BEST MOVIES OF 2013

I went to around 50 movies last year.  The top three box office hits were:

• Marvel's The Avengers  $1.5 billion
• The Dark Knight Rises  $1.1 billion
• Skyfall                           $1.0 billion

My usual M.O. is to have lunch at Buca di Beppo, and the following is what I had yesterday:

A chicken limon and spaghetti/meatballs with a glass of prosecco.  Why two dishes?   I had a two for one coupon, but these "small" plates were gigantic.  I took home two-thirds of the chicken and 80% of the pasta.  I brought with me one of those metallic looking bags with a frozen chemical package, as from lunch, when I left the theater, it was almost dark.

Reinforced, I then went to see Django Unchained and Les Miserables.  Rotten Tomatoes gave DU a 93% audience like rating and LM 85%.   I loved both films.

Django Unchained:  Quentin Tarantino (and, of course, he also made a cameo, and, has gained some weight, maybe even a lot), graphically bloody, spaghetti western just before the Civil War, super actors, quirky soundtrack, 165 minutes...Hollywood ending.

Les Miserables:  Victor Hugo of "Hunchback of Notre Dame" fame (LM took all of 1200 pages), during the time of the American Civil War, but in Paris, excellent singing from unexpected stars with little actual dialogue, 158 minutes, Anne Hathaway (who at death performed a memorable I Dreamed a Dream--I also just saw her on  Saturday Night Live, and she can really sing) dies very early, kind of like Janet Leigh in Psycho, but no problem, for she returns at the end (looking a lot better than just before she sang that song), "proving" that there is a Heaven (and, oh, by the way, if you're wondering what age you'll be if you get there, go see the film).  You know, it occurred to me that a re-make of Roman Holiday with Hathaway and Jackman would be just perfect.

Wow, that was 60 years ago!

Well, that was last year.  For 2013 there will be a lot of remakes and sequels:

THE HOBBIT:  The Desolation of Smaug

A Good Day to DIE HARD

The Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp as Tonto (left)

Man of Steel (the latest Superman)

STAR TREK Into Darkness

IRON MAN 3

OZ:  The Great and Powerful

MONSTERS University

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5

THE FAST AND FURIOUS 6

THE HANGOVER Part III

THE WOLVERINE

DESPICABLE ME 2

JURASSIC PARK IV

TOP GUN 2

INDEPENDENCE DAY 2

Cleopatra (with Angelina Jolie and Ang Lee)

ZOMBIELAND 2

THE HUNGER GAMES:  Catching Fire

GREEN LANTERN 2

ROBOCOP

AUSTIN POWERS 4

Plus, there will be a whole lot of alien films.  People are fascinated with them.  A movie called Sinatra to be directed by Martin Scorsese and Behind the Candelabra (Liberace, with Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Rob Low, Debby Reynolds and Dan Aykroyd) are coming.  Who will play Frank?  At one time it was Leonardo DiCaprio.  Guess who is Liberace?  Tada...Michael Douglas.  Actually, this one will be made by HBO for their cable channels.

I'll probably go to another 50 this year.

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Alert to my friends in the Indian Ocean!!!  Tropical Cyclone Dumile, still only at 65 MPH, will attain hurricane category 2 and, as currently, projected, slam into Reunion around Thursday.  Mauritius will also be affected.



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