2013 was a very disappointing film year. I have seen a lot of movies in my adult life, and so it’s difficult to find anything that seems original. Also, my financial constraints are so severe that I can’t really afford to go to any films in a theatre. Early in the year, when I had a little money, I was able to see a few. Netflix streaming is my primary source of film. Sometimes Red Box as well. So, very limited. Really disappointed that I didn’t finish writing all the reviews until now.
Alien Uprising
British movie about an alien invasion. Starts out as a marginally interesting study of the effect the invasion has on people, but ends up just going splat. Really dumb by the end. *
In Love We Trust
Fascinating Chinese film about divorced parents who have to try to produce a sibling for their young daughter who has cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. Each is currently married, and the film is really about how this affects the relationships. Excellent. ***
Too Young to Die
Interesting cinema verité Korean film about two octogenarians who meet, fall in love, and move in together. The Netflix version I saw had big narrative gaps and was only 62 minutes long. Even so, I really liked it. **
I Saw the Devil
Outstanding Korean film about a government agent who tracks down the serial killer who raped and killed his pregnant wife. Deals with questions about what you have to become to defeat evil. Really well acted and directed. ***
Secret Sunshine
Emotionally raw portrayal of a woman trying to come to terms with her devastation when her son is abducted and murdered. In the midst of all that, a pretty hilarious character who is in love with her. Extremely well acted by the entire cast. **
Barbara
German film about a doctor in the old East Germany who is trying to escape to the west. Of course, her personal involvements gum up the works. Well acted, and a good portrayal of the creepy power of the totalitarian state. **
Boat
Interesting and engaging Korean/Japanese film about a guy who unknowingly works as a drug courier from Korea to Japan. Evolves into a story about friendship and family. Very well acted. Ending is disappointing, but I still really liked it. **
Variety
The version of this film that I watched on Netflix had obviously been cut up quite a bit. So, besides the fact that that really makes me mad, I can’t really make a judgment about it. Too bad.
Holiday
Emotionally and cinematically overwrought Korean film about a harmful law put in place to keep criminals in jail for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Whole thing was too over the top for me, though it wasn’t poorly done. *
New World
Excellent Korean film about a deep-cover policemman rising through the Korean mafia. Very well written and acted. Interesting characters and twists. Really enjoyed it. ***
The Taste of Money
Excellent Korean film about the machinations of a super rich and powerful family. Centers on the moral dilemmas for one of the employees and his relationships with the generations. Well done and interesting cautionary tale. Really enjoyed it. ***
Electric Shadows
Affecting Chinese film about the role of movies in peoples’ lives demonstrated through the improbable encounter of two strangers. Really liked the way the narrative is reconstructed, the portrayal of the harsh realities of Mao’s China, and even the completely impossible ending. **
Conan the Barbarian
Bad remake of the Schwartzenegger vehicle. Really liked Rose McGowan as the evil sorceress, but everything else was really bad. *
El Infierno
Raw, and physically and emotionally brutal, Mexican film about a town controlled by a drug cartel. Very harsh vision of the state of Mexican society. Rated NC-17 for the violence. Really well acted. **
Rango
Entertaining animated movie with animals in the old west. A gecko hero, an extremely creepy snake, and a damsel in distress. The CGI was stupendous, the plot a cliché, and the voicing of the characters excellent. Enjoyed it quite a bit. **
The Iceman
Movie about a New York mob hit man in the 70s and 80s who’s a loving family man. Even though he’s got the face for it, Michael Shannon doesn’t really bring across the evil or menace of the killer half of the character. OK. **
The Good, the Bad, the Weird
Extremely witty and entertaining Korean re-imagining of the Sergio Leone western set in 1930s Korea. Great characters and outstanding action. Lots of fun, and very well done. ***
The Chambermaid
Same actors and crew who made Angst, about a hotel manager who abuses a chambermaid who works for him. Sordid, bleak, and looney. Can’t believe I watched the whole thing. *
Dance in the Vampire Bund
Entertaining and enjoyable anime about the queen of the Vampires and her attempts to build a secluded vampire community. Mostly about all the relationships of the people close to her. Nicely done and lots of fun for me. **
A Woman in Berlin
Well-done adaptation of the memoir of life in Berlin at the end of World War II, though it is sanitized. Good history, though. Tough now to imagine a situation where women greeted each other with how many times they’d been raped. Glad I saw it. **
The Hunger Games
Found it hard to believe that a young woman can kill other young people without much blood or any emotional damage. But that’s the YA factor, I guess. I like Jennifer Lawrence as an adult much better. But I think it was just what they wanted it to be. **
Don’t Let Me Die on a Sunday
Deeply dark French film about a guy whose despair is so deep he tries anything to be stimulated. The big event is that while having sex with a corpse in the morgue, she wakes up, so they are tied together. There’s a light undertone of humor and friendship, but it is emotionally brutal and bleak. **
The Thieves
Very entertaining Korean/Chinese movie about thieves who knock over a Macao casino. First half is deeply derivative, in plot and style, of the Clooney-Pitt Ocean’s movies, but the second half takes some turns. Lots of action and a twisting plot. Well done and a lot of fun. **
Jedi Junkies
Pretty interesting documentary about avid Star Wars collectors and convention goers. Didn’t know whether to feel sorry for some of these people or envy their joy they get out of it all. **
My Awkward Sexual Adventure
Mostly stupid TV-movie like film about a really awkward accountant who enlists the help of a stripper to get his girlfriend back. Hard to figure out what happens, right? Lame. *
Angst
Schlock English B movie about a woman whose vagina devours the men she has sex with. I know, I laughed writing that sentence. Dumb and not at all good. I was amazed that the cast took it so seriously. *
Female Vampire (Les avaleuses)
Very enjoyable 1973 X-rated (what is now NC-17) movie about a female vampire feeding on people in a resort town. Scene after scene of graphic female nudity and some simulated sex, interspersed with weird attempts at meaningfulness. Very 70s, and quite entertaining, if you like that kind of thing. *
Charlotte Sometimes
Very independent-looking character study of the friendship/relationship between a female renter and her male landlord in San Francisco. Some attempted plot twists. Well acted and accomplished. **
House of Pleasures (Souvenirs de la maison close)
Interesting movie about a brothel in fin de siècle Paris. Well acted. Trying to be an art movie. Point seems to be that hookers had it much better then. OK. **
Redemption
Disappointing Jason Statham vehicle about an Iraq War veteran who wants to make up for evil he’s done, and exact revenge on other evil doers. Way too predictable. A dopey, unbelievable affair with a nun. *
Thor
OK adaptation of the comic. Found the whole thing dopey, though much of that may have been intentional. Maybe I would have liked it if I were 10 years old. *
