2013 Top 10 Update: Still not definitive

I'm still struggling to get all the films from my list of shame watched before I make my definitive top 10 (or 20 or 30 at this rate) of 2013. Films still to watch include Lincoln, Frozen, Blue Jasmine and Blue is the Warmest Colour and you never know which, if any, may squeeze their way into my top 10 of 2013. I expect to have a definitive list by June hopefully!

Seeing as yesterday I already took the crazy step of doing a top 10 of 2014 so far list, I thought it best to also update what I think were my favourite films of 2013. I have already done my top 10 British films, top 10 horror, sci-fi and fantasy and top documentaries but all these will have changed as my mind works through the films for years to come and also I add more films from the list of shame.

Way back in July 2013, I decided these films were my top 10 of the year so far but this has changed considerably now. Click the titles for full reviews. Without further ado, here is my top 10 of 2013 at the moment:

10. The World's End

 

9. Gravity

8. The Selfish Giant

7. Captain Philips

6. Philomena

5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

4. Side by Side

3. Spring Breakers

2. Before Midnight 

1. The Impossible

Unfortunately I never reviewed Gravity and there are two other newcomers to this list that I have also not reviewed.

I watched Before Midnight last night and it has blown away most of the competition. I expected it to be good but not that good! It will stay with me for a long, long time I suspect. Though I didn't fully believe the last minute hint at a happy ending, I think maybe that is the point. There are some serious cracks in Jesse and Celine's relationship and though they can keep trying to paper over them, the cracks may yet continue to grow. It might be a very sad story if we ever catch up with these two again.

Another newcomer to the list is The Selfish Giant which is a small British film about two kids who get in with metal scrappers to earn some pounds while skipping school. The performances of the two boys in the leads were absolutely incredible and the story and cinematography were amazing, if utterly tragic in every sense.

What do you think of my top 10 of 2013 so far?

2013 Top 10 Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction

Starburst Magazine have asked all their contributors to come up with their top 10 of 2013. Starburst are a magazine dedicated to horror, fantasy and science fiction so all the movies picked have to fall into those genres. Also because the issue that looks back on 2013 has to be printed and ready to be published before the year comes to an end, only films released from November 2012 to November 2013 can be included.

That means yes to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and no to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. As it happens, I'm haven't even included An Unexpected Journey into my top 10 of the year anyway. However it did just miss making this list along with Safety Not Guaranteed, This is the End and Elysium.

So here are my top 10 horror, fantasy and science fiction films of the past year. Click the titles to read my full reviews:

10. Grabbers (Reviewed at Static Mass Emporium)

"Like a happy drunk, it appears effortlessly entertaining. More importantly it sobers up nicely when something more than lairy laughs are required of it. As the characters get increasingly inebriated, Grabbers manages to up the terror while also upping the comedy. No film that’s this funny is ever going to scare the pants off the audience but it does manage making exciting look easy. Go see it inebriated and have a laugh along with the tanked up characters. You might not wet yourself with fear but if you get pissed enough before hand, you’ll probably piss yourself laughing."

9. Star Trek Into Darkness

"The action and special effects are spectacular but never overwhelm in the same way as some of the more CG assisted scenes in other summer blockbusters (namely Man of Steel). All in all Abrams has nailed the reinvention and whether he chooses to return for a third Star Trek film or not, he has set the franchise up beautifully for further adventures. Let's all cross our fingers and hope that he can he can do the same for the galaxy far far away... "

8. You're Next

"Aussie stunner Sharni Vinson is the biggest reason to watch You're Next and her character Erin is quick to fight back when the masked men come a-knocking. She is endlessly resourceful, smart, strong and sexy and you will root for her right to the vicious end. As the body count surges and spikes, Vinson's Erin is forced into action; not just action but brilliantly brutal violence. The other victims might be infrequently sympathetic but screaming and shouting at each other does provide some darkly comic moments."

7. Iron Man 3 (Reviewed at Filmoria)

"Tony Stark might be battling demons, making Iron Man 3 slightly darker, but the trademark wit is still present and Robert Downey Jr. gives another performance that effortlessly demonstrates why Iron Man has become the leader of not only the Avengers but also Marvel's Phase 2 and also a bold and brilliant start to summer blockbuster season."

6. Gravity

Technically astounding, utterly gripping, but a little lazy in the story department.

5. Cloud Atlas

"Cloud Atlas is incredibly ambitious, an impossible adaptation that manages to capture the essence of the book and improve it with a streamlined and smart narrative structure. The directors have created breathtaking, visually astounding different worlds, taken a potentially pretentious idea and visualised it on a grand scale, both entertaining and intellectually stimulating."

4. The World's End (Reviewed at Filmoria)

"Instantly quotable and with some of the best profanity ever written, The World’s End is a great way to spend your last night on Earth."

3. Evil Dead (Reviewed at Filmoria)

"Relentlessly gory, with some of the most inventive and disgusting scenes of self-mutilation ever seen on screen; this is Evil Dead for the torture porn generation but far more fun than that sounds. Never quite as scary as the original, it makes up for this with shocking amounts of splatter-tastic violence."

2. Life of Pi (Reviewed at Static Mass Emporium)

"Life Of Pi has taken eleven years to get from page to screen but is absolutely worth the wait. Ang Lee has created an unbelievably cinematic treatment of the novel. Though the film itself takes its time getting to the heart of the story, the cinematography is spellbinding, the score is stirring and newcomer Suraj Sharma gives a heartfelt and compelling performance as hero Pi. Just don’t expect it to turn atheists into believers."

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Reviewed at Starburst Magazine)

"The romance is starved of oxygen by the grim mood of the first half but finally sparks begin to fly until it positively crackles by the end. Building to an electrifying climax, this is one of the best science fiction sequels since The Empire Strikes Back."

What were your favourites of the past year? 

By the way, the worst of the year booby prize goes to Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem which I was overly generous to when I gave it 2 and half stars at Filmoria.

Hunger Games Catching Fire tops the box office

Every couple of weeks I contribute a box office report to Tastic Film that looks at what has topped the box office charts in America and elsewhere. This week it was the turn of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which has surpassed even the high expectations most had for how well it would do. Here is an excerpt from my box office report for this week:

No surprises this week as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sets light to the box office and smashes Thor and his puny hammer off the top spot. What is slightly surprising is just how scorching Catching Fire’s box office take will be on its opening weekend. It is estimated to take over $160 million in North America alone, almost doubling that for its worldwide take. This is a huge debut for a film not released in 3D and also in the traditionally quieter movie month of November. Catching Fire is leaving other young adult adaptations in its ash, namely the recent Twilight franchise that never performed this well. It is a step up from the first film in the trilogy and bodes well for the final book, now split (like Twilight) into two potentially massive movies.

Way back in second place, Thor: The Dark World took a measly $14 million but thanks to its own strong opening in both America and abroad, is still riding high on a worldwide take of nearly $550 million at the moment. The Best Man Holiday follows in third taking only around $8 million but after its surprisingly high opening weekend last week, is already well into profitable territory, beating the $50 million mark before it even opens overseas and all from a budget of $17 million.

Read the rest of the box office report at Tastic Film here.

You can also read my review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at Starburst Magazine here. 

Have you seen it yet? Reckon it deserves to top the box office charts again next week?

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Review

I was lucky enough to get to go to a special preview screening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in London's Leicester Square on Friday 8th November. After having my phone and tablet taken off me, I was then frisked and had a metal detector thing run over my body before I was admitted into the cinema with hundreds of others. After my lucky escape from being strip searched, it was time to settle down to watch the eagerly anticipated sequel and adaptation of the second of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games novels. The film did not disappoint.

In fact, with my ludicrous levels of expectation for the first film being way over the mark, I was going into this quietly hoping but not expecting a huge deal. I was fortunately blown away. My full review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is published here at the Starburst Magazine website and will be in a future edition of the print version of the magazine.

I have been desperate to shout about how good the film is but have been gagged by an embargo until Tuesday of this week. I've never been the biggest fan of new director Francis Lawrence's work but this film now has me much more excited for the future of the Hunger Games films. The fuel he pours on this franchise ensures it will continue to burn furiously until its fourth and final film.

Jennifer Lawrence scorches the screen, proving exactly why she is the current queen of Hollywood and I think this may just be the best science fiction sequel since Terminator 2.


Head over to Starburst to read my full review of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire right now! It's out on 21st November and is well worth a watch!




More reviews at I Love That Film:

Don Jon Review

Machete Kills, The Conspiracy, Snitch and more

Ender's Game

Sunshine on Leith Review

How I Live Now

Filth

The Call

Rush

The Lone Ranger

You're Next

Latest news, videos and pics from Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Catching Fire is heating up ahead of the November 21st release date and I am lucky enough to be catching a preview screening tomorrow night in London for Starburst Magazine. While I was not the world's biggest fan of the first film, I did love the first and second books in Suzanne Collins' trilogy. I'm also not a huge fan of new director Francis Lawrence either and I think its a real shame that Lionsgate will always push for a 12A rating on these films to maximise their box office potential.

However that is all neither here nor there when it came to seeing the trailers for Catching Fire as I'm now almost as excited as any other Hunger Games uber-fans. Like many others, I'm a little in love with J-Law after her slapstick stunt at the Oscars and constant cute outbursts in interviews. If you've seen Winter's Bone then you would have known immediately this is the perfect girl to play Katniss and she did a fantastic job in the first film.

At least Catching Fire was delivered to the BBFC and got the 12A immediately without having to make any compromising cuts this time. On the other hand some might argue a few cuts might be welcome in a film that is going to be released with a bum numbing running time of 146 minutes. Still if I had my way, a film about a gladiatorial style fight to the death between teenagers would get a 15 or 18 rating on premise alone. Then the filmmakers would be free to go wild with the blood, guts and carnage.

Empire Magazine have a tantalizing new clip and the Facebook page is full of lovely pictures from the film. Oh and Twitter went nuts yesterday because J-Law has appeared with a new haircut so I though I'd share it for those of you interested in such things. Should provide a great bit of free publicity for promoting Catching Fire.

My review will be up on the Starburst Magazine website as soon as the embargo is lifted and will also hopefully be included in the print edition of the magazine asap.







Do you care about Jennifer Lawrence's haircut?

Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Hope is stronger than fear

Katniss is back on screens in less than a month in Hunger Games: Catching Fire and a new trailer has been released to finally show us a bit more of the new and improved arena. The trailers so far have been a bit coy with the arena action but this one shows the waves, the wildlife and that central ciscle of water that is where the tributes of the Quarter Quell first find themselves thrust.

President Snow's voice over dominates the soundtrack with Donald Sutherland's sinister, silky tones threatening Katniss with a 'real war'. First she has to make it out of the deadlier arena with its terrifying jungle of clockwork horrors and then we'll see about that real war in the final part of the trilogy which has been split into two parts. Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 will see the revolt rising and really catching fire next year.

For now we get to see a whole new band of tributes, Katniss and Peeta struggling with their new found fame and revolution brewing in the districts. President Snow comes up with an ingenious way to get Katniss back in danger, putting her up against ex-winners in what was a jaw-dropping moment in the second book but has now been spoiled by all the trailers for those who didn't read it. So while those who have not read the book will surely be aware by now that Katniss is forced to fight another day in a Hunger Games arena, they will not get the shock of finding out halfway through reading the book that this is Snow's plan.

If you have not heard who Katniss is up against in the latest arena, then try not to read too much of the publicity stuff surrounding the film. Rest assured, the competition is fiercer and more frightening than last time around and Katniss (and Peeta) are really going to have their work cut out in order to survive.

Check out the trailer:



And here's a longer look:



Excited yet?

New Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug Posters, Banners and Trailer

Christmas is definitely coming early with the biggest of blockbusters being displayed like bright lights on the particularly large house that is the internet. The studios behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will be keen to capitalise on the successes of the first in each film series and long ago started the marketing ball rolling with stills, posters and trailers. Expect the marketing machines to go into over drive as we get closer to the November and December release dates.

For now, some lovely new banners have been released for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and also a brand spanking new poster for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The Desolation of Smaug banners are all the usually sumptuous range of imagery and really reminded me of the marketing of The Lord of the Rings and the weight of expectation that each new poster or trailer for that trilogy carried every Christmas.

The first banner focuses on Bilbo and the team of dwarves battling their way through what is likely the darkness of Mirkwood. Then there are separate banners for Elf-King and Legolas Dad Thranduil and finally Luke Evan's new addition Bard the Bowman. There are no more signs of Smaug but Peter Jackson is undoubtedly saving the big final reveal of the dragon until December 13 when the film is released. Enjoy the banners below:

If that hasn't tickled your fancy, perhaps a further slice of Katniss might do the job. Ahead of the November 22nd release date, Lionsgate have unleashed another fiery image from the Hunger Games sequel. Katniss is still determined to maintain her archery skills but despite being thrown back into an arena to fight for her life against former winners, is also being encouraged to 'remember who the enemy is'. The real enemy of course is President Snow and the system that imprisons Katniss and her fellow captive tributes but we will have to wait until Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 to see Jennifer Lawrence and co rage against the real machine. For now, enjoy the poster:

Liking the look of these posters and banners? If none of that whets your appetite, why not try the brand new Desolation of Smaug trailer: