June Movie Reviews and Round up

In June, I watched a meagre 11 films and there are two reasons for this. 1 was Arrested Development series 4 and the other was Breaking Bad series 4 (and the first half of series 5). Those wonderful folk at Netflix gave me a second free trial this month and I used it to full advantage. The last time they gave me a free trial I watched the first three series of Breaking Bad and this time I've used it to get right up to date.

Although I haven't written much about Breaking Bad, it has pretty much become my favourite show on TV. Series 4 exceeded my wildest expectations. It was perfection and to be honest, I thought perhaps it would have been best for everyone involved to leave it with the bombshell that was dropped at the end. Where the hell could series 5 possibly go to better what had already come before?

Series 5 did then seem to lull a bit but on the plus side is also fulfilling the promise of everything the show and particularly Walt has been leading towards all this time and the first half concluded with another beautiful bombshell. I cannot wait to see how this show ends!

On the other hand Arrested Development was a bit convoluted and too clever-clever for its own good. There was still some of the old charm but nowhere near enough of Gob and Tobias for my liking. I hope if they continue, it picks up again.

The movies I watched in June are as follows. Click the links to check out my reviews:

The Master
This is the End
Come As You Are (Hasta La Vista)
Summer in February
Man of Steel
To the Wonder
Star Trek Into Darkness
Desert Runners
Monsters University
The Internship
Magic Mike

I also re-watched Les Miserables at the Open Air Cinema at Hedsor House which was a really cool experience.

The always entertaining David Jackson came back to I Love That Film to write a couple of excellent pieces: Fight Club and the Doors of Perception and Second-Hand Stories, Second-Hand Opinions

Other highlights of the month were getting the Starburst Magazine Cover Story: The Wolverine Preview. I actually wrote two pieces for this issue of Starburst so that was really cool to see them in print.

My first year at Filmoria passed and I wrote a piece to celebrate. I also got my first clip joint article published on The Guardian website on the Best Battle Speeches in the Movies.

Here at I Love That Film, the huge milestone of 200,000 page views was reached (finally after over two years)!

I also had some more articles for Yahoo Movies published and a very kind Message from the Side By Side Producer about my review of the documentary at Filmoria.

None of the films I watched this month could compete with the majesty of Breaking Bad but I liked This is the End and Star Trek into Darkness quite a lot. However if I could recommend only one, it would be the documentary Desert Runners. Please check out my review to find out why.

I also didn't really get into The Master I'm afraid. What were your best and worst of the month?

Top 5 Films to Look Forward to in June 2013

Each month, I will pick 5 films that I am most looking forward to, starting with June 2013. This month we have Brad Pitt in an action horror blockbuster, the return of Richard Linklater (for the second time this year), James Franco and Seth Rogen playing themselves and plenty of Michael Shannon. In fact we have two films about the end of the world, two featuring Shannon and two featuring Franco. After Earth is also out this month but though I love the idea that Earth has evolved to get rid of the human race, it also looks a bit like a vanity project for Will Smith and his son (and let's face it that household needs NO more income).

Behind the Candelabra starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas also narrowly missed this list. I wasn't at all interested in seeing it as I barely even know who Liberace is but at a Slackers Club free screening, I was blown away by the two central performances so I would highly recommend it.

Anyway enough about the other films not presented here. Instead here are the top 5 films I'm looking forward to in June:

The Iceman (7th June) Starring Michael Shannon as a real life hit man who led a double life, killing people for a living but hiding it from his ordinary family. It's the first of two Shannon appearances on this list but will likely be the best performance of the two. The supporting cast includes Chris Evans, Ray Liotta and James Franco and it sounds too weird to be true. Unfortunately it is both brutal and frighteningly true.

Man of Steel (14th June) The next Michael Shannon film on the list sees him taking the old Terence Stamp role of General Zod against new Superman Henry Cavill. I started off thinking this was going to be a dull attempt to Nolan-ise a character that would not fit into the dark, down to earth, realistic style of The Dark Knight but actually the copious trailers and TV spots have been growing on me and I'm more than willing to give this latest incarnation of Superman a go. Also it has Amy Adams so... yeah.

Before Midnight (21st June) The concluding(?) part of a beautiful trilogy about flirtation, falling in love, letting go, re-connecting and finally marriage with kids will see the welcome return of Jesse and Celine who met 18 years ago one night in Vienna. Or on a train headed for Vienna anyway. Now the couple are perhaps older, wiser and on holiday on a Greek island, I can't wait to see where Linklater and the cast take this ever developing relationship. It's starting to feel a bit like the book One Day if we keep meeting these characters so infrequently. I hope this one gets a bit tragic with the couple facing the realities of life together and maybe the possibilities of love and happiness together being not so sweet and simple.

World War Z (21st June) Not sure if this is worth getting excited about because they've clearly made a huge mess of the book but on the other hand it's not every year we get a huge Hollywood blockbuster featuring the zombie apocalypse. So many things worry me about this adaptation (the messing with the book's narrative, the over use of CGI, the reshoots etc) but I can't help but be intrigued to see how it turns out. No doubt it will be more action than horror to keep it kiddie-friendly but never mind.

This is the End (28th June) I get to see this on Tuesday thanks to the Total Film screening club. It should be a self-indulgent silly mess with all these stars playing themselves (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Danny McBride etc) but the trailer looked pretty funny so here's hoping this is a film lover's comedy dream with plenty of cameos and references and an apocalyptic plot to keep things lively.



So that's my June sorted. I'll be happy if I see even half of these in the cinema! What are you looking forward to in June?