Ranking winter-spring 2013 movies (the fresh list)

Picking up where I left off yesterday, I will continue ranking the 16 movies I’ve seen in 2013 so far, finishing the list by ranking the only 6 good ones. If you missed the ranking for the bad list, click hurr.

By process of elimination, these are the 6 movies I would ever want to see again, in the order I saw and reviewed them:

The Purge

The Purge advanced screening: Cleansing Hollywood of its sins

The Purge is better than you probably expect, and you’re probably already hyped for it. It’s rare that a film has writing, directing, and acting work with perfect synchronization to establish a solid image for the film. It would have passed as a stirring horror/thriller based on concept alone, but it refuses to rely only on its marketable premise to attract viewership. Finally, we can enjoy a horror movie without feeling like we’re being baby-talked to.

The Purge toys with the concept of an America in which all crime (as long as it is not at the expense of a prominent government figure) is legalized for 12 hours, one night a year. During this time no help is available; police and hospitals are preoccupied hiding in their own homes. Purging night has helped whittle crime rates to a measly 1% of what it used to be, and helps Americans unleash pent-up aggression. It’s a foolproof system.