2013 MOVIE GUIDE
4 STARS
“American Hustle” – David O. Russell reunites his favorite casts to tell delicious con artist tale
“12 Years a Slave” – True story of American slavery is hard to watch, but impossible to forget
“Her” – Joaquin Phoenix falls for Siri in most unique love story since “Harold & Maude”
“Gravity” – Alfonso Cuaron crafts a modern-day “2001” with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney
“Short Term 12” – Two lovers run a facility for at-risk youth in South By Southwest winner
“Before Midnight” – Richard Linklater resumes tale of Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy, now in middle-age
“Fruitvale Station” – Brilliantly directed Sundance winner based on real-life racially charged shooting
“The Act of Killing” – Indonesian death squads re-enact their genocide in Oscar-nominated doc
3 1/2 STARS
“Prisoners” – Star-studded cast shines in a nail-biting crime thriller about child abduction
“Captain Phillips” – Tom Hanks shines as real-life hostage of 2009 Somali hijacking
“The Way, Way Back” – Hilarious coming of age story with a heel turn by Steve Carell
“Dallas Buyers Club” – McConaughey and Leto give award-worthy performances selling HIV drugs
“Philomena” – Judi Dench plays a former nun who goes searching for her long-lost son
“Blue is the Warmest Color” – Cannes Palme d’Or winner tracks the heartache of lesbian lovers
“Nebraska” – Bruce Dern goes on a father-son road trip to claim a sweepstakes prize
“The Butler” – Forest Whitaker & Oprah Winfrey shine in journey through Civil Rights Movement
“The Wolf of Wall Street” – Leo DiCaprio brings it in Scorsese’s excessive epic that’s an hour too long
“The Good Son” – Boxer Ray Mancini meets the fiancee and son of the man he killed in the ring
“Iron Man 3” – Action-packed threequel with buddy comedy from Shane Black (“Lethal Weapon”)
“Frozen” – Disney’s tale of sibling love teaches us to “Let it Go”
“The Spectacular Now” – Shailene Woodley sparkles with script by “(500) Days of Summer” writers
“Saving Mr. Banks” – Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson star in making-of tale of “Mary Poppins”
3 STARS
“The Great Gatsby” – Leo DiCaprio nails Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s lavish spectacle
“August: Osage County” – Dark family secrets revealed by Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts
“Blue Jasmine” – Cate Blanchett shines as Woody Allen continues to carve his prolific place in history
“Rush” – Ron Howard chronicles real-life racing rivalry between James Hunt and Nika Lauda
“42” – The Jackie Robinson story comes to life with Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey
“All is Lost” – Robert Redford gives one-man, silent performance lost at sea
“Side Effects” – Smart, pill- popping psycho-thriller by Steven Soderbergh
“Enough Said” – James Gandolfini gives final performance romancing Julia Louis Dreyfus
“World War Z” – Popcorn thrills abound in adaptation of Max Brooks zombie novel
“Inside Llewyn Davis” – Oscar Isaac shines in Coen Brothers’ bleak tale of ’60s folk music
“The Book Thief” – A young girl teaches a Jewish refugee to read during WWII
“This is the End” – Hollywood jokers play themselves in very funny apocalyptic comedy
“The Kings of Summer” – Indie fav about a group of boys who build a house in the woods
“Mud” – Matthew McConaughey plays an almost mythical drifter in coming-of-age tale
“The Great Beauty” – Italian art-house flick won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language flick
“Star Trek: Into Darkness” – J.J. Abrams helms a solid follow-up to his 2009 “Star Trek” reboot
“In a World” – Lake Bell is a triple threat in spoof of movie trailer world
“The Conjuring” – Stylish, well-acted horror, but not as memorable as the other flicks it homages
“Lone Survivor” – Peter Berg directs intense real-life account of botched Navy SEAL mission
“Hunger Games: Catching Fire” – Jennifer Lawrence returns for Round 2 of “The Hunger Games”
“Anchorman 2” – Burgundy’s return = “60 percent of the time it works every time”
“The Lone Ranger” – Johnny Depp’s Tonto tale isn’t for kids, but works as a dark action comedy
2 1/2 STARS
“Blue Caprice” – D.C. Sniper script plays loose with facts, but masterfully directed like “In Cold Blood”
“Now You See Me” – Magician heist caper starts strong, finishes weak
“Man of Steel” – Superman reboot offers great action, but not enough Lois & Clark
“Oz: The Great and Powerful” – James Franco snarky in an otherwise clever origin story
“Fast & Furious 6” – Funny banter and fast cars, but not as good as “Fast Five”
“Thor: The Dark World” – Thor sequel falls short of the Marvel Phase 2 bar set by “Iron Man 3”
“Olympus Has Fallen” – Gerard Butler kicks terrorist butt in over-the-top White House attack
“Jobs” – Steve Jobs biopic follows career highlights but fails to explore personal life
“Carrie” – Remake pales in comparison to 1976 classic, but poignant take on cyber bullying
2 STARS
“The Purge” – Clever horror premise wasted as murder is legal for one day a year
“Gangster Squad” – Star-studded cast in ill-timed shoot-em-up flick
“White House Down” – Tatum & Foxx mine laughs, but film pales to “Olympus ”
“The Big Wedding” – French farce remake borrows from too many past wedding flicks
1 1/2 STARS
“The Hangover: Part III” – Funny franchise suffers from too much Mr. Chow
“A Good Day to Die Hard” – Franchise moves to Russia but gives us little reason to care
RE-RELEASES
“The Wizard of Oz 3D” – The 3D upgrade of the 1939 classic is a horse of a different color
“Jurassic Park 3D” – Steven Spielberg’s prehistoric blockbuster revived from fossilized amber
Review from Past Years:
