My 13 favorite movies of 2013

Alright, now that I've got the disappointments out of the way, it's time to go all out with my favorites of 2013. Limiting myself to only 10 proved to be quite a task as there were some films that really needed a shout out in my opinion.

But first, let me list the films that could have possibly ended up on this list if I would have already found time to watch them: The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, Saving Mr. Banks, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Her, The Spectacular Now, Fruitvale Station, Blue is the Warmest Color, Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, The Hunt, All is Lost and Short Term 12. Damn, I didn't realize there's been that many apparently good films I missed this year, guess I should have skipped all these silly disappointments. But enough of this awfully dry introduction, let's get to the juicy stuff, here's my 13 favorite movies of 2013.

My 7 most disappointing movies of 2013

Hey, it's 2014! Hooray! One year is over, another one has just started. That means it's time for the obligatory end of the year lists! Let's start off with the one I'll probably get the most flak for, my list of the greatest disappointments. Behold, disappointment doesn't equal bad (well, it could, but it doesn't have to), so if you find a movie on this list that you actually like, yada yada yada, you get the spiel, my list, my opinion, if you want to troll, then troll away. But enough said, have a look at these 7 disappointments:

My 5 favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movies

Hey, did you notice, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back! Again! This time for real! Granted, he hasn't technically been gone for too long but in terms of film generations he definitely has to make up some ground to compete with the Katniss Everdeens and Tony Starks of our times. While his most recent films have bombed (The Last Stand made a laughable $12 million on a $45 million dollar budget and Escape Plan with his buddy Stallone slightly improved to an equally dismal $24 million on a budget of $50 million), it is important to remember what made him such a big star in the first place. That's why I present to you my 5 favorite movies starring the Austrian Oak!

Give me... 10 films whose endings let me down

You know the feeling: You're watching a movie, it's great and all, it's nearing its end and suddenly there's a shift in tone and something totally silly or outrageous happens, something that simply doesn't sit right with the rest of the film. It's a major bummer and will leave a bitter taste in your mouth, sometimes even ruin the rest of the experience for you. That made me think, what movies had the most out-of-place endings or endings that simply didn't work in the context of the film. That also includes endings that throw a curveball at the audience, endings that seem tacked on, make something essential in the plot obsolete or just water down the whole experience of the film. So here's my list of 10 movies with endings that let me down in one way or the other. Prepare yourself, there's some SPOILERS waiting for you here, consider this a warning.

My 15 favorite movies made in the 90s

Oh, the 90s, what a great time for movies. It was also the time I grew up in (although I am technically an 80s kid) which means that the films I saw back then definitely had an impact on my taste in movies and probably also on my character in general. To pick my favorites from this precious time is definitely not an easy task and to put these films in any kind of order is even more preposterous, considering that my taste will probably keep changing over the course of my life. With that being said, consider this a work in progress.

Give me .. 5 questionable casting choices that turned out great

You've probably already heard about the casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman but let me recap quickly. Man of Steel is currently standing at a worldwide haul of around $650 million which means that a sequel is inevitable. Right now it is slated for release in July 2015 and will be the first onscreen crossover between Superman and Batman. Now that the Dark Knight trilogy came to an end last year with The Dark Knight Rises they had to recast the role of Batman, cue Ben Affleck. Whether this is a good or bad casting choice we won't know until we've actually seen the movie.

Give me... 5 movies filmed in Seattle

Oh Seattle, how we all love you. Fixie riding hipsters, grunge relics from the 90s, crappy weather for 10 months of the year, top it all off with a double-tall iced skinny white chocolate mocha with extra whip from Starbuck's and there's nothing better in the world. Maybe apart from a decent foot massage, nothing beats that.

I was wondering, why is this beautiful city not more prominently featured on the big screen? There are countless iconic movies tied closely to cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Chicago but what about the Pacific Northwest? So I came up with a list of 5 movies, all filmed in Seattle.

Give me ... 5 movies that made bank but were hated by critics

So we just witnessed the superflop of 2013, The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. Films bomb, that happens all the time (and I even called this one, ha, suck it Hollywood!). But instead of just accepting that audiences simply didn't want to see a rubbish movie stars Depp and Hammer and producer Jerry Bruckheimer started bitching about the critics, blaming them for the failure at the box office (check out the video evidence here). Seriously, WTF?! They really think movie critics have such an influence on the audience to cause a $250 million movie to tank?

"Quality? Ha! Who cares? We are rich!"

So to be a total troll, here's the counter-evidence to their claim, I present to you 5 movies that were despised by critics worldwide but that made a fortune.

Give me... 5 reasons to love Back To The Future

There are movies that are appealing to anyone, at any given time, no matter what circumstances. Back To The Future is definitely one of those films. As long as I can remember I loved that film. How could you not immediately fall in love with? Or so I thought until a couple of days ago I watched it with my girlfriend who had never seen it before. To make a long story short, she didn't love it. Hell, she didn't even seem to like it very much.

That made me think, what is it exactly that makes this film so great in my eyes (and the eyes of pretty much every other movie geek out there). That's why I came up with a list of 5 things that make Back To The Future awesome.

Give me... 5 upcoming films based on ridiculous source material

Remember in the not so distant past, when everybody questioned whether a movie based on a Disneyland attraction was the height of cinematic suicide? Well, 4 movies and a couple billion dollars later one can safely say that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was definitely a good investment (at least financially, let's not even talk about the "quality" of the sequels). But then somebody came around and said, hey, that worked out just fine, let's make a big budget movie based on a board game that is about as exciting as watching paint dry. The result of that experiment-gone-wrong was Battleship, the notorious summer 2012 sci-fi dud.

My 10 favorite movies of 2012

Man, it's already March and I still haven't done a top ten list of movies for the past year. So then, here it is, in all its glory. Keep in mind, these are not necessarily the BEST movies of 2012, they are simply the ones that I enjoyed the most.