REVIEW: Michael Giacchino at 50

Good day to you ladies and gents, how’s it going? Last night I had one of my favourite experiences of 2017 in the form a concert held at the Royal Albert Hall entitled Michael Giacchino at 50.

Image from royalalberthall.com

So what is this event about? Well, essentially it was a concert where you had an orchestra play several pieces of music from the numerous films, TV shows and video games that Giacchino’s score over the years. If you’ve checked out this blog for any amount of time you’ll know I have not only massive love for good film scores, but for Michael Giacchino in particular, so when I heard about this even back in February, I bought my ticket as quickly as possible. And so finally, the time had come yesterday, alas the London Underground was closed by the time I arrived at St Pancras just after 6pm, so I had to use Google Maps to run down to Royal Albert Hall, luckily after taking a few wrong turns and running through a dark park with no lights, I got to the venue with around 30 minutes to spare.

And I’ll say it right now, the concert was frigging awesome! We were introduced to a gentleman with a sousaphone (whose name I cannot recall, unfortunately) who played the birthday song and got the crowd involved. From there we were introduced to Adam Savage, the host for the event and he was wonderfully funny and charismatic, and in between the music, he’d appear in interesting costumes and introduce the special guests too. And speaking of the guests, we got to see several of the directors Giacchino’s worked as well as some actors featured in the films he’s worked on come onstage and share some kind words about Giacchino and his work. There were appearances from Colin Trevorrow, Andrew Stanton, Gareth Edwards, Matt Reeves, Carlton Cuse, Pete Docter, JJ Abrams, Benedict Wong, Raffey Cassidy, and Gonzo too. 😀

So what about the music? Well, it was all delicious! The concert started off perfectly with The Incredibles, taking all of the key themes from film and blending them together to show off the bombastic, sassy, playful and badass music, clearly, the people behind this show knew what the deal was by opening with that Pixar classic. Next up was some music from Medal of Honour, I was never into shooting games but I really felt like I may have missed out on something special as the music had some gorgeous sounds which felt like a mix of Lost and Jurassic Park. Though I don’t recall much from Jupiter Ascending, the music was and still is really intense and wonderful. Jurassic World had some lovely pieces which I had honestly forgotten about, the compositions Giacchino made for that film were so heartfelt and made me almost shed tears. The Marvel suite featured music from the Marvel Studios logo sequence which was great, the awesome sounds of Doctor Strange (mainly “Strange Days Ahead”) and the upbeat and heroic sounds of Spider-Man: Homecoming. The music for Rogue One had a selection of the best material from the middle and final parts of the film which was really special and powerful. And then there was Lost, so glad I watched the first season recently as the piece they used from the end of the first season and it was frigging perfect and made me well up because it was hella beautiful. And so that ended the first half.

In the second half we had some of the key music from Up which was beautifully handled by the orchestra and the string quartet Bond, then there were the humourous sounds of One Man Band and the final piece of Pixar piece was from Ratatouille. From here my memory gets a little hazy so excuse any mistakes I make if you attended and have the programme. There was also a haunting piece from Cloverfield I think before going on to do the sounds from War for the Planet of the Apes which was really dramatic and cool. Next up was the really beautiful sounds of John Carter, I’d honestly had forgotten about that film and hearing that music really brought back some memories of certain scenes I remembered from 2012. Oh, and the sounds from Tomorrowland was quite nice having a hopeful and majestic sound. And then we had the Star Trek suite which had the sounds of the 2009 film, Into Darkness and Beyond which was easily a highlight for me as it is some of my favourite material in any film ever. Then we had Gonzo come along and had some fun with the audience and then did a bit of a duet with Giacchino on “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday” from The Muppets Movie. And the final music was from Super 8 played with some archive footage of Giacchino’s childhood films he made with his friends which were perfect. But it wasn’t over, after a standing ovation we had our first encore was in the form of Speed Racer,  and then the next encore was a preview of Coco which was so playful and catchy and the final encore was from Alias.

Musical highlights:

• The Incredibles
• Jurassic World
• The Marvel Suite
• Lost
• John Carter
• Star Trek Suite
• Coco

Overall Michael Giacchino at 50 was a fabulous session and I was glad I was able to attend, there was a lot of laughs and comedy, and insightful and heartfelt moments from Giacchino, his home movies and the kind words from his friends/work colleagues, and of course the work put in from conductor Ludwig Wicki, the Cinematic Sinfonia and the English Chamber Choir was nothing short of amazing as they brought Giacchino’s music to life in such a special way.

 

PODCAST: Film Focus Episodes 20 & 21: Rogue One & Top 10 Films 2016

Howdy ladies and gents of the internet, as some of you may have seen, last year I started a film podcast entitled Film Focus and on this podcast I talk about various topics in film and reviews as well. Since I never made a post about episode 20, I decided to release both episodes in the same post with the first about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and my Top 10 Films of 2016.

Anyway here’s the episode 20:

And here is episode 21:

I’ve already written about Rogue One and my Top 10 films of last year, I believe my audio commentary on both subjects to be a little more comprehensive, entertaining and possibly funny. I feel like this is some of my best material since I started the podcast and even though I sound a little crazy, I would hope that my podcast would be worth your time.

As I mentioned before in each episode I’ll cover a different topic and since I don’t have much in the way of listeners or promotion, I’m here to spread the word about my podcast. 🙂

You can find my main site on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/film_focus

Or if you’re on iTunes subscribe and rate me on there: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/film-focus/id1114233892?mt=2

So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you can. Also you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining on future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀

 

Top 10 Favourite Films of 2016

Hey, hey, hey ladies and gents, how’s it going? So 2016 is almost over and most of the major film releases have come and gone and while tis year has been a bit on the disappointing side when it comes to some of the major blockbuster films and the summer in particular, there has still been some really cool films that’s dropped this year and I’m here to give you my top 10. Now before we begin know that this is my opinion so don’t get on my case if your films aren’t on my list, okay? Cool, let’s get going

Honorable mentions:

• The Nice Guys
• Deepwater Horizon
• Star Trek Beyond
• Moana
• The Accountant
• Don’t Breathe
• The Edge of Seventeen
• Arrival
• Hunt For the Wilderpeople

10. Green Room

Original review available here

This is a recent entry in my list as I saw it last week and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, I mean I’d heard a lot of good things about this film over the course of this year but when watching it was just super engaged and captivated by the chaos, violence, darkness and the characters. I’m not a fan of horror films at all, but this film had me from beginning to end and I think I liked it more because I went in blind with little information on the story, the performances were all really solid especially from Patrick Stewart, Alia Shawkat, Imogen Poots and the late Anton Yelchin.

9. Hell or High Water

Original review available here

This film was such a nice surprise, it was one of the few films that was hyped up during the early reviews that lived up to the hype. This film was engaging, dramatic and featured incredible performances from Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine especially. I wish more people had seen this film, I recall it being pretty intriguing in the beginning, but it just got better and better and by the end I was loving it.

8. Zootopia

Original review available here

Zootopia was a film I had next to no expectations for, the trailers looked interesting enough but I thought this would just an okay to decent Disney film, and yet it ended up being one Disney’s best films in recent times. This film was fun and colourful little adventure, and yet it did get pretty dramatic, emotional and had a lot of interesting themes and issues that relate to the world we live in today. I loved the characters, animation, soundtrack and the pop culture references, and just the fact that was humour for kids and adults was just want I wanted.

7. Doctor Strange

Original review available here

I really like this film, one of the best aspects was the fact that it was another origin story that was familiar yet unique with its mythology, locations, characters and mystical/supernatural powers and locations. The film had an interesting interpretation of magic, really cool and vivid visual effects, crazy and creative action sequences, a lovely film score and really solid cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

6. Jungle Book

Original review available here

Jungle Book was another one of the best surprises of 2016, I thought the film would be decent, but ti was so much better than I expected and I enjoyed it more than the original in a lot of ways. What I loved about this film was its ability to take the foundation of the orignal cartoon but find ways to modernise it with some updated story and character elements, and by expanding upon a few elements, it made for a more interesting experience with more depth and darkness. The voice cast were great especially Idris Elba as Shere Khan and those visual effects were INSANE, so damn impressive and probably the most realistic talking animals ever produced in film.

5. Midnight Special

Original review available here

I was really annoyed I missed this in the cinema because when I watched it in the summer I enjoyed it so much and it jumped into my top ten immediately. I love sci-fi films and love films with mystery and suspense, and this film had that. I really liked the story and characters just wanted to know how everything would play out, and throughout the film’s engaging and making you question the end game. And while the ending has led some to either love or hate the film, I thought the ending was solid and fascinating, oh and the performances were all really good especially from Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton.

4. Rogue One: A Star War Story

Original review available here

This film has a lot of elements that I would consider to be favourite of the year material, but there are a few minor issues that prevent it from being in my top three. Rogue One presents a side of the Star Wars universe that we’ve not yet seen in live-action, mainly the darker, grittier and realistic side of things. While we know of the tale of how rebels stole the Death Star plans, but we never saw the specifics, and this film told that story in an interesting way which expanded the mythology of SW, showed more the war-like events that take place in this universe and had great ties to the all of the SW films and TV shows. With really impressive visual effects, cool characters, awesome action sequences and one of the most exciting third acts of any film ever, Rogue One ended up being a really good session considering all that the reshoot hullabaloo.

3. Kubo and the Two Strings

Original review available here

Ah Kubo, I really wish more people had seen this film. Laika is a studio that I had a great deal of respect for and ever since Coraline they’ve been delivering new and interesting content in their films in terms of the stories, characters and especially with the animation and this film I think might be their best to date. I saw this film opening day and then again around a month later and still really enjoyed it, besides the gorgeous art direction and animation, the film had a great sense of atmosphere, adventure, playfulness, drama and emotion, with great characters and a story which felt familiar yet had really important themes and mythology thanks to the Japanese setting.

2. Captain America: Civil War

Original review available here

What can I can about this film that hasn’t been said already? Civil War was a damn good time in the cinema and in a lot of ways set a benchmark for not only superhero films and mainstream blockbuster films to follow, and I think a fair amount of people agreed that there wasn’t many, if any films that was able to match the quality that this film provided. Now sure the villain wasn’t the best, there were some convenient plot elements and if you weren’t up to date with the MCU films then you wouldn’t be able to fully invest in the story, but the pros of this film outweigh the cons by miles. This film was dramatic and hilarious, introduced Black Panther in fabulous way and reintroduced the world to Spider-Man, had some incredible action sequences and delivered great fan service for comic book fans. This was easily one of my favourite experiences in the cinema. 😀

1. Sing Street

Original review available here

While I loved Civil War, I think Sing Street just edges it out for being an original film that came out of nowhere as one of the best feel-good films I’ve seen in a while. I had heard a lot of talk online on Collider Movie Talk and Schmoes Know Show about this film so I checked it out in September and was really surprised with how heartfelt, beautiful and fun the film was with its story, characters and soundtrack. It had the right balance of realism and fantastical elements. Oh and can I just mention that soundtrack again, all of the 1980’s choices of songs were great, but its the orignal songs that will make you want to buy the soundtrack, the sounds of “Up” and “Drive It Like You Stole It” are my favourites. 🙂

So that’s my top 10, hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to drop me a comment below, tell me you like my choices or tell me I’m totally wrong, I don’t care. 😛 Anyway thanks for reading and I’ll see ya with new film reviews in 2017! 😀

 

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review

Good day to you ladies and gents, it is review time once again and today I am bringing you my review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, my last most anticipated film of the year. With 2016 nearly over and most of the films of interest having come out already, I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by any more films. And that’s not to say that I wouldn’t be impressed with Rogue One, but I assumed it’d be good but not mind-blowing… Oh how wrong I was. I’m gonna tell you right now, Rogue One was frigging awesome and you should watch it immediately. But in case you need more convincing read on and check out my thoughts in this spoiler-free review! 😀

The story can be summed up as the following:

“Jyn Erso, a Rebellion soldier and criminal, sets out on a life-changing journey with her Rebel allies to find her father and obtain the schematics the Galactic Empire’s superweapon, the Death Star.”

I thought that Rogue One‘s story was really good. As a fan of the film series, I knew how this film would end, but that did not make the journey any less exciting. This is a tale hope and bravery in times of darkness and uncertainty, and while the story has enough familiar elements that allows it to coexist with the main series films, it allows presents a lot that we haven’t seen in a Star Wars film. One of the things I admired early on was how different this film was from the other Star Wars films, especially when it came to the direction, atmosphere and tone. Those key elements felt fresh and unique, and at several points this film felt a lot grittier, dirtier, realistic, dark and dramatic, and there to be honest I got a little emotional during certain sequences. This film certainly adheres to the war genre in really impressive ways, and I won’t ruin anything, but I will say that if you’ve watched any war film, then you’ll notice how well this film handles sense of danger and dread, overwhelming odds, tone and casualties. And there’s also some lovely ties to other SW films and the way it tied into A New Hope was just delightful.

The cast was all so very, very good. What I appreciated about this cast was the fact that they all felt relevant, had moments to shine and were engaging. Firstly there’s Felicity Jones who was just wonderful as Jyn Erso, this lady was strong, courageous, but also relatable and Jones really did well in the role. Diego Luna as Cassian Andor was someone I ended up liking more than I expected, Andor had a fair amount of depth and intelligence to him. Alan Tudyk as K-2SO was awesome, he was a droid who had so many notable/funny moments because of his blunt and unapologetic nature, and Tudyk was just perfect with the timing of his speech. Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook, was a really interesting character who had plenty of interesting, fun and important moments with Ahmed really working well. And then you have Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang as Chirrut Îmwe and Baze Malbus, these two worked well both as individuals and together because of their personality traits and combat capabilities, but also because they were so likable and charming, both Yen and Jiang did really well, but Yen really stood out because of his charisma and martial arts abilities. Mads Mikkelsen as Galen Erso was really good and so was Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, and you also have Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, a man who was strong-willed and cunning, and even though his type of villain has been done before I loved the way Mendelsohn handled the character. There were also some really nice and surprising cameos from certain SW characters and actors which you’ll have to see for yourselves.

When it comes to the presentation it was fantastic! Visually this film is probably the best in the franchise so far, the art direction and use of colour, along with the cinematography and the blending of practical and digital visual effects was on another level. I especially loved the practical effects for the aliens which were really cool, and cinematography which was used to great effect with the sense of scale, tracking shots, and various angles. I adored the action sequences as they varied from firefights to hand-to-hand combat to aerial/space dogfights, all of these sequences are so intense and well-choreographed, and again so different from what we’ve seen in previous SW films. As for the film score from Michael Giacchino, the man worked magic again. Giacchino’s score for Rogue One was epic, whimsical, heartbreaking and full of wonder, and the music captured the spirit of John Williams’ sound while also creating something new as well.

In conclusion Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was just a good time at the cinema and exceeded my expectations in a lot of ways. I had some very, very minor issues with the use of CGI is some places and some pacing nitpicks in the earlier half of the story, but they pale in comparison to how much I enjoyed this film. This film has the right amount of nostalgia as a prequel to A New Hope, but presents so many new elements to this universe at the same time. Rogue One was beautiful, funny, emotional, action-packed, surprising and downright fun especially for fans. I highly recommend the film and can’t wait to see it again in IMAX.

So have you seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or are you going to watch it soon? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK THOUGHTS: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Celebration Reel

Howdy people of the internet, been a bit since I posted anything new so here I am again talking about a trailer, or more so a behind-the-scenes featurette on the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that’ll be showing up in December.Now I’ve been pretty hyped for this film since I saw the leaked footage from Comic-Con last year I think, and after the first trailer game out I got even more excited. But I think it’s the footage that dropped online from Star Wars Celebration that really got me the most giddy so far. 🙂

Check out the video here:

After I saw this yesterday I felt the hype ascend in my soul again haha! 😀 I mean how can you not see that footage and not be anything but excited for this film? That reel pretty much confirmed what we’ve been told this film would be from the beginning; a war film. Rogue One looks rough, dirty, more serious in tone and just from the shots on the beach, the collection of Stormtroopers and other individuals running through explosions, this looks a war film set in the Star Wars universe and I love it.

Just the approach in style, direction, cinematography and use of practical effects is fascinating and feels very different from The Force Awakens where things in this film feel a little more intense and action-packed. It really feels like Gareth Edwards and the rest of the cast and crew know what they’re doing and are creating something familiar yet totally different from what we’ve seen before in the main series of films. And while I usually don’t like to check out how certain films are made because I just like not knowing the details, at the same time it can be very insightful and can give you a greater level of respect for the film you’re watching and I dunno how Edwards and company are keeping such a crazy production in check but they seem to be doing it in such a great way from what I’ve been in this footage.

And speaking of footage look at all that goodness like:

1. Donnie Yen looking all badass and dispatching dudes in only the badass way that he can, love it!
2. Felicity Jones continues to look more and more interesting.
3. The amount of different designs of the human and alien-based characters is varied and cool.
4. Seeing Gareth Edwards behind the camera during some of the key action scenes looked great and its cool to see him actively involved with the camera work.
5. Oh and that cool small creature towards the end of the video who laughed before going back to shooting stuff from that gun, I love him. I have no clue who or what he is but I think he’s now my favourite person since Wicket or Nien Nunb! XD

Anyway, regardless of how Rogue One turns out I’m still glad that the effort was put into this film to make something different and I’m more hopeful than ever that I’ll have a good time in December.

So those are my thoughts, right now I’m on the hype train for this film and the wait for December continues to get harder and harder. 😛 But how about you? Were you impressed with this behind-the-scenes footage or would you have prefered to see a proper trailer instead? Whatever your thoughts be sure to drop them below and I’ll see ya on the next review, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer #1

Howdy ladies and gents, time for another trailer review and today I’m talking about one really exciting trailer because it is the first footage of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For the longest time I’ve wanted to see some footage from this film since it was announced because of the director at the helm and wanted to see how this film would be different from the main series of the films tonally. And in the week when we got the announcement that there’d be a Doctor Strange trailer next week Tuesday, this new trailer just comes out of nowhere and blows up the internet for the fans. So now I just wanted to share my thoughts.on the new trailer, oh and by the way I’m referring to this film as just Rogue One from now on as I currently hate the title for this film.

So here’s the trailer below:

Well this was certainly unexpected, I mean wow, I really liked this trailer. It had the right balance of nostalgia, freshness, mystery, intrigue and action. I really want to see this film even more than before.

It has been said by director Gareth Edwards that this film would be a war film, which would be a first for the Star Wars films series as there hasn’t been a film that’s had a heavy focus on the war side of things, and this trailer certainly looks like it’ll be looking living up war style of film. The funny thing is there was no sign of the Jedi or Sith (more specifically Darth Vader) and yet I was still hooked, and that is impressive to me considering that the Jedi and Sith are my favourite elements of the Star Wars. Visually the film looked like Star Wars but with a gritty/dirty look, sleeker/cleaner visual effects and an intriguing/diverse cast.

Straight from the beginning the tone for this film is fairly serious with the music, and the brief moments of action and chaos, and that’s what I loved so much, the atmosphere in this film feels very different to The Force Awakens or any of the other previous Star Wars films. Things felt tense, dangerous and bleak and I loved it. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the more light-hearted/family friendly adventures, but considering that this film is being described as war film, it feels appropriate. I’m liking Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, she looks cool and interesting, I also like what I saw/heard from Forest Whitaker and Ben Mendelsohn looks as an Imperial admiral, but it’s the small glimpse of Donnie Yen that got me hyped. Just seeing him with some quick action with a staff got me giddy. 🙂

I also really loved the throwbacks to A New Hope with the use of the AT-AT walkers, construction of the Death Star, old Stormtroopers and many other visual easter eggs/references. What these elements established was that we’re clearly still in the same universe as the other films, but that things would be unfolding in a more mature and serious manner than before which excites me because I believe Star Wars as a franchise has reached a point where it needs to evolve/change and do new and interesting things with the mythology, and I believe Rogue One is a step in the right direction.

To conclude the first trailer for Rogue One got me excited in all the right ways. It just enough to tease me about the tone of this film and give me some insight into who some of the key players will be. I believe that this film will surprise people and that Gareth Edwards will do the fans justice with this spin-off film.

So have you seen the first trailer for Rogue One and if so what do you think of it? Are you hyped, underwhelmed or confused by what you’ve seen?  Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop me a comment and I’ll see ya on the next review! 🙂

 

My Top 11 Most Anticipated Films of 2016

Howdy people of the internet, time for the penultimate blog post in this series based on upcoming films in 2016 with my top 11 most anticipated films of the year.  If you haven’t already, check out PART 1, 2 & 3 of my 2016 film preview. It’s a little late considering that we’re three weeks into January, but hey its better late than never right? Unlike last year this year’s list won’t be in any particular order.

Triple Nine

This is a film I’ve been looking forward to for a good while, I just like the concept of the story and the blackmail and corruption involved, plus the choice of actors and actresses is so good and its crazy to see some of these TV and film stars together in one place. I’m really interested in seeing how these actors come together especially when it comes to Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Anthony Mackie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I believe my hype for this film has dropped a good deal since the release of the second trailer, but my hype for the film isn’t dead. For me what I like about this film so far is the initial tension between Bruce and Clark, the differences in their ideals, their main confrontation and the amount of chaotic action that ensues. But I am concerned about Lex Luthor, what will happen after the Batman and Superman beef is over with the Doomsday Troll monster and how this film will introduce Wonder Woman and the other Justice League members, but here’s hoping it’ll work out and be badass.

Deadpool

When it comes to Deadpool I am a massive fan of the character and his insane backstory, self-aware humour, violent and crazy personality. And for the longest time I’ve wanted to see a proper live-action version of this character and the trailers so far seem to be delivering all of the action, humour and violence that the character’s been known for. That being said I am concerned for the humour and the sexual references and I hope that the film will have better humour than most adult comedies.

Free State of Jones

Since I saw the trailer for this I’ve been very intrigued, not only does the subject matter make for an interesting tale in film, but I’m also very curious to see what the cast do with this material and whether it’ll be as dramatic and emotionally engaging as I hope it’ll be.

The Jungle Book

This film just has me full of curiosity and fascination, having a live-action/CGI hybrid adaptation of The Jungle Book is bizarre to me, but seeing the trailers leads me to believe that it’ll be cinematic experience worth seeing in the opening weekend. So far I’m liking the incredible visuals and the impressive voice cast as well, I can only hope that this film will be just as, if not more successful than Cinderella.

Suicide Squad

I’ve already said how much I’m looking forward to this film, but for the sake of this post I’ll mention it again, I am really looking forward to this. The concept of getting some villains and forcing them to work together on a dangerous mission that could involve death has my interest. But more so than that I want to see if David Ayer can make these characters work because if so then the possibilities for future DC films are endless.

The Girl on the Train

I haven’t even seen a trailer for this film, but the story and cast members Emily Blunt and Rebecca Ferguson has my attention so that I don’t need any more of a reason to watch this. I can only hope the subsequent trailers and eventual film will be worth the wait.

Star Wars: Rogue One

Also known as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (still is a horrible name) is the next Star Wars film, it’s a spin-off/prequel and there’s a lot of hype and speculation behind this from fans and critics. Since it’s set before A New Hope I’m curious to see what kind of stakes the heroes will take on and there are questions to ask like: 1) Who will survive? 2) What original characters will make cameos? 3) Will Darth Vader make an appearance? 4) Will there be any tie-ins to Episodes VII, VIII and IX? Regardless of the answers I’m curious to see what Gareth Edwards does with this film and what Donnie Yen will do in the film as well.

Doctor Strange

So Doctor Strange, ah man, I have so much hype for this film its mad. Marvel Studios have taken a good deal of risks over the years with Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy and recently with Ant-Man, and each of those films have introduced some new and creative elements to not only the MCU, but also to superhero films in general and I believe this film won’t be any different. Doctor strange is one of the most interesting character with his characters, backstory and mythos relating to the villains, different realms and magical abilities. I want to see how the supernatural elements get incorporated into the MCU and if this film is good then I’m gonna freak out yo!

Bourne 5

It’s the return of the Bourne series, with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, what’s not to like? I know I never wanted a sequel to Ultimatum, but hell if Greengrass and Damon have a relevant story that they feel like telling that would further this franchise want to see it.

Captain America: Civil War

And of course I had to have Civil War on this list. 🙂 The MCU has been forming nicely over the years and while not all of the films have been hits, the Captain America series so far has done well especially with Winter Soldier and Civil War may be the best entry in the trilogy. This film looks to change the way the heroes function in the world with superhero accountability from the government and pitting Cap against Iron Man for a superhero royal rumble. With friends on opposing sides, new heroes like Black Panther and Spider-Man showing up and a tone similar to Winter Solider, I believe that this will be the ultimate Marvel sequel. Now I got overly hyped about Age of Ultron, so I’m learning to manage my expectations, but I believe the Russo brothers and Marvel Studios have gotten this one right though.

So that’s my top 11 list done, hope you enjoyed my choices. So what are your most anticipated films of 2016 and are any of your entires on my list? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see you on the next post, laters! 😀

 

Films To Look Out For In 2016 Part 3

Howdy people of the interweb and welcome to Films to look out for in 2016! This is my preview of upcoming films that I believe deserve your attention. In PART 1 I covered films from January to March, in PART 2 I’ll covered April to July and in this post I’ll be covering July to December. This was actually meant to be out sooner but I’ve been a little busy as of recent haha.

Now before we begin I have two main things I need yo point out:

1. Obviously a lot films come out, so if they’re not on my list it’s either because I don’t know about them or I don’t care…
2. 2015 films getting their UK releases this year don’t count! So there. 😛

Okay then, let’s start 😀

Suicide Squad

Release Date: August 5th (USA & UK)

Trailer:

Man I’m so curious about this film. After the trailer was released my interest in the film went way up to the point where I’m more hyped to see this film over Batman V Superman. I just like the concept of seeing a group of misfit bad guys come together and form a team and see what kind of madness ensues. I like the cast including Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Will Smith and Viola Davis among some others, the action and character development look solid and if handled correctly this could open so many doors for other potential DC properties in the near future.

The Infiltrator

Release Date: August 31st (USA)

There’s no UK release date for this one yet, but I like the sound of the premise plus we can never have enough of crime thrillers and Bryan Cranston yo.

Sully

Release Date: September 9th (USA), December 2nd (UK)

Any time Clint Eastwood has a new film coming out it has my interest and while not all of his recent films have been hits, they are at least worth checking out for the source material he draws from or the acting talent he’s able to bring on board.

The Magnificent Seven

Release Date: September 23rd (USA & UK)

I find it crazy that this film even exists. A lot of people I know (my parents included) tell me that the original Magnificent Seven is loved and highly regarded and to add on top of that Seven Samurai the original film that started it all is regarded as one of the best films ever, so to know that there’s another version coming out just seems unnecessary. But with a cast including Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onofrio, I’m down for it.

The Girl on the Train

Release Date: October 7th (USA & UK)

I’ve heard news about this on Collider Movie Talk a few months back and I definitely want to see how it turns out considering the fact that it’s a mystery thriller, it’s directed the man who did “The Help” and “Get On Up” and it also stars Emily Blunt and Rebecca Ferguson, mate I’m all in!

The Accountant

Release Date: October 7th (USA), November 4th (UK)

This is a another film with an interesting premise and good cast too, I like thrillers and this film has great selection of talent including Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal and Cynthia Addai-Robinson from Arrow, yo this film has my attention yo. 🙂

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Release Date: October 21st (USA & UK)

I really enjoyed Jack Reacher back in 2013, it was the better of the recent Tom Cruise films that wasn’t Mission Impossible 4, plus it was just a little different to come of the other Cruise performances that I’d seen. And while I didn’t need a sequel I am interested to see where the sequel goes, I just hope that director Edward Zwick can liven up this sequel and make it better than then the last.

Doctor Strange

Release Date: November 6th (USA), October 28th (UK)

I have a lot of hope for this film, while I’ve never been a big fan of Doctor Strange I have come to appreciate his talents in the Marvel comics and animated material since the latter side of my teen years, and now that he’s coming to Marvel his an actor like Benedict Cumberbatch playing th title character, I’m all over this. I really want to see Marvel Studios commit to the magical/supernatural side of things that’ll make Asgard and the Microverse feel so normal by comparison.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Release Date: November 18th (USA & UK)

Trailer:

I am very curious to see how this film turns out, unlike the Harry Potter films very I was aware of the source material before the films came out, this on the other hand is completely alien to me. The teaser didn’t wow me and I’m not sure about the premise either, but since it is coming from author J.K. Rowling and stars Eddie Redmayne I’m willing to give this film a chance.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Release Date: December 16th (USA & UK)

Rogue One is an interesting film for several reasons: 1) It is the first spin-off film in the franchise. 2) It’s plot about stealing the Death Star plans ties directly into A New Hope. And 3) It feels more like a heist/war film which is different for the Star Wars films series. This film has me excited for all of those reasons, but in addition to that we have Gareth Edwards at the helm who has done good work with Monsters and Godzilla (2014) and I want to see what his creative mind can apply to Star Wars, but add on top of that talent like Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen and Benicio del Toro and you have a film I need in my system sooner rather than later.

Assassin’s Creed

Release Date: December 21st (USA), December 30th (UK)

Much like Warcraft this film needs to be successful if we’re to see more video game adaptations in the future. I’m hopeful for it with Michael Fassbender as  the lead with Marion Cotillard, Michael K. Williams, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson involved I’m all over this. The AC games have such a great and rich mythos to draw from, I just hope that it gets adapted well with good action sequences, lovely locations and cinematography.

Passengers

Release Date: December 21st (USA) December 23rd (UK)

This is one of those films I heard about and as soon as the cast got attached I was all over it. I love space-based stories and this one sounds super interesting and with Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen and Laurence Fishburne attached, I’m hyped for this one.

So finally that’s PART 3 done. Thanks a lot for reading. Are any of the films listed on your personal list of films to watch? Whatever your thoughts are be sure to drop them below and coming back to see my Most Anticipated Films of 2016! Laters 😀