My Tops of 2013 - October

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 spent too much energy on a flat television script and a never-funny parody of Steve Jobs than it does on the exciting sentient food world.

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 would have been absolute crap if not for Patrick Wilson's performance.

RUSH was a ho-hum, by the numbers sports feature. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl were a lot of fun but the racing was hardly exciting.

THE BLING RING was a surprisingly edible teen crime film, thanks to the cast and the impressive control of Sofia Coppola.

ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW was more of a vacation comedy than a psychological horror flick. The audacity of secretly shooting in Disney World is still impressive.

GRAVITY was a bonafide masterpiece.

STRANDED cribbed from ALIEN, forgot to pay its electric bill, and used book lights as communicative devices.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING gave a modern spin to Shakespeare and received much raves.

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS was fine but it was hard to care about the titled character when the criminals were more sympathetic.

KEVIN HART: LET ME EXPLAIN was a really funny comedy concert film. Too bad its other segments spit on the shine.

ONLY GOD FORGIVES was a massive miscalculation from the creators of Drive.

THE LORDS OF SALEM had some great imagery but Rob Zombie's writing/directing skills were very subpar.

THE CONJURING had some great old-school scares but was certainly roughed up by the many other exorcist films.


Best Films of 2013


1. Pain & Gain

2. Spring Breakers

3. 20 Feet from Stardom

4. In a World...

5. Gravity

6. Pacific Rim

7. The Croods

8. The Bling Ring

9. Much Ado About Nothing

10. Now You See Me

11. Side Effects

12. The World's End


Worst Films of 2013


1. Grown Ups 2

2. After Earth

3. The Hangover: Part III

4. Man of Steel

5. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

6. The Internship

7. Movie 43

8. Aftershock

9. Getaway

10. A Good Day to Die Hard

11. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

12. Jack the Giant Slayer

13. To the Wonder

14. The Host

15. The Big Wedding

16. Stranded

17. The Last Exorcism Part II

18. Beautiful Creatures

19. A Haunted House

20. We're the Millers