Best Movies of 2013

Some viewers of this blog might notice I review movies more than I review books. That’s because I’m often so unsatisfied with a book I don’t finish it, or think it’s only worth one or two stars. I won’t write such a negative review.

On to movies: the best dramatic movie of 2013 (and best movie overall) was Ender’s Game.

I’m glad that production companies waited this long to make the movie, so the special effects had matured enough to show the incredible weightless games and the spectacular last battle. See my review here.

Best comedy was Warm Bodies.

This zombie version of Beauty and the Beast, with a little Romeo and Juliet thrown in, was a hoot. Nicholas Houl’s performance as a zombie who gradually becomes more human was a marvel to watch. See my review here.

Best movie poster:

But they don’t give the title. Can anybody guess?

Though I don’t dump on books, I will dump on a couple of blockbuster movies I found disappointing. One of them was a reimagining of the best movie of a certain franchise. In the original, the death of a main character had lasting effects on the others: the admiral got over his midlife crisis, his son became wise instead of whiny, and an unemotional officer even shed a tear. In the new version, they choose a different character to get killed and then easily brought to life, with no changes to the other characters as a result.

In the other, a couple of kids go back into some dangerous games because they’re still hungry. But this time they rather cold-bloodedly plot how to kill the other kids. The sense of desperation that characterized the first movie is completely lacking.

As a kind of protest against the multiple blockbusters this year that I found lacking or had no reason to see, here’s a spoof of a movie from 2012:

This spoof tries to be funny, but it’s not. Still, it was interesting to watch Maiara Walsh, who is better known for the TV show Switched at Birth.