It’s been a hell of a year for film, and it’s been a hell of a year for the CraveOnline Film Channel. So we wanted to take a moment to look back not just on the best, worst and most underrated movies of 2013, but also our favorite moments of covering them for all of you. What follows is a litany of the most embarrassing interviews, the most ambitious web series and articles, and the most unforgettable videos and articles we produced over the last calendar year. We’ll try to come up with even more craziness as 2014 rolls around.
The Best of CraveOnline Film 2013
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11. The Three Lemons of Shame
CraveOnline Film Channel editor William "Bibbs" Bibbiani and his B-Movies Podcast co-host Witney Seibold have a long-standing bet to see who can predict the most Oscar-winners. Last year, Witney lost and had to get drunk - for the first time - live on the podcast. This year, Bibbs lost and had to eat three whole lemons on camera, which is NOT as easy as it sounds, and seriously ate away at his tooth enamel. Bibbs' misery was delicious. Certainly more delicious than raw lemons.
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10. Harrison Ford Says Multiple Sentences
Harrison Ford isn't famous for giving interesting interviews. In fact, he's famous for being grumpy and laconic. But we got a laugh out of one of the most iconic actors in history, and successfully engaged him in a thoughtful conversation about the themes of his latest sci-fi thriller, Ender's Game. Go us!
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9. Martin Freeman Calls Benedict Cumberbatch 'That Motherfucker'
An offhanded joke about working with his "Sherlock" co-star in The Hobbit led to a hilarious faux-outburst when we interviewed Martin Freeman on-camera in March, one of our favorite interview moments at CraveOnline in years.
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8. The Godzilla Project
Witney Seibold's long-running The Series Project reviews every single film in a movie franchise, from James Bond to Three Ninjas, and he took on his biggest assignment yet with The Summer of Godzilla, dedicated to cataloguing, contextualizing and giving in-depth monster analysis to 31 movies, from the original 1954 classic to the animated short Bambi vs. Godzilla. He even recorded a new commentary track for Roland Emmerich's infamous 1998 American remake. An enormous effort that payed off with nearly a dozen invaluable articles for Godzilla fans of all ages.
Read The Summer of Godzilla Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, The Intermission, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and download the commentary track.
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7. The 12 Days of Killmas
CraveOnline has done movie review web series before (we'll get to some of the others in a moment), but 12 Days of Killmas was a new entity, combining sketch material, surprise cameos and a loosely serialized narrative with William "Bibbs" Bibbiani's and Ryan Turek's review of a dozen good, bad and just plain weird Christmas-themed horror movies in December 2013.
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6. The 50 Scariest Horror Movies Ever Made
CraveOnline's most "official" list of 2013 brought all of our Film Channel writers together to vote on and defend their picks for The 50 Scariest Horror Movies Ever Made, an intriguing look at the movies we love and the collective subconscious of our contributors. Whether we loved them or hated them, these are the films that scarred us over the years, and they're presented in all their glory over two epic installments.
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5. Chloe Grace Moretz Gets Weird On Us
Carrie star Chloe Grace Moretz had been couped up in a hotel room for hours by the time Bibbs interviewed her, and she didn't want to talk about the movie anymore. So they bickered about The Lost World: Jurassic Park for a while, then begrudgingly ran through every question she'd been asked all day in record time. Moretz's hilarious expressions alone made this one of our "must see" videos in 2013.
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4. Cinema of Steel
CraveOnline's first stab at a movie review series, Cinema of Steel, timed to the theatrical release of Man of Steel, found B-Movies Podcast co-hosts William "Bibbs" Bibbiani and Professor Witney Seibold reviewing every single theatrically-released Superman movie, and coming up with some unexpected, controversial takes on both the beloved classics and maligned sequels.
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3. Kings of Horror
The CraveOnline Film Channel's most ambitious web series to date, Kings of Horror, found William "Bibbs" Bibbiani and Shock Till You Drop's Ryan Turek reviewing one theatrically-released Stephen King adaptation a day throughout the month of October. 31 days, 31 reviews and a pretty funny blooper reel just for the hell of it. Packed with trivia and honest reviews of the good, bad and mediocre alike, it was a pretty sizable hit that had fans demanding a follow-up (see: #7).
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2. The B-Movies Presents Interviews
Tired of anemic, 3-4 minute junket interviews, the CraveOnline Film Channel set out to change the paradigm in 2013 with The B-Movies Presents interviews: in-depth sit-down video conversations with the directors of some of the year's best films, including Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines), Shane Carruth (Upstream Color), James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now), Randy Moore (Escape from Tomorrow) and Academy Award-nominee John Sayles (Go for Sisters). Plus, a whole series of interviews with Child's Play creator Don Mancini, and a whole series of intimate pornographic analysis with adult filmmaker and punk rock porno princess Joanna Angel. Exclusive, intensive, and that kind of classy content we're trying to bring you on a regular basis at CraveOnline.
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1. J.J. Abrams Apologizes for Lens Flares
An innocent question turned into one of the most brutally honest answers we've ever received at CraveOnline when we talked to J.J. Abrams at the red carpet premiere of the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray. All we asked was why he thinks lens flares are so awesome. What we got was a detailed apology from the director about his most maligned artistic decision, and amusing anecdotes about the time he finally knew he'd gone too far. Funny, humbling and viral. It's our favorite CraveOnline Film Channel moment of 2013.
