TOP 10 FILMS OF 2013

MARK STEVENS - GUEST REVIEWER

1. ALL IS LOST --- Pure and left open to interpretation, this film is as true a test to watch as it is for Redford's OUR MAN character to struggle through. We will look back at Redford's career one day, and this film will be part of that recollection. Best Acting of the year. The music and cinematography are also top notch. 

2.  THE WOLF OF WALL STREET --- A 3 hour, one act movie. But it's a helluva one act of non-stop aggression and exploitation that only looks back for a moment or two to see the people and lives its unrestricted capitalistic greed leaves in its wake. Leo's energy is unmatched. 

3. DALLAS BUYERS CLUB  --- Fantastic look into the period of AIDS panic that was the mid 80's. Great acting and story structure, showing one sickened man's fight against time and pushed medicine.

4. THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG --- A terrific improvement over the first installment in the Hobbit Trilogy. Finally, you like the characters. The Dragon Smaug is the best special effect I have ever seen.

5. RUSH --- Overlooked by most everybody. A solid look into the world of racing, focusing on the greatest rivalry the sport has seen. 

6. THIS IS THE END ---  The funniest film I have seen in years. How did they ever think of such crazy antics? I can guess, but...

7. her --- Higher concepts dominate your mind while watching this smart film, showing where we all might be heading as a people.

8. 12 YEARS A SLAVE --- A must-see film, although a hard one to watch. A bit overplayed to a fault in the first half of the film, it finds its footing in the great acting and drama on the plantations in the second.

9. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS --- Shows us, without telling us to think it, that the life at sea in the global economy is a hard one, and it's just business for both sides in the end. 

10. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY --- Not anywhere near a classic, but this film tries to dream, and it tries hard. It's about a guy breaking out of the stale life he is living and going for it for once, and maybe telling a tall-tale of it in the process.

HONORABLE MENTION---

DON JON, ENOUGH SAID, NEBRASKA, MAN OF STEEL, BLUE JASMINE,WORLD WAR Z, THOR 2

Worst film I SAW (Though I'm sure there were many worse I didn't)

THE BUTLER