So the first half of 2012 has come and gone and we've so far had a fairly "meh" year, with a few surprises along the way. The latter half of the year though is where everything looks to really kick off, starting of course in just under 2 weeks time with
The Dark Knight Rises.
Advance Preview screening opinions
have started rolling in and despite the NDA they're all overwhelmingly positive, which has more or less caused me to go into an utter frenzy of anticipation making everyone around me a little annoyed. I will have my reviews for the rest of the
Batman films complete and on the blog within the next week or so as well as reactions prior to and straight after watching the film, before finally uploading the full review sometime later in the weekend after release.
Before
The Dark Knight Rises however I'm really excited for this weeks UK release of
Magic Mike. It seems like a very fun film that appeals to the same part of me that enjoys films like
Boogie Nights and
The People Vs Larry Flint. Also it's great to see
Matthew McConaughey back to picking decent material. After seeing him in Killer Joe last week (review coming in the next few days) he's certainly one of my favourite actors right now.
Another cheesy film which I'm looking forward to is Dredd. I think Karl Urban is a bit of a hidden talent and I really enjoyed the trailer to this, despite everybody telling me I shouldn't. It's harmless fun. It's not going to be a masterpiece, but I'm hoping it'll be an enjoyable comic book movie akin to the Hellboy films in pure watch-ability.
I have to admit I didn't particularly enjoy
Brick, but I could see a great director in
Rian Johnson and with the fantastic premise of
Looper being backed up by such a formidable cast I think this could stand up there with the likes of
Moon and
District 9 as one of the smaller out-of-nowhere sci-fi greats of the last few years.
There's not really much to go on here as little footage or synopsis for the film has been released, however you can guarantee that Paul Thomas Anderson will deliver a powerful epic with The Master which I've no doubt will cause controversy, shock audiences and spark debate for a long time come November.
Casino Royale has turned out to be one of those films I can watch time and time again, and have since it was released. I'm even one of the few people that prefer it to the
Bourne films.
Quantum of Solace wasn't quite as solid as
Casino Royale, but it was still a reasonably entertaining romp. With
Sam Mendes behind the camera of the long awaited conclusion to the trilogy however it would be surprising if this wasn't one of
Bond's best outings to date. Its great to see franchise fare like this taken on by such a high calibre of talent.
I may be eagerly anticipating my return to
Middle-Earth, but the real reason behind my excitement for
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is my curiosity over its 48fps format. It may not sound as drastic to the average filmgoer as the likes of 3D, but I think it will turn a lot of heads when it's released. Will it be the future of cinema or a huge mistake?
I've had a great first half of the year at the cinema. Just under 100 films and an average score of 7.32. There really hasn't been much I've disliked (never say hate). A few average films, usually comedies but in the main I've come out of the cinema pretty pleased with what I've seen.
ReplyDeleteThen again my average for last year was ove 7.
In fact a couple of the worst films I've seen have been at Frightfest over the years. (Which don't figure in my average - might be worth averaging out my Frighfest films!)
Actualy it tends to be horror films which bring my average down. Not the ones at frightfest, the general release ones like A tale of two sisters remake, or Pulse remake.
By the way nice blog - and I will be sat in D15 or D16 in August, depending if I lose the battle for the Isle seat!
I cannot with any honesty say that I have had a comprehensive year of film watching so far this year. In fact I've missed a lot of big releases after I became rather discontented with cinema-going lately due to the sad overuse of mobile phones and just general noise pollution during screenings of films. I would far rather sit in and immerse myself in a blu-ray these days, but I'm making a big effort to go see films at less busier times in picture house theatres as opposed to multiplexes and that seems to be working out for the best. I should probably make it clearer that my opinions are reflective of the films I've seen as opposed to the entire spectrum of released films.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nod though. Getting very excited for FF now, first time I've been to anything like it.
I understand what you mean, I stormed down 3 rows in the middle of Jaws to tell some woman to turn her phone off. I was tempted to launch my minstrels at her.
ReplyDeleteI tend to go Monday and Tuesday, or late afternoon, I also have a friend who's disabled and can only manage the first row of the back tiers, so we don't tend to have many people in front of us.
I understand your views and I suppose if I was paying (use a cineworld card) I may be a little more critical. But I'm the worst kind, I seem to find something good in most films! LOL! ut I go into every film hoping I'll enjoy it.
As for Frightfest - it's brilliant! I assume you have a love for horror?
The mix of films this year seems quite diverse, some years we've had 3 or 4 very similiar films and by the 4th one you've had enough!
With the 3 screens it helps to plan, I don't like hand held films, so I'll be doing my best to dump REC 3 for a Discovery film. We don't do the quiz, so again another film. I'm not that bothered about the Argento interview and film either.
Do you live in London?
If you want to see a film in the other 2 screens, you need to arrive at the empire around 9 to 9:30, as tickets tend to go pretty quickly. There are 50 tickets avaiable for each Discovery screen (maybe more for screen 3 or 2 depending how they do it - first year for a 3rd screen!), so demand can be high for certain films!
2 years ago Eggshells was shown, the Q for Burning bright was huge, and it turned out to be the better option!
Also try not watch the trailers, go in as fresh as anything, makes it great fun!
This is my 6th one. By Sunday it becomes a blur! Signings, photos, films - rushing around to get food.....great FUN!
I love horror, but I would far from consider myself any sort of expert. I had never even heard of Frightfest until I heard about Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut playing this year, but it seems right up my street. Im going into all the films more or less blank and I intend to keep it that way. The only Re-Discovery film I need to see is the new restored version of Bride of Frankenstein. I really just want to cram in as much as I can though.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Norfolk so I'll be getting the train over on Thursday morning to check into the hotel. Then im leaving very early Monday morning as I was unable to get Monday off work. Such is the life of a waiter on bank holidays.