10. To the Wonder.   In a year that included the likes of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and The Grandmaster, perhaps no popular film justifies use of the cliché “visual storytelling” more than writer/director Terence Malick’s To the Wonder.  The underlying narrative (such that it is) covers the life cycle of a love affair (said lovers played by Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko).  Alternating between the idyllic and the realistic, the dialogue (such that ... Read More »

Spoiler Scale (How spoilery is this article on a scale of 1 to 10?)  4   With only the slightest bit of soft focus, writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen take us back to the Greenwich Village folk scene circa 1961 to get Inside Llewyn Davis.  Solo singer/guitarist Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) finds himself with one foot in the future and one foot in the past.  As a sad wanderer, he is acutely attuned to the freedoms ... Read More »

In all honesty, I cannot say that I am as optimistic about the films slated for release in 2013 as I was for 2012.  The cinemas will be full of more prequels and sequels than ever.  Apparently, the argument about whether to pump so much money into franchise films is over.  The only remaining disagreement seems to be over title conventions – should the powers-that-be go ... Read More »