My Favorite Movies of 2013

30. The Wolverine

Lots of fun. Hugh Jackman is always great as Wolverine.

29. Monsters University

Basically Monsters Inc. mixed with Revenge of the Nerds. Love it.

28. The To Do List

Very funny with a great cast. I laughed the whole way through.

27. Now You See Me

Yeah. Magicians work together to rob banks and stuff. I thought it was very enjoyable.

26. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Take the classic tale we all knew as kids and inject a ton of violence and humor and you’ve got this movie. Very fun. Plus the somewhat subtle joke of Hansel having diabetes as a result of eating all that candy as a kid.

25. World War Z

It was a fun and exciting take on zombies where they are more of an intense swarm than a slow moving plague. I know it is nothing like the book at all really but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

24. Machete Kills

All the fun and ridiculousness of the first Machete but turned up to 11. Really funny. Cannot wait for Machete Kills in Space.

23. Elysium

Great concept. Great  cast. Amazing visuals and effects. Great action. I loved it.

22. Kick-Ass 2

Again, I think it’s better than the first and I was not expecting that. Very funny and entertaining, the violence and action is crazy and the characters are great. Love it. Want more Hit Girl.

21. Anchorman 2

Really holds up to the original. Very funny throughout. Could’ve been a little shorter. Loved the commentary on 24 hour news and the fall of the news and media in America.

20. This is the End

This movie is out of control with the humor and comedy and the places it is willing to go. Very funny and original and everybody playing themselves was absolutely great.

19. Man of Steel

The first watchable Superman movie, yeah, I said it. Krypton was amazing. Great cast. Love that Lois Lane knows who he is, makes way more sense. The actions scenes were great. Yes, there was a lot of destruction but that’s what happens when two gods fight. Things happen in this one.

18. Thor: The Dark World

Absolutely great. Loki steals his scenes. Very fun, funny and entertaining. Love the character of Thor and can’t wait to see more.

17. About Time

Very sweet, charming and absolutely hilarious movie. I was very surprised by this one. Bill Nighy steals the movie but I loved the whole thing from start to finish.

16. Philomena

Very interesting story and great writing. Steve Coogan is great in it but Judi Dench owns this movie, she is superb.

15. Saving Mr. Banks

Ultra charming and entertaining move. I realize that it is Disney’s version of the story and the ending is basically bs but as a movie I still love it. Hanks is perfect as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson is great as PL Travers. Paul Giamatti completely steals all of his scenes (and the movie in my opinion) as Travers’ driver.  

14. Frozen/Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Couldn’t decide which I liked more. Frozen is very charming and fun but really I absolutely love the ending and the message it sends. Bravo Disney. Cloudy 2 is insanely fun and very funny. Loved it too.

13. Catching Fire

After completely fumbling the first movie they finally completely nail it with this one. This is the Katniss I’ve been waiting for. This is the emotion and character connections I’d been looking for as well. The games are great and everything about it was exactly what I was hoping for.

12. GI Joe: Retaliation

Another sequel that is way better than the first. This movie is everything I wanted out of a GI Joe movie. You’ve got COBRA taking over the white house, fun characters, Cobra Commander with a weird voice and shiny helmet, Bruce Willis as the original Joe and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson taking over the lead. Just a very fun action movie.

11. The Dallas Buyers Club

This movie is great on many levels. The initial story about a good ol’ boy who contracts aids is fascinating. Watching this homophobe become best friends with a pre-op transgender is heartwarming. And his battle with the medicare system and the FDA is something that has me completely fascinated. Not to mention Matthew McConoughey is amazing as the start of this movie, I am loving this turn that he has taken lately and can’t wait to see more. Also, Jared Leto is transcendent in his role, crazy good.

10. Warm Bodies

If you haven’t seen this one yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. It is very funny as well as charming and it tells a great story at the same time. Hilarious bit of commentary on how the zombie outbreak started. I just love that someone made a (literally) hearwarming movie about zombies and hope. Great movie.

9. Star Trek Into Darkness

Tons of fun. We all knew it was Kahn so don’t be so upset. The action was great. I loved everybody’s performance as these iconic characters. Just a blast to sit back and watch.

8. The Wolf of Wall Street

After Hangover 3 came out and officially ruined all of those movies for me I was glad to see this come out. It is absolutely hilarious, which really took me by surprise. It makes the Hangover look like a Disney movie. This is by far my favorite performance by Leonardo DiCarpio and who knew that he was a physical comedian. Jonah Hill is crazy good in this as well. I wanted more McConoughey (never thought I’d say that) and an amazing cast of people popping up all over this movie. So good, so funny in showing just what greed can do.

7. Pacific Rim

The 12 year old me was squeeing with joy while watching this. Giant robots punch giant monsters in the face! What more could you possibly ask for? The fight scene in Hong Kong where Gypsy Danger uses a giant ocean liner as a baseball bat, freaking awesome!

6. The World’s End

Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost knock another out of the park with the conclusion to their “Cornetto” Trilogy. A hilarious story, great settings, great characters and fun action scenes. Absolutely loved it. There is a lot of subtly to this movie as well, like the bar names being a foresight into what will happen at that pub. Hilarious conclusion as well. These guys make great movies together and this one fits nicely with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

5. Iron Man 3

Shane Black takes over this for the third installment in this amazing franchise. He manages to inject a lot of great humor into it. It is more a character piece about Tony Stark than anything and I loved it for that. The big twist in the movie I loved as well, in terms of the movie at least. Overall just a blast to watch and a great movie. Robert Downey Jr rocks it again of course and Gwenyth Paltrow is awesome in it as well. Not to mention the rest of the cast.

4. Gravity

Wow. This movie was spectacular and I am still trying to figure out how they made this movie without actually going to space. It really puts you right there with the characters, spinning aimlessly through space. An insane thrill ride that I still can’t get over. I hate 3D but I cannot recommend seeing this movie on as big a screen as possible and in 3D as well. Sandra Bullock’s best role to date in my opinion and George Clooney is great as ever.

3. The Way, Way Back

I loved this movie from start to finish. First, who knew Steve Carrell could be such a great d-bag. The kid in the movie is absolutely great. Sam Rockwell is absolutely amazing and hilarious. The rest of the cast is spectacular. This movie is very funny and charming and just great from start to finish.

2. In A World…

I don’t know exactly what it is but I am completely in love with this movie. Written by, directed by and starring the very talented and funny Lake Bell. While watching this movie I had a big smile on my face from the very beginning and it never left my face. Again, very charming and funny and well written and I love the story and concept and execution and the cast in great. I simply love everything about this movie and cannot recommend it enough.

1. The Fast and the Furious 6

I don’t care what you say, this is the most fun I had at the movies all year. It is the most insane and crazy over-the-top  out-of-this-world  action movie I have ever seen. It completely ignores physics and logic and I love it for that. I stood up and cheered twice while watching this in the theater. Everybody in the movie should be dead after every action scene but they all just walk away brushing the dust from their sleeves and call it good. So very much fun, the cast is awesome and I cannot wait for 7 with the teaser they have at the end credits.