Films of 2013 - Start Booking!

[Dean Winchester]

So a New Year begins and an Old Year ends. I think I speak for everyone when I say, 'Fuck you, Mayans!"...

Anyway. With the world still in place and Hollywood still a-booming, it's time to look forward to the flicks of 2013. So, form an orderly queue and gimme' your 10 best. It's gonna be a good year, yo  ;D

10. Stoker

Directed By: Park Chan-wook (he of Oldboy fame)
Written By: Wentworth Miller (he of Prison Break fame)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode
Plot: After her father dies, an enigmatic uncle moves in with a girl and her emotionally unstable mother. Although she has suspicions about his motives, she finds herself drawn to him.
Why I'm Interested: I read that the script for this film, written by Michael Scofield himself, was top of a pile of the best, unproduced, scripts in Hollywood. Whatever happens, this story has something to it and I reckon it'll do very well. There's a talented cast involved and I love the idea that there's some sort of subtle horror at work. I don't know why, but I'm looking forward to it.

9. Oldboy

Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Mark Protosevich
Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley
Plot: An everyday man has only five days and limited resources to discover why he was imprisoned in a nondescript room for 15 years without any explanation.
Why I'm Interested: The original is one of the best, and one of my favourite, foreign language films ever made. It was so engrossing, so well-made. When they announced an American remake, I had no problem with that. I like remakes usually because I find it interesting how they transfer certain cultural aspects etc. I'm not thrilled about the choice of director but the cast elevates my interest significantly.

8. Elysium

Directed By: Neill Blomkamp
Written By: Neill Blomkamp
Cast: Matt Damon, Sharlto Copley, Jodie Foster
Plot: Set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.
Why I'm Interested: Hooray for original sci-fi. Don't get me wrong, I liked District 9 and appreciated what Blomkamp did with it but the end was a major let-down. This film appeals because it seems to centre more on humanity issues rather than aliens (which I'm not big on) and another impressive cast, including Bill Fichtner.

7. Pacific Rim

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Written By: Travis Beacham
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman
Plot: When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
Why I'm Interested: Again, I'm not big on aliens, but this is ROBOTS VS ALIENS. You're not a man if you don't want to see this film (...) - also, it's created by a man I have much time for. He's a visionary with a great knack for telling entertaining and dazzling stories and this has a really good, Sons of Anarchy-infused cast.

6. Kick-Ass 2

Directed By: Jeff Wadlow
Written By: Jeff Wadlow
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Marlene from Goosebumps..., Jim Carrey
Plot: The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile , the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.
Why I'm Interested: Jim Carrey

5. Thor: The Dark World

Directed By: Alan Taylor
Written By: Christopher Yost
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Ecclestone
Plot: Thor battles an ancient race of Dark Elves led by the vengeful Malekith who threatens to plunge the universe back into darkness after the events of Avengers Assemble.
Why I'm Interested: I found the first film to be a pleasant surprise but I do question how much of that was down to Kenneth Brannagh's Shakespearean influence. There was a great sense of magic meets reality and I thought the mix was quite fun. I remai skeptical about the director's ability (fuck Game of Thrones) but it has a good cast, a stronger cast even.

4. Much Ado About Nothing

Directed By: Joss Whedon
Written By: Joss Whedon, Bill Shakespeare....
Cast: Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher
Plot: A modern retelling of Shakespeare's classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance and a way with words.
Why I'm Interested: If you don't know the answer to this, then you're a fool

3. Star Trek Into Darkness

Directed By: J.J. Abrams
Written By: Orci and Kurtzman
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch
Plot: After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
Why I'm Interested: I've never seen an episode of Star Trek nor any of the movies until J.J. came along and I just thought it was sci-fi done right. It was a lot of fun, sharp and had a great drive to it that appealed. This film is one of my most anticipated because of Cumberbatch's casting, which was inspired, INSPIRED. Plus, the trailer was cool.

2. Iron Man 3

Directed By: Shane Black
Written By: Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Guy Pearce, Ben Kinglsey
Plot: Tony Stark uses his ingenuity to fight those who destroyed his private world and soon goes up against his most powerful enemy yet: the Mandarin.
Why I'm Interested: Iron Man 2 was a bit pants so I'm glad Favreau isn't returning. I appreciate what he did with the first film but I felt the franchise needed someone of Shane Black's calibre to come in. He'll work well with the star and he's brought together another impressive cast and set of villains. The marketing for the film is going insanely well so far and everything seems very...dark. I understand people have issues with the fact that every superhero film nowadays seems a lot darker (my number one film is a good example of this) but I do like the complex narratives filmmakers are starting to employ with superheroes. The one exception is Joss Whedon, not Joel Schumacher.

1. Man Of Steel

Directed By: Zach Snyder
Written By: David S. Goyer
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Plot: An alien infant is raised on Earth, and grows up with superhuman abilities. He sets out to use these abilities to guard his adopted world.
Why I'm Interested: This had to be my top spot. Every name involved gives me much confidence, from Nolan to Snyder, from Crowe to Costner. It's a film that I feel everyone is taking very seriously and I fully believe it'll create something special, in the way Nolan turned Batman into something more, something that perhaps transcended its comic-book origins. Either way, it's all coming together and it looks like the Superman film we've all been waiting for.

So there you have it.

Holla at me...

[Sam Winchester]

2013

2013!

10. Only God Forgives

Drive was my absolutely favorite film in 2011. It had Ryan Gosling in the coolest role since McQueen played Bullitt. The music choice, the pacing (which was the main focus of criticism) was just right and the characters had such good chemistry that I wanted a sequel the minute the 80's-esque "A Real Hero" pumped the movie into end credits. So here's the second collaboration between director, Refn, and Gosling, described as "a thriller produced as a western, all in the Far East, and with a modern cowboy hero."

Of course, I'm there.

9. Ender's Game

I love this book. This and War of the Worlds by Welles were my first venture into science-fiction, and I preferred Ender's Game because of how large, how emotional and how intensely satisfying this book is. I loved the characters, the action, the world it created. So consider me excited for this. If you haven't read the book, please, by all means, rush to your nearest book-store, push aside anyone who's in your way and snatch a copy.

8. Gravity

The last science-fiction movie Cuaron ventured out to make was a masterpiece. Children of Men continues to be one of the modern masterpieces in the science-fiction genre. So here comes Cuaron again, making a space tale that's rumored to have an opening scene that's (roughly) a nine minute continuous shot. The world trembles in excitement.

7. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I loved, loved, loved The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The criticism went right over my head. So when it faded to a conclusion, I was already anxious to see the second one; shame I have to wait a whole year to see it. I cannot wait to see Benedict Cumberbatch as the most amazing, cinematic dragon since Vermithrax Pejorative.

6. Man of Steel

Sorry, I like Zack Snyder. I know many, many people who don't - but the man has an eye for framing and action. I even liked his owl movie. Sucker Punch's director cut was quite an improvement, as well. His take on the last son of Krpyton is going to be fascinating. The trailer that premiered not too long ago might've taken itself a little too serious, but in a good way, a way that Superman Returns failed (yes, I dislike Superman Returns. A lot. So much, in fact, that I've taken it upon myself to write a twenty-page paper as to why that movie failed as both a film sequel and comic-book adaptation. Keep alert). Besides, I've been dying to see an epic, aerial fight since The Matrix Revolutions.

5.  The World's End

Edgar Wright! Edgar Wright! One of the kinetic, youthful directors we have working, his concluding entry in The Cornetto Trilogy promises to be as fun (if not more) as his prior works. The cast already seems to be and I cannot wait to see Wright take on apocalyptic science-fiction. I've missed his whip-transitions and insane editing. Shame on all you for not seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the movie theaters.

4. Thor: The Dark World

There was an unofficial photo from the set of Thor: The Dark World that got me so excited. It was of a dark elf dressed in armor, but in all honesty, he looked like a Cybermen elf. It was beautiful and suddenly, I realized that I wanted this movie more than Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Winter Soldier. I can't wait to see Thor reunited with Jane and fighting malignant forces in grand, scoped battles. And I really want to know how every movie is going to deal with each Avengers individually.

3. Elysium

District 9 had an impact. Never before had their been a science-fiction like that produced. Neill Blompkamp quickly established his voice in the genre and everyone waited impatiently for his next announcement. Elysium. A movie set in the deep future with cybernetic implants, a socio-political message and frenetic action.

2. Pacific Rim

Guillermo del Toro has filmed my favorite superhero movie and my favorite movie of all time PERIOD. And so here's hoping that he'll also create my favorite kaiju vs. mecha film. I've seen the goddamn trailer for this movie so many times, I've practically memorized it. From the rousing, operatic battle segments to GlaDos' voice to the amazing line, "TODAY, WE ARE CANCELLING THE APOCALYPSE!" It looks like del Toro's Star Wars and I want to be present for that, thank you very much.

1. Star Trek Into Darkness

Yes.

Star Trek Into Darkness. JJ Abrams. Benedict Cumberbatch. Chris Pine. Zachary Quinto. The Enterprise emerging out of the water. A visually striking planet composed of red vines. Harrison's incredible narration. That scene that drove every Trekkie's mind insane with theories regarding if this was a straight up remake of the best Trek movie or something else. J.J. Abrams' incredible passion and leadership made what I thought was a messy script in 09's Star Trek and turned it into a rousing adventure with characters we come to care about, even if we've known everything about them in countless episodes and movies. It seems like he's going to continue doing that with his second entry in the Star Trek universe.

Bring them all.

[Jester]

Film of 2013. I'm callin' it. :-|

[Necktie]

10. A Good Day to Die Hard
9. Don Jon's Addiction
8. Lone Ranger
7. The Great Gatsby
6. The World's End
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
4. Iron Man 3
3. Pacific Rim
2. Star Trek: Into Darkness
1. Man of Steel

Others that might be good:
-This Is the End
-The Wolverine
-After Earth (I tell ya, the trailer hooked me. Until I saw HIS name.)
-The Croods

[Kurai]

I saw Django yesterday.

And I saw a trailer for a film called Cloud Atlas. Mind blown. Looks amazing.