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A&E, Christian DiMartino

Oscar Watch: Columnist reviews the films of 2013

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By Christian DiMartino

When it came to movies, 2013 started out very slow. With only a slew of special films, including Side Effects, Blue Jasmine, and Behind the Candelabra, 2013 had a weak start, but what a finish it had. Beginning with Prisoners, there was a five week marathon of great movies that included Rush, Gravity, Captain Philips, and lastly, 12 Years a Slave.

I usually like to save my “year in review” stories until around the time of the Oscars, this way it gives me a chance to catch up. So now, I have. 2013 had a lot of great movies, but yet there was plenty of bad, and I feel like the bad should not go unpunished. Here are the best movies of 2013, the worst, and then some.

The Best

10. Prisoners: Speaking of snubbed actors, Hugh Jackman gives the best performance of his career in the darkest thriller in years. Prisoners is a very grim thriller about the lengths that people would go to for justice. There is not a lot of love for it, but it might find its footing someday.

9. Dallas Buyers Club: After being practically re-born with a bunch of good career moves, Matthew McConaughey officially wows in a performance that might send him home with an Oscar. Jared Leto is also amazing (and might also win an Oscar). Dallas Buyers Club is a true story that needed to be told, and I’m glad it was.

8. Nebraska: Alexander Payne does not make good movies; instead, he makes great movies. His latest film, Nebraska, is no exception. Nebraska is a film that is mainly enjoyable if you’re a Payne enthusiast, like myself. It is a fascinating love letter to Payne’s home state and an often hilarious comedy. Bruce Dern gives the performance of a lifetime, and as does his on-screen wife June Squibb. This is not Payne’s best film, but it lives up to the greatness of his others.

7. Side Effects: Am I the only one that remembers this amazing movie, or am I the only one that understood the greatness?   Steven Soderbergh’s final theatrical release begins as a fascinating drama that turns into an even more fascinating thriller. This is a wild, sexy, and constantly entertaining film that always throws surprises at you, and has possibly the best ending of any movie this year. Jude Law and Rooney Mara give their best performances yet, and that says a lot. If this is indeed Soderbergh’s final film, he went out with a bang.

6. American Hustle: Critics claim that David O. Russell’s latest film “out-Scorsese’s Martin Scorsese.” Now, I would not go that far, but I will say that I still loved American Hustle. This is Russell’s best movie yet. It is a funny, sexy, and consistently entertaining film that takes a fantastic cast (Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, and more) and lets them run wild and act with a capital A.

5. Blue Jasmine: Two years after winning his fourth Oscar for Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen has now delivered something even better. Blue Jasmine is his best work since Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This is a darkly funny, fascinating, and overall brilliant look at mental illness. But the movie may not have worked if it was not for Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett (or, should I say, soon to be two-time Oscar winner) in the title role. Blanchett’s performance will irk you, thrill you, and in the end, like the movie itself, leave you mesmerized.

4. Her: Spike Jonze does not make movies very often, but when he does, he usually makes something special. Her, his latest masterpiece, is strangely beautiful and beautifully strange. The romance between a human and an OS sounds ridiculous, but it really only SOUNDS ridiculous. The way that the romance is delivered is way more believable than one might think, and that is the films main success. Her surely is not your typical romance, and that alone makes it special. Theodore (the amazing Joaquin Phoenix) and Samantha (beautifully voiced by Scarlett Johansson) are the best couple in years, believe it or not.

3. The Wolf of Wall Street: Martin Scorsese’s latest masterpiece is his most controversial since The Last Temptation of Christ and his best since The Departed. Like with Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver and Jake LaMotta from Raging Bull, Scorsese has a gift for making terrible people compelling, and he does so once again with the films anti-hero, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). In possibly the performance of his career, DiCaprio is so awesome you almost want this horrendous human being to get away with it. I’ve seen The Wolf of Wall Street twice within the past two months, and could easily see it again. It is the most strange, hilarious, vulgar, and entertaining three hours of the year.

2. Gravity: Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity is filmmaking of the highest quality. Here is a film that looks like it was directed by God. The visual effects and cinematography are so impressive it does not even feel like this was filmed in a studio. In fact, Cuaron and his crew had to invent their own visual effects. Now that is real devotion. Sandra Bullock gives the performance of her career; a performance that makes her Oscar-winning role in The Blind Side look pathetic. Gravity is a gorgeous, thrilling, and undeniably spectacular spectacle that is mainly special in theaters. By some miracle, the 3-D actually helps the film. This is not just a movie that you watch; it is a movie that you experience. It is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in a theater. It will leave you talking for light years after it’s over.

1. Getaway: Starring three-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke and Selena “Come and get it” Gomez. I’m joking, by the way. That movie sucks. It is, according to Rotten Tomatoes, the worst reviewed movie of the year. It belongs on a list, but it is not this one.

And the real best movie of the year is…

1. 12 Years a Slave: Like my #2 pick, 12 Years a Slave is not a movie that you watch; it is a movie that you experience, and what an experience it is. 12 Years a Slave is an extraordinary film. It’s a film that reminds us what great movies are. This is such a powerful, heartbreaking, and intense drama that it actually left me shaking long after it was over. Describing the power that this movie has is impossible. Just watch it, and find out. Chiwetel Ejiofor finally gets his big break, and delivers, and as does Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, and Lupita Nyong’o. When watching this film, it is so obvious that director Steve McQueen and crew knew that they were making the best film of the year. How right they were. Bravo.

The Rest of the Best: Captain Philips, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Behind the Candelabra, Philomena, Clear History, Saving Mr. Banks, Rush, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Way Way Back, Spring Breakers, Enough Said, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Great Gatsby

 

The Worst

5. Admission: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Wallace Shawn, and Lily Tomlin are funny in any movie, but that movie is not Admission. Admission is a total misfire. It is a romantic comedy (I think) that is neither funny nor romantic. It is simply boring. Watching Fey and Rudd, two extremely lovable actors, fake chemistry is depressing. In the words of Hannah Montana: Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.

4. Getaway: Speaking of mistakes, Ethan Hawke, who had a very successful year with The Purge and the indie-hit Before Midnight topped off the year with this box office flop. Why didn’t anyone see it? Because it’s awful. Basically, Hawke and Selena Gomez crash cars for 80 of the longest minutes of your life, and they continue doing so until the end, which, by the way, is also terrible.

3. Scary Movie V: This pretty much went without saying, but it still needs to be mentioned. As a fan of the original film, it is sad to realize just how dumb the series has become. It does not even mock scary movies. It mocks a few, but also focuses on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and there is even a reference to 127 Hours, one of the funnier moments. I laughed at the some of the Black Swan moments, but other than that, this is just painfully stupid.

2. Inappropriate Comedy: Once upon a time, Vince “The Sham-wow guy” Offer was an aspiring actor who made a terrible comedy called The Underground Comedy Movie. Now over a decade later, he is back… unfortunately. Offer’s jokes are so uninspired he even uses jokes from his last movie, and they still aren’t funny. He should just stick to infomercials.

1. The Lords of Salem: Nobody, besides die-hard Rob Zombie fans (and myself) know what this is. But after seeing The Lords of Salem, how can he have any fans left? In the hands of a master like Roman Polanski, this movie might have worked. But instead it is in the hands of Rob Zombie. I was never a fan, and now I’m definitely not a fan. Zombie is a moronic gorilla who lets violence and sexuality (and the two combined) get the better of him. The Lords of Salem is a hideous, stupid, unintentionally hilarious and tedious horror thriller that contains some of the ugliest images ever produced on film. The last half hour makes no sense, and it shouldn’t to anyone with sanity. Inappropriate Comedy is probably the worst movie of the year, but TLOS is the most painful.

The Rest of the Worst: Only God Forgives, After Earth, Jobs, The Host, R.I.P.D., The Canyons, Safe Haven, Movie 43, Gangster Squad

Biggest Surprise- Saving Mr. Banks: There was a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding this movie, and it just didn’t seem right, mainly because it didn’t seem that appealing. However, Saving Mr. Banks is just the opposite. It is a wonderful movie. Emma Thompson gives her best performance in years, and though it probably isn’t completely fact-based, it is still too wonderful to ignore. In the end, it didn’t get much Oscar attention, but it was definitely worthy of something.

Biggest Letdown- The Counselor: Judging from the trailer, The Counselor seemed so promising. A thriller directed by Ridley Scott (Alien,Gladiator), written by Pulitzer-prize winner Cormac McCarthy (No Country For Old Men) and starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. It sounds too good to be true. As it turns out, it is. The Counselor is not the awful movie that it was declared, but it really is a letdown. A lot of the movie, such as Diaz’s performance, is on the right track, but yet the delivery sort of fails. Fassbender plays a character so underwritten that he doesn’t even have an actual name. There is not much to the other characters either. Everyone and everything in this movie, like its trailer, looks great, but isn’t. I had no idea what was going on the majority of the time. Apparently it had something to do with drugs, but none are present. I think the cast of The Wolf of Wall Street took them all. The conversations ramble on for so long that it is easy to lose track of the story. Overall, there is nothing really terrible about it, but yet there is nothing really good about it. This is one of those movies that simply doesn’t live up to its potential.

2013 had a fair share of negatives, but it more than compensated with its positives. It was such a good year for films that films such as Iron Man 3,Frozen, The Conjuring, Before Midnight, Frances Ha, and The Bling Ring, which I had plenty of admiration for, didn’t even make my top 25. A year so impressive that my least favorite of the Best Picture nominees is Captain Philips. That is a good year to me. 2014 has plenty of greatness in store too. Christopher Nolan is going to blow our minds again with Interstellar (Nov. 7), Wes Anderson, the king of quirk, is back with The Grand Budapest Hotel (Mar. 7), Tim Burton is back with a drama starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz called Big Eyes, and sequels galore. I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait.

A&E, Christian DiMartino

Oscar Watch: Columnist Reacts to 2014 Academy Award Nominations

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By Christian DiMartino

When Chris Hemsworth announced the nominations for the 86th annual Academy Awards on Thursday, January 16, I was pretty much expecting disappointment. They never get it perfect. There is usually one big error with the nominations. But when they were announced, it was not frustration I felt, it was surprise. Pleasant surprise. Finally, FINALLY, they got it just about right. Sure, there were some questionable choices made, but for the most part this is a good list of nominees. American Hustle and Gravity lead the nominations with 10, and 12 Years a Slave is right behind it with 9. Here is a rundown of the major categories.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity

Steve McQueen- 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne- Nebraska

David O. Russell- American Hustle

Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street

After Ben Affleck was snubbed last year for directing Argo, this category was basically up in the air. But this year, there were no huge surprises. The biggest surprise here, and I did not think this would ever be said, is Martin Scorsese. The Wolf of Wall Street is a movie that is either worshipped or despised. The other directors nominated were expected(David O. Russell and two time Oscar-winner Alexander Payne cannot be stopped). The other directors in contention for the final slot were Spike Jonze for Her and Paul Greengrass for Captain Philips. But really, how could the legendary Scorsese get snubbed?

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins- Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o- 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts- August: Osage County

June Squibb- Nebraska

My predictions all came true for this category. There was a lot of talk about Scarlett Johansson receiving a nomination for her excellent voice work in Her. But if Andy Serkis could not get nominated for The Lord of the Rings, it is only fair to leave her out too. 

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi- Captain Philips

Bradley Cooper- American Hustle

Michael Fassbender- 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill- The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club

Abdi, Cooper, Fassbender, and Leto were pretty much guarantees. There was one other guarantee, Daniel Bruhl for the underrated Rush, who did not quite make the cut. Instead the final slot went to Jonah Hill, who was nominated two years ago for his overrated performance in Moneyball. Now, I’m not saying this because of my deep inner hatred for Hill, but Bruhl deserved that last slot. Maybe not the win, but at least the nomination. He owns every second of that movie. Yes, even more than the almighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth). Also, Sam Rockwell deserved recognition for the sadly overlooked indie The Way Way Back.

Best Actress

Amy Adams- American Hustle

Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock- Gravity

Judi Dench- Philomena

Meryl Streep- August: Osage County

There were a couple of big question marks here. I nailed this category also, but it was a close call. There is not a lot of love for August: Osage County, so it was unsure whether or not Streep would score her 18th Oscar nomination. She did. Then there was Amy Adams. There is plenty of love for American Hustle (the film has at least one actor nominated in each category), but the final slot belonged to the great Emma Thompson for her wonderful performance in Saving Mr. Banks. In the end, Thompson got left out. I’m not really happy about it, but in a year with such talent, not everyone can win.

Best Actor

Christian Bale- American Hustle

Bruce Dern- Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio- The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughay- Dallas Buyers Club

In the last category, I mentioned how someone was going to end up unhappy. Yeah, I spoke too soon. That was a guarantee with the best actor category, which has almost too many names in contention. The new and reborn McConaughay was a shoo-in, and so were Dern, Ejiofor, and Tom Hanks for Captain Philips. Since DiCaprio gets snubbed year after year, he was pretty much considered out (even after he won a Golden Globe), and there was not enough room for Bale. So, the final slot was set to go to Robert Redford’s overrated performance in the way-overrated survival tale All is Lost.

But as it turns out, none of that came true. Having my fingers crossed for DiCaprio finally came in handy. He finally scored his long awaited fourth Oscar nomination. Surprisingly, Hanks was left in the dark, which is a real shame. In the final ten minutes of Captain Philips alone, Hanks does his best work in nearly a decade. This is probably the most surprising snub. In all honesty though, the biggest snub, and this person was not even considered, was Hugh Jackman for Prisoners, the great movie that everyone forgot about. Jackman gave the performance of his career, and he was not even a contender.

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave                                     Her

American Hustle                                   Nebraska

Captain Philips                                    Philomena

Dallas Buyers Club                           The Wolf of Wall Street

Gravity

The Coen Brothers are an academy favorite, so it is sort of surprising that their latest, Inside Llewyn Davis, which got rave reviews, did not get nominated for best picture, let alone, original screenplay. The academy instead went with Dallas Buyers Club, a movie that is getting high appraise for its acting but nobody really loves it. So it is surprising to see it on the list. The biggest snub here, and it is one of the more critically acclaimed movies of the year, is Woody Allen’s latest masterpiece, Blue Jasmine. The film was nominated for three Oscars, but none of which were for best picture, which is a little ridiculous. This is his best film since Match Point back in 2005.

Overall, they did right for the most part. Sure, there were a few errors, but in a year this crammed with talent, they did a pretty good job. This is a good list of nominees. Hopefully they get it this right next year. 

A&E, Christian DiMartino

Hobbit sequel surpasses original

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By Christian DiMartino

When Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened last year, it made plenty of money. But some complained that it was bloated, redundant, and, in some ways, like the later Star Wars trilogy. Personally, it wasn’t really a bad movie at all. Yes, it was too long, but come on, it is a Lord of the Rings prequel. It is almost as if it is in the contract. Also, it included some unnecessary scenes. But it was great to see some of the beloved characters from the first trilogy return. Now, a year later, the sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug comes crashing into theaters, and though it is still too long (it is actually shorter than its predecessor) it is a slight improvement over the original.

I’m not going to lie: Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings is possibly the greatest trilogy of them all. Each film was perfect or near perfect, but the trilogy is mainly special for its final chapter, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which won Oscars for Best Picture, Director, and everything else it was nominated for (the only movie ever to do so). The trilogy was groundbreaking. So obviously, Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy has a lot to live up to.

Jackson has made some questionable decisions to this trilogy. For one thing, it is not even supposed to be a trilogy. J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit is one book, and was originally going to be two films. But Jackson and writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens decided to turn it into a trilogy. Also, they include two characters that are not even mentioned in the book. One is from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the other is one that Jackson and Co. created. So, how has the journey been so far?

The Desolation of Smaug continues pretty much right where the last film left off. Quiet hobbit Bilbo (the fantastic Martin Freeman), the wise wizard Galdalf (the even more fantastic Ian McKellen), and the 12 dwarves continue their journey to Erebor, the dwarves homeland, in an attempt to reclaim it from the humongous dragon Smaug (played to perfection by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is great even as a special effect). Along the way, they encounter giant spiders (I was really hoping to never see those again), along with Legolas (Orlando Bloom, probably grateful to have work again), the male elf version of Katniss Everdeen, and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), a beautiful elf who serves as a possible love interest for one of the dwarves.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is even better than the original. The film does not waste time getting on its feet. Jackson has a story to tell, and he does it with such an artistic vision it is easy to forgive the movie for whatever faults it may have. Jackson is a visionary poet who is now so comfortable with Middle Earth (where both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place) that he could probably write out a map. He is not the only one who knows a thing or two about Middle Earth. Ian McKellan, who has now played Gandalf five times, is just as wonderful in this role now as he was ten years ago.

As one who really liked the last film, it is difficult to compare both films. This one is better, but not by that much. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is visually spectacular. It is the best visual achievement to come along since Gravity, which may not sound that good considering the fact that Gravity is only two months old. But to even be compared to a movie like Gravity is an achievement all its own.

So many of the action sequences, such as the one involving the barrels and the trip to Smaug’s lair, are exhilarating. None of them ever seemed to drag on, even in a movie as long as this. Maybe that is just the spell that the movie brings.

Which leads to Smaug himself, who does for this movie what Gollum did for the previous trilogy. As Smaug, Cumberbatch nails it. What a terrifying creature. Who wouldn’t want to get out of that lair?

Is it as good as the original trilogy? No. But it does not need to be. It works plenty well as its own trilogy. I love these movies, and with a cliffhanger as huge as this one, the next film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again (out next December) cannot arrive any sooner.

Perhaps turning one book into a trilogy was not exactly necessary. That said, Jackson knows what he is doing. The man has won three Oscars and has directed some of the best movies ever, so just go along with his vision. If he wants to write new characters, let him. Tauriel, who was not in the book, is a good character, so he got that one right. If he wants to split one book into three, let him. In the end, it is going to be a journey well spent. It has been so far.

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The Film That Got Away: Taxi Driver

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By Christian DiMartino

Title: Taxi Driver

Genre: Thriller, Drama

Release Date: Feb. 8th, 1976

Rating: R

Leads: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel

Writer: Paul Schrader

Director: Martin Scorsese

Is it difficult to believe that Martin Scorsese, the master behind Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Gangs of New York, did not win an Oscar until 2006 for The Departed (my personal favorite of his)? Believe it or not, it is true. The academy did not send Scorsese home with the gold for decades, becoming a victim of what I like to call “Oscar Crimes.” Though many Oscar crimes have existed in the past, none are quite as surprising as this. In fact, Scorsese’s Oscar Crime history dates all the way back to his breakthrough, the 1976 masterpiece Taxi Driver.

Sure, prior to Taxi Driver, Scorsese directed Mean Streets and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, both of which were very well received. In the end though, it was Taxi Driver that put him on the radar. Why? Well, it is his first masterpiece. In fact, it was the first of seven Scorsese’s films to be nominated for Best Picture. It also made an even bigger star out of its leading man, Robert De Niro (who had already won an Oscar for The Godfather Part II). Back in the day, Scorsese and De Niro were a dream team, and this is one of their finest accomplishments.

De Niro, who was nominated a second time for this movie, gives one of his finest performances as Travis Bickle, a lonely New York taxi driver who really does not like his city. Night after night, he drives all of these despicable people around, and he is sick of it. So when a crooked politician and a very young prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster, who was also nominated), Travis decides to take matters into his own hands: he becomes a vigilante.

When watching this movie, the viewer is left to make a decision: Is Travis actually a good guy? In the synopsis above, the so called “crooked politician” is not really a bad guy, but Travis does not agree with him, so he plans to kill him. Scorsese, De Niro and writer Paul Schrader (who later collaborated with Scorsese on another masterpiece, The Last Temptation of Christ, and a few others) brought the ultimate anti-hero to life. Travis is sort of insane, but the audience roots for him… for some reason.

Schrader’s script is at times funny, but most of the time very bizarre. What exactly is the message of the movie? Not entirely sure on that one. With that said, does that always matter? Taxi Driver is simply a very entertaining movie without a particular message. It works well enough without it.

De Niro is amazing here. As mentioned above, Travis is not necessarily a guy we should root for. Here is where De Niro’s magic comes in. He manages to make this guy likable. Do not ask why. It simply has to be seen to believe.

Nearly 40 years have passed since the release of this movie, so in a generation has a new iPod coming out every week, some of the movie looks a bit outdated. The perfect example is the final showdown. Though it is somewhat outdated, it is still a great movie. It is very well written and acted, and consistently entertaining. It is hard to find movies like this now days.

Taxi Driver has aged well and has gone on to become a classic, even though I have not met a single person at FC who has seen it. Which leads to why it is a film that got away. It is this fact, and the fact that some of the films key ingredients went unrecognized. The film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture (the award went to Rocky), De Niro for Actor (the award posthumously went to Peter Finch for Network), Foster for Supporting Actress (did not win) and Score (also did not win). Guess what? The Academy got it all wrong.

If you sat Sylvester Stallone in a room and left him to watch Rocky and Taxi Driver, guaranteed he would tell you Taxi Driver is better (though Rocky is good). De Niro not winning is understandable, considering Finch is amazing and well, how could he beat the dead? Also, where on earth was Scorsese’s and Schrader’s name on that ballot? Both of them were snubbed? What? What sense does that make? This is their movie and they went unaccredited? Ridiculous is what it is.

Taxi Driver is not Scorsese’s best film, but it is one of them, and one of a few that deserved Best Picture. What other ones are on that list? Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Departed. Though two of those films did not win, I chose to write about this one because this film went home empty handed. Taxi Driver is a strange tale of justice, and justice will not truly be served until it is seen by all.

A&E, Christian DiMartino

Columnist previews the final film releases of 2013

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By Christian DiMartino

2013 has had a fair amount of good movies (Side Effects, Disconnect), but an overpopulation of bad movies (Scary Movie V, Getaway). However, there is still hope. The year is wrapping up, and Oscar season is around the corner. Translation: Movies are going to get good again. Here is what to look forward to the rest of 2013. Sure, not all of them are going home with awards, but some of them are kind of a big deal (wink).

5. Gravity (Oct. 4, PG-13): Oscar winner Sandra Bullock is getting rave reviews (the movie is also) for her role as an astronaut stranded in outer space. How can a movie like this work? Not sure. According to early reviews, director Alfonso Cuaron’s film supposedly does work, and very well. Consider it a done deal.

4. American Hustle (Dec. 25, Not Yet Rated): David O’Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) is on a role, and this just may be the one that sends him home with the gold. The first trailer looks terrific, and plus it brings back O’Russell’s finest alumni (Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence), so how can it go wrong?

3. Her (Dec. 18, Not Yet Rated): Here is a film that will receive plenty of judgment and controversy, and that alone is exciting. Joaquin Phoenix, after doing an amazing job as a psychotic drifter in The Master, plays a lonely guy who buys a talking computer and… falls in love with it. Strange? Oh yeah. But it is nice to see a daring movie every once in a while. Also, director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) is the king of strange movies, so it must be perfect. This is going to be the strangest movie of the year, possibly even the next 10, but I guarantee it will leave people talking for a while.

2. Anchorman: The Legend Continues (Dec. 20, Not Yet Rated): After many years of trying to get this movie made, Will Ferrell and co. have finally done it. Finally. Anchorman is one of the funniest movies ever, so the sequel better be worth the wait. The plot is unknown, but what is known is that numerous cameos (Tiny Fey, Meryl Streep, Kanye West, and more) are on the lineup. So, be there for Ron Bergundy this holiday season. He is kind of a big deal.

1. The Wolf of Wall Street (Nov. 15, Not Yet Rated): Wall Street movies are boring, but hopefully this one is far from it. Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest directors alive, rarely makes a bad movie. Same goes for Leonardo DiCaprio, who (fingers crossed) may finally get that fourth Oscar nomination. The trailer is fantastic, and it helps that Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” is blaring throughout. This could either be a Scorsese masterpiece, or a Scorsese letdown. I truly hope it is the first.

There are plenty of other films, including Nebraska, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Carrie, Thor: The Dark World, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, that did not quite make the cut. Hopefully, with these movies mentioned and whatever other Oscar hopefuls are out there, 2013 ends better than it began.