My Answer to the Latest Criticwire Survey Question: Biggest Disappointment of 2013

Q: What was your biggest artistic disappointment of 2013?

As part of my year end wrap up (which as usual will be posted in mid-January – at the present time, I’m thinking the week of January 13-17 – as Lone Survivor opens on January 10^th, and will likely be the last one I hold the report for), I always do a post on my biggest disappointments – so look for more details then.

But, I don’t mind giving a preview. Three major disappointments for me were The Great Gatsby, The Canyons and The Invisible Woman – made by filmmakers like Baz Luhrmann, Paul Schrader and Ralph Fiennes who I have admired in the past (and likely will admire again in the future), but who made films I disliked quite a bit this year.

But without question my biggest disappointment in 2013 was Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives. The film ranked in my top 5 of most anticipated films at the beginning of the year – and will likely make my 10 Worst List at the end of it. I was a huge fan of Drive – naming it the second best film of 2011 – so I was anxiously waiting to see what Refn and Gosling had in store for their follow-up. What we got was a film that managed (somehow) to be dull, boring, repugnant and feature over the top violence. I’ve always been love or hate when it comes to Refn – and God did I ever hate this one.