The 25 Best Movies of 2013

Before I get into my favorite movies of the year, I want to wish melancholy happy trails to Blockbuster who finally went under this year (sure the name lives on but like Napster before it, Blockbuster as we knew it is dead). It was basically my main source of movies for the past decade and with it gone, this may be my last Best Movies list for a while because I do not care for steaming movies. With Blockbuster dead, I have only seen one movie in the past month and really have not missed them because good Hollywood movies seem to be far and few in between anyway. So without further ado, here are the 25 movies I saw this year (not necessarily ones released over the past twelve months) that I did not absolutely hate.

1. This Is the End

2. Zero Dark Thirty

3. Pitch Perfect

4. Iron Man 3

5. Silver Linings Playbook

6. Django Unchained

7. Looper

8. Skyfall

9. The Watch

10. This Is 40

11. The Great Gatsby

12. Evil Dead

13. Spring Breakers

14. Moonrise Kingdom

15. Man of Steel

16. Snitch

17. Side Effects

18. Oz the Great and Powerful

19. Olympus Has Fallen

20. Premium Rush

21. The Man with the Iron Fists

22. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

23. Flight

24. Argo

25. The Lockout

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 1/4/14

Quote of the Week: Minuses are made up! (Annie Edison, Community)

Song of the Week: True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (The Millers)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Television Is Back Already: Most shows started their “winter break” less than a month ago, but shows started returning as early as last Thursday and most other shows will make their return this week. Here is a full run down of what I will be watching into the spring and when they return:

Monday
8:00 – Switched at Birth (January 13)
8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (January 13)
8:00 – The Voice (February 24)
8:30 – 2 Broke Girls (January 13)
9:00 – Dallas (February 24)
10:00 – The Blacklist (January 13)
10:00 – Castle (January 6)

Tuesdays
8:00 – Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (January 7)
8:00 – Pretty Little Liars (January 7)
8:00 – The Voice (February 25)
9:00 – The Goldbergs (January 7)
9:00 – Ravenswood (January 7)
10:00 – Justified (January 7)
10:00 – Perception (February 25)

Wednesdays
8:00 – The Middle (January 8)
8:30 – Suburgatory (January 15)
9:00 – Modern Family (January 8)
10:00 – Nashville (January 15)
10:00 – The Americans (Febuary 26)

Thursdays
8:00 – The Big Bang Theory (January 2)
8:00 – Community (January 2)
8:30 – The Millers (January 2)
9:00 – The Crazy Ones (January 2)
9:30 – The Michael J Fox Show (January 2)
10:00 – Parenthood (January 2)
10:00 – King of the Nerds (January 23)
10:00 – Vikings (February 27)

Fridays
8:00 – Last Man Standing (January 10)
8:30 – The Neighbors (January 10)
9:00 – Grimm (January 3)
9:00 – Hannibal (February 28)
10:00 - Helix (January 10)

Saturdays
9:00 - Orphan Black (April 19)
11:30 – Saturday Night Live (January 18)

Sundays
9:00 – Once Upon a Time (March 9)
9:00 – Shameless (January 12)
9:00 – Revenge (January 5; moves to 10:00 March 16)
9:00 – The Walking Dead (February 9)
10:00 – House of Lies (January 12)

TBD
Penny Dreadful
The Strain
Mad Men
Survivor

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Who’s in the Box” Pretty Little Liars, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

The Big Bang Theory: I got a little worried when Penny proposed to Leonard because that would ruin the whole dynamic of the show. Well assuming Leonard moved in with Penny. Penny moving in with Leonard and Sheldon would be awesome, but the other way around would be disastrous. Who would be dumb enough to move in with Sheldon, Raj would know better, Amy would not be a good idea. That could only leave Stuart which could be interesting unless they would bring in someone new.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Community: When it was announced that creator Dan Harmon would be brought back to the show after a year’s sabbatical I assumed we would be treated to a last season was all a dream season opener like Dallas. Nope, it actually did happen, the group actually graduated and now are back at Greendale (except for Pierce who is just resigned to being a creepy hologram. Oh, except for Jeff who is now a teacher. It was a wise idea to bring the show back with two episodes just to make a smoother transition back into the original creative team after the last fan-fiction type season.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: I actually thought Drew’s friend with benefit was going to propose Amy join their benefit package. Nope it turns out she was just jealous. Too bad for Drew who has constantly been on the bottom of the Braverman Power Rankings for five seasons now. That storyline would be a nice reward for having nothing to do on the show. But I guess he should be happy he has not been dragged into the Julia / Joel saga.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.


Free Download of the Week: Artists to Watch in 2014 (Amazon MP3)

New Album Release of the Week: Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours - Peter Gabriel and Friends

New DVD Release of the Week: Archer: The Complete Season Four

Video of the Week: The first official trailer for Veronica Mars was released though most of it we have already seen aside from our first looks at Deputy Leo, the new Sherriff Lamb, and a blink and you will miss it cameo from Dax Sheppard. But the big question will the people who did not see the show be inspired by the trailer to actually see it? The first half a minute is filled with boring trailer clichés but it does finally pick up when Dick Casablancas finally makes an appearance. We will have to wait until March 14 to see how many people who did not contribute to the Kickstarter campaign are willing to part with their hard earned cash now that the product is finished.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: Instead of the usual Big Bad, last season Justified went with more of a mystery season with the Ballad of Drew Peterson. The season five premiere is entitled “A Murder of Crowes” and from the promos that feature a newly released Dewey Crowe, I am guessing he will be playing a bigger part this season. As great as the last season was, it was severely lacking some Dewey Crowe. The only question is if Dicky Bennett also became a free man since last season, they maybe the greatest moronic duo since Beavis and Butt-Head.