Andrew: Hello readers! My apologies that Sarah and I have posted our lists of our favorite movies of the year this late in the game (seeing as it's almost August), but better late than never right? Yesterday Sarah posted her list (which you can check out HERE) and as you can see, she didn't think too highly of this year's crop. I've been a little higher on most films this year so far, but you'll see that overall our lists are quite different!
Again, a reminder that there are a few criteria for our lists: the films included have to be films we’ve actually seen and reviewed, and they had to be films that were released in theatres for public consumption in the United States during the 2013 calendar year. If you don't see a movie on this list, you can check it against our Reviews page and it's possible we just didn't see it, so it didn't qualify for our list.
So without further ado here, in descending order, are my Top Five Films of 2013 (So Far)!
5.) Now You See Me
Kicking things off with a bit of a surprise, I know! But hear me out: when Sarah and I go to the movie theatre, it's to be entertained, plain and simple. Obviously most movie-goers are the same, but with us it's even more so because of this blog. We don't get paid to do this, we don't make any money off of it, we do it for fun. So when we see a film in theatres, we generally want to make sure we'll enjoy it somewhat (hence why we haven't reviewed films like Alex Cross or anything else Tyler Perry's fingerprints are on).
But back to my point: I had a blast with Now You See Me. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery behind who The Four Horsemen were and what they're motivation was. I enjoyed pretty much the entire cast, particularly Mark Ruffalo and Jesse Eisenberg. And more than anything I liked that it was a heist movie on par with the Ocean's films, one that kept me guessing right up until the very end, and ultimately left me with a smile on my face as we left the theatre. That's really all I can ask out of a movie, and Now You See Me delivered. (This is also a bit of an indictment on the quality of the movies that came out in the first half of 2013.) (Read our review of Now You See Me HERE!)
Directed By: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas
Rating: R for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language
Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Synopsis: David (Fernandez) and his girlfriend head to his old family cabin to join his sister Mia (Levy) and their friends, Olivia and Eric (Lucas & Pucci), in an attempt to help Mia kick her drug habit. When David's dog discovers a bloody mess leading down to the basement, the group stumbles across a gruesome scene...and a book covered in human skin. Eric's curiosity gets the best of him and he reads from the book despite its warnings not to, unwittingly releasing a demon that possesses Mia and causes all hell to break loose.
REVIEW
Andrew: Hello readers! Last week I was lucky enough to jump on some free passes to a screening of this week's new horror film Evil Dead, a remake/sequel of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult classic The Evil Dead. I'll be honest - while Sarah and I do own the original on DVD, it's more out of respect for its place in horror movie history than my love for it. I like that Raimi and Rob Tapert made the original on a shoe-string budget in a very amateurish way, and it is so very clearly the original "cabin in the woods" movie that the brilliant The Cabin in the Woods deconstructed, but it's not my favorite film and maybe because of that, I've never seen Evil Dead II or Army of Darkness. (I know, I know, I'll get to them soon! Just keep reading!)
Even though Raimi's original doesn't get my heart pumping, I NEEDED to see this remake when the opportunity presented itself. All I needed to sell me on it was the blood-soaked red-band trailer. HO-LY CRAP. I was also intrigued by reading Sam Raimi explain that while this movie is certainly a remake of the original, he also sees it as a sequel set 30 years after the original. I could jive with that.
Andrew: Hello readers! Ok, so Sarah doesn't know that I'm posting this so let's keep it a little secret between all of us, but the red-band trailer for next spring's The Evil Dead remake has officially hit the internet! (I say officially because a leaked version that was taken by a cell phone camera at the New York Comic Con hit earlier this month but was taken down.)
A remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 classic is simply titled Evil Dead this time around, I was skeptical when I heard they were making this, but now that I've seen this footage I can admit I'm 100% in. It doesn't hurt that Raimi is both producing and was involved with the script, and that while Bruce Campbell's Ash is nowhere to be found in the remake, Campbell is still involved as a producer. (Some people might be worried about Diablo Cody's involvement with the script as well, but I personally love Juno and enjoyed Young Adult so I'm cool with it.)
Again, this is the red-band trailer so there is some language, DEFINITELY some bloody goodness that I hope will satiate horror fans like myself, and a very obvious homage to the original involving a possessed tree. Check it out and let me know what y'all think! (The trailer will ask you to verify your age before letting you watch it.)
Evil Dead is slated to be released April 12, 2003. It stars Jane Levy of ABC's Suburgatory and is directed by Fede Alvarez, a Uruguayan director best known for a short film called Panic Attack!
Courtesy: IGN
Kicking things off with a bit of a surprise, I know! But hear me out: when Sarah and I go to the movie theatre, it's to be entertained, plain and simple. Obviously most movie-goers are the same, but with us it's even more so because of this blog. We don't get paid to do this, we don't make any money off of it, we do it for fun. So when we see a film in theatres, we generally want to make sure we'll enjoy it somewhat (hence why we haven't reviewed films like Alex Cross or anything else Tyler Perry's fingerprints are on). 
