It is a sad, yet true, fact that I spend many an hour of my free time browsing film sites such as Empire magazine or imdb, looking at trailers and reviews of movies past, present, and future. Today I just thought I'd share some of the films that I'm bursting with excitement about watching! Here's my top 5... (Apologies for the tiny little videos, just hit full screen!) 1) First up, Man Of Steel.
Here's an epic trailer...
Fortunately, we haven't got too long to wait for this one, as it is released on June 14th. I loooove superheroes and anything comic book (as you can probably tell), but have never really gotten into the whole Superman thing. However, I cannot wait to see this! It's yet another 'origin story', following again in the footsteps of Nolan's Batman, and shows Clark Kent (or Kal-El) as a child growing up on Earth, who is then forced to fight against his true race and General Zod (Michael Shannon) in finding out his powers. It's directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed Watchmen, which is what I think gives me more faith in this film being a bit less cheesy than previous Superman adaptations. Also, Henry Cavill is playing the lead.... need I say more? 2) Next, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
This isn't out until November, but I'm excited already! It's the second in the Hunger Games trilogy, and was actually probably my favourite book, so I hope the film does it justice! The usuals are back; Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson, with some new characters too.
3) Next is a film I only heard about really recently, so I'm not even too sure what it's about! But, it looks awesome. It's called The East.
I think the general idea is an anarchist network infiltrating big corporations in a violent form of protest, and Brit Marling is kind of undercover in both? As I say I only just heard about it, but it's out June 28th so we'll know more then! Ha. It was the trailer that caught my attention..
4) Now we have the directorial debut of the beauuutiful Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Don Jon.
Yes, this is written by, directed by and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He also sings, dances, and plays guitar. Clearly the perfect man?!? Don Jon is meant to be fairly raunchy but looks pretty hilarious too. I just think this guy is super talented so can't wait to see how he directs too!
5) And what would a film wish-list be without Ryan Gosling?
I know he ain't looking his best there, but this is a film I've been waiting for a long time! It brings together Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling, who both previously worked on the hugely successful and quietly stunning Drive. It's a classic revenge tale, and promises even more violence than Drive (it even gained a red-band trailer), and has recently split critics at the Cannes Film Festival; some were loving it and others saying the violence is just too much. You can make up your own mind at its release on August 2nd.
And the aforementioned trailer.... (Red band: mature audiences only! Just to warn you!)
Apologies for the fairly long post, so hard to choose just five films I'm looking forward to!
Maybe I'll do another one of these? What do you think? Which films are you excited for? Thanks for reading! Sophie.
"You think your world is safe? It is not. So....shall we begin?"
Star Trek: Into Darkness (Watch the trailer here) Directed by J.J.Abrams Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban Words cannot describe how excited I was for this film. I don't claim to be a huge Star Trek fan; I haven't watched any of the original films or series, and fully admit to jumping on the bandwagon when J.J.Abrams rebooted the franchise back in 2009. He is one of my favourite directors, and the sci-fi legend seemed so much cooler in his hands. This is the sequel, and was heavily built up with a bigger budget, bigger cast and, following in the footsteps of Nolan's Batman (and as suggested by the name), was going for a darker feel.
Don't worry, you don't need to be a mega Star Trek or sci-fi fan to enjoy this film, it it just a genuinely brilliant watch. There's plenty of action, and it moves really quickly. The special effects are remarkable, and the whole film looks really bright and clean (with plenty of Abrams' signature 'lens flare' going on). It deftly balances a mixture of claustrophobia (and often panic) with the scenes aboard the Enterprise with the enormous beauty and scale of the universe and planets it creates.
Despite the aforementioned darkness, there is plenty of comedic moments; Simon Pegg is excellent (as always!) as Scotty, with some great one liners pulled off in a rather ridiculous Scottish accent. The whole ensemble (Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, etc..) work really well together and bounce off each other, with the extremely hot Chris Pine doing a great job of combining both the cheeky ladies man and the conflicted Captain as James Kirk. I also liked Karl Urban, who gave a memorable performance as 'Bones' McCoy, and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Him and Pine have a great chemistry on screen as the legendary duo, and we get to see both Spock's human side and his logical Vulcan half (although my Dad did remark that Spock was a little too emotional for his liking).
The real star of the show here is the guy with the best name in the business, Benedict Cumberbatch. He is probably one of my all-time favourite actors, and he does not disappoint here. He plays villain John Harrison so brilliantly that you don't know whether to hate him or pity him, and is the kind of actor that just draws you right into the moment on screen with his incredibly physical and intelligent presence. He provides the darkness and emotion here, causes both Kirk and the audience to question the morality of what his character has been through, and is most definitely the highlight of the whole film.
I do have one little thing to moan about though! Which I hate to do about such an enjoyable film, but here goes. The ending: why is it so rushed? The audience is being pulled and pushed through the real heart of the action of the film, and then it just seems to cut a load of the plot out! (Believe me, if you see this you'll know what I mean). The film didn't feel particularly long, so I just wish they had told the ending properly, instead of making it feel hurried and a little cliche. (I know that paragraph was a bit of a riddle, but I don't want to drop any spoilers!)
Overall Star Trek: Into Darkness was a great film with an excellent narrative and fantastic performances, and one I'll watch over and over again: I'd highly recommend it to just about anyone! Rating: 4.5 out of 5 So close to perfect, I just wish they'd took their time with the end! Thanks for reading! PS: Apologies for lack of posts recently, been swamped with uni work. But, my second year is all finished with now, so I should hopefully have plenty more time for blogging! And a big thanks to some new followers I've gained! Sophie.
