Top 10 Films to Look Forward to in July 2013

Out in UK cinemas this month have thieving magicians, thieving little rich kids and thieves of national secrets. Last month I promised to start writing a regular top 5 films of the upcoming month post but this month I have decided to extend it to 10. There's some good looking stuff out in July and I'm trying to avoid just reeling off all the biggest films and instead dedicate a little bit of time and space on this blog to some films that might go under some radars. Without further ado, here is the top 10 to look forward to in July:

Now You See Me

Now you see a fantastic cast led by Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco but also supported by Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo. Magicians rob banks and dish out the stolen loot to their audiences while the Feds try to catch them in the act. Sounds like a lot of fun and must be worthwhile to watch that cast but many accounts suggest it is let down by a ludicrous ending.

The Internship

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson reunite to play two technophobe dinosaurs who join the intern programme at Google. Not literal dinosaurs by the way. Its pretty funny in places but I wouldn't say it's worth rushing out to see in cinemas.

The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola tells the true story of a gang of rich kid brats who went on a thieving spree in 2008 and 2009, robbing the homes of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Hermione stars and is apparently quite good while Paris Hilton's actual house has a cameo.

A Field in England

Simultaneously being released in cinemas, on DVD and Blu-ray and being shown on TV channel Film 4 all on the same day, it sounds like Ben Wheatley has really gone off the rails in this one. Civil War soldiers trip out on mushrooms after deserting a battle in a neighbouring field. In England. Sounds completely bonkers.

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

Documentary about the Russian feminist punk band that dared to protest against Putin's political status and got locked up for their troubles. 

The Deep

True story of a ship sinking off the coast of volcanic islands nears Iceland and the one survivor who faced unbelievable odds and made it home despite the rest of the crew either freezing to death or drowning.

Pacific Rim

Del Toro's monster mash with giant robots taking on giant monsters. If this was Michael Bay, people would be dismissing it but as it has the auteur of Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy behind it, you can't help but be excited.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

The title says it all really. A documentary about the beginnings of Wikileaks but also a look at both sides of the story; the idealism, courage and insensitivity of the actions of activists at the centre. It's also made by Alex Gibney who made the shocking, riveting Taxi to the Dark Side.

The World's End

The dream team of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost re-team for the final part on their so-called Threee Flavours Cornetto trilogy. The cast is superb with Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan joining Pegg and Frost on screen in a story of the pub crawl to end all pub crawls.

Frances Ha

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, the guy behind the incredible The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha stars indie queen Greta Gerwig as a New Yorker struggling to grow up, stay true to her friends and become self-reliant.

There's also Monster's University if you fancy the Pixar prequel.

That's it for July (mainly). What on this list takes your fancy?

Top 5 Films to Look Forward to in June 2013

Starburst Cover Story: The Wolverine Preview

I've been writing news stories and short stories for the Starbust Magazine website recently but this month, I also have two feature articles in the July edition of the print magazine. Not only that, but I guess you could call my The Wolverine preview the cover story seeing as it's old Wolvie that adorns the cover this month! I hope you might all consider going out and buying a copy. I've seen it on the shelves of WHSmiths this morning (and had to take a photo!)

I have written a preview on The Wolverine and another on Pacific Rim, detailing both of their histories and journeys to the big screen. I'm hoping to write more articles for future issues. You can subscribe to Starburst Magazine and get every issue delivered to your door by clicking the link.

If you look very closely, you can just see my name in the bottom left corner of the Wolverine article above! Please, please, please go pick up a copy and enjoy the articles!

Get ready for Pacific Rim!

Everything you need to know about Guillermo del Toro's latest, Pacific Rim:

The auteur has not directed a film since comic book sequel Hellboy II in 2008.

His version of The Hobbit failed to emerge due to scheduling conflicts and then his long-awaited passion project At the Mountains of Madness was refused a green light by a nervous studio.

He has completed his trilogy of vampire horror novels The Strain with Chuck Hogan which will now be turned into a series of TV movies.

Synopsis

When a portal beneath the sea opens unleashing mega-monsters (known as Kaiju) from other dimensions, the human race must fight back by building 250 foot tall mecha-titans, known as Jaegers. Two human pilots control these giant robots as they get strapped into circuitry suits, each controlling a hemisphere (left or right) of the mechanical beasts.

Set in the not too distant future, the Kaiju that have emerged from the portal have devastated earth leading to masses of destruction and millions dead and the fight back has dwindled human resources leading to a sense of desperation. Charlie Hunnam’s former pilot is forced to team up with an untested trainee to ‘cancel the apocalypse’ in the words of Idris Elba’s commanding officer.

Inception

Travis Beacham, writer of The Clash of the Titans remake wrote a 25 page script treatment back in 2010 which was immediately purchased by Legendary Pictures. Del Toro then came on board developing the screenplay with Beacham for two years before principal photography began on the 103 day Toronto shoot in November 2011.

Inspired by the Fransisco Goya painting The Colossus that also inspired video game Shadow of the Colossus, the initial idea of Pacific Rim was to go back to the earliest tales of monsters that mankind would tell around campfires.  

Casting

Taking a risk, del Toro managed to secure the cast he wanted without any of the huge star names that usually hold up a tent pole movie of this size. Legendary Pictures backed his decision, arguing it is the creation of the world and the concept that will be the main attraction to audiences.

Idris Elba is the commanding officer Sensi who will go head to head with the Kaiju. It was a role originally developed for Tom Cruise who had reportedly shown an interest. Charlie Hunnam from TV’s Sons of Anarchy takes the washed up Jaeger pilot role as hero Raleigh.

Monsters

Steering away from the archetypal monsters of mythology, anime and previous Kaiju movies, the completely original designs have been at the forefront of del Toro’s mind since the beginning. 

3D?

Del Toro resisted the pressure to shoot in 3D because he felt that the 3D effects would miniaturize the robots and monsters and audiences would not get the full sense of the scale and awe he intended.

Then came the shocking news that del Toro had agreed to a dreaded 3D post-conversion. Del Toro supervised the process, taking 40 weeks to do the conversion where it normally only takes a few weeks to complete on previous movies.

The latest trailer

Could this trailer be any bigger?

 The teaser

The poster

Excited yet?