant. I'm not going to watch it until the kids aren't around - no distractions.

Oh didn't realize that the draft then went in reverse order.

micro, I think you'll be glad you catch it before Kirk Douglas dies.

many movies being listed ITT are average/awful. initial pick by domer is great, but then.. 2013?

1996...u missed arguably the GOAT movie form that year, fargo.

+1 on paths of glory. Saw if for first time 2 years ago maybe. emotional yoyo, and camera work ahead of its time. home to kubrick's most subtle dark humor imo.

i love the choice of going with 2013. That was a badass year in movies. Convincing post for it too.

never heard of cutie and the boxer before. lol at that write up on blue is the warmest color.

Well it's 9am, I'm at work, I won't be back to post for like 11 or 12 hours! Sorry! Will be reading all these at lunch time.

would it be possible to update the OP with a list of the years selected.

I like the choice of 2013. The Act of Killing was...well I'm not sure what to say about it really. Gut wrenching is the first thought that comes to mind. Important, surely. The picture it paints of human nature is extremely bleak. Probably the film I remember most from 2013.

I'm your huckleberry.

who's on the clock?

I think me.. But I cant do anything until I get home i will be selecting 1984 though.

ok well since i'm first up after you and picking a different year and i will be asleep well past my turn to post i assume its ok if i post my write up now.


i apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors i'm really tired.



with my first round pick i chose a year that had the largest selection of films on my favorites list.

for my 2nd pick im going to go with a period that transformed the film industry in a dramatic and profound way.
and since this pick is much more about the transformational and influential aspect rather then simply a collection of movies i really like i'm going to write more about why i'm choosing this year, then the actual movies in the year itself.



the 70's ushered in the era of the filmmaker.

wrestling away total control from the studio heads, directors like bogdanovich, ashby, altman, coppola, evans, fonda, friedkin, betty, hopper, lucas, scorsese and schrader, took complete visionary control of a project taking it from pre-production to the editing room to the theatre in dramatic and often contentious fashion.

caring little for budget overages, extended schedules, social norms, audience expectations, or "moral decency" the film sets were often riddled with heated fights, lots of drugs and most of all creative ingenuity.

the world of cinema had never seen anything like these "cowboys" of filmmaking and while it eventually collapsed upon itself due to the hubris, rampant sex and drug abuse, and overall disdain for the financiers, it forever changed the way movies were made and seen and paved the way for the second cinematic revolution that would come 20years later with the new wave of independent directors like tarentino, soderberg and company.

for the most part up to this point movies were made by the studio, and while this new wave of filmmakers still made films within the studio system, they were most certainly not the studio movies of years past.

heavily influenced by european films and european directors, the 70's saw films that while most assuredly american in every way, could almost be described a time of french films re imagined thru the eyes of stoned sexed up young american directors.

nearly every major director i listed was a raging egomaniac, most were almost impossible to work with/for, most were high as a kite nearly all the time on set and off, and many casting decisions were made based on who was ****ing who, or who wanted to **** who.

if you're interested in a much better and much more comprehensive look at a truly revolutionary period in american cinema i highly recommend reading peter biskind's "easy rider and raging bulls: how the sex-drugs-and-rock n roll generation saved hollywood".

its a fascinating and incredibly well researched/written look at a whole generation of filmmakers, who's impact on the future of cinema can not be over stated.

oh and they also made a bunch of really awesome films.

i had a hard choice deciding which year i wanted to pick.
you could basically throw a dart at a list of years from 1969-1979 and you wouldn't land on a bad year to pick, and while there are def years in this time period that are more well known, more influential, and prolly higher up on my all time fav list, the first film i write about is just so insanely good, and i watch it so often that it ultimately tipped the scales to this year.

but believe me i agonized over it for a while as every single year during this decade had a film i absolutely adore, and most years actually had more films i love, but damnit this first film is just so good i had to choose it:


it won best picture, featured two actors who's chemistry on screen together might be unrivaled in all of cinema, and is just a joy to watch over and over and over and over (fwiw the director george roy hill directed this duo in another classic film, which was the western i was referring to earlier when i said i couldn't believe i had left it off my short list of absolute fav westerns).

.................


next up how about a classic noir film based on a novel by one of the greatest mystery writers ever and perhaps the greatest detective character since sherlock holmes.

philip marlowe is a hard boiled detective who talks wise, drinks hard, and set the bar for all other fictional private dicks.

this film not only was directed by robert altman (i went to HS with one of his grandsons) but has an incredible cast including sterling hayden (who as you all should know is deathly afraid of communists stealing his essence) and eliott gould as marlowe.




..........

i'm the first to admit that al pacino has become a joke.
from one of the GOAT actors ever to films like

two for the money, righteous kill, and spector, it was quite a fall.
but let us not forget there was a time when there weren't many actors in his class. the intensity he brought to his characters almost leapt off the screen, and regardless of some of the "odd" choices he made late in his life, he still will be remembered as one of the greats of all time.

and its hard to argue that he was ever better than he was as:



a magnificent and harrowing true story of a NYPD cop fighting corruption, directed by one of the greats, sidney lumet.

.....................


another classic of 73 remains one of the best horror films ever made.
i'm not a big fan of horror and this is one of two horror films i can think of off the top of my head that i actually enjoy (the shining is obv my #1 horror film tho i feel like it transcends any genre classification)



....................



on a lighter note was this quintessential coming of age film from a director that would sadly flame out at an early age and never have another successful film. and while he would die broke and wallowing in obscurity, he had one great film so lets try and focus on that positive.




......................

i know that terrence malick is a divisive artist.
many people adore is unique style of film making, while others find his work insufferably boring.
but i feel like this film is one of his most accessible.

starring martin sheen and sissy spacek i feel like this film is a way more interesting version of bonnie and clyde.
based on a real life killing spree in 1958, released in 1973, it was selected in 1993 by the national film registry to be preserved in the library of congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".



.....................


while not my favorite hal ashby film i don't see how you could have ashby direct a robert towne script starring jack nicholson and randy quaid and not come out with a pretty sweet film.

as i said in my little intro, drug use was rampant both on and off the set and this movie almost didn't get made after ashby was busted for marijuana possession while scouting locations in canada (OMG NOT WEED) but luckily jack was an insanely loyal friend (not just to hal but to all his friends, he really is just the man) and his loyalty helped the studio recommit to the film.

i feel like this is one of jack's least known films by people my age, but do yourself a favor and check it out.




.....................


one of the reasons i choose 1973 was because it was the year one of the greatest directors of all time made his directorial debut.

showing all the substance and style that would come to be a trademark of his films it was also selected for preservation in the library of congress.
i doubt i need to write up more about the actual film because i mean come on who hasn't seen it?



........................


earning an academy award for best supporting actress for tatum o'neal and starring her real life father ryan o'neal (also known as barry lyndon!) this film directed by legendary director peter bogdanovich is a charming film about a con man and his daughter during the great depression.
i also love that bogdanovich chose to shoot this film in black and white, really added to the tone of the film.



.............................


this is one of the only films included on my list that i am totally unfamiliar with the director (its weird i have seen all of his films but never really knew his name, and if you asked me who directed any of his movies i would stare at you blankly)
based on a true story and starring steve mcqueen and dustin hoffman one interesting bit of trivia from this film is that while it has a 150min running time there is only 40mins of music in the film, which imo adds a great deal to the narrative of the story and greatly enhances the experience.

much like 2001: a space odyssey, it wasn't well reviewed in its time (ebert gave it just 2/4 stars) however over time it has rightfully gained the critical acclaim it deserves.




.......................



this next film wouldn't make my list of fav westerns, however i include it because it was certainly interesting and as a big fan of bob dylan and sam peckinpah i couldn't leave it off.
one thing to be perfectly clear of is when i refer to this film i am referring to the actual directors cut by peckinpah that wasn't released until 1988 (he had a huge fight with MGM who kicked him off the film and recut the film releasing a version that was pretty much disowned by the entire cast)

i have always had a fascination with billy the kid, so while the actual film isn't that remarkable the combination of my love of westerns, bob dylan, and peckinpah (not even for the films he made just cuz he was such an interesting/crazy dude) led me to include it on my list.





there were a bunch of other good movies relased in 73 not the least of which was the sexually explicit last tango in paris directed by bertolucci and the polar opposite charming and animated original version of robin hood from disney, and the award winning french film day for night directed by francois truffaut (who was was one of the most influential french directors when it came to this new wave of film making in the 70's).

i'm sure i've left some films off this list that deserve to be on it, but i'm tired and this post is longer then it prolly should be so i'll end it now.
feel free to remind me of a great movie from this year that i carelessly forgot to include.

cheers.

round 1- 2007
round 2- 1973

Great year, great write up.

You know you can pick more than one movie, right?

No mods up in here. But here is something to help you out. Everyone, please quote and update this list after you make your pick.

Round 1: 1994, 1987, 1995, 1999, 1967, 1950, 1989, 2007, 1993, 1976, 1957, 1889

Round 2: 1996, 2013, 2012, 1973,

Round 3:

great read, has a few movies i havent seen.