The Month in Film: January 2013
2013 is officially a month in, and with that a return to school came with it. I did see quite a fair amount of movies this month, and since I’ve only been in a school one week I can’t blame that for the decrease in output between here and December. Either way, I think this might be my best month in terms of amount of films that I actually wrote reviews for. Let’s look at what I watched all through January.
1. 200 Cigarettes*
2. The Imposter
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. Flight
5. Life of Pi
6. Killing Them Softly
7. Adventures in Babysitting*
9. Abduction*
10. The Devil Inside*
11. V/H/S*
12. Zero Dark Thirty
13. Dredd*
14. Jailhouse Rock
15. The Virgin Queen
16. Peter Pan (1953)*
17. Rainbow (1978)
18. Celeste and Jesse Forever
19. The Impossible
20. Not Fade Away
21. Gangster Squad
22. Argo*
23. Miss Representation
25. Notorious*
28. James Dean: Race With Destiny
29. Bye Bye Birdie*
30. The Moth Diaries
31. TerrorVision
32. If I Were Free
33. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
34. Sleeping Beauty*
35. Headhunters
36. West of Shanghai
38. Devil’s Island
39. Frankenstein*
40. The Bride of Frankenstein*
TOTALS:
40 films watched in January (down 11 from December )
15 were rewatches
25 were first-time viewings
10 were theatrical releases (it’s awards season).
Top 5 Favorite Classic Films of the Month:
1. TerrorVision – It’s a bit late in the timeline of “classic,” but this was a fun movie.
2. Notorious
3. Bye, Bye Birdie – I should review this soon
4. Jailhouse Rock – Stands as the best Elvis movie
5. The Philadelphia Story
Favorite Theatrical Film of the Month: Gangster Squad was an entertaining throwback to B-movie film noir. I’m really not understanding all the negativity surrounding it. It was one of the funnest moments I had in the movies all this month. I also went and saw Argo again, and boy do I hope this wins Best Picture.
Worst Film of the Month: In terms of theatrical output, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters kicked off my Worst Movies of 2013 list. It’s stupid and misogynist. I also found The Impossible impossible to sit through (get it?). Other bad works included the boring 60s drama Not Fade Away, Taylor Lautner being God-awful in Abduction, the James Dean biopic James Dean: Live Fast, Die Young, and the lesbian Dracula romance The Moth Diaries.
Biggest Disappointment of the Month: There weren’t too many disappointments as opposed to movies set up to be spectacular due to hype. I did love Zero Dark Thirty or Silver Linings Playbook.
Biggest Surprise of the Month: Not one movie stands out. I’m more surprised that it felt like I saw more bad movies than good this month.
Movies Worth Seeking Out: The Imposter (go rent it or buy it NOW) and Headhunters.
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Kristen Lopez View All
A freelance film critic whose work fuels the Rotten Tomatoes meter. I've been published on The Hollywood Reporter, Remezcla, and The Daily Beast. I've been featured in the L.A. Times. I currently run two podcasts, Citizen Dame and Ticklish Business.
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