Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year!

Thought I’d pop into my blog and mention my favourites for 2013. I’ve seen some really excellent and quite varied films this year, despite not getting to the cinema much. There have been plenty that I have missed such as the slew of excellent documentaries, namely Leviathan, Stories We Tell, and The Act of Killing. Will catch up with them over the New Year hopefully. Some notable mentions this year are Linklater’s Before Midnight, Malick’s To the Wonder, Nicol’s Mud, and Coppola’s The Bling Ring. I also saw some great films from yesteryear that I wholeheartedly recommend (Perks of Being a Wallflower, Coraline, Shame, Amour, Un Prophete, Cloud Atlas, Compliance, Take Shelter, and Skyfall).

Anyway, my top five films for 2013 are as follows:

5. The Hunt – a solid and riveting film.
4. Computer Chess – like no other film I’ve seen. New ground and strangely fascinating.
3. Only Lovers Left Alive – Jarmusch at his best. Full of atmosphere and character.
2. Gravity – technically groundbreaking, yet somehow Alfonso keeps it personal.
1. Frances Ha – Ahoy sexy!

I just couldn’t resist giving Frances Ha my number one spot. For me it hits the mark on every point.  I loved it!

Francis Ha

So onto next year … will be a quiet one for me as I plough into my final year of study. I’ll climb back into Cinematic Musings with gusto once I’ve knocked my thesis on the head.  In the meantime I will pop in every month or so and make comments on films I’ve seen.

Have a great holidays all!