"2013 - This Year in Film"

I have to say that for me 2013 has been a rather lacklustre year for film. There has been very little to rave about, and indeed my attendance at the Cinema has reached an all time low. I know that part of this is due to a 2 month illness I had, but even putting that aside, it has been a weak year for the movie industry.

As is often the case, the year started and ended well, with films like "Les Miserables", "Quartet", "The Impossible", "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Django Unchained" getting us off to a fantastic start. Unfortunately they were quickly followed by some dire efforts, in the form of "I Give It a Year", "A Good Day to Die Hard", "Wreck It Ralph" and "Welcome to the Punch".

As ever, biopics reigned supreme, we had both "Lincoln" and "Hitchcock", both doing a grand job of bringing the lives of two visionary men  to the big screen.

June was quite a decent month with films like "Now You See Me", "World War Z", "This Is The End" and especially "Behind The Candelabra", another first class biopic, with Michael Douglas on a career best performance.

Action was well catered for with the andrenalin fuelled "White House Down", which was a delight to watch, the less saif about "R.I.P.D." the better, though I pity Jeff Bridges.
"Rush" and especially "Prisoners" brought some hope back to the World of Cinema, with two great varied movies, that both excelled.
It was not however a good year for Arnold Schwarzenegger. He started with the atrocious "The Last Stand" and finished with the even worse "Escape Plan". Oh dear. "Terminator 5" anyone????

Mr. Tom Hanks did the complete opposite and finished the year with double high, giving amazing performances in both "Captain Phillips" and "Saving Mr. Banks".
The more mature actor was well catered for with the always reliable Dame Judi Dench giving another great performance in "Philomena" and Bruce Dern doing a wonderfully dry dead pan piece in "Nebraska".
And what can one possibly say about "Gravity" that has not already been said by so many people.

So to sum up........

BEST SCORE - Steven Price (Gravity)

BEST ACTION FILM - White House Down

BEST ACTOR - Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables & Prisoners)  & Michael Douglas (Behind The
                                                                                                                                    Candelabra)

BEST ACTRESS - Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)  &  Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

BEST DIRECTOR - Tom Hopper (Les Miserables)

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR - A Good Day To Die Hard / Star Trek Into Darkness / R.I.P.D.                                                            Escape Plan

BEST FILM OF THE YEAR - Gravity