On 2013 - Top Three and Bottom One

So, 2013 has come and gone (10 days ago, I know I'm a little behind on the obligatory "year in review" type of post).  It was an entertainment filled year where I went to the theater to see more movies and read more books than 2012.  I hope to continue this trend in 2014.  

I see a lot of top 10 lists around (most of them posted timely around New Year's, but I'm behind on reading the blogs too).  I will cut the list down to the top three and bottom one.  Movies / Books are linked to my review where one exists.  

Movies (only counts if I saw the movie in the theater):

# 3 - Monsters University

I took my four year old to see this and she loved it.  I did too.  Even today, weeks after she received the movie on DVD over the holidays and we have more-or-less had this on TV any time Yo Gabba Gabba is not on, I still love it.  It is fun, funny, and one of the better sequels done by Disney.  Ok, what it teaches children may not be the best lesson in the world, but it's a fun movie filled with a lot of good laughs.  I mean, it's Revenge of the Nerds for kids.

I don't believe it.  I'm on a top of the year list!

# 2 - The World's End

These guys are comedy gold.  All three of the movies are completely different yet all carry similar humor, heart and over-the-top ridiculous goodness.   

Made the list.  Time to hit the pub!

# 1 - Pacific Rim

Giant Robots fighting Giant Monsters.  And Ron Perlman.  

I liked the movie this much!

Honorable Mention - The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug  

This loses a little ground in that to me it didn't live up to the first part, and was an hour too long.  

Bottom - Broken City

Maybe it would have been better had I not gone into the theater thinking it would be an action movie.  Probably not.  So.  Slow.  

Books (based on what I read, not year of release)

# 3 Demon Cycle (I need to cheat and use the series since I did a lot of series binging this year)

I never posted a review of these books, so I feel compelled to at least put a blurb here.  I was convinced I would not like the Demon Cycle books (great way to start a review, no?).  I read the premise and thought it really interesting.  And then I picked up book one.  It starts WAY in the past of the "present" storyline (though you don't know that at the time).  Thinking this is what the story would be, I knew I wouldn't like it.  But the present storyline comes on with a vengeance, and it grew on me more and more with each page.  

# 2 The Republic of Thieves 

Sabetha

# 1 The Lightbringer (again cheating with the series name)

Cliche cloaked man doesn't do justice to a FANTASTIC book series (love the coloring though)

Bottom - NOS4A2

I love Joe Hill, and it's really not fair that he holds this position as the bottom of my 2013 pile.  Heart Shaped Box and Horns are fantastic books.  NOS4A2 wasn't horrible, but it really didn't hold my attention as well as his prior works.  And I should add that being the bottom book I read in 2013 is not necessarily a terrible thing.  I had no 1 or 2 (goodreads) rated books in 2013.  I don't read 50 books a year, so I tend to make sure my selections will hold my interest whenever possible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  2013 was a good book year for me.  I still highly recommend Hill's works, though maybe you pick up the other two books first.  

On Pacific Rim

I don't get to the movies as often as I like.  And when I do, the movies I see tend to be on the tail end of their cinematic run.  So any review I put up for the film tends to be significantly later than bloggers who stay current and get out more.  However, there is a pro to this, and Pacific Rim is a prime example of this.  

Movie trailers have one job.  They are designed to sell the movie to the consumer.  Pacific Rim, with it's cast of Sons of Anarchy actors, with Guillermo Del Toro at the helm, with it's premise (giant robots fighting giant aliens) was a pretty easy sell for me.  I had HIGH expectations of this movie, and was eagerly anticipating its release.  

But time passed and the stars never aligned with the availability of babysitting, movie schedule timing, etc. to allow us to get to the movies.  In that time the blogosphere (did I just write that) filled with review upon review of the movie.  And for certain things, I will try to avoid spoilery content, but this didn't fit into that paradigm seeming a pretty straight-forward concept.  So, I indulged in the opinion of others, and in doing so, learned that perhaps the movie would not be all I had hoped it would be.  However, that would not stop me from seeing it.  Giant robots fighting giant aliens.  I'm not turning that down.  So, we saw Pacific Rim, but with significantly reduced expectations.  And it was everything I wanted it to be.  

Sure, the acting wasn't top notch, the fighting...  I just don't understand why they need all this martial arts, ninja fighting training when the robot fighting is the equivalent to WWE Friday Night Smackdown (I lift things up and put them down).  But I grew up with Voltron, Tranzor Z, Power Rangers, Neon Genesis: Evangelion, etc. and Pacific Rim is a throwback to the robots of old.  An homage.  It needn't be perfect.  It wasn't perfect.  But it certainly was entertaining.  Hell, some of those scenes (particularly Mako's flashbacks) were so intense I had flashbacks to U-571 (seriously, one of the most tense, edge-of-your-seat, I'm going puke I'm so stressed, movies ever made).  

The musical score was phenomenal.

And so I wish to thank my fellow bloggers at cinematic corner, two dollar cinema, and whoa, this is heavy (amongst the many others) for reviewing this closer to the release date of the film.  You've tapered my expectations thereby creating an awesome movie-going experience.

EDIT:  5 hours later

Re-reading this, I understand there is very little review in this review.  It has been a rough couple of days in the Szever household and the old language formulation center is not fully operation.