Very surprisingly, I have only seen 10 new releases from 2013, 9 in theater and only one outside the theater (usually, I would have rented all the summer movies I missed by now!). This isn’t due to a lack of interest so much as a lack of time, and then forgetting to hit up Redbox for rentals (because I’m lame and don’t have Netflix yet. One day I’ll cave). Because of this, I have yet to see several movies I was anticipating this year or later became interested in, including, most notably, The Book Thief and the second installment of The Hobbit. So all this being said, this is based solely on what I have actually seen so far, and I certainly intend to see more.
Out of the nine 2013 movies I watched, I gave 1 at 4.5 star rating, 6 of them 4 star ratings, and two 3 star ratings. The one I did not review I would say is a 3 star movie, which I do elaborate on later. Also, I have included what number the movie ranked on my most anticipated movies of 2013 list I created last March. On with the rankings!
1. Catching Fire
I was so excited for this movie so much that I made a list of my Top 10 Anticipations for the movie. And I looooooved this movie! It was a definite improvement over the first installment of The Hunger Games movie franchise, and I cannot wait to see it again!
Ranked #2 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
2. Star Trek: Into Darkness
There are a few things in this movie that bother me more in hindsight than they did while I was watching it, but… I still love the movie overall. So many feels. Many tears shed. And there were truly a lot of great moments. Not to mention what JJ has done to bring in new fans into the franchise.
Ranked #3 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
3. Iron Man 3
I know a lot of people did not love the third Iron Man movie, but something about it resonated with me. Tony was more real to me, the twist of the villain truly surprised me, and oh yeah, he goes to Tennessee (where I live!). Look, it’s an Avengers movie, not Oscar material. Enjoy it for what it is.
Ranked #4 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
4. Monsters University
I was anxious about a prequel to my favorite Pixar movie, afraid that it would get the dreaded Disney sequel treatment, but I found that this story was great in its own right, as well as providing us additional insight to the characters we already knew! Again, it’s fairly light, but has a message that I think is actually very relevant for kids and adults alike, that you can’t necessarily do anything you want, but if you work hard, you’ll find your place!
Ranked #7 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
5. Thor: The Dark World
Thor’s second movie proved to be another fun and interesting exploration into the Marvel universe as well as Thor’s. And though I’ve never considered myself a Loki fan, he completely stole the show in this movie.
Ranked #6 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
6. Ender’s Game
I really enjoyed this adaptation quite a bit, but it was just too short and everything felt too fast. It left me wanting more, but thankfully, everything it did show looked really good and felt true to the book.
Ranked as an honorable mention among my most anticipated movies of 2013
7. Man of Steel
This was a movie that I really enjoyed when I watched it, but I have forgotten about a lot since my viewing of it. I loved all the flashback stuff about Clark Kent growing up. I hated the all the freaking property damage that was caused by Superman and Zod’s battle over who is more indestructible. This movie was considerably better than the 2006 Superman Returns, but Superman still doesn’t have the same impact on me as Batman does.
Ranked #8 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
8. The Wolverine
If I was ranking these movies more objectively and less subjectively, this would be lower on the list. But I had fairly low expectations for this movie and they slightly exceeded them, mostly in the stinger scene but oh well. It was pretty fun. Some of it lacked logic and it bothered me that the evil villain lady looked like a Poison Ivy wanna-be but… whatever. It wasn’t as good as X-Men: First Class, but probably better than the other X-Men movies.
Ranked as an honorable mention among my most anticipated movies of 2013
9. Oblivion
This movie was undoubtedly my biggest disappointment for movies in 2013. The trailer led me to believe that this was the most awesome, epic sci-fi dystopia story EVER and it just fell way short of what I expected. Overall though, it was still a pretty decent movie, which is why I rated it 3 stars, but I had so many problems with it. Why weren’t you EPIC, Oblivion?!
Ranked #1 among my most anticipated movies of 2013
10. World War Z
I never would have seen this movie if it had been left entirely up to me, but I was with a group and decided to keep an open mind. Despite the fact that it’s on the bottom of my list, I didn’t hate this movie at all. In fact, since I had low expectations for it, I almost enjoyed it. I say almost because 1.) This isn’t exactly a fun movie and the subject matter is pretty dark and 2.) I don’t have a desire to re-watch it. The funny thing is though, I am almost interested in reading the book, because from my understanding it delves more into the parts of the movie that were lightly skimmed over that I think would be fascinating to explore (i.e. more about the nature of world politics that happens rather and less of Greasy Haired Brad Pitt running away from zombies). Needless to say, putting this movie at the bottom of the list is not at all meant as a diss for a movie I had zero interest in seeing, and though I never reviewed it, I would give this movie a rating of 3 stars. I liked it alright.
Not ranked among my most anticipated movies of 2013
What were your favorite movies of 2013?
I loved Catching Fire too! I had to see it twice in the theaters (which i rarely do these days). Such an improvement from the first!
I’ve really wanted to see it again but time hasn’t allowed it. I’ll probably buy it once it comes out on Blu-Ray instead of waiting to ask for it for my birthday in September.
For me it works out something like:
1- Star Trek Into Darkness
2 – Pacific Rim
3 – Catching Fire
4 – Ender’s Game
5 – Thor: The Dark World
6 – Lawrence of Arabia (yeah, the one from 1962)
7 – Man of Steel
8 – Despicable Me 2
9 – Monsters U
10 – The Wolverine
Iron Man 3 and Fast and Furious 6 aren’t far off. If I made this list tomorrow, the order could be different, lol.
Ha ha, I know what you mean about the order changing depending on the day. I was only listing movies that were released last year but that’s interesting that you saw Lawrence or Arabia.
Yeh … I went more the “that I watched” in 2013, though I noticed your approach. That said, Lawrence was great, but SUPER long. Like, Extended Lord of the Rings long. The intermission at the 2-hour mark tipped me off.
Holy crap, that is long!
I don’t know that I had 10 movies I really liked this year. I kind of loved Thor: The Dark World. Thor’s my favorite and I thought the story was really good and Loki was really awesome. I also really loved Iron Man 3. I think it’s the best of his movies and I liked that Pepper got to play a significant role in it. It seems like since The Avengers the women have all had a stronger hand in the Marvel movies which is fantastic.
Pacific Rim was also really pretty good. There were things I would have changed but there’s also some very cool fight scenes and good music.
Fast & Furious 6 was completely ridiculous but a lot of fun and had Luke Evans in it.
I liked the flashbacks in Man of Steel also. And I enjoyed the movie enough overall when I was watching it. But looking back and considering the wanton destruction that didn’t serve the story at all and the changes they made to Superman’s character I liked it less and less. I’m not a big fan of Zack Snyder, though, and they he really did a disservice to the character. Superman isn’t one of my favorite characters or one I’m invested in but this is a really good video about Superman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw_GlYve_Lg
And I have to admit I was really disappointed by Into Darkness. I thought it was mostly well made and all the characters (and actors) were great. But why go to all the effort of creating an alternate timeline and completely liberating yourself from the constraints of the original series if you’re just going to retread the same ground? I wanted them to be innovative and surprise me, not hand me a story I’ve already seen.
I agree about Pepper Potts being more active in this movie! I’ll also have to check out the Superman video later.
I can definitely understand your sentiment with wanting to see new things with a new timeline, and I certainly don’t disagree with it. But man, Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance was so powerful to me. Really, I thought the entire cast showed strong performances.
I’ve seen Catching Fire on top on so many best of 2013 lists that I think it’s not even a question of whether or not I should watch it. I was a little wary after the first movie because it didn’t live up to my expectations but with all this hype, I’m so excited for the second movie now!
It’s definitely better and worth watching!
Hey, don’t feel too bad. I’m pretty sure I saw even fewer movies than yo udid this year. Let’s see: Star Trek, Catching Fire, Ender’s Game, City of Bones, The Book Thief, Gravity, The Hobbit… Wow, that’s actually more than I thought! Also, I guess Man of Steel, too, if watching it on an airplane counts, lol. Sorry, I’m just rambling in your comments. Catching Fire and Star Trek were definitely my top 2 for 2013 as well, though.
Airplane movies count too! I usually see a few more, especially rentals, so I was surprised it was so few. Yay for Catching Fire and Star Trek!
Okay, right now, I really can’t think of any movies that I did watch except Catching Fire and Pacific Rim!
I went to watch Catching Fire with my friends, and I didn’t have anything to stoke my hype because we watched the day it was out. And like, ZOMG, when will this movie franchise stop being awesome? Perfect casting, they know how to get the feels, and they couldn’t have done a better job of bringing Panem and the Capitol to life. And I just love Jenna Malone as Johanna, She stole nearly every scene.
And Jennifer Lawrence and that last scene! All those facial expressions in close up. Just wow. (And with that cliffhanger, I’m so happy I’ve read the book though not happy enough.)
As for Pacific Rim, the only thing I can say is, it was awesome. That’s it. Words fail me.
I completely agree about Jena Malone and Jennifer Lawrence! They were both amazing!
Pacific Rim wasn’t on my radar until after it came out, and I know two people who hated it and one who didn’t really care for it, and two of those three people I generally agree with about movies. But everyone else seems to love it. I barely even know what it’s about.
I’m just loved the action. c(: And it’s about giant monsters attacking earth, and humanity retaliates with giant robots. I was in awe of how they could film it,
I saw so few movies last year and I haven’t even seen Catching Fire yet. I think I might need to add ‘watch more movies’ in to my 2014 resolutions 🙂
You definitely need to see Catching Fire at least! 🙂
Incidentally, the only two from your list I’ve seen are your first two, Catching Fire and Star Trek Into Darkness, both of which I really enjoyed. I was interested in Ender’s Game, but alas, I’m still reading the book. That said, my favorite movies of 2013 were Gravity, The Great Gatsby, and Frozen.
I still need to see all your favorites!
Ugh, I need to watch Thor and Ender’s Game..lol
I did watch Catching Fire and loved it! I can’t wait for Mockingjay now, even if they are being completely lame and making it into two movies. I also watched Star Trek and Man of Steel and enjoyed both. Oh and Wolverine (I’m excited for the next X-Men movie 🙂
I wanted to see World War Z, but I’m not sure anymore.
World War Z is a decent action movie and it was kind of interesting, but I have zero interest in zombies so I am probably the wrong person to ask about the movie.