Best and Worst 2013

The best movies I reviewed in 2013 (10/10 stars, in no particular order): 

1. Atlantic City
2. Short Cuts
3. Friday Night Lights
4. The Outlaw Josey Wales
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Smoke
7. Clerks
8. The Empire Strikes Back
9. The French Connection
10. Cool Hand Luke
11. Hud
12. Lost in Translation
13. The Enemy Below
14. Das Boot / The Boat
15. Memento

Honourable mention (9/10 stars, in no particular order):

1. From Russia With Love
2. 8MM
3. Unforgiven
4. The Ice Storm
5. The Man Who Would Be King
6. The Name of the Rose
7. Nobody’s Fool
8. The Sting
9. The Matador
10. The Searchers
11. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
12. Second Best
13. Beverly Hills Cop
14. To Live and Die in LA
15. The Wild Bunch
16. Boyz 'N The Hood
17. The Getaway
18. The Odd Couple
19. Diamond Men

The Worst movies I reviewed in 2013 (less than 5/10 stars, in no particular order):

1. Driven
2. LA Without a Map
3. Conan the Destroyer
4. Urban Cowboy
5. Love and a .45
6. My Favourite Year
7. The Winner
8. Diamonds Are Forever
9. A View to a Kill
10. Moonraker
11. McLintock!
12. Another 48 Hours
13. Beverly Hills Cop III
14. The Swarm
15. Airport ’79: The Concorde
16. Devious Beings
17. Town and Country
18. Assault on Precinct 13
19. Belly
20. Suddenly
21. Light of Day
22. U-571
23. Christmas with the Kranks
24. Elmo Saves Christmas

Oh, and please click the links to read the Best and Worst of 2011, and the Best and Worst of 2012.

Impromptu (1991)

Salute to Great Composers Movie #3

Synopsis: Hmm... selfish, self-absorbed, young, urban professionals with left-of-centre views congregate at a country estate for great music and bed-hopping. Oh my God – it’s Amadeus meets The Big Chill! 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Two lovers could never be more different than the brazenly forward George Sand (Judy Davis) and frail romantic Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant). Yet they are drawn together by an unnerving bond. A bond that can’t be broken despite  the best efforts of those around them to keep them apart.” 

What Did I Learn?: Even when he’s affecting a foreign accent, and portraying an historic figure from the 1830s, nobody plays a loveable, classy, un-macho ladies man quite like Hugh Grant. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You just love Chopin... or Choppin'!!

 

Really?:  Impromptu is historical fiction, so it’s a little difficult to criticize on these grounds. I’m not that knowledgeable about tuberculosis, or how contagious it is/was, but I have to wonder why Sand would want to bed Chopin so badly, knowing she could potentially develop his illness. (And keep in mind, this movie takes place about a century before the development of antibiotics). 

Rating: I have to give Impromptu something of a mixed review. The script is clever, and the film boasts a number of good performances, yet with the sole exception of Chopin, none of these characters are particularly likeable. Frankly, I took a strong dislike to most of them during the scene when the intellectuals “reward” their aristocratic hosts with a mean-spirited play. Impromptu certainly has its moments, but I don’t think I would watch it again. 6.5/10 stars.  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102103/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Immortal Beloved (1994)

Salute to Great Composers Movie #2

Synopsis: Great man croaks, and lackey attempts to discover the true meaning behind his last words. Oh wait – that’s the synopsis for Citizen Kane. Um... Gary Oldman portrays brooding, Central European charmer who seduces, and then sucks the life out of aristocratic women. Oh wait – that’s the synopsis for Bram Stoker’s Dracula! Um... violent, anti-social outcast causes mayhem to the music of Ludwig Van. Oh wait – that’s the synopsis for A Clockwork Orange. 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “A man of genius. Women of passion. And the mystery of a lifetime. The untold story of Ludwig van Beethoven.” 

What Did I Learn?: Beethoven was a huge asshole. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You believe the Ode to Joy 9^th Symphony is such a beautiful piece of music anyone should be able to sing it.

Really?: 1) Immortal Beloved is historical fiction, so I’m not sure how much of this film is true, and how much is fabricated. I will say that I had a hard time believing Beethoven would face no consequences after promising Clemens von Metternich a patriotic, pro-Austrian symphony, and then never delivering. 2) I can see Schindler (Jeroen Krabbe) going along with a lot of Beethoven’s bullshit, but helping him take a young boy away from his mother? Wow...that’s low.  

Rating: Immortal Beloved is an interesting companion film to Amadeus; both are set in Vienna (although Beethoven’s heyday was shortly after Mozart’s), and deal with very different musical geniuses. Both movies are filled with great performances (Oldman is outstanding as the troubled maestro), stunning visuals and incredible music. My only complaint about Immortal Beloved is that it’s hard to sympathize with such a nasty character as Beethoven, especially when he seizes custody of his nephew, Karl. (see “What Did I Learn?” and “Really?). Still, Highly Recommended. 9/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110116/?ref_=rvi_tt

Amadeus (1984)

Salute to Great Composers Movie #1

(No, I’m not doing a salute to the 18^th Century. And wow - two 10/10 reviews in a row - I must be getting soft.)

Synopsis: Mozart’s scheming, jealous rival sets out to destroy the young genius by, um... attending all of his performances, hiring a maid for Mozart’s apartment, paying him to write a piece of music, and taking him home after he collapses during a performance? Gee...what a monster.

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “WINNER OF EIGHT ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE, ‘Amadeus’ is the long-awaited film version of Peter Shaffer’s London and Broadway stage hit centered around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life and music.” 

What Did I Learn?: Those 18^th Century three-cornered hats look pretty cool! 

You Might Like This Movie If: You’ve always wanted to watch a two-hour-and-38-minute Falco video. 

Really?: You know, for a man who is supposed to be the villain, Antonio Salieri doesn’t seem like such a bad guy (see: “Synopsis”). Maybe I’m just a softie myself, but I had a bit of a hard time believing Salieri would hold a grudge as long as he does – especially near the end, when Mozart falls on hard times, has a family to support, and actually tells Salieri he considers him to be a friend. 

Rating: Amadeus cleaned up at the Oscars for a good reason: it’s an intelligent, well-written, and beautifully filmed movie that’s filled with great music. Amadeus boasts a number of good performances, including Tom Hulce as the title character and Elizabeth Berridge as his wife, but F. Murray Abraham is superb as bitter old Salieri, a man with just enough musical talent to know he’s a mediocrity. Highly recommended. 10/10 stars. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/?ref_=rvi_tt