New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

David Mumpower: This portion of the calendar is when I catch up on all of the major 2013 releases I hadn't watched. Largely, I found 2013 to be a fantastic year for cinema. Here are my thoughts about a few of the 50 titles I have watched over the past month.

Runner Runner starts off so well that a half hour in, I was wondering why critics had hated it and its distributor had abandoned it. Then, I watched the rest. I do not know what happened with the script. I just know that despite thinking a third of the movie is excellent, I would still consider it one of the worst 25 movies of the year. Justin Timberlake yet again proves he is a lousy choice as a lead actor while Ben Affleck's apathy is unmistakable. And the convoluted twists and turns are equal parts unneeded and ill-conceived. Once the conversations stopped being about money and scamming, the movie collapsed completely. The Rounders team should be able to make a better movie than this given the fertile subject matter that inspired them, the Full Tilt Poker scandal.

About Time is the latest masterpiece from Richard Curtis. Bill Nighy has never been better than in this role as a time traveling (well, time repeating) father who mentors his boy in how to use special abilities. I appreciate that the film has been billed as a romantic comedy, and it is that. What resonates with me, however, is the idea of replicating memories with loved ones. There is much more romance in that concept, just not in the sexual sense. About Time is a masterpiece that causes me to once again give thanks for the tenderness of my parents.

Computer Chess is one of those mumblecore indie films that has a small but passionate fanbase. And I am about to piss them off. I actively disliked this movie. The conceit of the film, one I will not reveal here, involves the second set of guests at a hotel where the primary set are hosting a computer chess convention. I understand exactly what is intended in the message, and I even chuckle a bit at the fetishism of the 1980s computers. I simply hated every aspect of this film including characters, dialogue, direction and acting. I feel misled by the buzz on this one.

Europa Report is the better version of Computer Chess in that it is primarily a found footage science fiction film. Its strongest selling point is the cast, which includes the villain from Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, that dude who had problems in District 9, the ping pong player with Balls of Fury and Karolina Wydra (you don't know her but she's demonstrated a lot of range on Justified and True Blood). The story is straight out of an Arthur C. Clarke 2001 sequel, as astronauts attempt to investigate mysterious readings on one of Jupiter's moons. As was the cast with Apollo 18, I enjoyed the set-up more than the resolution. Still, Europa Report gives good Sunshine.

Don Jon is an overwritten story that doesn't work well. All that I learned from it is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a compulsive onanist. If you only watch one Scarlett Johansson movie from 2013, pick the one where she provided the voice rather than did any acting.

The Family is critically reviled. And all of them who give it a thumbs down are wrong. This is an effervescent script that I swear has some touches of The Addams Family in it. No matter what happens between all of the various members of this government-protected mafia clan, they all seem to adore one another. That sort of familial cohesiveness is oddly refreshing for any genre, much less this one. The high school children in particular are well matched and quite charming together. The Family is one of the pleasant surprises of 2013 cinema.

Epic and Free Birds are kindred spirits in that each of them was a relatively disappointing box office performer. Both of them are gorgeously animated; in tandem, they also combine into a great movie. Epic is a spirited story of survival among a race of tiny people (well, people-ish) that lacks a lot of laughs but tells a wonderful story, although not quite epic enough for the title. Free Birds is predictable enough for anybody over the age of 10 to anticipate all of the major plot points. What it possesses in spades, however, is a wonderful sense of humor. Scott Mosier, a key member of the View Askew group, crafts several jokes that make giggle even in hindsight. In particular, I am a fan of all the ones that reference a time machine named Steve. Epic is a film that a child will find magical; Free Birds is a film that an adult can enjoy with their children. I recommend both while again stating that we are in a golden age for animation.

Drinking Buddies stars Jake Johnson of New Girl as a brewery employee who is dating Anna Kendrick. The catch is that he has feelings for Olivia Wilde. Since both women are into him, Jake Johnson has options. Really, really good ones. Drinking Buddies is slight yet I think it tells a nice story about the complexities of that phase of development from college to regular employment to long term dating. A lot of those decisions feel crucial yet they happen so organically that sometimes no decision is ever made. I admire the honesty regarding this in the movie.

Finally, I would note that What Maisie Knew is the inverse of Runner Runner and other films that lose me after act one. I was ready to turn this movie off after a half hour, which is saying something since it was a Christmas gift from a dear friend. I am glad that guilt kept me watching because the rest of the movie is quite wonderful. It explores the idea of how a young girl copes when she knows that neither of her biological parents is well equipped for the job of raising her. I started to suspect the endgame early in the movie. That in no way negated my enjoyment of it, though. What Maisie Knew is an optimistic kind of story in an industry that relishes telling the pessimistic side of the coin most of the time.

Continued:       1       2       3       4