Back in 2009, J.J. Abrams directed a successful reboot the Star Trek franchise. This year the sequel will be release and should prove to be an action-packed, quality film like the first. The new villain in this go-around will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch of the successful Sherlock reboot on BBC. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg and the rest of the Enterprise crew return.
This is the highest film on my current list that appeared on my Most Anticipated of 2012 list, where at the time it was under the “Next 25”section. There was very little revealed at the time, but I liked the premise. Now with full trailers there is much more to get excited about. Warm Bodies is about a zombie, played by Jack the Giant Slayer (a.k.a. Nicholas Hoult), who falls for a living girl and slowly becomes less like a zombie and more like a human. It’s a love story masked as a zombie film. I wanted to read the book first, but maybe I’ll read it after as I very much want to see this. John Malkovich, Teresa Palmer and Rob Corddry co-star.
After several years of speculation and rumors, Robert Rodriguez is finally releasing a sequel to his 2005 film based on the Frank Miller graphic novel Sin City. The films, like the graphic novels, are neo-noir crime thrillers set in a dark and grimy world. The visuals really stand out as they are primarily black and white with red to accent certain details. This style translated well on film and looked as if you’re actually watching a comic book. The first film is one of my all-time favorite films, so I have cautiously high expectations for the sequel. The various characters and interweaving storylines are fun and compelling. Many of Sin City’s characters and the actors who played them return for the sequel, including Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Jamie King. They will be joined by many new characters played by Josh Brolin, Joseph-Gordan Levitt, Eva Green, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Meloni and Ray Liotta. Sadly two of Sin City’s actors, Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan, passed away since the first film. Duncan’s character will be played by Dennis Haysbert and Murphy’s character has yet to be recast and may not appear.
My most anticipated list for 2013 is topped off with two comedies about the apocalypse. Keep in mind these aren’t stupid spoof movies like Disaster Movie, but should in fact be fun, clever films.
At #2 I have This is the End. The film stars Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride as themselves. They are all partying at James Franco’s house when the apocalypse hits. I do enjoy when actors play an exaggeration of themselves, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this group of guys aren’t exaggerating and are portraying what would happen if they had to face the apocalypse. This is a group of very funny guys and when put together should bring many laughs. I’m pretty sure they’re all friends in real life.
They were probably partying one night, at James Franco’s house, and while drunk and high started thinking about what if the apocalypse does hit. And thus the movie was born! That’s just my theory anyway.
At #1 is a collaboration of three guys who have done nothing but funny things together in the past. I am talking about the trio of director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Together they have created two of my favorite movies, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the fake trailer Don’t for the film Grindhouse, and they’re beginnings on the hilarious British TV show Spaced from 1999-2001. Oh, and when I attended the Scott Pilgrim panel at Comic-Con (which Edgar Wright directed), Pegg and Frost appeared on stage for a brief moment pretending to be part of the cast. They all have too much fun together. Well after doing some work apart from each other (though Pegg and Frost did recently work together on Paul sans Edgar Wright), they are back together! When Shaun of the Dead first came out, the trio talked about it being the first film in a trilogy dubbed the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Each of the three films features one of the characters purchasing a different flavor of Cornetto ice cream that signifies a theme/element of the film. Shaun had a red Cornetto for the film's bloody nature, Fuzz had a blue Cornetto representing the police theme and End will feature a green Cornetto.
Maybe I should actually talk about the film? The World's End is about a group of five friends attempting to recreate an "epic" pub crawl from their youth. During the pub crawl the end of the world threatens to end mankind. Joining Pegg and Frost will be Martin Freeman of the British Office and the new Hobbit trilogy. Hopefully this film won't mark the actual end of these awesome collaborations.
2 Guns
300: Rise of an Empire
7500
A Good Day to Die Hard
Admission
After Earth
Bullet to the Head
Calvary
Elysium
Ender's Game
Foxcatcher
Malavita
Man of Steel
Monsters University
Much Ado About Nothing
Oblivion
Pacific Rim
Pain & Gain
Red 2
Snowpiercer
The ABC's of Death
The Heat
The Internship
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
We're the Millers