It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2013, can you believe it? I knew somehow November is going to go by like a breeze. It always feel that way when I went on a trip. Hence it hasn’t been a prolific month for blogging for me, nor a movie-watching one for that matter.
But hey, I got to spend Thanksgiving in Universal Studios which was a lot of fun! It was awesome spending some quality time with my BFF and took a stroll on Pacific Beach which was only minutes away on foot from her apartment. I also got to meet Fernando from Committed to Celluloid on the day I arrived in San Diego (read his post on our meet-up). What a treat that was, wish we had more time to chat but it was so lovely to meet one of my favorite bloggers!
Great company, scenery and awesome food, it was the best Thanksgiving ever!
Well, here are some of my posts this past month:
- Double Mini Reviews: Rush & The Fifth Estate
- Great Songs from Richard Curtis’ Movies
- Thor: The Dark World review
- Musings on Leonardo DiCaprio and his elusive Oscar
- Top 10 Favorite Scottish Actors
- The Book Thief review
- Breaking Emotions Blogathon: Tears & Surprise + Smiles & Thrills
- Favorite Sophomore Directorial Films
- 28 Movies I’m Thankful For in 2013 (so far)
The amount of films I watched last month is embarrassingly low, I’m hoping December will be a much better month for movie-viewing, esp. since I’ve RSVP-ed for five movies I’ve been looking forward to: American Hustle, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Saving Mr. Banks, Inside Llewyn Davis, and The Wolf of Wall Street, all taking place in the next three weeks! 😀
Movie of the Month:
This is an easy one as I was floored by Spike Jonze‘s latest film. I barely knew anything about it but I saw the trailer just days before I saw the screening schedule and it intrigued me. Well let’s just say this would VERY likely end up in my Best of the Year list. Such a unique love story and startlingly-honest character study, and also one of the most intriguing sci-fi drama in recent memory. Joaquin Phoenix is simply superb in an understated and soul-baring role. Oh and Scarlett Johansson‘s voice acting is worth all the hype, stay tuned for a Question of the Week post inspired by her performance.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
The best film I saw this month is easily The Apartment which I hope will land in my 100 Films list which I hope to post towards the end of the year.
Ahhh, once again I feel horrible for not having seen it! Seems that everyone who’s seen it LOVED it, I’m sure I will too!
Join the 2014 Blind Spot Series that Ryan of the Matinee is doing. One a film a month. It’s fun.
Yeah I should do that next year 😀
My favorite from November was Much Ado about Nothing, which I just watched a few days ago on DVD. The more I think about what Whedon accomplished, the more I love it.
Hello Dan! Oh I haven’t seen that one yet but I’m even more intrigued now that you consider it your favorite film! Curious to see how Whedon tackle a Shakespearean classic.
Sounds like a wonder trip was had! Great to hear you caught up with our friend Fernando. Awesome. Of the few new films I saw in November the most powerful was 12 Years a Slave and the most enjoyable was Catching Fire.
Hi Michael! Yeah it was perfect timing that Fernando had a concert that very day I arrived in SD!
I really wish I had time to see you, but for sure we have to meet up next time I’m there, or whenever you visit MN of course 😉 Oh cool, glad you got to see 12 Years a Slave, I still need to well, catch Catching Fire 😀
Yeah I can’t believe 2013 is almost over, time seems to fly by so fast when you get older. LOL. I now want to visit CA from seeing your photos there, haven’t been out there in a while.
I don’t think I have any favorite movies that I saw last month, both Thor 2 and Hunger Games 2 were pretty good but not great. I finally watched Flight, it’s pretty good and it’s nice seeing a Robert Zemeckis’ movie with real actors and not computer generated characters. That man loves his animation but he’s better at making movies with real actors.
Ahah well we’re only as young as we feel Ted 😉 CA is great but only to visit, the weather there sure beats what we have here though, ahah.
Oh I still haven’t seen Flight but I kind of already knew what happened. I still might see it for Denzel’s performance though.
Flight’s trailers made it look like it’s about some kind of a disaster/courtroom drama but it’s actually about addiction. And Washington’s good in the role, wish he makes more type of this movie then the crappy action pictures he’s been doing the last 10 years or so. But I guess since he’s already won two Oscars, might as well collecting big paychecks while Hollywood still paying him.
OOOh, I can’t wait to get to Her! This movie looks so interesting. So peculiar.
I think my favorite film from November has got to be the new Hunger Games movie. Catching Fire was every bit as good as I was hoping for it to be
Hi Tom! Yes, it’s delightfully peculiar is how I’d describe HER, hope you get to see it soon. Glad to hear you loved Catching Fire, now I REALLY want to see it soon, hopefully next weekend.
Favorite movie would probably be Thor 2. Really enjoyed that one quite a bit. And as I said before, seriously looking forward to Her. That one just looks so interesting, heh.
Hi Chris! Thor 2 was fun indeed, that’s on my list of movies to be thankful for 😀 HER is just excellent all around, what Spike Jonze may not be prolific but he sure is one of the most original filmmakers out there.
Looks like you had a great time at Universal! Man, some day I plan to go visit Hollywood….
I hope you do Rodney, but it’s better when your kids are older so they can enjoy it more 😀
Nice to see that you enjoyed yourself. Watched quite a lot of movies but my favorite was A Simple Plan, which I saw for the first time.
Oh I did see A Simple Plan a while back, that’s a good one!
We’re in the same boat. In fact I actually saw less movies than you I think…. 6 movies, and only one of those six (Disney’s Frozen) were recent openings! But it seems I’ll get more breathing space from work in December, and I’ll get to see more movies!
p/s: Universal Studios – that’s certainly a great way to spend vacation!
Hi Asrap! Yeah I think I saw less than 10 movies this month, it’s terrible! But I’m so glad I saw HER though, and yes Universal Studios is awesome, I felt like a kid again 😀
Really looking forward to Her, looks fantastic. Not sure when it hits here but I’ll be there in a shot. Best film of the month for me was Gravity as we finally got it in November. Philomena was also excellent, though and I also really liked Blackfish, which is an excellent documentary. Roll on December!
Hi ya Chris! Glad to see you love Gravity, that’s my Movie of the Month October, so glad we agree! Yes December has some great films to look forward to!
My favorite film discovery of November was Populaire, a french film set in the ’50s. As for new releases, I loved About Time!
Oh yeah I saw the trailer for Populaire, that’s w/ Romain Duris right? I still need to see that one.
Yep, that’s the one! If you have Netflix Instant it’s available there. 🙂
Will do Lindsey!
So glad you had a great time in California. Looks a lot warmer there than it was here! Pretty slow movie month here too. So much going on but I too hope to get back in gear in December. But who am I fooling. Christmas is always chaotic!
It was about mid 60s to low 70s, how hot was Kentucky? Thankfully I won’t be going anywhere for Christmas so hopefully I can watch more movies this month 😀
I can’t wait to see Her since I’m a big fan of Spike Jonze and Joaquin Phoenix. Best movie I’ve seen this month was The Thin Red Line.
If you’re a big fan of those two I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! Oh I LOVE The Thin Red Line, probably my favorite war-themed film.
Great post, Ruth! It was great meeting you and I too wish we had more time! My post is up, if you’d like to link to it: http://fernandorafael.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/how-i-met-ruth/
So glad that you had fun at Universal Studios. Sounds like a magical Thanksgiving!
Very jealous about all those screenings you’ll be attending! With one notable exception 😉 I want to see all of those, AND Her!
My favorite November film was Prisoners!
Hi Fernando! Thanks for the sweet post, I’ve linked it up 😀 Wish you could’ve gone to Universal Studios w/ us, it was a blast. Ahah yeah I know you’re not excited for The Hobbit 2 he..he.. that’s ok, I think you’ll love HER.
I see that you love Prisoners, I might give it a rent when it’s out.
I can’t wait to see Her! And those 5 films you mentioned are high on my watchlist as well. 🙂
The best film I saw last month was Children of Paradise, a classic French film. It has great performances, solid production values, and an interesting story. It’s definitely worthy of the praise it’s received.
Hello December! Universal Studios sounds like a great way to spend a vacation. Over here in Canada, thanksgiving is in October haha! I’m also looking forward to The Hobbit and Wolf on Wall Street! I think I saw Gravity in Nov, I can’t remember the month hehe but I know it was a really good movie. I finally saw Training Day in Nov. and loved it!
Initially I wasn’t very interested in Her but all this praise is interesting! Especially about Johansson – I was never impressed with voice performance, perhaps I’ll be with that one.
I really didn’t know what to expect but the premise really intrigued me, there’s just not enough good sci-fi dramas out there. I’d say give it a shot Sati, I’m usually just so-so about Scarlett but she did a tremendous job with her voice here.
Oh, I really want to watch “Her”. I mean, it’s Spike Jonze after all. I’ve been really intrigued by the three features he’s directed even if “Being John Malkovich” was not exactly my cup of tea. I loved both “Adaptation.” which I finally saw recently, and “Where the Wild Things Are” will surely feature prominently in my Top 250 favorite film list, whenever I get to posting that.
The best film I’ve seen lately was Mary & Max, which was easily the highlight over the course of the last two months with Gravity coming in at second place.
I’m also looking forward to all of the awesome films that are due to come out in the next 3-4 weeks.
Hi Niels, HER is very good and if you like Jonze’s style then you’ll likely enjoy it even more than I did. What’s Mary & Max about? I haven’t heard of that one.
Sounds like you had an awesome time in San Diego! I bet it was quite the shock to come back to the bitter cold in the Midwest.
Great to see positive remarks about Her. Can’t wait to see it.
Oh man, it’s tough getting back and especially this week we’ve got some brutal arctic air, hovering around zero for the next week! 😦
HER is great, such a warm film despite the subject matter.
Btw, stay around a while as Five for the Fifth is about to be published 😉
Haha, you know how much I love the fifth! 🙂
And I love reading people’s responses! It’s really my fave day of the month 😀
Really looking forward to seeing Her after expanded release. It looks wonderful.
It really does. I was surprised how emotional that was despite having such a crazy premise!