Now that the Summer blockbuster season has been laid to rest, the Fall awards-focused season is taking over. Studios looking to win Oscars for their films like to bundle up as many of their movies late in the year so that they are fresh on the minds of Academy voters. These are films that focus more on developing stories and characters, rather than being a visual spectacle.
Even though the Summer season provided an excellent start with “Iron Man 3”, it didn’t really end up wow-ing much in terms of bombastic blockbusters like in previous years. Besides “Iron Man 3”, there was “Pacific Rim”, which was a lot of fun and the hilarious “This is the End”, which relied more on the idea behind the caricatures of the people involved than any sort of blockbuster tropes. But that’s pretty much the notable Summer deliveries. It doesn’t bode well for a season known for its explosive distribution when its best movie is less a blockbuster, and more a fun, sharp romp in “The World’s End”. That’s not surprising, considering its EDGAR WRIGHT at his very best.
That being said, the final two months of 2013 are looking like they’re going to provide the best string of movies in a long time. “Gravity” has already led the way for a lot of what we have to look forward to this Awards season, and “The Counselor” along with “Ender’s Game” are making waves at the end of October. However, it’s November and December that are going to deliver a big punch when it comes to movie quality. There’s so much to pick from that whittling them down to ten has been a taxing effort. Though, things were made a bit easier when it was announced that “The Monuments Men” was getting pushed to 2014. With so much quality, I felt obliged to include the top 5 that didn’t quite make it into the Top 10 here in quick succession and in no particular order:
5. “Nebraska” (Nov. 15th) – ALEXANDER PAYNE’s follow-up to “The Descendants” and includes BOB ODENKIRK in the cast. Odenkirk played Saul Goodman on BREAKING BAD and he’s following that up with a role in the film “Nebraska.” All BREAKING BAD fans must get a kick out of that one.
4. “Frozen” (Nov. 27th) – Disney’s latest non-Pixar animated effort loosely based on the fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.
3. “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug” (Dec. 13th) – The sequel to last year’s “The Hobbit” is gonna bring more epic adventuring to the big screen. I’ve never really been a big fan of this series. I know. I’m the worst.
2. “Out of the Furnace” (Nov. 27th Limited, Dec. 6th Wide) – Directed by SCOTT COOPER (“Crazy Heart”), this film has an excellent cast with the likes of CHRISTIAN BALE, CASEY AFFLECK, WOODY HARRELSON, ZOE SALDANA, and WILLEM DAFOE. A gritty and solemn film to get you in the holiday spirit.
1. “Saving Mr. Banks” (Dec. 13th) – Disney’s latest non-animated effort provides us with the story of how “Marry Poppins” came to be produced at Disney in 1961. EMMA THOMPSON plays P.L. Travers (the author of Mary Poppins) and TOM HANKS plays Walt Disney. As if you need any other reason to see this already.
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Given that crop of films, this should really give you an idea of how loaded these next two months are going to be.
Without further ado here are the Top 10 reasons to look forward to the upcoming films of 2013.
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