20 December 2013

JR Late Night Top 10 Movies of the Year 2013


JR's Top 10 Movies of 2013
JR Late Night Blogs publishes a yearly list on the films that defined the entire year. As the year 2013 comes to a close, it is a great time for JR to present his latest list on the Top 10 Movies that rocked the entire year. Movies which premiered from 01 January 2013 to 20 December 2013 that earned a huge box office and a huge internet fan base were the ones chosen by JR in this year's list. JR ranked them by his own preference. For this year, JR reduced the number of films to be ranked to 10 for him to give special attention to why he chose each film. This year, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earned the top spot for Movie of the Year being one of the best book adaptations to hit our movie screens. Popular movie franchises also hit this year's list - Iron Man and Fast & Furious. Only one animated film made this year's list. Safe Haven, a movie which earned a fan base through social media, also entered as the only romance film. Gravity, JR's pick for an Oscar Best Picture, made the list at the top 3. With this year belonging to Katniss Everdeen, JR now unveils JR Late Night Blogs' Movies of 2013.

Summary of the List:
1    |    2    |    3    |    4    |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9    |    10
Intro   |   Records   |   Data Sources   |   Photo Credits

JR's Movies of the Year (2013 Edition)
Rank
Movies of the Year
Movie Genre Month of Release
1 Action  |  Adventure November 2013
2 Action  |  Adventure May 2013
3 Drama  |  Sci-Fi October 2013
4 Drama  |  Romance February 2013
5 Action  |  Adventure June 2013
6 Animation June 2013
7 Action  |  Adventure June 2013
8 Horror  |  Thriller July 2013
9 Action  |  Sci-Fi August 2013
10 Action  |  Crime May 2013

Get back to previous JR Late Night Blogs' Movies of the Year lists:

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
#1
THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$734,500,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Adventure   |   Sci-Fi
Director/s: 
Francis Lawrence
Distributor: 
Lionsgate
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
2 hours, 26 minutes
Production Budget: 
$130 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Amanda Plummer, Sam Claflin, Donald Sutherland

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire easily nabs the title Movie of the Year for its terrific adaptation of the sequel to a popular and beloved book series. The movie adaptation was superb putting into realism those fictional and futuristic scenes presented by the book. From the Victor's Tour of Katniss and Peeta to the Arena Battle in the 75th Hunger Games, you can only see very minimal changes from the book. The movie presented all situations in the book as authentic and unbiased as possible. Before the movie even premiered, expectations were placed a notch higher considering that it gambled to be shown to the public a year and a half later from the release of the first film. With that long wait, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire proved to be better than any sequel of the Harry Potter and Twilight movie franchise combined. The movie raised the bar for any book adaptation in the future, fully placing it to realism with minimal or no change at all. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire places Katnis Everdeen to the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games, otherwise known as the 3rd Quarter Quell. It is her second time to battle blood and sweat with previous victors from the Capitol's annual grueling punishment as it is their plan to pose a threat to all other districts waging war with them. Before you watch the two-part finale of the movie franchise, engage yourself in the Catching Fire of the Hunger Games. Just like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (video game) outshined its predecessor and successor, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire may be the best of the movie franchise.


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Iron Man 3
#2
IRON MAN 3
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$1,215,400,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Adventure   |   Fantasy
Director/s: 
Shane Black
Distributor: 
Buena Vista
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
2 hours, 9 minutes
Production Budget: 
$200 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, Ben Kingsley

The greatness of The Avengers can be equated with that of Iron Man 3. Being the only billion-dollar movie for the year, Iron Man 3 defined the blockbuster movie season  for this year. Iron Man has become an icon outshining The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Spiderman and any other member of The Avengers. (Too bad Spidey is being held by another studio though, making him impossible to even appear in an Avengers movie). Iron Man's unique persona makes him a must idolize superhero among others. His proud and confident attitude makes every child be like him. The movie on another note is one of the best to be released this year. With expectations higher to the second batch of movie towards The Avengers 2, Iron Man 3 gave each and every fan an aspect of excitement. With amazing digital and special effects, consistent and emotional story line, and downright Iron Man, the movie proved to be the best superhero movie for the entire year. Iron Man 3 places Tony Stark in a challenge with a powerful foe, The Mandarin who intends to rule the entire of America through his own means. Iron Man creates probably the most number of suits in this movie (only to destroy them in the end). Does the movie ending provide us with the idea that Tony Stark would finally retire? Iron Man 3 made me want to see more of The Avengers.


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Gravity
#3
GRAVITY
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$642,400,000
Movie Genre: 
Drama   |   Sci-Fi   |   Thriller
Director/s: 
Alfonso Cuaron
Distributor: 
Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 31 minutes
Production Budget: 
$100 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
George Clooney, Sandra Bullock

What happens when you are stuck in the middle of outer space with no other means of survival than a space shuttle tech that is the only deemed way of bringing you back to earth? That summarizes everything that Gravity has to offer. Gravity is the only movie in JR's Movies of the Year list that is having a lot of Oscar nomination buzz from social media. (This makes it JR's clear choice for Oscar's Best Motion Feature.) Gravity is a very emotional movie posing a challenge of survival to those astronauts sacrificing time and life to bring us knowledge and intelligence on what is really out there. Being an astronaut for some may be a boring and uninteresting job, but this film shows how noble, how sacrificial and how dedicated those astronauts working outside the Earth's atmosphere. The movie presented how dangerous it is to be one, since you are only left to work with yourself, a few people and scarce available technology to help you with your living. Without any line of communication from the military, government or the coast guard, you are left on your own to survive when worse comes to worst. I can't reveal more of Gravity but it is one of those films worth watching for inspiration. I'm pretty sure that it would earn alot of film awards from various award-giving bodies.


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Safe Haven
#4
SAFE HAVEN
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$71,300,000
Movie Genre: 
Drama   |   Mystery   |   Romance
Director/s: 
Lasse Hallstrom
Distributor: 
Relativity
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 55 minutes
Production Budget: 
$28 million
Official Movie Website: 
n/a
Cast Overview: 
Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons

Safe Haven has been suggested by a few of JR's friends as a must-watch movie, and they didn't fail me. It is one of the best romance films I have ever watched. More than just your average love story, Safe Haven provides twists to your common love stories out there. Romance films may not be a hit nowadays but once in a while try to engage in movies that will move your emotions and feel those characters within its world. Safe Haven provided me the opportunity to appreciate Nicholas Sparks and wanting more movie adaptations of his books. Safe Haven is a love story between two different individuals of different stories and backgrounds meeting in an average American town which would soon turn out to be a problematic scene. The woman is already married to a maniac while the man is faced with love after the death of his wife. The ending is the one that defined the entire movie showing that death is the start of a life for someone and that love exists without any boundaries.


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Man of Steel
#5
MAN OF STEEL
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$662,800,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Adventure   |   Fantasy
Director/s: 
Zack Snyder
Distributor: 
Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
2 hours, 23 minutes
Production Budget: 
$225 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Ayelet Zurer, Russell Crowe, Thomas Tull

Superheroes dominated this year's list. Superman continued the streak. Superman may be Iron Man's biggest contender for this year's superhero but the Man of Steel did not stand a match with Iron Man 3's grandeur and well-planned story and effects. No worries, though, the Man of Steel enters at the 5th spot. Man of Steel is supposedly the movie franchise that would continue Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight but it started on its own having its own world and own story. Man of Steel provided us with a different take and adventure far from the comic book series. While the comic book focuses on Superman being all superior from his opponents, the movie presented us with a background on how Clark Kent became the iconic Superman. The movie itself summarize who Superman is. It was a story that brought Superman down to earth, more on being a humble hero than the already idealized proud one we came to know of Superman. The movie wanted me to learn more about the hero just like how I became interested with Spidey, Wolverine and Iron Man. (Movies really provide me the opportunity to appreciate certain characters which I just came to know through conversations with other people.) By the way, thank Lois Lane for the iconic name. The battle between Marvel's superheroes and Justice League's legends continues.


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Monsters University
#6
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$743,600,000
Movie Genre: 
Animation   |   Adventure   |   Comedy
Director/s: 
Dan Scanlon
Distributor: 
Buena Vista
MPAA Rating: 
G
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 47 minutes
Production Budget: 
$200 million
Official Movie Website: 
Voice Cast Overview: 
Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Sean Hayes, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, John Krasinski, Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger

Unlike any other movie in the list, Monsters University is more of a prequel rather than a sequel. Monsters University introduces us to the roots of Mike and Sulley (way back before the story of Monsters, Inc. even happened). What I like about Monsters University is how Pixar continues to wow us with their unique use of animation. Just hoping for more Pixar movies that would give us more of a story rather than just a cinematic experience. 


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World War Z
#7
WORLD WAR Z
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$540,000,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Adventure   |  Horror
Director/s: 
Marc Forster
Distributor: 
Paramount
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 56 minutes
Production Budget: 
$190 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse

What's more popular than vampires, werewolves and ghosts? You guess it right, ZOMBIES!. Zombies are the rage nowadays conquering TV, movies, video games, even print. While The Walking Dead dominated both video game and TV, World War Z dominated the zombie genre in this year's movie season. The movie's take on zombie survival is different. Where Resident Evil and Dead Rising focus more on killing the undead, The Walking Dead focus more on searching for new ground,  Night of the Living Dead focus on approaching the military and government for help, World War Z uses camouflage to their advantage. The key to survival is a vaccine that shall make any surviving human to camouflage themselves in a world infested with any undead creature brought to life. Looking forward to another take on zombie survival in the future either in print, movie, TV, or video game.


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The Conjuring
#8
THE CONJURING
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$316,700,000
Movie Genre: 
Horror   |   Thriller
Director/s: 
James Wan
Distributor: 
Warner Bros. 
MPAA Rating: 
R
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 52 minutes
Production Budget: 
$20 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Joey King

More than just your Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring pushed all sorts of supernatural boundary and created a movie that is wierder, crazier, and scarier. The Conjuring introduces us to a new paranormal adventure documenting the experience of a newly moved family in a possessed farmhouse. Where Paranormal Activity documents the life of a supposed son of a demon, The Conjuring documents a property known to be owned by a witch. The family tries to deal with one of the most powerful spirits ever to set foot on our movie screens. For the year 2013, only one horror movie made a big impact and that is this film. The Conjuring created a social media phenomenon where everyone digged to watch the movie. I don't know if its the story or the movie's cinematic experience, but one thing is for sure, this movie earned a spot because people talked about it scaring the hell of their souls.


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Elysium
#9
ELYSIUM
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$286,100,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Drama   |   Sci-Fi
Director/s: 
Neill Blomkamp
Distributor: 
TriStar
MPAA Rating: 
R
Total Running Time: 
1 hours, 49 minutes
Production Budget: 
$115 million
Official Movie Website: 
n/a
Cast Overview: 
Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, William Fichtner, Alice Braga, Diego Luna

In a world where cancer and AIDS can easily be cured and bone fractures and body figure can be fixed, Elysium presents us with a futuristic take on today's satire between the rich, famous, and powerful over the poor, unknown, and powerless. Elysium creates us an experience where two world's exist, one on earth where the poor and those people deemed as "unperfect" live in struggle and shortage, and one on space where the rich and powerful live in comfort and surplus. When one of those people on earth become desperate for a cure for a disease which would kill him in a few more days, a revolution occurs to make the two worlds unite as one. With the only cure existing in space, an adventure to reach it revolves the story of this film. Elysium presents us with a different take on an apocalyptic future for humans. 


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Fast & Furious 6
#10
FAST & FURIOUS 6
(2013)
Worldwide Box Office: 
$788,700,000
Movie Genre: 
Action   |   Crime   |   Thriller
Director/s: 
Justin Lin
Distributor: 
Universal
MPAA Rating: 
PG-13
Total Running Time: 
2 hours, 10 minutes
Production Budget: 
$160 million
Official Movie Website: 
Cast Overview: 
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, The Rock, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Luke Evans, Gina Carano

Cars is the main theme of Fast & Furious. Crime is the second and Paul Walker is the third. When I watched the first Fast & Furious film way back pre-2010, I became interested on the film's take on modern crime, mafia and drug deals. But what made me want to watch Fast & Furious is the story revolving around the character of Paul Walker (Brian O' Connor) an ex-police officer turned FBI agent trying to deal with the big underworld existence. Fast & Furious is more of an adult take of Mission Impossible and The Bourne Franchise. With the absence of Paul Walker, the future of the film franchise is in jeopardy yet we still expect a big comeback for Fast & Furious.


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JR's MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2013
RECORDS

STUDIOS WITH 
MOST ENTRIES

1. Warner Bros. (3 entries)
>>> Best Movie of 2013: Gravity (#3)

2. Buena Vista (2 entries)
>>> Best Movie of 2013: Iron Man 3 (#2)
MOVIE SERIES THAT
CONTINUE TO REIGN

1. The Hunger Games (ranked #1)
Last Year's Rank: #2

2. Marvel Cinematic Universe (ranked #2)
Last Year's Rank: #3
HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS IN THE LIST
#1
Iron Man 3
($1,215,400,000)
#2
Fast & Furious 6
($788,700,000)
#3
Monsters University
($743,600,000)
#4
Catching Fire
($734,500,000)
#5
Man of Steel
($662,800,000)

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As the year 2013 ends, the bar is raised a lot higher for movies which is set to hit next year's movie season. With a lot of new films and franchises being followed by moviegoers, which movies will make it in next year's Movies of the Year? This has been the 2013 Edition of JR's Movies of the Year list.
JR bids farewell 2013 and hello 2014.

- - - END OF JR LATE NIGHT TOP 10 MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2013 - - -

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DATA SOURCES

All data used in the details of each film used in this blog are from the following sites:

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PHOTO CREDITS

1) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
2) Iron Man 3
3) Gravity
4) Safe Haven
5) Man of Steel
6) Monsters University
7) World War Z
8) The Conjuring
9) Elysium
10) Fast & Furious 6

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^JR Late Night Posts - JR Late Night Movies of the Year
Time Published: 20 December 2013 (8PM)

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