Category Archives: Featured

My Own Damn Movie Awards for 2013

Another great year of movies? Let’s find out.

10 Best Pictures of 2013

  1. Her (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay)Her Movie Poster
  2. Inside Llewyn Davis
  3. Lone Survivor (Best Visuals, Best Sound)
  4. Short Term 12
  5. Rush
  6. The Wolf of Wall Street
  7. Star Trek: Into Darkness
  8. Don Jon
  9. Mud
  10. 12 Years A Slave

Notable others include American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, The Great Gatsby, The Iceman, Iron Man 3, Nebraska, Only God Forgives, The Spectacular Now, Texas Buyers Club, and This Is The End.

Best Actress

  1. Brie Larson – Short Term 12Brie Larson
  2. Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
  3. Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
  4. June Squibb – Nebraska
  5. Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
  6. Julianne Moore – Don Jon

Best Actor

  1. Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn DavisOscar Isaac
  2. Joaquin Phoenix – Her
  3. Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
  4. Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
  5. Daniel Bruhl – Rush
  6. Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
  7. Matthew McConaughey – Mud
  8. Bruce Dern – Nebraska

This was difficult. Another year of great movies and all strong for different reasons. There’s the wonderful surprise of Short Term 12 with a subtilely heartbreaking performance from Brie Larson. Who doesn’t love a good war movie because we were lucky enough to be treated to Lone Survivor, one of the best I’ve seen in a while. Inside Llewyn Davis which, with help from the thoughtful performance of Oscar Isaac, shows the Coen bothers have filmmaking down to a science. Then there’s movies so unique and considerate that they deserve to stand alone.

Read this: “A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need.” Now try and tell me what you just read isn’t utterly laughable. It just goes to show how much acknowledgment everyone involved in conceiving Her really deserves because what they created was the best movie of 2013. Pushing the boundaries of innovation and originality, this flick continuously takes risks in an entirely realized and believable world. It’s modernly romantic and possesses some of the sweetest performance I’ve seen in years. Above all, Her is an extraordinarily powerful glimpse into our avidity for connection and it’s executed to an impactful perfection.

My Own Damn Movie Awards for 2012

Note: It’s been quite a long time since I’ve posted and this particular post has been sitting in my draft box for over a year. Original post date was suppose to be sometime in January 2013, so just keep that in mind if you’re reading. Figure I’d finish it off and send it out since I’ll be pushing a 2013 list out soon.

It’s another year of to give out My Own Damn Movie Awards. Let’s see where it all landed for me this year.

10 Best Pictures of 2012

  1. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Visuals, Best Sound)
  2. Silver Linings Playbook
  3. Zero Dark Thirty
  4. Rust and Bone
  5. Django Unchained
  6. Argo
  7. Looper
  8. The Cabin in the Woods
  9. Sleepwalk With Me
  10. Safety Not Guaranteed

Notable others include The Avengers, Killing Them Softly, The Master, Promised Land, The Raid: Redemption, and Seven Psychopaths.

Best Actress

  1. Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
  2. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
  3. Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone
  4. Aubrey Plaza – Safety Not Guaranteed
  5. Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor

  1. Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
  2. Dwight Henry – Beasts of the Southern Wild
  3. Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
  4. Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
  5. Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained

Cabin in the Woods was just a stellar meta-horror satire. Argo was practically flawless. Silver Linings Playbook was a welcomed surprise in every way. 2012 was just a great year for movies, which makes this year’s best speak absolute volumes.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a rare flick that’s so immediately engaging and incredibly original from start to finish. This is one where you got to walk away from it thankful you were allowed to follow Hushpuppy’s experience. It greets you with open arms and makes you want to revisit it time and time again. Welcome to the bathtub.