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.

Silver Linings Playbook

Yesterday, I treated myself to an early Christmas present and saw Silver Linings Playbook. I was hoping it would be the renewal of faith I needed with several key aspects and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Its portrayal of mental health issues within a family and volatile relationships with everyone in it made it easy for me to connect to immediately. Just the right amount of punches were pulled for it to be enjoyable, but still make a point. My biggest jolt in faiths came from the actors themselves, though.

Jennifer Lawrence is an amazing actress who has done absolute horse shit roles ever since one of my favorite movies of 2010, Winter’s Bone. She’s at a point where she could easily be typecast into more shitty roles, but Silver Linings Playbook is proof Jennifer can continue to be something very special.

De Niro doesn’t have to prove a damn thing to anyone at this point. Still, you have to go back quite a few years to understand why he’s so iconic. I’m happy to see him take on the father who wants to do well, but struggles identifying what that means. I’m sure a lot of people identify with this and he did the role justice here.

I like Bradley Cooper. I like him a lot. He’s been enjoyable in the shallow roles and I’ve been dying to see what he does when you give him a thoughtful script and more depth. You get that here. His character knows what’s right and what’s wrong. He has a genuine want to be a better person, but he struggles with an illness that makes it difficult not to continually sabotage himself. I think he might always be an actor with some limit to his range, but Silver Linings Playbook really played to his strengths and weaknesses perfectly.

So what am I saying with all of this? Well, I suppose I’m saying the script and performances deserve many accolades. I suppose I’m saying you’d be doing yourself an injustice by not rushing out to see it. I suppose I’m saying this is absolutely one of my favorite flicks of the year.

Dear Instagram

Dear Instagram,

I know we have had an “on again, off again” relationship for the past several years, but your recent actions have made me rethink how valuable we are to each other. I’ve enjoyed you taking my pictures from a $500 phone and turning them into an image you’d get from a $15 plastic camera. It was fun when you allowed me to shoot until my heart was content. When I thrust my pictures inside of you, I do that for our mutual benefit, but now you’re taking advantage of it.

You’ve simply become too controlling and I want to be my own man. My content is my content and I will decide the terms of how/when they are used and who uses them. I require more growth and maturity from you and hold hope you find both. If there ever comes a time when we can mutually agree to this and that spark is still there, maybe we can see where the day take us.  Until then, it’s time to go on our separate ways..

Of course, we can still be friends. If I see you out and about with other people, I will always greet you warmly and continue to remain respectful.

Take care. -Rich