Just
like every other year that has gone before it, there are a plethora of new
releases that I am looking forward to seeing in 2013, but to list every single
one would take forever and a day, so I am only going to highlight my six most
anticipated releases of 2013, starting with:
Quite
simply the reason I am looking forward to “To The Wonder” is that it is the new
film from director Terrence Malick and apparently it is kind of like a
spiritual sequel to his previous film “Tree Of Life”. Amazingly when the film premiered at the
Venice Film Festival back in September, it was received with some of the worst
reviews of Malick’s career to date. However
the recently released trailers still have me salivating to see “To The Wonder”
which is the first film from this director to be actually set in the present. It apparently tackles the themes of love and
faith and stars Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem and Olga Kurylenko,
with Emmanuel Lubezki returning behind the camera for cinematography
duties. If nothing else, we know it is
going to be a gorgeous looking film.
Any film
directed by Martin Scorsese is going to be on my most anticipated list and
normally at number one, but even though I am very excited for “The Wolf Of Wall
Street” just because it is a new film from the master, the topic of corruption
on Wall Street doesn’t exactly thrill me that much. I am sure that once a trailer appears, my
anticipation will skyrocket like always but right now, my expectations are
controlled. It does have the potential
to be amazing though when you look at the cast he has put together: Leonardo
DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin and Jonah Hill, to name just a
few. What does excite me about “The Wolf
Of Wall Street” is it sees the first collaboration between Scorsese and
cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who interestingly also shot Oliver Stone’s “Wall
Street: Money Never Sleeps”).
Amazingly
in 2013, all three of my favourite South Korean directors are making their
English language Hollywood debuts.
Although Kim Jee-Woon got saddled with what appears to be a generic
Arnold Schwarzenegger action film with “The Last Stand”, both Bong Joon-Ho and
Park Chan-Wook seem to have found much more interesting vehicles to show off
their considerable talents. “Snowpiercer”
is Bong Joon-Ho’s latest effort but details on the film are slim at best. All we know is that it is set in the future
during a new ice age and it follows a group of characters on a train who are
the last remaining survivors on Earth.
It is an adaptation of a French comic book by Benjamin Legrand and it
appears as though it is going to be a very bleak film. Whatever it turns out to be, nothing will
stop me from seeing the new film from the director of such classics as “Memories
Of Murder”, “The Host” and “Mother”.
I am a
Rob Zombie fan, so sue me. Personally I
think the man always has an interesting vision for all of his films, but with “The
Lords Of Salem” he is trying something new.
Instead of the brutal violence and rough, handheld camera work he is
known for, Zombie is changing his aesthetic style this time with a film that is
made of perfectly composed frames that are full of symmetry. Also the film is apparently much slower in
pace than his previous films, although still just as demented. As soon as Zombie mentioned that one of the
films he used for inspiration was Polanski’s “The Tenant”, I was hooked. When the film recently premiered at the
Toronto Film Festival, reactions were mixed, with some thinking it was a pile
of shit and others thinking it was just amazing. Just knowing that the film is more about the
disintegration of a mind, has me thinking I am going to love this film, but either
way it is going to be interesting to see Rob Zombie’s take on the world of
witches.
This is
the brand new film from Park Chan-Wook and judging by the trailers alone, “Stoker”
looks like a stunning piece of work.
Park Chan-Wook has always been known as a supreme visual stylist and
thankfully that style seems to have made the journey to Hollywood with
him. I have tried to stay away from as
many details about “Stoker” as possible but the film was written by Wentworth
Miller (yes, that Wentworth Miller) and is about the Stoker family who consists
of a mother, Evelyn and her daughter India.
When India’s father passes away, her Uncle Charlie comes to visit the
family, and while he is initially charming, India starts to become suspicious
of Charlie’s true motives for his visit.
From the synopsis alone, it appears as if “Stoker” is taking a page out
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow Of A Doubt” but when the film premiered this past
weekend the person that seemed to be constantly mentioned in reviews was Brian
De Palma. In fact, one review stated
that it was like Park Chan-Wook wanted to out De Palma De Palma at his own
game. This is just music to my ears
because I consider De Palma the greatest living visual stylist in cinema
today. I am so excited for “Stoker” and
the Australian release date of March 28 cannot come soon
enough. I also must mention the cast of
this film which is full of Australians like Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, and Jacki
Weaver, who are joined by Matthew Goode in the role of Uncle Charlie.
Forget
what I just said above! Forget the
pretenders! There is only one Brian De
Palma and he is back! That is right, “Passion”
is the brand new film from De Palma and he finally returns to the thriller
genre that he made his name in with such features as “Dressed To Kill” and “Blow
Out”. The film is actually a remake of
Alain Corneau’s final film, “Crime D’Amour”, which initially worried me because
I thought the original film was just terrible.
Thankfully though from all reports De Palma has made the story all his
own, and while the remake follows the original storyline for the majority of
the first two thirds of the film, apparently the final third is pure De Palma
full of split screens, split diopter shots, and every other visual flourish De
Palma is known for. His familiar themes
also rear their heads too. From all
reports, the story folds in on itself in a combination of dreams and dreams
within dreams, that just sounds magnificent.
Fans of Brian De Palma are falling all over themselves for “Passion”
claiming it to be a fantastic return to form, however like always, critics who
are not enamored by De Palma and his style have been stating the film is an embarrassing
mess. Well since I am definitely in the
former group, I am expecting “Passion” to blow my mind and that is why it is my
most anticipated film of 2013.
Well,
that is it. My enormous round up of the
year that was 2012 is finally over.
Hopefully you enjoyed reading it and got something out of it, but how
about we go back to watching some new films now?
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