Saturday 29 December 2012

Top 5 best films of 2012!

So another year is ending - how quick it has flown by! It seems only yesterday we were welcoming 2012 now here we are, on the verge of saying goodbye to a wonderful 2012 (particularly if your a Brit) and hello to 2013.

It has also been a fantastic year for the film industry - so many big films have been released this year and all of them superb in their own ways. So I thought that I just had to do this: here is my list of the top five films of 2012!

1). Skyfall
Starting with no other than 007 himself; starring Daniel Craig in his third outing as MI6 operative James Bond, this film excelled. It was the perfect mix of grittiness, action and British humour, with a splash of emotion involved. It really stood out for me as my top film of this year; I had been waiting for 5 or so years for this film to be released after the rather disappointing Quantum of Solace and it exceeded even my opinion of it - I just loved every moment of it. Daniel Craig was utterly superb, he has really put forward a strong case to possibly being one of the best Bonds ever, if not the best. Judi Dench as M was brilliant as always, and one of the main aspects of the film that I loved was her relationship with Bond, but also with the villian Silva - played by the wonderful Javier Bardem. I just loved how the whole story came together at the end of the film; you just felt all loose ends were tied up and the story-line was so cleverly written. For me, this is definitely my film of the way.

2). The Dark Knight Rises
For me to pick second place was incredibly tough - I loved both this film and the following film but I decided that The Dark Knight Rises deserved this honour. The final installment in the Batman trilogy was arguably the best, and director Christopher Nolan did not disappoint; Christian Bale as always in this role was fantastic, but Tom Hardy as Bane really stole the show for me. A superb villian, who was frightful and ruthless yet had a sense of humour about him. The whole film was gritty and fantastically made - it was dark yet there was the odd bits of humour, which I believe makes the film all the more 'believeable'. A mention must also go to Anne Hathaway - I really don't like her that much but she was brilliant as Catwoman in this film. Epic story-line and equally as epically made and produced. Bravo DC.

3). Avengers Assemble
This film is easily one of my favourites by far - I just love Marvel superheroes and I cannot tell you how excited I was for this film after watching the films following up to this such as the Iron Man franchise. That's one of the things I loved most about this film; how cleverly written it is with all of the films before. All of those films are linked to the events of Avengers Assemble and also linked to one another, it's brilliant! With a stellar cast, with actors such as Robert Downey JR and Chris Evans, you get the feeling that this film was just never going to be a flop. Marvel have a massive fanbase, and this film broke numerous box-office records; it's funny but with all of the seriousness and grittiness you'd expect in a superhero genre film - I bet you all laughed until your side's ache like I did when The Hulk pummels the villian Loki to a plump! The effects were brilliant, the story-line and script was clever and witty, the cast was brilliant (in particular RDJ stood out for me) and I love the fact there is going to be a sequel. Yippee!

4). The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey
One of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2012 and it certainly disappoint - the prequel to the Lord of The Rings trilogy finally arrived on the big screen and boy, wasn't it good! Taken from the book of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit is split into a trilogy itself, with Martin Freeman in the lead, portraying Hobbit Bilbo Baggins - and it was a fantastic performance from Freeman. Peter Jackson moved the entire filming schedule just to fit around Freeman, who's excellent performances as Watson in the series Sherlock are warranting a big blockbuster film, and he was definitely the best person to play Bilbo. It was witty in parts with the legion of dwarfs but it was just like the Lord of The Rings films; it just absorbs you into a wonderful world of fantasy full of elves, dwarfs and the great Gandalf the Grey. The effects were fantastic and the whole setting of the film is just beautiful. A mention must also go to Richard Armitage, who put in a great performance of Thorin Oakenshield - his great acting over the years in shows such as Spooks certainly earned him this big part and he did not disappoint. Roll on the next film in the trilogy already!

5). The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is the first installment in yet another trilogy from the book series - the film tells the story of a nation divided into 'districts' by war, and every year, each district must send two tributes (teenagers/children) to compete in a fight to the death which is broadcasted live on television... it's basically children killing one another, but so much more than that. I hadn't red the books before I went to see this movie but now I've red the trilogy, I can tell you it really does the book justice. The books are more violent than the film but I think that was just about right. I really loved this film; the action was great and the setting was superb. I was really impressed with the performances of the two tributes that the story follows the most - Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson. Lawrence in particular was fantastic in this film as 'Katniss', and I just loved the whole story-line, as much as I loved the books when I got round to reading them. It's incredibly gritty but that's the nature of the story, and it captures the imagination. I really did love this film, and I believe the rest of the trilogy will be just as good.

So that's my top five - but there are a few other films which do deserve a quick mention...

The Bourne Legacy - starring break-out actor Jeremy Renner, it is the next installment in the Bourne Series but without Matt Damon... yes a entirely new character Aaron Cross, an agent on the CIA programme Outcome who takes 'chems' that enhance his physical being and his intelligence, who is attempting to evade death from the people who created his programme, led by Eric Byers (Ed Norton). Along with a stellar performance from Rachel Weisz as Dr Marta Shearing, Renner puts in an action-packed performance, and really states his claim to be the new action star in Hollywood.

Ted - Crude yet hiliarious, this film is different to other comedies; it follows grown man Josh Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) who, as a kid, wished for his teddy bear to come alive and low behold, it did by the name of Ted! (Seth MacFarlane) The story follows the two trying to balance their unusual yet immature friendship with the demands of commitment from Josh's long-term partner Lori (Mila Kunis) - which leads to a hiliarious journey. If your a fan of Family Guy, or just in need of a good laugh, this is for you!

The Amazing Spiderman - The relaunch of the Spiderman franchise proved to be an successful one, with British actor Andrew Garfield taking the reins as Peter Parker/Spiderman. This film shows the origin of Spiderman - the original comic story - with Parker still in high school and facing his past demands, whilst battling with Curt Connors - a scientist who transforms into 'Lizard' when a serum test goes wrong. Garfield really did a fantastic job as Spiderman; some actually believe that this one film is better than all of the Spiderman films with Tobey Maguire in them put together. His portrayal is brilliant, and the action in the film is great - there's wit and humour but that's to be expected in Marvel films! All in all, a great return for the Spiderman franchise.


So there you have it - my top films! As always I'd love to know what guys think so, if you could leave a comment below with your top five films of 2012, that'd be great. Also please accept my apologises for not writing sooner; I've been extremely busy with going to New York then heading back home for Christmas from university.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and hope everyone has a happy 2013! 


Tuesday 11 December 2012

Trailer reviews!


My humblest apologises for not writing sooner for you wonderful people - it turns out this year, I actually have to quite a lot of university work so I've had to dedicate a lot of my free time to completing these assignments. But guess what - I HAVE DONE ALL OF MY ASSIGNMENTS! *cue me running around my room punching the air in delight* So now, I shall hopefully be back on track with some blogs for you all in the upcoming weeks - wooo! (unless you've forgotten about me, then erm... that'll be awkward.)

Anywho, a couple of film trailers have been released and have caught my eye; so this post is my reviews on the trailers for Man of Steel and Oblivion.

1. Man of Steel
So if your into your Superhero action, this is definitely the movie for you - DC Comics are releasing this film in an attempt to re-boot the Superman franchise. Haven't seen the trailer? Take a look below...



I have to say - this film does look very promising. I know I do prattle on about this, but I just get the feeling DC had to release something to keep up with the Marvel steam train and the success that Avengers had; even though The Dark Knight Rises was also one of the films of the year by far. But you can't just have one film holding a company up, and I think this film has the potential to do very well indeed. When I first heard about DC re-booting the Superman franchise and almost starting over with a new film, I was a tad skeptical. But it really does look rather impressive - the action, the graphics... Plus the fact Christopher Nolan is the producer of this film is sure to bode well. The cast looks promising too - Henry Cavill looks the part as Superman, with the strong jaw and the handsome looks Superman should have. But the supporting cast also catch my eye - I for one think Kevin Costner is a fantastic actor and I'm already looking forward to how his role as Clark Kent's father Jonathan progresses throughout the story. I also like the idea of how it will be portraying Superman's origin, thus taking the story right back to the beginning. 
If the trailer is anything to go by, then I feel this film can really give Iron Man 3 a running for it's money next year.

2. Oblivion
Now this movie to me looks very interesting - starring Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, who is a drone repairman on Earth, one of the less remaining after a war with a out of Space threat - who then has the fate of humanity laying in his old hands. Sounds interesting to you? Have a peek at the trailer below for more...




I quite like sci-fi/action films, so this really looked interesting to me; it's slightly different to your average sci-fi film.  Yes, I know Tom Cruise is pretty much in the same film caterogy all of the time, but there's a reason why for that - because he's so bad-ass in this genre. It really does look pretty decent, and  I like all of the action that's in it; I'm intrigued to find out more about it and actually go and watch the film when it comes out (which means the trailer production techs have done their job well.) I like the whole concept of it - you get the feel this may be a solid film and the action will be well supported, particularly in IMAX. The supporting cast again is also stellar - just the name of Morgan Freeman is enough to say that, and the fact that it was directed and produced by the writer of the comic this film is based on - Joseph Kosinski - will also bode well, so then maybe, the film will just how the actual writer would like it. 

Well there you have it - two rather promising trailers for two films which I think will do well next year. Both different in their unique ways, but both seem highly interesting and exciting. Man of Steel is out on the 14th of June and Oblivion is out on the 12th of April in IMAX next year, then a week later in normal cinemas.

What do you guys think? Drop a comment below and let me know!  
Also a quick head's up - I'm in New York from Thursday until Monday and I will be writing a post about it when I'm back. But would you guys like to see a vlog from the trip? Let me know what you think please!