Review of 2013

This year I managed to see more movies than I have for a long time. We're talking back in the early days when I was single and spent all day watching 6 films at a time. Now I'm a married man with responsibilities and watching 3 films a day is an achievement.. Luckily for me Laura's taken up iceskating and every weekend we come to Cardiff. So, naturally I have to kill time..

This year had the potential to be Awesome! It started off well with Django Unchained. A return to form for Mr Tarantino. Sci fi was in abundance, and not just franchise sequels. Elysium, Pacific Rim and Oblivion were three I were really looking forward to. With the directors of District 9, Hellboy and Tron:Legacy in charge respectively what could go wrong? As it turned out pretty well everything. But they weren't the worst. Ohhh no. On reflection when it came to After Earth? What was I thinking? That surely is the final nail in Mr M.Night.Shamalamadingdong's coffin.. Talking of crap, I secretly enjoyed Die Hard 4.0... Die Hard 5 on the other hand was an absolute steaming pile... Yep, that and GI Joe 2.

Regarding franchise movies, once again Marvel provided some much needed quality (although The Wolverine could have been better). Both Ironman 3 and Thor:The Dark World were excellent though (my favourite being Shane Black's IM3). DC's offering's consisted of Man Of Steel and RED2. Man Of Steel having the edge, although both films where fairly ordinary. 

Regarding comedies this year my favourite has to be Alfa Papa, the Alan Partridge movie (which I caught a couple of times). Although I did take a shine to both the last in the Cornetto Trilogy and The Way,Way back which was a surprise comedy nugget. Anchorman 2 didn't quite live up to the hype (I'd seen a lot of the jokes in trailers) but I still enjoyed it and I'm sure it'll improve with repeated viewings (as with the original). Simon Pegg provided some welcome comedy in Star Trek Into Darkness, which I also enjoyed (twice). 

Films which promised more but didn't deliver seemed to be the theme this year. Riddick, R.I.P.D. and Kickass 2 all ticked this box.

Horror viewings consisted of Mama,The Conjuring, Carrie and World War Z (and maybe Warm Bodies? Is that horror?) Mama was my fav for traditional horror with Guimero Del Toro's influence being very prominent. World War Z also deserved additional viewings..

As we approached the autumn season I was pinning all my hopes on The Hobbit, Thor and Walter Mitty to save the year from 'meh..' I didn't expect much from Gravity...

It was, without doubt the science fiction movie to end all science fiction movies. It’s been a long time since I've come out of a screening and wanted to go straight back in. Luckily I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it and as a result it's still on limited release as I write this.. Unfortunately though, due to Gravity's excellent use of 3D and ability to portray the vast emptiness of space on the large screen I fear it will suffer on DVD. And for this reason I had to see it 10 times..

It wasn't just Gravity that made up for the disappointing Summer. As well as the a fore mentioned Hobbit, Thor and Walter Mitty (which I all thoroughly enjoyed), there was also a couple of other gems in the form of Nebraska and Robert Redfords excellent turn in All Is Lost. Both of which caught me by surprise... in a good way! Throw in Philomena and Captain Philips and once again the Autumn/Winter saves the year!

As the new year arrives there's a few I'm looking forward to..  Marvel have The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America:Winter Soldier and Xmen:Days of future past. Again, I don't want to get too excited but Gareth Edwards Godzilla looks excellent judging by the trailer.. Three sci-fi's I'm getting in the queue for are Transcendence (Wally Pfister's directorial debut), Edge Of Tomorrow (featuring the ever gorgeous Emily Blunt) and Interstellar (Christopher Nolan - enough said). I lined them up last year and look how that turned out? So fingers crossed..