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?

Premium Rush Film Club Review

Thanks to this post from Scott at Front Room Cinema, I got to take part in the From The Red Carpet film club a couple of weekends ago.  Everyone that took part got two free tickets to see Premium Rush and then we all met up on Facebook on the Sunday evening to discuss the film.

It was an awesome experience for me as I'm no good at talking out loud and getting my opinions across to people when I'm having a normal conversation so getting to have a chat with others about the film through social networking was perfect.  I hope to get the opportunity to take part again some day.

From the Red Carpet have published their review of the film and there are lots of quotes from all us film clubbers in it so please have a look at the review and leave them a comment telling them to make sure they keep inviting me back.  The From the Red Carpet review is here.

I leave you with some sample quotes from the film clubbers:

‘I love Koepp’s scripts, where he takes a simple set up and milks it for all that it’s worth. Panic Room is the perfect example!’

‘Well, my first thought after watching the film was – ‘what on earth was Joseph Gordon-Levitt thinking?!’ He’s pretty much A-list these days – but this film screamed B MOVIE.’

‘I quite enjoyed this; it surprised me with its slightly skewed take on the chase movie. Shannon and Levitt were eminently watchable and although it’s not going to win any awards it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.’

Battle of the Joseph Gordon-Levitt's

If any of you voted in my previous blockbuster duel that pitted Prometheus VS The Dark Knight Rises, you might remember how this works.  If not, here's the exceptionally simple rules.  If you could only see one of these two films in the cinema, which would it be?

This time it's a battle of the upcoming Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring action-thrillers.

In the red corner: 

Premium Rush: UK Release 14th October

It's written and directed by David Koepp.  He hasn't directed a huge amount but Stor of Echoes was a great film.  However his strength lies more in his writing and though his credits are a bit of a mixed bag, there are some absolutely cracking thrillers; Toy Soldiers, Jurassic Park and Panic Room being most notable in my eyes.  It's also got Michael Shannon on villain duties which is a huge plus.




It's going to make riding bikes extremely exciting!

And in the blue corner:

Looper: UK Release 28th September


This one is written and directed by Rian Johnson and re-teams the star and director of excellent indie high-school neo-noir Brick.  It's also got Bruce Willis and time travel.  Need I say more?

Here's hoping for some smart, fun science fiction!






So there are your choices.  If you could only see Premium Rush or Looper in the cinema, which would it be?  Before I saw the trailer for Premium Rush and found out Michael Shannon was in it, I'd have gone for Looper no competition.  Now I'm quite torn.  I suspect this one might be a bit one sided with a lot of votes for Looper but I'm looking forward to hearing your responses.