SO FAR THIS YEAR XI

[picolas]

we're well past the halfway mark. it's been a tremendous year.

1. Upstream Color

on first view i didn't think this had a place in my heart. i found it incomprehensible. after much research, my second view uncovered a vision unlike anything i've ever seen.

2. Frances Ha

yeah. actors and directors writing together seems to work out pretty well..

3. Behind the Candelabra

so effing disturbing. an epic nightmare.

4. Before Midnight

yeahhhh actors and directors writing together...

5. To the Wonder

i think this is going to climb the list on subsequent views.

6. Spring Breakers

phenomenal exploration of stupid culture

7. Side Effects

nice lil thriller

8. Iron Man 3

hilarious, inventive, kingsley steals it

9. Star Trek: Into Darkness

i just like when people nearly die and then get saved at the last second by a little thing that was set up 5 minutes to an hour ago. that happens 57 times.

10. Much Ado About Nothing

classy, casual shakespeare romp

Most disappointing:
1. Sharknado
ughhh amazing premise wasted...

2. The Place Beyond the Pines
i dunno... so contrived.. i'll give it another chance some day because of all the smart people i know who love it.

3. Oblivion
why is cruise so afraid now?

[modage]

This is my list as of July 1st. Now "Pacific Rim" would be on here someplace.


1. Stories We Tell (dir: Sarah Polley)


2. Short Term 12 (dir: Destin Cretton)


3. Spring Breakers (dir: Harmony Korine)


4. Ain't Them Bodies Saints (dir: David Lowery)


5. Before Midnight (dir: Richard Linklater)


6. The Kings Of Summer (dir: Jordan Vogt-Roberts)


7. Afternoon Delight (dir: Jill Solloway)


8. Mistaken For Strangers (dir: Tom Beringer)


9. This Is The End (dir: Seth Rogen + Evan Goldberg)


10. Pain & Gain (dir: Michael Bay)

Notable: Crystal Fairy, Don John's Addiction, The Spectacular Now, The East, Twenty Feet From Stardom, Rewind This!, Drinking Buddies.

[Reel]

The pics you picked are funny, pic. I didn't know that Sugar Ray guy was in Before Midnight.

4. Before Midnight

[pete]

rust and bone
kings of summer

[modage]

rust and bone
kings of summer

R&B was 2012, dawg.

[Reel]

I haven't been to the theaters since Spring Breakers was out so gimme a spring break.



Spring Breakers




Only God Forgives




Maniac




Behind The Candelabra





The Lords Of Salem

[HeywoodRFloyd]

The Act of Killing


A Late Quartet


The Best Offer


Behind the Candelabra

[Cloudy]

Rant: This loose term of "this movie is one of the _____ this year" has to be one of the least interesting and most mundane phrases to express a film's quality, especially for a very good/bad one. There are very few movies that are competent within a span of one year these days, so why even compare? It just pisses me off, especially when it's a fucking great film. People are mindlessly stuck on it. When I read it, it tells me nothing, a waste of words.

*Edit: This is about the phrase critics use, nothing to do with the movies posted on this thread. Didn't think it needed a new thread.

[jenkins]

the astronomical summer goes june 21 to september 21. we're close to the date of scientific calculation for our favorite summer comedies. yesss. i want to begin -- these are movies that came to nearby multiplexes

(peeples and this is the end don't fit in the timeframe. honorary craig robinson award, presented by almodóvar and soloway and swanberg and others who don't make the multiplex)

2 guns
guns (oh, yeah) and things like that, but the highlights for me were wahlberg and washington being friends. they're so adorable together. terrific features for a comedy, because comedies want to seduce you and these men are all about the seduction. i had crush after crush after crush after crush

instructions not included (no se aceptan devoluciones)
please, link me the essay about how this illustrates the stretch of difference between multiplex and art house. eugenio derbez amazed me. so many emotions. he should be proud of this hilarious soap opera. no way will this break into the mainstream, but i'm chilling in los angeles and remember with whom i saw this movie and with whom i can talk about and remember the joys of this movie

the world's end
only the final segments sidetracked me. i kept thinking "turn off the alien lights, stop talking about being human, stop. end the movie. you did a good job and now what's all this about?" but it kept going and there's even an epilogue. an epilogue!! well, let it be said that epilogues on their own certainly don't make your movie more serious. so wright continues to just be joking around, and he's using a sci-fi scheme. there's a gift to receive but it's not for me

the heat
peeples is meet the parents with black people, and the heat is a buddy cop movie with women. awkward comedies, may they persist. buddy cop movies, idk, they may. the 2 guns plot is wacky and realism is inapplicable, the heat plot i can't remember but bullock is fbi and mccarthy is local police and there's a crime story that's highly important and explained many times until it ends (with a twist). the heat isn't as outrageous as 2 guns. women, great. the genre, i don't miss it

the family
if you notice the qualities of the comedies i most admire, my problem here is obvious: besson is this movie's leading character. here and there he asks the actors to demonstrate wonderful moments, like de niro watching goodfellas for his film club. that's how people often look, irl, when about to watch goodfellas. i didn't most enjoy the comedy or americana, but i did appreciate a variety of observations about both french and american cultures. plus, yeah, it's besson. there was cinema

update
i think cloudy knows i'm posting in here because how else did this convergence occur? agree with cloudy again. i purposely attempted to avoid "that's the best i've ever seen of this or that" phrases. they may be in there, the attraction is enticement

[OstrichRidingCowboy]

Revised:

Reading from bottom to top:

The Heat
The World's End
Side Effects
Much Ado About Nothing
Blue Jasmine
Fruitvale Station
Gravity
Frances Ha
Beyond the Hills*
12 Years a Slave

If the starred film is from last year, please replace with Behind the Candelabra.

[Robyn]

lately, i've been watching a lot of films from this year. these are my favorites so far:

blue is the warmest color (!!!)
upstream color
before midnight
fast and the furious 6
spring breakers
prisoners


to the wonder was a huge disappointment. so was gravity. I am pretty hyped for frances ha, the act of killing, 12 years a slave and (of course) nymphomaniac.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I am pretty hyped for frances ha, the act of killing, 12 years a slave and (of course) nymphomaniac.

Nymphomaniac now has a March/April release, so unfortunately we won't be seeing it in this thread.

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=12134.msg330228#msg330228

[Robyn]

I am pretty hyped for frances ha, the act of killing, 12 years a slave and (of course) nymphomaniac.

Nymphomaniac now has a March/April release, so unfortunately we won't be seeing it in this thread.

http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=12134.msg330228#msg330228

25th december in denmark, tho? Or has that changed as well?

[Jeremy Blackman]

Oh right, you're near Denmark. Are you making the trip to see it, or is it opening elsewhere in Scandanavia?

[Robyn]

Denmark is not far from where I live, so I am making a trip. it's just a 30 minutes train ride across a bride and then I'm there. it is opening in sweden in january but I don't have the patience to wait for that.

does this mean that nymphomaniac will be counted as a 2014 movie here? I can't nominate it for the Xixax Awards?