The Good, the Bad and the just plain Ugly: The Ten best films of 2013 according to Jon Petre.

It's been a magnificent first year for us here at Utopia Reviews. And I've watched a lot of films this year, so Scott and I thought that we'd make a list of 20 movies that we thought to be of special significance this year. Unlike my comrade, I have decided to divide my opinions into a two-page extraordinaire--ten of my favorites, ten of my absolute worst movies.

10. Elysium

Gah! It's like something out of a bad 70's Doctor Who episode.

Niell Blomkamp didn't fail to deliver with Elysium. Similar themes were seen in Elysium as District 9, and they worked well--I enjoyed the almost Marxist struggle between the Earth dwellers and their ultra-rich Elysium counterparts (Cough cough, Bourgeois). This would probably have been higher on my list, if it hadn't been for the extremely forgettable characters.

9. Wreck-it-Ralph

I thoroughly enjoyed Wreck it Ralph. The internal monologue and underlying plot of "be yourself" was better than many other Disney movies--especially the racist, pseudo-fascist early ones--and John C Reily can never fail to make me laugh. I've always enjoyed where in kids' movies there is a hidden, parallel world (possibly the only reason that I've ever slightly enjoyed Flushed Away) and Wreck-it-Ralph captured this perfectly. Forgive me though, but although the slight irony of the Candy Kingdom was by no means lost on me, I found it all a bit too...sickly sweet?


8. Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Please use my term. It's the only reason people will remember me.

Although I may have slated the YA genre (well, can you blame me? Twilight, City of Bones...let's hope John Green follows JK Rowling...) before, Hunger Games has grown on me quite substantially. At first, I thought that it was a stupid premise, the direction taken with Catching Fire has melted my stony heart. I'm a sucker for a good DAOT (Dystopian Autocracy, Oppressive Technocracy; I'm trying to get this to be a real phrase) and can I really say that Hunger Games hasn't sold me? Hopefully more young people will understand the severity of the Great British Nanny State soon, with HG's help.


7. Prisoners

Prisoners was a perfect allegory for McCarthy-esque society. One that jumps to conclusions, terrorizes people on stereotype, and generally is quite fallible. Prisoners was entertaining, jumpy, and came with a better cliffhanger than a Primark on Beachy Head. It was actually quite disturbing at times (just glance at my title for the review of it), but all in all, a good little piece.


6. Star Trek: Into Darkness

Now, I know that JJ Abrams ripped off a lot of Into Darkness from earlier Star Trek movies, and those GOD AWFUL lens flares cannot be excused, but for sheer Space Opera value and easy-watchabilityness, Star Trek was good fun. Benedict Cumberbatch showed his ability for playing villains once more, but I hope that he doesn't fall into the same trap as Alan Rickman. Simple Sci-Fi fun. If you liked this, watch Firefly.

5. Pacific Rim

Surely you can't begrudge me this one? Pacific Rim was a good old fashioned robotic-man-v-giant-death-lizard, and for that, I say touche to Del Toro. It seems like the sort of thing that a childhood me would run around the garden for, and I liked that about it. But in the same way, departure from tradition also improved it; Too many SF films these days try to go for realism and plausibility--which is always good, but often fails--; that was thrown to the floor and instead we were just left to enjoy Pacific Rim for what it is. I like that.

Essentially, it's a movie about various beetle Godzillas.

4. Gravity 

Despite the fact it was basically a Sandra Bullock movie, Gravity impressed me. Essentially a play in one room, it managed to create a sense of wonder, claustrophobia, paranoia and agoraphobia--all at once. That's uncommonly cool. The physics were pretty much sound, and the characters 3D and compelling. If this isn't what makes a film-theoretically sound film good, then there's not much hope for any of us. Also, I bet she landed in North Korea. Now THAT'd be a better cliffhanger than a Primark on Beachy Head.

3. The World's End

I mean, come on--who can't love that?

The conclusion to the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy was by no means the best of the three, but it was still one of the best movies of the year. A bit heavier, but hey. A sound and sturdy British SF movie, which is something I hope we'll be seeing a lot more of in the late 2010's and beyond. My only qualm was from the failure to add the "Yeah Boy/Roy" joke. It wasn't hard. But I can't stay mad at Simon Pegg, or Nick Frost.



2. The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Despite its many flaws, The Hobbit in many ways acted in the same way as Pacific Rim on me--childish wonder has won me over, and I'm able to forgive its flaws. It was just magnificent. Bilbo wasn't really the protagonist? Well, at least the Dwarves were characterized. The sheer volume of the Dwarves' wealth was explored at Erebor, and Smaug was pretty amazing--despite his lack of two extra legs. Just go and see it. Although Scott disagrees with me, I hope it's not a marmite movie; you either love it or you hate it.

It's like a Rorschach test, eh? 

And Finally...

1. Cloud Atlas

Is that not an amazing do?

Cloud Atlas was amazing. It was an interesting concept, and it followed in the footsteps of Inception--it had an agenda and it developed. Despite its pretty massive runtime--at least in terms of easy watching--I found it rich and engaging all the way through. I always say about B movies that you can tell how interested you were by trying to remember the characters' names; not that Cloud Atlas is a B movies, not by a long shot--it's just that I have described someone's hairdo as "Frobisher-esque. There's little else to be said. Just watch it.