The Month in Movies: April 2013

After consulting my movies watched lists from previous years, I’m happy to announce April 2013 was my best April since I start tracking my viewing habits in 2007. That makes it the 4th consecutive “best month” this year.

This time of year I usually get bogged down with TV shows wrapping up and, occasionally, nice weather. Despite that, this year I managed to get in 23 movies. That’s two more than my previous record of 21 in 2010 and a whopping sixteen more than last year’s 7 viewings.

Here’s how the month broke down for me:

Total Viewings: 23
First Viewings: 10
Theater Viewings: 2

Best First Viewing: Trance (2013)

(Read my thoughts on it here)

Honorable Mention: Side by Side (2012)

(Read my thoughts on it here)

Buy it on Amazon!

Worst First Viewing: All the Days Before Tomorrow (2007)

I tweeted a lot while watching this movie. It was okay but my surge in tweeting was directly related to my low interest level in the movie. Alexandra Holden (channeling Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction a bit) and Joey Kern have great chemistry but the script could have used some work.

The movie is about two platonic friends who “should be together.” The story is told in flashbacks detailing their friendship. The flashbacks are separated by black and white, ultra-indie dream sequences with pretentious overtones and faux-philosophical ponderings. The work put into these segments would have been much better utilized exploring why exactly these two people “should be” together. Instead, we’re just expected to go with it.

I didn’t hate the movie. I thought it had some strong moments. I just didn’t see anything worse in April.

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Dishonorable Mention: Curly Sue (1991)

I’m planning a John Hughes post next week. So, until then I’ll keep this brief. It was the last movie John Hughes directed. It was pretty dull. James Belushi was actually pretty okay. Everything else about the movie was pretty forgettable though.

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Biggest Surprise: The Evil Dead (1981)

(Read my thoughts on it here)

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Biggest Letdown: She’s Having a Baby (1988)

Again, I’ll post more about this movie in my John Hughes post next week. I will say that I went into this movie knowing little to nothing about it. I was expecting a comedy about a couple dealing with a surprise pregnancy. What I got was a movie about a couple struggling with the first few years of their marriage. It was an okay movie overall. It was just more series fare than I was expecting.

Buy it on Amazon!

Returning Favorite: The Breakfast Club (1985)

I can’t say much about the brilliance of The Breakfast Club that hasn’t already been said. Of course, I’ll talk more about it in my John Hughes post. For now, The Breakfast Club stands as a perfect examination of high school society and class structure that’s still relevant today. It takes teen angst and gives it a proper spotlight and real personality. It is, without a doubt, one of my “desert island” movies.

Buy it on Amazon!

Overall I wish I would have seen more movies in the theater. With the summer season upon us, however, I’m sure the next few months will make up for it.

By the way, if you compare this post to my April 2013 Viewings page, you’ll notice I watched Battleship and didn’t include it in my worst viewings categories. I’d like to justify that by saying I’m a Peter Berg fan who enjoyed Battleship for the dumb, big budget, summer popcorn movie that it was. Beer also helped considerably.

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