Saturday 21 September 2013

The Best Offer (2013)

Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Sylvia Hoeks, Donal Sutherland


This film caught my eye because it stars the supremely talented Geoffrey Rush in a tale of intrigue. Rush plays an art auctioneer who becomes obsessed with an agoraphobic art collector. Currently showing in limited release on Australian screens. Check it out...

Le Week-End (2013)

Director: Roger Michell

Cast: Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, Jeff Goldblum


This trailer caught me by surprise. Looks like a fun tale of a British couple in their senior years who return to Paris in an attempt to rejuvenate their marriage. Love it. Check it out....

Austenland (2013)

Director: Jerusha Hess

Cast: Keri Russell, J. J Field, Jennifer Coolidge, Bret McKenzie


I am so looking forward to this. I wanna see it now!!! Keri Russell plays a young woman obsessed with Pride and Prejudice who travels to a Jane Austen theme park in search for her very own Mr Darcy. I wish there actually was a Jane Austen theme park. This looks like fun....

I can't stop smiling

Paranoia (2013)

Director: Robert Luketic

Cast: Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford, Liam Hemsworth and Amber Heard


And now for something a bit more Hollywood...

Paranoia - like Wall Street, but instead of stockbroking involves high tech corporations where the talented new kid (Liam Hemsworth) gets in over his head. I saw an ad for this thriller in a magazine and felt a bit blasé about it, but being a Gary Oldman fan, I decided to check out the trailer and I think it looks interesting (and Gary actually uses his real accent in this). It MIGHT even see Liam Hemsworth get some film cred. Check it out:

The Selfish Giant (2013)

Director: Clio Barnard

Cast: Connor Chapman, Shaun Thomas


When I first saw this trailer it reminded me of that great film, Kes (1969, Ken Loach). Like Kes this film employs non- professional actors and is a social-realist piece. The Selfish Giant takes it's title from the Oscar Wilde short story (but with a modern day ogre). The Selfish Giant follows the story of two young friends from a post-industrial town; one of the boys has been excluded from school and his friend helps him to go scrapping. This is rumoured to up there with some of my favourite social-realist films: Bicycle Thieves, The Kid With a Bike, The Rat Catcher, Kes and The 400 Blows.

I will probably end up in tears...

About Time (2013)

Director: Richard Curtis

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy


Richard Curtis the director of such Rom-coms as Notting Hill, Love Actually and Bridget Jones' Diary returns with this story of a young man who discovers he has the hereditary ability to time travel.

I love a time travel story and this looks very fun, cute and heartwarming (very Richard Curtis!). You might recognise Domnhall Gleeson who played Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter films and he is also the son of brilliant actor, Brendan Gleeson. Oh and any film with Bill Nighy makes me happy! Enjoy....

Girl Most Likely (2012)

Director: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon


I'm really starting to become a fan of Kristen Wiig. She seems to be America's comedy 'it' girl at the moment and her next comedy, Girl Most Likely, looks like it will be entertaining.

Kristen plays a struggling playwright who stages a suicide attempt to drum up some attention only to end up back home with her estranged mother, her brother and some other curious characters. This looks like fun...

Saturday 14 September 2013

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston


The follow up to the fun and successful Thor (2011) looks like a winner, with much of the brilliant original cast returning. In this sequel Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must embark on another perilous adventure, one that reunites him with the woman he loves, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and forces him to sacrifice everything to save the world. And Loki returns (Yay!). Looks like another fun ride....

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Director: Steve McQueen

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender,Michael K. Williams, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch


12 Years a Slave brings together Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender once again. A collaboration which has spawned such films as Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008).

The film is based on the true story of a man's fight for survival and freedom. Solomon Northup a free man from New York is abducted and sold into slavery pre- the US Civil War. This film is already being tipped for some Oscar glory...

The Counselor (2013)

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz


I love Ridley Scott's work and I'm really looking forward to The Counselor. What an awesome cast! The plot involves a lawyer who finds himself in too deep when he gets involved in drug trafficking. Check it out...

Gravity (2013)

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris


All I'm going to say is: Space looks really scary, I'm staying on Earth!

Filth (2013)

Director: Jon S. Baird

Cast: James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Eddie Marsden, Jamie Bell


I read the book Filth by Irvine Welsh a year ago, and boy did it leave an impression singed into my brain. I felt I needed to take a hot shower after reading that book and I loved it for creating such a feeling of revulsion towards it central character. The book is as crusty as pus.

When I heard it was being made into a film I thought: how will that work? Who is going to play vile Bruce Robertson? When I heard that James McAvoy was taking the role, I could not believe it. Lovely James from Atonement, X-men: First Class etc? No!!!

But, yes, and boy does he look awesome in the role. Hang onto your seats, here comes Filth....

Robocop (2014)

Director: Jose Padilha

Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L Jackson


Looking better than the recent Total Recall remake is this Robocop remake. Starring my favourite actor of all time, Gary Oldman!!!! The story takes place in 2028 when a good cop is critically injured and a multinational corporation sees a chance to create a kind of super-cop (half man, half robot). I'm looking forward to seeing it at the cinema. Oh,and did I mention Gary Oldman was in it!

Friday 13 September 2013

The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet (2013)

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Robert Maillet, Kyle Catlett


Jean-Pierre Jeaunet's (Amelie) next feature is based on the book by Reif Larsen (I can't wait to get a copy of this book). The tale is about a 12 year old cartographer who runs away from home to travel across the US by freight train to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute.

I'm looking forward to seeing this as I have been a fan of Jeunet's French films for many years. This is one of his few English language films (Alien: Resurrection being one other).

The trailer looks great, although it has quite a Wes Anderson feel to it (not a complaint, I like Wes) but I half expect Owen Wilson to turn up...

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Her (2013)

Director: Spike Jonze

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara


The premise of this film, written and directed by Spike Jones, really intrigues me. It's about a lonely guy who develops a romantic attachment towards an artificially intelligent operating system (like Apple's Suri). Here it is...

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Directed: Ben Stiller

Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn, Patton Oswalt


Ben Stiller's next film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty looks really interesting. It's about an office worker who lives inside a fantasy world where he gets up to all manner of adventures. The trailer looks awesome. I hope the film is as good as it looks. Check it out...