Here is my ranked list of albums I have got in 2013.
Unranked
Editors - The Weight of Your Love
Although I got this album in the last year, I don't think I know it well enough to rank it yet.
17. Keston Cobbler's Club - One, For Words
I saw these guys supporting To Kill a King. They were really fun live, but their album is quite boring. The music gains a huge amount when played live.
16. Cathy Burton - Source of Every Hour
Meh. S'ok. Not much more to say.
15. Treacherous Orchestra - Origins
Very different, quite entertaining. Hard to listen to a whole album though, it's pretty intense.
14. Rend Collective Experiment - Homemade Worship by Handmade People
Some ok stuff, some really good stuff. The style isn't really my thing though.
13. Lifehouse - Almeria
It's fine, but not much more. Lifehouse's first two albums were incredible. The next four were fine, but far less impressive.
12. One Sonic Society - Forever Reign
Good, especially the title track. I should keep following this band.
11. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
I bought this out of curiosity. It is Oasis-y, but I like that. Decent album.
10. Matt Redman - Your Grace Finds Me
Not one of his best, but still fairly good. Even a weak album from Matt is better than most other worship albums.
9. The Killers - Battle Born
Strong. Some great tunes.
7=. To Kill a King - Cannibals with Cutlery
This band has real quality. Some excellent songs on here. Deep stuff.
7=. Switchfoot - Oh, Gravity
I got five Switchfoot albums at the start of this year, and the weakest of them is in joint 7th place. Ths is an excellent band, an this is a very good album.
5=. Bastille - Bad Blood
Surprisingly mainstream for me. This album doesn't really have a weakness.
5=. Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound
More good quality music. Simple as.
4. Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown
A bit of a leap, I think, from the previous 2 Switchfoot albums, to the next 3. This is a mint album.
2=. Switchfoot - Vice Verses
This really has been Switchfoot's year.
2=. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
I really like this album. And it doesn't decline in the second half.
1. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane
To be honest, all five Switchfoot albums on this list are very good. The order could change on another day, but Hello Hurricane currently tops the list.
Saturday, January 04, 2014
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Films of 2013
For a couple of years, I have ranked every film I have watched that year and written a bottom to top list here at the end of the year. this year will be similar, though only the top 9 will actually be ranked. Below that, things will be more merged.
Films I wished I had never watched:
Shame. "It has Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender in", I thought, "it must be great". It wasn't. It was awful. A slow-moving string of sex scenes. One of the worst films I've seen, ever. Mulligan is great, as is Fassbender. But they were wasting their time.
Films I watched but they weren't that good:
Lion King 3. The story of the Lion King from Timon and Pumbaa's point of view. Vaguely entertaining at times. At least it was only about 70 minutes long.
Terminator. Mindless action, slow moving and uninteresting plot, classic loopholes involving time travel.
The Tourist. Entertaining but, if I remember correctly (I can't remember it that well), completely unconvincing in the final third.
Mulan. It's ok. Fairly standard Disney animated film, with all the features and flaws you'd expect.
Tangled. Similar, though slightly more interesting than Mulan.
Blade. Some cool stuff, but mostly just quite silly and over the top.
The Nativity. Kind of funny, kind of moving, but mainly just exasperating and incredulity-invoking.
The Great Gatsby. Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan need to choose better films to act in. Had the fatal flaw of not actually having an interesting plot
Films that were reasonable:
3:10 to Yuma. Christian Bale was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.
The Greatest. Carey Mulligan was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.
The Adjustment Bureau. Nice idea. Gripping and exciting. Horrible, awful ending, and very poor explanations of what is going on.
Jarhead. Better than most war films I've watched, probably because there wasn't a huge amount of war in it. Having said that, I wouldn't bother watching it again.
Saving Mr Banks. Fun but unsatisfying - not enough about the creation of Marry Poppins as a character, and not enough links between the two main plotlines.
Decent films, places 10-6:
10. Goodfellas. It's decent, not not as good as all the Top 100 lists make out. Lacks a driving narrative.
9. The Kingdom. Quite interesting, kept my attention very well. I enjoyed this film.
8. Contraband. Not much more than a standard action/heist film, but it does that well.
7. Brassed Off. Simple film, but very well done.
6. Gravity. Very tense, very exciting.
Top quality, the top five, the ones I'd really recommend:
5. Monsters University. An excellent film in it's own right, very entertaining. Brilliant references to both university life and Monsters Inc. One of the very best Pixar films.
3=. This is England. Full on intense. Brutal and real. Excellent acting all round.
3=. Catching Fire. Quality, just like the first film. Everything the first one did well, this one matched. The one main weakness was the rushed ending. If they can avoid screwing up the transition from one final book into two films, and stay faithful to the book, this will be an excellent trilogy.
1=. Les Mis. You have to be a special film to reach top spot, even joint top spot, when there's a Middle Earth film in the list. Les Mis was superb. Fuller review here.
1=. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. By no means perfect. Major flaws. But the good stuff is so good, and the adaptation is so difficult, that even with it's problems, it's still an excellent film. More discussion here.
 |
| Do not watch this film |
Films I wished I had never watched:
Shame. "It has Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender in", I thought, "it must be great". It wasn't. It was awful. A slow-moving string of sex scenes. One of the worst films I've seen, ever. Mulligan is great, as is Fassbender. But they were wasting their time.
Films I watched but they weren't that good:
Lion King 3. The story of the Lion King from Timon and Pumbaa's point of view. Vaguely entertaining at times. At least it was only about 70 minutes long.
Terminator. Mindless action, slow moving and uninteresting plot, classic loopholes involving time travel.
The Tourist. Entertaining but, if I remember correctly (I can't remember it that well), completely unconvincing in the final third.
Mulan. It's ok. Fairly standard Disney animated film, with all the features and flaws you'd expect.
Tangled. Similar, though slightly more interesting than Mulan.
Blade. Some cool stuff, but mostly just quite silly and over the top.
The Nativity. Kind of funny, kind of moving, but mainly just exasperating and incredulity-invoking.
The Great Gatsby. Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan need to choose better films to act in. Had the fatal flaw of not actually having an interesting plot
Films that were reasonable:
3:10 to Yuma. Christian Bale was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.
The Greatest. Carey Mulligan was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.
 |
| Promising but disappointing |
Jarhead. Better than most war films I've watched, probably because there wasn't a huge amount of war in it. Having said that, I wouldn't bother watching it again.
Saving Mr Banks. Fun but unsatisfying - not enough about the creation of Marry Poppins as a character, and not enough links between the two main plotlines.
Decent films, places 10-6:
10. Goodfellas. It's decent, not not as good as all the Top 100 lists make out. Lacks a driving narrative.
9. The Kingdom. Quite interesting, kept my attention very well. I enjoyed this film.
8. Contraband. Not much more than a standard action/heist film, but it does that well.
7. Brassed Off. Simple film, but very well done.
6. Gravity. Very tense, very exciting.
Top quality, the top five, the ones I'd really recommend:
5. Monsters University. An excellent film in it's own right, very entertaining. Brilliant references to both university life and Monsters Inc. One of the very best Pixar films.3=. This is England. Full on intense. Brutal and real. Excellent acting all round.
3=. Catching Fire. Quality, just like the first film. Everything the first one did well, this one matched. The one main weakness was the rushed ending. If they can avoid screwing up the transition from one final book into two films, and stay faithful to the book, this will be an excellent trilogy.
1=. Les Mis. You have to be a special film to reach top spot, even joint top spot, when there's a Middle Earth film in the list. Les Mis was superb. Fuller review here.
1=. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. By no means perfect. Major flaws. But the good stuff is so good, and the adaptation is so difficult, that even with it's problems, it's still an excellent film. More discussion here.
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