2013: Favorite Movies
TOP 5 MOVIES OF THE YEAR
(Listed alphabetically)
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Magic realism starring an amazing Quvenzhané Wallis. I missed seeing this in 2012 but couldn’t bear to leave it off this list.
Casting By: Brilliant HBO documentary about two of the unsung heroes of Hollywood, casting directors Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster. A must-see.
Frozen: Never thought I’d be including a Disney film on this list, but I adored Frozen. The visuals were stunning and the plot a refreshing and feminist twist on the expected.
Gravity: Bullock is amazing and it’s so rare to see a woman starring in a survival film where “nature” is the enemy.
The Heat: Hot damn, this is fun. Bullock and McCarthy have great chemistry and suddenly I understand why men have loved buddy cop movies all these years. More, please!
Honorable Mentions
In a World…: An indie movie about a female voice actor operating in the still-very-male world of Hollywood voice overs.
Pitch Perfect: Tremendous fun except for some egregious stereotypes. Without its issues, it would have been in my top five, despite including a massive vomit scene.
Thor 2: The Dark World: A gorgeous film that surpasses the first installment in every quadrant, but especially in terms of characters, dialogue, and epic scope.
Shout-outs
To Raiders of the Lost Ark and North by Northwest, both of which I got to see again on the big screen thanks to special showings at the ArcLight.
NOTES
All five of my favorite movies this year featured women, plus two of my honorable mentions. In my opinion, this was the best year yet for women in film.
[Crossposted from jennreese.com. Comment here or there.]