A new year has come upon us in all its shining glory... and I haven't even seen more than 34 films of the last one. There are many reasons for this - lack of money, lack of interest in paying too much money to watch movies, lack of possibility to watch new releases in English (I can't handle German dubs more than 4 times a year), outdated German and Danish release dates, lack of time and the fact that we moved to the country side. So maybe I should be happy that I've even seen 34 movies!
To honor this little bunch of flicks while not dishonoring the film year itself, I have decided to put together an unofficial list of my favorites and least favorites. Be gentle with this one though; I don't deliberately go out and watch the movies that are supposed to be bad, so it's nowhere near representing the worst last year had to offer. Let's start with the top of the bottom then, shall we?
An Austrian film, the last one in the Paradise trilogy (I haven't seen the second one yet). I'm a little concerned about its appearance in this list, because it certainly wouldn't have made it into it, had I seen more movies. It's that movie right in between the ones I rather disliked and the ones that were more average. My main problem with this one was that it was boring in parts and nothing really happened. What it does very well is to show how teenagers act and talk to each other though, and their dreams that are so easily destroyed.
Most of the films that are in this list aren't super bad, I just disliked great parts of them or was very bored. This last film in the Hangover trilogy isn't boring nor very unlikable - it's just not very original. Chow is funnier than usual (read: less annoying) and there are some plot twists, but it missed a special something. However, the last 5 minutes are redeeming for everyone that loved Part 1.
I didn't fall head over heels in love with the first Iron Man film, so maybe I should've seen this coming. It's just kind of disappointing how forgettable this film was, when I think of how great Tony was in The Avengers. Honestly, I don't remember anything about this film except for the plot twist.
Sometimes, the dark end of favoritism is linked the expectations. When I first saw the trailer for The Purge - and the many times after that - I was hooked. It sounded like the best horror film I had seen in ages - social commentary, Ethan Hawke and some murdering, mask-wearing youngsters! Well, see how it turned out; The Conjuring, which I thought had one of the most boring trailers ever, became one of my favorites of the year and The Purge ended up on this side of the tunnel. I loved the beginning, but then the excitement wore off quickly. There was no tension, no horror, no nothing. The ending was interesting though, I liked how there was a moral relief even though you wouldn't call it a happy ending.
Some part of me loved this politically incorrect, overweight, 80s roller coaster ride. But I also must say; it's not nearly as funny as the first one. I don't remember any running gags or one particular line, even one particular scene - except for the Taylor Lautner Twilight parody (that was awesome). So that's the reason it's on this list. But it's ok if you like this kind of movie once in a while, like I do.
Not even the title is original. I don't know what I ever saw in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, but his latest work certainly doesn't live up to my expectations. Farhan Akhtar is great in the role as Milkha Singh, a famous Indian athlete, but that's where the fun stops. This is just a very bland story that drags on and on through 2+ hours, with some very bad CGI flashbacks and a forgettable performance by Sonam Kapoor. Everyone calling this one of the best Indian films of 2013... I think we saw two different films.
Tv movies do count, don't they? This one is a Hallmark production I think, and yes, it was enjoyable for what it was. That being said, I've seen far better predictable holiday family movies in this year alone. This one was just very pale in comparison.
The film that won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlinale (the biggest German film festival). Do I have bad taste or does the jury? We'll never know. The leading actress in this one is uh-mazing, I'm telling you. Her performance blew me away. But what about the shaky cam? What about the non-existent story? What about every character being an asshole? What about no soundtrack? ...What about I can't handle this kind of cinema?! There. At least I'm not pretending to have a kind of taste I just don't have.
Back to you:What were your least favorite films of 2013?