The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: The Old is New Again

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

I will readily admit I'm part of the teeming masses that loves sequels. 16 of my 25ish are either sequels or part of a franchise. It's no different than any other year. And 2013 has some great sequels coming out - I don't know if they're going to blow anybody away with mind-numbingly awesomeness, but I did like the originals, so why not have more of the same? There's a certain level of comfort with these movies - you're familiar with the characters so it's not too hard to jump right into the action and/or drama. And who knows? Sometimes sequels can outshine the original (The Dark Knight, anyone? I'm ashamed Bill & Ted didn't make that list). Let the TOP 25 commence!

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: Remix!

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

This part of the list is full of comebacks, remakes and going back to your roots. Hollywood does have an unhealthy obsession with remaking movies, but if they're done right, who cares? For every Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), there's Let Me In. For every Total Recall (2012), there's War of the Worlds (2005). So they're hit and miss - but as long the cast and crew are solid and there's good intentions for the remake - I'm all for it and will always be on board to check them out. There's actually a really great four-part web series by Kirby Ferguson, who goes in depth into our creative culture and how unoriginal it really is (in both good and bad ways!). I highly recommend watching if you have about 10-15 minutes to spare (for each part). Now onto the list!

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: An Odd Assortment

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

This part of the list is a hodgepodge of weird and unique movies. I'm really stoked (pun intended! You'll see once you read number 33) about all of these movies - they offer up some very unique tales. What's great about this list is that a lot of these movies are spread out throughout the year. There's five separate months represented in this section of the list and that's a great thing. Hollywood is slowly coming around to the idea of having some blockbuster movies during the springtime. And rightfully so - sometimes the summer can get too crowded and I think number 35 is a great example of trying to sell a summer blockbuster during March.

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: This is not the end

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

The more I write about next year, the more I'm getting excited about how it's shaping up. After a letdown in the comedy department this year, there's a lot of comedies coming out next year. And the summer is shaping up to have a bevy of (somewhat) original movies, including a lot of great action/sci-fi flicks and comedies. It's going to be another exciting year and this part of the list contains a lot of movies that have the potential to be really funny and really good.

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: It Continues

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

 

After a dearth of comedies this year (I can count on my one hand the number of good comedy films that came out this year), it's refreshing to see a lot more for 2013. This part of the list has not one, not two but three comedies! Most of them could've landed much higher on the list, but I'm a little weary of all three of them for various reason which I'll get into. The other two movies are kick starting the science fiction genre that fills up 1/5 of the movies on my list. Yes, science fiction rocks and it's going to be kicking ass and taking names next year.

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2013: Better than Cotton Candy

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

 

Pretty much sums up my feelings.

Welcome back to the annual installment of my Most Anticipated list! This is where I psyche myself up and disproportionately hype up movies to beyond expectations! 2013, on paper, looks to be a solid year - there's a lot to love on this list and I'll take great care to make sure that only the best movies make the cut. This first part of the list is pretty rare - I have five movies that all have trailers attached to them already! Yeah - that's pretty dope and it saves me a lot of time writing plot synopsis. I am excited to get started.......so let's start the countdown....now!

Most Anticipated: The Runner-Up Part II

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

The last installment before we get started with the real list (starting next Monday!) is an odd assortment of movies. There's a crime movie, a couple spy thrillers, a coming of age comedy and a magician-themed comedy. It's truly a bizarre list to conclude my runners-up. But what I found out when writing down my list of movies for next year - it's an eclectic mix of comedies, dramas and action. Last year was dominated by superhero movies and science fiction (and sequels!), while 2013 isn't dominated by one genre and less than half my movies are sequels/remakes! I'm excited to see where the year takes us because I know for sure there's going to be some big surprises that even I cannot predict with this list.

Lets Get It Started: The Runners-Up part 1

List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |

2012 was a phenomenal year in movies. I don't think we're ever going to see a summer quite as explosive as this one. Not only did The Avengers live up to the hype surrounding it, it blew box office expectations away. Couple that with Christopher Nolan's end to his Batman trilogy and it truly was a unique summer. But add in a prequel to the Aliens franchise, a surprisingly popular male stripper drama and a successful reboot of a very young Spider-Man franchise - the summer was even more special. And that's not including the spring which saw The Hunger Games and 21 Jump Street surprise everyone with how awesome they were. I've been trying to compile a list of the ten best movies from this year and I'm having a hard time because I have about 15 already!

I highly doubt 2013 is going to be as big of a year as it was for the box office this year. But nevertheless, next year is going to have some amazing movies - I have no doubt about that. While there won't be any sure-fire $400 million dollar hits, next year brings a great mix of eagerly awaited follow-ups and original movie ideas. With that in mind - here's part one of my runner-ups list. These movies didn't quite make the cut, but are worth keeping an eye out for because they do have some potential.

Most Anticipated: Skyfall

11. Skyfall (PG-13) - Runtime: 143 minutes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Director: Sam Mendes

It was an odd choice for the studio to pick Sam Mendes to direct this installment of the Bond franchise. After all, he's done nothing but a handful of American-focused dramas and a comedy - it's not like he's established himself as an action-oriented director. But the risk paid out - Mendes nailed this one and made it into one of the best Bond movies ever.

Unlike Quantum of Solace's meandering and messy plot, Skyfall gets straight to the point when it comes to the story. Bond has been presumed dead, KIA and a terrorist has taken a valuable document listing all MI6's agents locations and real names. Duh - Bond's not really dead and it's up to him to ferret out the villain. Unlike previous Bond films, the villain doesn't show up until halfway through the movie. But it is quite an entrance for a Bond villain. It's not flashy - but it is effective. Javier Bardem is suitably creepy and mysterious enough to warrant him at least consideration for top 5 Bond villains. Whereas most villains main source of motivation for being evil is money - Bardem's Silva is strictly out for revenge.

It's nice to see the franchise get back to its roots in some form or another: gadgets are back (although not that flashy - again I'm sensing a theme here), the villain is outrageously comical (the dude literally has his own secret island and that hair. Oh that hair.) and there's actually some steamy, sexy sex going on (Bond bags three ladies in this one!). While I enjoyed the previous two Daniel Craig outings, they were lacking in the camp/fun department. I call this the Bourne effect. It seems like Bond was trying to hard to be Jason Bourne, rather than himself. And while that paid off with Casino Royale, it was showing its wear and tear in Quantum of Solace. Thankfully, Skyfall fuses the more serious parts of Bond with the camp and cheesiness from yore in an entertaining way.

For the serious part - Skyfall delves into the past lives of Bond and M. Silva is a figure from the past out for revenge and apparently has enough money and goons to make his dream come true. As for the more campy elements - Q returns with his gadgets, Komodo dragons make an appearance and the aforementioned sexy sex happens quite a bit. Plus there's a lot more jokes/humor in this movie than the previous two combined.

Special mention has to be made for the direction and cinematography of Skyfall. There's a fight scene in Shanghai at the top of a building that is simply stunning. The lighting and camera angles make for some beautiful shots. The final act of the movie is also quite riveting - Mendes knows how to make destruction look beautiful and successfully captures Bond's almost-demise perfectly.

That's not to say this movie has some flaws - the final act, while stunning, drags a little bit and could have benefited from a shorter ending. And while I do say the movie gets back to its roots - it has a very limited leash. The movie isn't flashy enough in certain points. The gadgets are not really gadgets (seriously - a tiny tracking device and a palm-print ID'd gun? That's all you've got, Q?) The film itself acknowledges this when Q says "What did you expect, an exploding pen?" But that's what we want! So I'll knock the film a little - it plays it safe when it comes to reality-bending devices and plots (although the villain is pretty unrealistic from the get-go. Seriously the dude has an island and a bajillion supercomputers with which he can hack into any secure server in the world. Plus he has an unlimited amount of money and resources and he's able to predict his enemies actions/reactions.).

Aside from these nitpicking annoyances, the movie is solid. It has some amazing action scenes, a pretty involved plot that really has some character development and there's a decent amount of jokes. It may not match any of Sean Connery's outings as Bond in charm or wit - but it's pretty fantastic for a modern action movie and it deserves to be called one of the best Bond films!

Rating: See It!

Something sacred

I was watching TV at work the other day (yes, I get to watch TV at work, but trust me it sucks. It has to be family-friendly and that includes basically ESPN talking about the NFL all day or Drew Carey trying to do his best Bob Barker impersonation) and this commercial came on:

First of all, let's just get this outta the way: Sailor Jerry is a poor choice in naming your rum. You are directly competing with Captain Morgan's demographic: the tattooed, smelly hipster. And not only that, Captain has an official title. He's not Pirate Morgan, but a Captain. It's exactly how Mr. Pibb pales in comparison to Dr. Pepper - dude doesn't even have a degree! (Thanks to the late Mitch Hedberg for that joke) I don't even care for rum, much less alcohol. I am a weirdo in that respects. My evenings include guzzling a Mountain Dew and watching Friends reruns.

But the song in the commercial caught my attention. They're using a Misfits song, Where Eagles Dare. Something sacred has been broken. I thought the Misfits were untouchable when it came to mainstream popularity. I should have seen the warning signs. First they popped up on the Jackass movie soundtrack with Hybrid Moments. And then Rihanna was wearing the skull logo at a concert. Then this:

I'm not saying that The Misfits were this obscure band ten years ago. Hell, they've had a massive following ever since I was in middle school fifteen years ago. And their logo is so cool - it's hard for that to not break through into mainstream culture. But the music was pretty much off limits. That seems to be changing. I sound like a petulant hipster still clinging to my vinyl records screaming "I heard them first!!" While part of that is true, I do believe it's awesome that more people are being exposed to obscure music. I'd be a giant hypocrite if I didn't acknowledge the importance of music in commercials, Youtube videos, etc. to exposing certain bands to the masses. I would not have found out about M83, one of my favorite electro-pop bands if it wasn't for this Youtube video.

When I talk about something sacred has been broken, it's not that my special love for The Misfits has now been co-opted by others that may not have known them for as long (although part of that is true and I will get to that point in a minute). I'm talking about the sacredness of sharing something personal with somebody else. For a long, long time, punk music was my faith. Growing up, I was raised by The Ramones, The Clash, The Misfits, CIV, Operation Ivy and many others. Loving these artists created a special bond with my friends and we all loved to listen to them. And we were in the minority - we were our own band of misfits. I would find out about new music through my friends.

That doesn't happen anymore. At least, not that way. You can still find new music through your friends on Spotify. And while Spotify is great for this and it does connect people with shared tastes, most of the time you're listening to the music by yourself on your phone or computer. It's not a shared experience anymore. I remember hanging out with my friends and hearing for the first time Sheena is a Punk Rocker by the Ramones. And then rocking it out on the portable boombox while we skated around the middle school parking lot. It was something completely new (for me!) that sparked a flame that really hasn't died down.

Part of this has to do with nostalgia - we all look through time with rose-colored glasses and remember only how awesome we felt. And this nostalgia has a lot to do with how I feel a little bit of anger for other people enjoying the same stuff that I enjoyed in a much different way. This "I heard it first" reaction is a powerful force. But it's valid - we feel invested in what and who we spend time with the most. And for someone to come along and have the same fervent passion that you do without investing all that time - well, you can understand why people are upset. It's a tricky balance to acknowledge this feeling while embracing others' love of your love.

The internet has magnetized this feeling to disproportionate results. You're a weirdo hipster for liking this or that band, but then you're just jumping on the bandwagon for liking this or that band. This is increasingly why I've pretty much kept music to myself (except for the occasional outburst at work when I start to sing along to some of my favorite songs during closing time). I find myself continually being tugged in separate directions - I love to share music and experience it with others and just get down and groove! Then I get made fun of for liking a certain song and quickly retreat into solitary mode.

I feel vastly alone in this new musical landscape. I've enjoyed countless bands that I've discovered all on my own (thanks to sites like AdTunes), but I've really never shared them with anyone because I haven't really embraced Spotify nor do I listen to music when I hang out with other people that much. And I just don't feel like justifying my tastes to others. The internet has been a great tool in discovering new music, but it's also been a great hindrance in how we consume that music.

For better or worse, the internet has completely changed this part of my life. I'm not saying we need to abandon the internet or change our habits. After all, this is just one man's opinion on things. And this man is feeling a lot older and less relevant each passing year, which has a lot to do with this rant. But I hope that with every year, I still am embracing new music and keeping that flame burning.