TOP THREE FILMS OF THE FIRST 1/2 OF 2013.

Since June is coming to a close, and that we're halfway through the year, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my top three films from the first half of this year. I've been to the cinema countless times this year, probably seeing the majority of features released into UK theatres, therefore I am choosing from an extremely wide selection of films. Possibly expect a list of the top films I'm anticipating for the second half of the year in the next few days.

Seeing as I'm from the UK, some of these films could have possibly have been released late 2012 in your country of residence, but not on my small island!
In no particular order:

Stoker, dir. Park Chan-Wook.

I have already done a post on Stoker, which can be found here. I loved this film. The performances by Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode are outstanding, however as with all Park Chan-Wook films, the cinematography is outstanding and is responsible for a lot of the enjoyment I got out of this film. It feels that Chan-Wook is blessed with the ability to make shots so interesting without diverging from the plot and entering experimental cinema. There is a fine line between directors who aim for this and directors who achieve this, and Chan-Wook most definitely falls into the latter category.

Cloud Atlas, dir. Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski & Andy Wachowski.

Again, I've made a post on this film also which can be found here. I cannot express my love for this film. It's a long film, there's no questioning that, however when taken into consideration the amount of stories within the film, the length is broken up and made thoroughly enjoyable (provided that your cinema doesn't have ridiculously uncomfortable seats like mine). With elements of comedy, drama, romance and suspense, the film boasts possible the most diverse range of themes of any film from the year.
The film's highlight for me was definitely not a cinematic feature however, as the film was an adaptation of a novel, it features direct quotes from the book. These quotes are beautifully fitted with the amazing cinematography and outstanding costumes from both past eras and the futuristic ones.
Perhaps save this film for a rainy day as it's one you will get invested into and lose three hours of your day, however don't go on for the rest of the year pushing this film aside, as I know I sometimes do with longer films that I haven't got a direct interest in seeing, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the adventure, or numerous adventures, that this film will take you on.

The Place Beyond the Pines, dir. Derek Cianfrance.

Possibly my favourite film of the year, Derek Cianfrance did amazingly in portraying the lives and connections of a number of different characters. This film presents itself in three sections, with interestingly, everybody I have spoken to about it enjoying a different section the most. I personally enjoyed the first and last segments the most, feeling that Ryan Gosling's performance reigned supreme and Dane DeHaan's running a close second. Without a doubt the films main attraction was Ryan Gosling playing the 'main' role, which would make me a small bit upset seeing as Cianfrance's past work has been outstanding and his films are intriguing, however Gosling earned every audience members ticket money in this performance.
A clever advertising trick was played with the promotion of this movie, with a characters death not being hinted at at all throughout the advertisements, teasing the audience with constant plot twists and turns. A strong favourite of the year, this film is a brilliant crime drama and another outstanding film from Cianfrance.

STOKER: AND UNEXPECTEDLY AMAZING FILM:

Last night I went to the cinema on a whim with a university friend. We had no idea what we wanted to go and watch and came to the decision to go and watch Stoker, a film by Chan-wook Park (director of Oldboy). With reasonably low expectations mainly due to the (let's be honest) reasonably bad trailer and my feeling that all of the characters were going to be revealed as vampires (Stoker.. c'mon), as soon as the film ended, me and my friend looked at each other with exactly the same expressions "wow".

With the huge advertisements all over the London tubes making this film seem like a (as said previously) vampiric period drama, I can't help but feel that this film is going to be sold short, and not receive the recognition it deserves.

The film starts of immediately living up to its name of a psychological thriller. A mysterious man, later to be found out as India Stoker's uncle Charlie, turns up at her fathers wake. India has never heard of him, therefore instantly not trusting him, and as an audience, as we have seen through India's eyes for the most part at this time in the film, we put our faith in her, suspecting Charlie of something at once. This suspicion that the audience has of Charlie builds up constantly throughout the film, however his character is not a straightforward one. I could never put my finger on his motives, and I guess that is the point. The characters in this film, though only three major ones, make it what it is, constantly putting questions and doubts in the audiences head.

The film did seem a little 'Twilight-y' at some points, unfortunately, however I feel that may be the permanent scars which that unfortunate quintology left in my head. Charlie turning up at places constantly, and 'saving' India on occasion made for a slightly unrealistic characteristic, however, it was never too much and was all made clear at the end (don't worry, I won't give (m)any spoilers).

The part of the film that stands out most for me, however, was around the middle of the film when India and Charlie played a beautiful duet on the piano. This piano piece, starting as a solo from India represents the constant struggle that India has with Charlie. As Charlie joins in, we see both fighting for dominance in the tune of the piano, and eventually see Charlie succeed in playing the most dominant part.
This was a beautiful musical metaphor for the struggle going on in India's head. She doesn't want to let Charlie in, however she is intrigued by him, she doesn't let any infatuation with him show for a lot of the film, keeping it all inside, once again, playing with the audience's minds over characters and their motives, however she is intrigued and eventually inspired by him, showing this outwardly (especially the intrigued part.. awkward incestual kiss that nearly happened.. remember?).

The cinematography in this film was really, really good also. In the parts of the film where the plot was not as strong, the beautiful camera work mixed with wonderful editing and a lovely soundtrack made the viewing experience extremely pleasurable. One piece of camerawork in particular that was great was (possible spoiler alert!) when India had dragged the body out of her house and the camera followed the trail of blood, speeding up the footage and showing how little relevance the blood stains would be, almost that in India's world, she doesn't have to worry about the police, easily outsmarting them when they questioned her.

This blogpost was quick and easy (much like the film) as I'm writing it in between university classes, and I apologise for that, however expect posts more frequently as I've recently become a member of Cineworld Unlimited, a service that allows you to watch unlimited films in cinemas. I'm going to see Cloud Atlas tonight, so i'll possibly post on that sometime in the week if I find anything relevant to say about it (I've heard many good things).
I'll leave you with a tweet that sums up this post in seven words: