I was hesitant to actually do a sixth year of the RopeofSilicon Awards for a variety of reasons, but most of all due to the deluge of awards handed out for movies at this point in our culture. As it turns out, I’m glad I waited and I’m glad I decided to go forward with the Awards. As we’ve moved into 2014 it became clear there were not only films and performances from 2013 that were still resonating with audiences, but there were some that hadn’t gotten the attention I felt they deserved. Therefore, these awards afforded me the opportunity to highlight some of those films and performances.
Looking back, 2013 was something of a strange year for movies. It was a year dominated by big budget features, but while many of those blockbusters made lots of money, they fell quite flat in terms of overall audience reception. Films such as Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel may have had their time in the sun, but as the year closed down, no one was really talking about them.
Blockbuster culture is no longer a focus on what’s here right now, but more about what’s next. It doesn’t mean these films don’t hold some measure of entertainment, softening our brains for the two hours we spend watching them, but this is one of the few years I walked away not particularly interested in revisiting any of them.
That said, here’s how the top of the box office looked this past year, both domestically and worldwide courtesy of Box-Office Mojo:
| Domestic | Worldwide |
|
|
The films that topped my year-end The Wolf of Wall Street.
Wolf has generated the a clip I can’t help but wonder, Why didn’t it make my top ten?
Another film I’m anxious to revisit is Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, a film that felt castrated on the big screen, but one that will soon be getting an extended cut on Blu-ray, adding in another 21 minutes. I’m not sure this extended cut will entirely turn the film around for me, but I’m also expecting it to be another 5-10 years before I can finally settle on an opinion.
One final thought before we get into the awards, looking back over the year, and as I created the following poster collage for last year’s movies, I couldn’t believe how many I’d completely forgotten. Movies like Gangster Squad, Mama, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Bullet to the Head, A Good Day To Die Hard, the Evil Dead remake, Safe Haven and even The Great Gatsby, though that’s another one I feel like revisiting. Have movies become so disposable that we forget when we even saw them?
I was watching Warm Bodies on HBO recently, it too was released in 2013, almost a year ago today in fact. Yet, it felt like it had been ages since I’d seen it… Not sure if there is anything profound to make of this observation as it either says something about the state of today’s cinema or the decline of my memory… most likely a little of both.
All of that said, I’ve focused so much on the films themselves, the RopeofSilicon Awards are where I take a closer look at the performances, direction, scores and anything else from the previous year that has stuck with me to this point.
The Poster
Now click on through the following pages where you’ll find my picks for Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Score and Director along with my favorite quotes from 2013, favorite posters, favorite scenes, favorite quotes and a collection of montage videos from around the Internet.
