My Tops of 2013 - November

LEVIATHAN had a few awe-inspiring visuals but the experimental nature and questionable cuts made it pretty boring.

DRUG WAR was another awesome Hong Kong gun-fest from Johnnie To.

A TOUCH OF SIN was a fine chronicle of four modern Chinese tales that end with violence.

ROOM 237 was an amazingly edited documentary about a couple of fans' devotion to The Shining.

SCARY MOVIE 5 was truly one of most insane things ever to be labeled as a "movie".

SHOOTOUT AT WADALA had a good gangster tale but the lackluster songs and those dreadful smoking disclaimers hampered the Bollywood experience.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN was the lesser of the two White House action films. Still watchable though.

BLACK ROCK was both a bad mumblecore film and a bad retro-horror film. Kate Bosworth and Lake Bell didn't need to be in this.

BLACKFISH was preachy yet still a haunting, sad examination at the practices of SeaWorld.

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR was frankly just okay. Not the earth-shattering best film of the year, nor an exceptional lesbian drama.

PARKLAND had a lot of ambition for a small independent project but it a lot of missteps.

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE wasn't as great as the first one, at least according to myself, but it still was a mightily blockbusting sequel.

12 YEARS A SLAVE was an all-around masterfully crafted epic.


My on-going best and worst lists will now be hidden from public view, until revealing their final cuts at the start of 2014.