Best Original Film 2013

If you take a look at the top ten grossing movies of the year so far there are seven sequels (Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Monsters University, Fast & Furious 6, Oz The Great and Powerful, Star Trek Into Darkness) and a reboot (Man of Steel). World War Z (based on a book) will probably be knocked out of the top ten by The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug leaving Gravity as the only original property to bother the top ten. Do audiences only go in large numbers to see sequels of franchise movies or do studios only commit large amounts of money to existing properties that a ready made audience? The $825million taken by Christopher Nolan’s Inception proved that a totally original movie could make money, however it would probably never been given the green light if not for the $1billion The Dark Knight took. As cinema prices creep up and audiences become ever more selective, studios become more cautious making it a self fulfilling prophesy relegating most original ideas to smaller films. With this in mind, here are my top five original movies of the year. Original movies, not a sequel, prequel, remake, re-imagining or reboot. Also, not based on a book, comic book or true story.

Stoker: In the year that the remake of Chan-wook Park’s masterpiece Oldboy limped onto cinema screens Stoker proved to be Park’s best film since Oldboy. The original screenplay was written by actor Wentworth Miller. A weird, beautiful and sublime blend of melodrama, psychological thriller and coming of age drama. Budget: $12,000,000 (estimated)

Gravity: Alfonso Cuarón’s space adventure about a pair of astronauts trying to find a way home after a collision in space is a truly stunning film and the first film that should be seen in 3D preferably IMAX 3D. Budget: $100,000,000 (estimated)

Prisoners: Great acting from ensemble cast and stunning photography from Roger Deakins combine with taught direction French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve making his English-language debut elevate this from a genre movie with an overt subtext to a really good film. Budget: $46,000,000 (estimated)

The East: An original story of the murky world of private intelligence firms and an environmental anarchist collective. Written by director Zal Batmanglij and star Brit Marling. It is notable for great acting and its dark melancholic tone. Budget: $6,500,000 (estimated)

Pacific Rim: To call Guillermo del Toro’s monsters vs. robot movie original would be a stretch as it appears to be based on every other monster movie/comic book to have gone before it, however it isn’t directly based on any other previously produced work. It makes the list ads it is just great fun, pure and simple. Budget: $190,000,000 (estimated)

Mud – the continuing renascence of Matthew McConaughey.
The Counsellor – Cormac McCarthy’s first screenplay is far better than has been reported
About Time – Charming and funny time travel comedy from Richard Curtis.
Blue Jasmine – Cate Blanchett, deserves an Oscar.
Elysium – Neill Blomkamp’s Sci-Fi action drama lacks subtlety but is still good

Check back at the end of the month to see how many of these movies make my top ten of the year.

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Movie of the Month: July 2013

The contenders for movie of the month are:

The East: Brit Marling plays a former FBI agent now working for a private intelligence firm, she is sent undercover to infiltrate the East, an anarchist collective. A suspense filled thriller with a fantastic performance from Marling. 

The Bling Ring: Sofia Coppola’s film based on the fame-obsessed teenagers who robbed the Hollywood homes of a string of celebrities. Emma Watson is great and the film has the dream like quality you would expect from Coppola, but it is ultimately dull and repetitive.

Chasing Mavericks: The true story of legendry surfer Jay Moriarity and the seminal summer when he trained to ride Mavericks. The film isn’t great but the surf scenes are really well shot.

Pacific Rim: Giant robots fight alien monsters in a movie written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, what more do you need to know.

The Frozen Ground: An Alaska State Trooper (Nicolas Cage) is on the hunt for a serial killer (John Cusack). Well acted but a bit dour and low key. Vanessa Hudgens gives a grat performance in a supporting role.

The Worlds End: Five school friends reunite to finish the epic pub crawl that defeated them 20 years earlier. The night is interrupted by an alien invasion. A fitting conclusion to the “Cornetto Trilogy”, it loses its way from time to time and not all the jokes work but on the whole it is fun and funny.

The Wolverine: A second solo outing for Wolverine is a massive improvement on the first film. Hugh Jackman is on great form in the title role and there is some great action, unfortunately there is also some bad CGI. Just enough of a taster to get me excited for Days of Future Past next year.

Frances Ha: Co written by star Greta Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach. There isn’t much in her way of plot, instead relying on some amusing scenarios and the charm of Gerwig. Directed with a soft touch that has been compared to Jean-Luc Godard than Woody Allen.

I am really tempted to pick The East or Frances Ha, but Pacific Rim was just too much fun and gets the July movie of the month award.

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