2013s Cinematical Movie Review

My Favorite 20 Movies Of The Year AKA The McConnaissance Is Upon Us

Alright gang.  Time for the annual (yeah I missed a few years, fuck you) review of the year in movies.  Now, this is all my preference.  This isn't an objective view of the year.  This is my interests in cinema boiled down to a list.  It would look very different if I was being objective.  Now, I don't mind friendly conversations and debate.  But keyboard dickswinging is a no, so don't do it.  I also would like to point out my boys Mike Natale, Rob LaRosa, and Josh Paige have lists as well.  To get to know them as well as me in our interests, check the links out.  But for now, here is my cinema experiences of the year 2013.

20. Star Trek Into Darkness
19. Pain and Gain
18. Elysium
17. Stoker
16. Captain Phillips
15. Bullet To The Head
14. American Hustle
13. The Act of Killing
12. 12 Years A Slave
11. Fast and Furious 6

10. Prisoners 
I’m a sucker for procedurals. Zodiac is one of my favorite movies ever and in my opinion, Finchers best movie. I love All The Presidents Men. I even dig Zero Dark Thirty, even despite being a rickety sort of movie. So this movie was right up my alley. Set in the few days after two kids go missing, we follow two characters. Hugh Jackman, in a career best non Wolverine role, as one of the kids father as he slowly starts going mad and taking matters into his own hands. There’s also Jake Gyllenhaal as the fidgety, wiry detective who is assigned to the case. While it may be a tad too long, I like that it’s a slow burn that builds up the tension. With great cinematography by Roger Deakins, two great performances by the leads, a solid mystery and good tension, this movie was almost made for me.

9. Wolf Of Wall Street
The movie were Scorsese comes back in a big way, Goodfellas style.  And not just in the style of the movie, but in the fact that all of the characters in it are just unrepentant scumbags like Goodfellas.  A 3 hour trip into the absolute den of sin that was Jordan Belforts life, brought memorably to life by Leonardo DiCaprio, we see exactly what went on in the lives of the men who were partly responsible for the economy taking a nosedive.  One of the funniest movies of the year, and probably the funniest of Martys career, it manages to turn on a dime and become very dramatic.  I love The Departed, but this is finally the movie we can say is his best since Goodfellas.

8. Iron Man 3
Shane Black alone is the best filmmaker to have entered the Marvel movie universe, so it is no surprise that he comes out on top with the best solo Marvel movie so far.  Now, this is a fun action movie for the first two acts of the movie.  It has a good setup of Stark having PTSD after The Avengers, and Downey gives his best performance as Stark so far.  And it even does the Shane Black thing of breaking the hero down and setting the movie during Christmas.  So already, I’m into this.  But the villain, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin, seems a bit weak.  Not Iron Lebowski bad (Jeff Bridges in Iron Man), but a bit iffy. But there is a third act twist that is so ingenious and out of left field but completely fitting that it kicks this movie up another notch.  For a superhero movie to hold a secret back this well and take so many off guard, that alone is worth it.

7. Evil Dead
Almost any other year, this would be the best horror film of the year.  But either way, it’ll have to settle for being second best.  It’ll also have to be ok with being a great damn remake that manages to tune in to what made the original work.   What could have been a quick cash grab managed to elevate itself with a nasty tone and violence that in essence has broken the MPAA.  It also manages to change up the simple cabin in the woods movie with some bold choices.  But long story short, it’s a quick punch to the gut and is a welcome addition to the stagnant Evil Dead franchise.

6. Mud
Another fantastic building block in the ongoing McConauassiance.  Now, I’m not the biggest fan of coming of age movies.  They are usually a little too clean and easy, with a lot of hand holding.  But every now and again, we get one that bucks against the trends.  Mud is a great, dirty and uncompromising coming of age tale.  Featuring another in a long line of great performances by McConaughey, we also get great turns from the main child, Tye Sheridan, and supporting turns from Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard and Ray McKinnon.  I don’t wanna spoil too much because it deserves to be seen fresh.

5. Safe Haven segment from VHS 2 
Gareth Evans is on a meteoric rise and is going to be a name reckoned with in cinema.  And when people look back at his early career, this segment from VHS 2 is gonna be like looking back at early John Carpenter.  If The Raid was his Assault on Precinct 13, this is his Halloween.  Just an absolutely insane thrill ride from top to bottom, nothing is going to be spoiled in this.  Just look find the movie and watch it.  His segment is about journalists.  And with that, he managed to find a way to make found footage not annoying.  And really, no one is better at filming violence right now.  For a year with some big surprises and big moments, this short film has more surprises and big moments that most of the features.

4. Dallas Buyers Club
This movie would be on this list just for the two career defining, gauntlet thrown down performances of McConaughey and Leto.  But you give me a story that manages to be funny but also heart breaking story about a straight, good ole boy con man from Texas getting AIDS and forming a drug ring to get good meds out to his fellow afflicted, then you get a classic.  Frankly, this movie was eye opening for me.  It’s one thing to read about the crisis and read that it wasn’t just gay people or junkies getting the disease.  But to actually see a poster boy for white, texas assholes get it and be abandoned by his country was really powerful for me.  Ron Woodroof is a great character because he starts out as a repugnant asshole, but gradually becomes a noble asshole.  If anything, that’s what sets this movie apart.  He learns to accept gays and others he used to have hatred for.  But he still, by the end of the movie is still kind of a dick.  In other words, the movie was a snap shot of life.

3. This Is The End
Possibly the funniest movie I’ve seen since Shaun Of The Dead, this is a movie I still can’t believe exists.  A movie made by the Apatow crew of Rogen, Franco, Hill, Baruchel, Robinson and McBride about the end of the world where they play heightened versions of themselves.  As meta a movie as we’ve seen that is basically a bottle episode set in Francos house, its filthy and violent and just totally surprising.  Also surprisingly has a nice little arc for some of the characters and just a scene stealing performance by Danny McBride, this movie is a blast and a half.

2. Man of Steel
Easily gonna be my most controversial choice on this list, but suck a dick, this is MY list of MY personal favorites.  So sit down, stroke your neckbeards in anger and read on.  Superman is my favorite comic book character.  This is mainly due in part because at the age of 11, I watched Smallville on the WB as it aired.  It got me into the comics world and made me a Superman fanatic.  I saw all the movies and was totally excited for Superman Returns.  And then, disappointment.  That sucked and even Smallville was going through a bad slump at the time.  But like Kal El, I still had hope in a dire situation.  Even as I got older and realized aside from Christopher Reeve, the old movies kinda suck.  So I had to live with the comics and a struggling tv show while Christopher Nolan was blowing up notions of comic book movies with his Batman series.  For years, it seemed like something Doomsday couldn’t do happened.  It seemed like Superman was dead.  But then something strange happened.  Nolan decided to revive the character in a producer capacity.  Bringing in visual/action directing master Zack Snyder and David Goyer, the man who changed super hero movies twice with the Blade series and Batman series, things looked good for once.  And they were.  Now, the movie isn’t perfect.  Very few are.  The only one I saw this year is The Conjuring.  Yeah, the tornado scene is fucking stupid.  Lois Lane was shoe horned in in the third act.  The last 40 or so minutes could be too much for people.  And the dispatching of Zod was initially a bad choice.  But no block buster is perfect.  Not Raiders, not Iron Man.  Not even the new holy grail, The Avengers.  I was able to move past some iffy choices (I loved the last 40 minutes, and killing Zod was completely in character and a set up for the future).  The pitch perfect casting of Henry Cavill as Superman, Russell Crowe as Jor El, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Antje Traue as Faora, and Kevin Costner as John Kent. The gorgeous visuals that alter depending on location on Krypton, Metropolis, or Kansas.  The frankly unprecedented visual effects that make us believe a man can fly and for the first time, give us comic book super fights that feel like gods kicking the shit out of each other.  Add in some actual emotional gravitas with an actual character arc for Supes, something the others didn’t do.  Or two specific perfect little character moments, of his first flight and starting work the Daily Planet.  This was a Superman movie for Superman fans with an open mind to see an elseworlds movie, not to see some specific bullshit arc they read as a kid or saw Christopher Reeve as a kid and nothing else is Superman.  It ain’t perfect.  But there’s only one perfect comic book movie, The Dark Knight.  And that was set up by a not perfect movie, Batman Begins.

1. The Conjuring 
This was easily my favorite movie of the year, which is crazy to think when you see the list of films to hit the screens this year.  It’s also, in my humblest of opinions, the second best movie of the year behind 12 Years A Slave.  Weird for it to be my number one movie though, right?  Well, because only Slave did what it set out to do better than The Conjuring, but is so depressing I’ll probably never watch it again.  But The Conjuring?  I’ve already seen it 4 times since its July 2013 release.  For what seemed like a simple haunted house movie, James Wan came in and elevated the game with a newfound, but not unsurprising, level of confidence behind the camera.  This is a horror movie that gives the pieces of shit Paranormal Activity movies a lesson in how to build and release tension.  And holy cow is this movie tense.  There is one chunk in the movie that even had me going the first time I saw it.  Add in superb performances from Lilly Taylor, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and the children with superb cinematography and a tension building score, this movie is an instant classic.  And with my tastes, my favorite movie of the year.

Awards Time

Best Director:

James Wan For The Conjuring

James Wan has had a very successful career for a while now.  He came in like a cannon going off with his debut film Saw, changing the face of horror.  After solid efforts Dead Silence, Death Sentence and Insidious, Wan seemed to be working as a solid genre delivery system.  But The Conjuring is such a leap in quality that he has now become a force to truly be reckoned with.  This is a movie that succeeds because of Wans confidence and intelligence at building tension behind the camera.  A true standout that no one saw coming.  

Nominees:

Alfonso Cuaron For Gravity

Martin Scorsese For Wolf Of Wall Street

Steve McQueen For 12 Years A Slave

Gareth Evans For "Safe Haven" Segment of VHS 2

Best Original Screenplay:

Jeff Nichols For Mud

A truly great coming of age flick that blows ahead of other coming of age tales by not being a slave to conventions.  This is a rough and tough, but oddly beautiful look at growing up in a broken home and dealing with love, loss and disappointment.  A great flick that started with a great backbone by a rising star. 

Nominees:

Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack For Dallas Buyers Club

Spike Jonze For Her

Aaron Guzikowski for Prisoners

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg For This Is The End

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Terrence Winter For Wolf Of Wall Street

Winter stepped up to the plate in a big way, condensing the years long orgy of decadence led by Jordan Belfort into a 3 hour (originally 5) movie.  But he manages to keep the whole movie chugging along without repeating beats.  A great piece of work that was made even better by the master, Scorsese.  

Nominees:

John Ridley for 12 Years A Slave

Billy Ray For Captain Phillips

David Goyer For Man Of Steel

Mark Protosevich For Oldboy

Best Cinematography:

John R. Leonetti For The Conjuring

A key component to the success of any horror movie is the visuals and the mood, and a big part of that is by the cinematographer.  And Leonetti came through in a big way for the best horror movie in years.  Just a gorgeous movie that isn't aggressively in your face and keeps you on your toes.  

Nominees:

Emmanuel Lubezki For Gravity

Amir Mokri For Man Of Steel

Roger Deakins For Prisoners

Chung-Hoon Chung For Stoker

Best Editing:

Paul Machliss For The Worlds End

Every Edgar Wright movie is a hyper kinetic ride with energy to spare editing that doesn't lose you in the noise.  And The Worlds End isn't any different.  Machliss hits another home run that heightens every emotion that movie sends you through.  

Nominees: 

Christopher Rouse For Captain Phillips

Kirk M. Morri For The Conjuring

Thelma Schoonmaker For Wolf Of Wall Street

David Brenner For Man Of Steel

  

Best Score:

Michael Giacchino For Star Trek Into Darkness

Michael Giacchino is one of the two best young composers alive right now, next to Hans Zimmer.  He always delivers, but when he works with JJ Abrams, he always delivers next level work.  And this time is no different, delivering maybe his best work yet. Managing to be different yet feel the same as old Trek themes, as well as working the original theme in parts, he makes an iconic action/adventure score.  

Nominees:

Hans Zimmer For Man Of Steel

Steven Price For Gravity

Joseph Bishara For The Conjuring

Arcade Fire For Her

Best Visual Effects:

Man Of Steel

The epic scope of this movie would not have been achieved had it not been for the masterful effects work brought to the film.  From building a believable alien world, to rendering unreal levels of destruction, to tiny things like alien battle armor.  The tiny attention to details makes this a monumental achievement in FX.  

Nominees:

Elysium

Gravity

Evil Dead

"Safe Haven" Segment From VHS 2

Best Feature Documentary:

The Act Of Killing

Just an absolute chilling documentary about the men responsible for executing accused communists in Indonesia in 1965/66.  I won't spoil much for those uninitiated but to say it is a truly unique vision that gives us a look at true evil.  

Runner Up:

Camp Crystal Lake Memories

Best Live Action Short:

"Safe Haven" Segment From VHS 2

See entry number 5 on my top 20 list for a summary of my feelings on this awesome fucking short.  

Best Animated Short:

Get A Horse!

Just an old school cartoon told with new school capabilities.  Mickey and company trolling Peg Leg Pete.  A humorous mix of Mickey Mouse and The Purple Rose of Cairo, it will make any one feel young again.  

Best Supporting Actress:

Lupita N'Yongo For 12 Years A Slave

Heartbreak.  That's the one word thesis you need to know about this performance from the young woman who bursts onto the scene as the soul crushed young slave being pulled at both sides by Michael Fassbenders slave owner and his wife.  In a movie filled with true life brutality, she is the most heart wrenching thing.  A tour de force unmatched this year.  

Nominees: 

Margot Robie For Wolf Of Wall Street

June Squibb For Nebraska

Amy Adams For Man Of Steel

Vera Farmiga For The Conjuring

Best Supporting Actor:

Jared Leto For Dallas Buyers Club 

Jared Leto returns to acting after a long break with an instantly iconic, tour de force acting job as the transvestite, AIDS inflicted Rayon.  As the partner/eye opener to Ron Woodruff, he is just absolute unreal.  Even knowing who he is, I thought he was a tranny.  Just a transcendent performance that deserves all the accolades it gets. 

Nominees:

Sharlto Copley For Elysium 

Russell Crowe For Man Of Steel

Matthew McConaughey For Mud

Michael Fassbender For 12 Years A Slave

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock For Gravity

Sandra Bullock makes Gravity work.  It's not a slight to the FX crew or Cuarons direction or the writing.  She, for the majority of the movie, is the only one on screen.  Having never been her biggest fan, she won me over.  She keeps you transfixed all on her own.  This is what she should have an Oscar for, not The Blind Side.  

Nominees: 

Lilly Taylor For The Conjuring

Jane Levy For Evil Dead

Mia Wasikowa For Stoker

Scarlett Johansson For Her

Best Actor: 

Matthew McConaughey For Dallas Buyers Club

The McConnaissance has been going strong for a few years now and the man has reached new heights.  As Ron Woodroof, the aids afflicted good ole boy hustler, he is astounding.  Rail thin and using that southern drawl for all the gravitas it's worth, he goes through every emotion as if he was living it.  He became Ron Woodruff for 2 hours.  May the McConnaissance keep going for many more years to come.  

Nominees:

Chiwetel Ejiofor For 12 Years A Slave

Christian Bale For American Hustle

Henry Cavil For Man Of Steel

Leonardo DiCaprio For Wolf Of Wall Street


Best Ensemble Cast

This Is The End

This is a movie that literally exists only because of it's cast.  Many movies are made for certain actors.  But not many movies are made by actors playing themselves, albeit heightened versions of themselves or what they appear to be.  Just a hilarious look at the Hollywood lifestyle, we are blessed with this movie thanks to the cast being ok with playing themselves.  

Nominees:
Wolf Of Wall Street
Man Of Steel
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle




Breakout Performers of The Year

Henry Cavill as Kal El in Man Of Steel and Jane Levy as Mia in Evil Dead

It's fitting that the two big breakout performers of the year both cut their teeth on TV for a few years before jumping to the big screen in updated versions of classic films.  Cavill just utterly owns the role of Superman, not just visually but physically as well.  His eyes convey the heroism yet the loneliness.  His movements convey the power yet the care not to destroy.  He conveys the utter joy of flying for the first time and being unable to unleash his true self.  

Then you get Levy getting a juicy performance that allows her to play three roles.  She gets to play junkie, possessed, and heroic all in one movie.  And you believe it every step of the way.  When she withdrawal freaks out into the woods, you believe it.  When she curses everyone with those evil eyes flicking around, you believe it.  And when she rips off her own damn hand to survive and kill a demon, you believe it.  The flexibility these two show in these roles convey very bright futures indeed.  

Most Overrated Films Of The Year

Pacific Rim & Gravity

It's with a heavy heart that I find two Sci Fi films from two great directors I admire greatly disappointed me so.  Pacific Rim aims to be a throwback to old monster movies, and it does that to it's own detriment.  It doesn't add anything to elevate it above the B movie schlock it loves.  It's a bore, it's dumb as shit and the action has no weight because every "character" is two dimensional at best and just irritating as hell at worst.  

Then you get Gravity, which is an ambitious flick with a great performance and slick technical work, but just feels hollow.  It has a cliche ridden story about redemption that leaves your mind once the film ends.  It aims high but misses the mark to truly achieve greatness.  

Most Underrated Films of The Year

Eylisum & Oldboy

My man Sharlto Copley has had no luck since his breakout performance in District 9.  So it's almost fitting that two movies that he appears in with great supporting turns, are both criminally under appreciated.  Elysium was essentially forgotten and dismissed upon arrival because it wasn't District 9, nor was it an art piece with action elements that everyone figured it would be.  But these people deluded themselves into thinking that District 9 wasn't anything but a great action film with more on it's mind that most action films.  And that's what Blomkamp brought to Elysium.  Was it perfect?  No.  It could have been longer and more fleshed out.  But it left us wanting more and that's the sign of a well crafted world/movie.  

Oldboy was hated from the get go.  There was nothing that could be done to make people have an open mind upon seeing it.  The original has this reputation amongst film fans who saw it when it came out that it's got a holy grail element to it now.  But despite this unreachable goal people had in their heads, if people had an open mind they'd see that the new Oldboy was just as good, if not better than the original.  By taking out some of the regional touches and adding some of our own, and even taking the motivation of the villain and tweaking it, the movie hits like a hammer.  Sometimes, people just need to shut the fuck up, get out of their own heads and watch a movie for what it is and not what it isn't.  

SPECIAL SECTION FOR A HATE CARPET BOMB

I saw Die Hard 5 and Texas Chainsaw 7 early 2013.  I had no real hopes for classics, but I expected to be at least entertained.  And I was half right.  Texas Chainsaw is such a monumentally fucking stupid movie, as big a misfire of the appeal of a horror character I've seen in awhile.  A half assed tie in to the original film doesn't excuse them.  It's a shit show and gets even worse when the twists start piling up.  But it was so bad it at least entertained me.  Die Hard 5 was one of the worst things I've ever experienced.  I've been beaten, slashed, burned and stabbed.  This was worse.  The laziest form of action movie with barely any action.  No spark, no fun.  Everyone seems to be asleep.  I literally hate this movie and everyone involved in it, aside from Bruce.  Though Bruce is pushing it by being in it and asking for another.  

Top 15 Movie Moments Of The Year

15. Look Out For That Door : The Worlds End

Quite simply, the sight of Nick Frost drunkenly walking through a glass door was designed to kill me.  It was destined to end up on this list.  

14. The Rock Grills a Hand: Pain and Gain

The moment where the movie about three dumb ass meatheads kidnap a rich man stops in it's track to tell you that, yes, this insanity is based on a true story.  And the insane level of stupidity on display peaks at this moment.  

13. The Truth About Uncle Charlie: Stoker

The movie had been building, unbeknownst to the audience, to this moment the entire movie.  The movie goes from socially awkward girl grieving her fathers death, to the ickiest origin story of a pair of thrill killers ever.  Of course it comes from the sick fuck who gave us the original Oldboy.  

NO CLIP AVAILABLE

12. Mud Grows Up: Mud

In a movie about growing up, it's titular character is a middle aged man who never did.  But the moment he does and confronts the woman who's been leading him astray for years, it's a wonderfully cathartic moment.  

NO CLIP AVAILBLE

11. Bullet Train Fight: The Wolverine 

This movie had a lot to prove its existence was worth it after the fucking abortion that X:Men Origins: Wolverine was.  And it does for the most part.  And it peaks at the fight between Logan and some Jap gangsters on top a speeding bullet train. 

10. Welcome to The Planet: Man of Steel

The whole movie was about Clark choosing what he was and where his home was.  And he chooses Earth, as summed up in this great punchline to the movie.  

9. Arnold Gets A Machine Gun: Escape Plan

Arnold wants to escape from prison.  He is near that goal.  Gunmen try to stop him.  In slow mo, he rips a machine gun off a helicopter and mows them down.  A moment of triumphant, retroactive badassery for an aging icon that none of The Expendable movies were able to match.  

8.  Vin Diesel and The Rock Team Up: Fast and Furious 6

Vin Diesel and The Rock fight in a tag team match on the back of a speeding cargo plane.  Fuck you, this was making the list no matter what.  I am a man.  

7. Krugers Claymation: Elysium

Just when we think the little South African mercenary is out of commission, taking a grenade to the face and all, we are greeted to an amazing little scene of his face being rebuilt in the sci fi healing machines.  It looks like something Harryhausen would have flipped for.  

6. The Prophecy Comes True: Safe Haven Segment Of VHS 2

You think you know what's coming.  The movie's direction only has one end, right?  Well, Gareth Evans would like to take your predictions and shoot it in the fucking head.  This movie blows well past predictable and goes utterly insane.  

I WILL NOT SPOIL ANYTHING FROM THIS 

5. Backstreets Back: This Is The End

The wildest, most meta damn movie in the world would of course only be able to end in Heaven, with the Backstreet Boys performing their big hit, Backsteets Back.  The perfect, what the fuck cap to a what the fuck inducing movie.  

4. The Chainsaw Face Fuck: Evil Dead

This is the moment that broke the MPAA.  If this scene of Mia taking a chain saw and face fucking a demon like an execution from Gears of War makes an R rating, what violence can be achieved to get an NC17?  Fuck if I know, because this shit was just wild.  

3. First Flight: Man Of Steel

In a movie that takes itself and the main characters journey seriously, it allows itself a moment of levity for Clark donning the suit for the first time and discovering he can fly.  It is just a pure dose of joy and the moment Superman fans have waited a lifetime for.  

2. Hide and Clap: The Conjuring 

Seriously the most tense segment of a movie this year features no blood or death.  Just a mother thinking there is an intruder in her house and discovering something much worse is around.  Add in the childrens haunting wake up call, this scene killed audiences around the world.  

1. Kal El And Zod Face Off: Man Of Steel

The movie has been building to this.  Zod wants to rebuild Krypton on Earth.  Kal El has to choose between his birth home or his adopted home.  Kal El chooses and foils Zods plot.  Zod decides a little planetary genocide is in order.  So we are treated to the first super hero fight scene that feels like it was ripped from a comic.  Building torn asunder, sonic boom punches, a trip to space and a tossed satellite. An absolutely insane ending that gets across what happens when two Gods fight amongst mortals.    

Looking Ahead: Anticipated Cinematic Happenings In 2014

23. Noah

The trailers look pretty lame and are selling it as a big, dumb ass action movie.  But it's coming from Darren Arronofsky so there has to be more going on.  With a great cast and a big canvas to play, it'll at least be interesting.  There'll be no middle ground.  It'll either suck like nothing else or be a masterpiece.

22. The Amazing Spiderman 2

Mainly I'm interested to see how bad it's gonna be.  Too many characters, many of them new and many of them villains.  An irritating destiny story that they're still sticking with and a chopped up script to make more movies.  Just gonna be special kinda bad. 

21. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

The first two were solid action movies with a great female lead in Jennifer Lawrence.  The world never really stuck with me, with alot of just irritating touches and stupid names.  But it has built up to an interesting end game and I'm excited to see what's gonna go down. 

20. The Purge: Anarchy

The first Purge sucked, because it took a cool premise and sidelined it for a mediocre home invasion movie.  But this time they got some money to actually go through with showing us The Purge, and I gotta admit I'm excited.  Hopefully they measure up to the premise this time.  

19. Transformers: Age of Extinction

18. Dumb and Dumber To

A sequel to a favorite child hood comedy with the original crew back is enough to inspire hope, despite the fact that most sequels that come up a ridiculous amount of time later usually suck.  But it'll be nice to see Jim Carrey be funny again and Jeff Daniels not be smug on an HBO show. 

17. The Expendables 3

I grew up watching these icons blow shit up in action movies, so I'm always gonna be excited to see them together for a romp.  Add Mel Gibson as the villain and I'm sold. 

16. Transcendence 

A big budget, big idea sci fi film from the cinematographer who worked with Nolan for a decade on his directorial debut is enough to get me interested.  

15. 22 Jump Street

The first one was a surprise success and this one looks to be even better.  With Lord and Millers streak continuing with The Lego Movie, this is a safe bet.  

14. A Million Ways To Die In The West

Seth MacFarlanes follow up to the smash Ted is a mandatorily filthy western about a coward learning to nut up.  Trailer looks funny and MacFarlane is known to make people laugh know and then.  

13. Jersey Boys

One of my heroes, Clint Eastwood, directing the film version of my favorite Broadway play is just cat nip.  It'll finally make me like a musical for the first time since South Park. 

12. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

A sequel to the surprisingly successful Rise, this movie looks bigger and darker and even better than the last.  A great cast joins the returning Andy Serkis to show us how them damn dirty bastards take over.  

11. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

What looks like the movie Cap deserves, because the first one was meh.  An adaptation of a classic story, we seem to be heading into some game changing shit for the Marvel Universe.  

10. Godzilla

This movie looks so much better than it has any right to be.  Has a great cast and stunning visuals, it also seems to have the tone right for a Godzilla movie.  Not dumb action, but somber and mournful.  May be the surprise of the summer.  

9. Gone Girl

David Fincher directing the adaptation of a popular murder mystery.  Sounds familiar, but Fincher will always demand attention and with the cast he has, this should be worth his and our time.  

8. Sabotage 

David Ayers follow up to the brilliant and heartwrenching End of Watch is a big, testosterone fueled flick about a narc swat team and a pissed off cartel.  Arnold looks to be giving another in a string of surprisingly good performances.  Can't wait.  

7. Guardians Of The Galaxy

Marvels biggest gamble looks to be the biggest success they have.  A bold, risky space adventure starring a dick head human, a green cyborg, a bronze death machine, a sentient tree and a machine gun toting raccoon.  James Gunn looks to have hit a home run and kept Marvels winning streak going.  

6. Inherent Vice

It sounds like the serious version of The Big Lebowski.  But it's an adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel adapted by PT Anderson.  It's gonna be something else.  No footage seen so far, but its PTA.  Let be real.  

5. The Green Inferno

Eli Roths return to directing with a movie about cannibals in the jungle.  Word is it's even gorier and nastier than we expect from Roth.  May be the horror film to beat this year.  

4. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Robert Rodriguez finally gets off his ass and makes a sequel to his best damn movie.  No footage again and two of the shorts are originals by the ever increasingly insane Frank Miller, but Rodriguez should instill confidence in this world.  

3. Interstellar

All we have is a very brief teaser with almost no footage to get a grasp on.  All we know is it has a great cast, a great director and a mind bending premise about space and time travel and worm holes.  It's gonna get weird.  

2. X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Bryan Singer returns to the franchise he helped build and that changed cinema with one of the best X stories ever told.  The footage seen so far looks great and has the potential to be a big, game changing movie for the X series and comic movies as a whole.  

1. The Raid 2: Berandal

Nobody shoots action/violence like Gareth Evans.  He makes it fun to watch but also unflinchingly brutal.  He has gotten better and better with every movie, and the sequel to his masterpiece of action simplicity is said to be big and bold and one of the best action movies and best crime flicks ever.  This is gonna be the big movie that gets Gareth Evans on everyones radar and gets him a blank check.  

- Tom Lorenzo