Make A Dredd Sequel

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I lurve Karl Urban! So I waited in anticipation through the development of Dredd, culminating in one of the best sci-fi, action films of the last few years. A gritty, gory and downright iconic take on one of comic books most prolific lawmen.

The fact that it seemed to only be shown in 3D (I believe there were a few 2D showings around the country but not many – I know I certainly didn't get the choice here) may have hurt box office ratings a little, but overall the film didn't seem to make the impact it should have. Which I am gutted about personally...

With the release on blu ray and DVD it seemed to have been given a shot in the arm, frequently hitting #1 spots on best-seller lists online. Too little, too late it seemed. However there is still a huge following desperate to see this sequel happen. If you want to add your name to the list pop over to the online petition over at Judge Dredd creators 2000 AD who are still collecting signatures.

This recent and beautifully created fan video, featuring a singing 'Karl Urban' and 'Sylvester Stallone', proudly extends our firm wishes for a sequel to come to fruition. And soon!

I AM THE LAW!

August Reviews

Well, I don't seem to have that much to write about this month - after seeing only seven films during the whole time. Of those, I may have been a little biased towards Marvel's shot-in-the-dark (which seems to have payed off - reaching over $610 million worldwide so far) Guardians of the Galaxy, seeing it four times out of the total seven!

Guardians of the Galaxy IMAX 3D
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Purge: Anarchy
Guardians of the Galaxy D-Box 3D
Guardians of the Galaxy
Lucy
The Expendables 3

Still, the other couple of films managed to catch my attention enough to not see Guardians again. Read on to see if that was a good idea or not...

July Reviews

July was filled with doubles, with four of the ten already reviewed in previous months. There was still a good selection of others that I saw, from blockbusters to indies, that kept a dynamic balance.

3 Days to Kill
Edge of Tomorrow 3D
Maleficent
The Anomaly
How to Train Your Dragon 2 IMAX 3D
Tammy
22 Jump Street
Begin Again
Earth to Echo
Transformers: Age of Extinction 3D

Read on for the reviews.

June Reviews

After a quiet couple of months, I caught up a bit more managing to fit in 22 films in June. Helped by the influx of movies seen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (which won't be detailed in this review, but will have their own reviews as I see them – links below).

Edge of Tomorrow
Bad Neighbours
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Fruitvale Station
Belle
22 Jump Street
How to Train Your Dragon 2 3D
X-Men: Days of Future Past 3D
The Art of the Steal
Oculus
Chef
Cold in July

A couple of trips over to Edinburgh for the International Film Festival took up a couple of weekends and I managed to fit in a few films. Click on the links below for reviews for each film or for the round up at the end.

Greyhawk
The Skeleton Twins
Palo Alto
The Green Inferno
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Snowpiercer
The House of Magic 3D
A Dangerous Game
Joe
Miss Zombie
EIFF Digest

Once Upon A Dream

My second Top Pick is probably the most personal for me. I started watching this when I was very young, thanks to my mum. While she worked from home, and with a video recorder that would automatically stop and rewind a video when it reached the end, I would sit and watch this one over and over and over again. As with many of the films I watched when I was young, it was Disney.

This was Disney’s last film to use hand-inked cels for its animation process and was inspired by medieval art, stylised to match the period that the film was set. It was also the last adaptation of a fairytale for many years within the Disney roster. And although there are many more amazing Disney movies out, of which many people believe are superior to this one, through rose-tinted glasses perhaps I will always believe this one to be the best.

EIFF: Joe

Sat 28 June

This is one I have been looking forward to as well. After a spate of less than great movies, Nicolas Cage steps into his grizzly, aging boots and stamps all over your face with awesomeness. Apart from a few moments, Cage is on top form, supported by the equally able newbie Tye Sheridan (both pictured below). You may even recall I mentioned Sheridan before as one to watch out for.

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Back water convict Joe is just trying to get by and trying to put his rough past behind him. Unfortunately trouble has a way of finding him anyway and anger management is not his strong suit. When youngster, Gary, turns up looking for some work, Joe is eager to help. However family troubles follow the boy and Joe can’t help but get mixed up in them, leading to some truly tense confrontations.

EIFF: Snowpiercer

Sun 22 June

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As I have mentioned before (even back in January), my anticipation levels for this film by Bong Joon-ho have been sky high. So to start off, all I can say is it did not disappoint. In fact it took my expectations and blew them out the water! Easliy heading towards the top of my list of favourite films of the year so far.

Snowpiercer, based on the French graphic novel 'Le Transperceneige', is a dystopian sci-fi set within the confines of a train. After a catastrophic ice age hits the planet (brought on by human intervention), this train carries the last of humanity on a never-ending journey around the world. Class wars still carry on, with those at the front of the train sipping champagne and dancing the night away, while those at the tail end of the train struggle for survival and dignity.

EIFF: The Skeleton Twins

Sat 21 June

This showing was heralded as the European premiere and director Craig Johnson was in attendance to introduce the film and answer questions in a Q&A at the end. Unfortunately booked travel meant I couldn’t stick around for that.

The story revolves around estranged twins, Maggie (Kristen Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader) who are brought back together after trying to commit suicide, coincidentally on the same day. Dark secrets lead to a troubled reunion though and it isn’t long before those secrets start to break down the strong façades of homemaker Maggie and underachieving Milo, dragging those around them into a dark cycle of hurt and distrust including Maggie’s husband, her scuba instructor and an old school teacher.

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EIFF: Greyhawk

Sat 21 June

Taking place on the troublesome Greyhawk Estate, blinded war veteran, Mal, loses his best friend and guide dog, Quince, after a run in with the local teen tearaways. Assuming the worst, Mal must find his beloved dog before leaving the estate permanently in a few days time. A struggle for someone with no sight and made no easier by the mostly disillusioned residents of the estate. An encounter with pitying, single mother Paula, provides the elusive lead Mal needs.

Director Guy Pitt and writer Matt Pitt, along with stars Alec Newman and Zoe Telford were on hand to answer questions after the film, giving an in-depth background to the origin of the story and character. As well as the ‘training’ Newman received in order to provide a believably blind character.

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2014

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After such a good experience at my first film festival (Glasgow Film Festival 2014) finding some unique and little heard of gems, I decided that the EIFF was the next logical step. The original plan had been to take in a couple of films this year, however once the programme was released I soon found I was having to cut down the list considerably to a total of ten films!

To my delight, the line up held one of my most anticipated films of the year - Snowpiercer. A film which has been having troubles distribution wise, finally getting its UK premiere through the festival. A few others which I had been watching in the works were there as well, filling out three days worth of showings. I will also be catching up with Elijah Wood at Empire and EIFF's Hero Hangout.

Here is the list of events on the agenda. Links will be added as they become available.

Greyhawk
The Skeleton Twins

Palo Alto
The Green Inferno
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Snowpiercer

EIFF & Empire Present Hero Hangout: Elijah Wood

The House of Magic 3D
A Dangerous Game
Joe
Miss Zombie

May Reviews

After an unprecedented six week hiatus from the big screens (didn't see one film during April!), I finally got back to the cinema and started a catch up, even if it is a slow one. Six films seems like a poor show. It did include two of my most anticipated films of the year though – the latest entry into the X-Men franchise and the story of one of Disney's most dastardly villains, Maleficent.

Brick Mansions
Transcendence
X-Men: Days of Future Past 3D
The Other Woman
Godzilla 3D
Maleficent 3D

So to get on with it, here's what I thought about these few.

There is No Spoon

My top films of all time do not cover a huge range - mostly sci-fi, adventure, animation and back round to sci-fi again and again. I thank my parents for that, TV and movie entertainment included mostly Star Trek, Star Wars, Terminator, Farscape, Stargate, Andromeda, and you can see where this list is going... So I guess it was only natural I follow in those futuristic, space venturing footsteps!

So it should be no surprise that the first film to add to my Top Picks is one that has featured on many lists of greatest sci-fi films of all time and in 2012 was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for preservation - of which only 25 films per year are picked for their 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant' content.

February Flies By

Nearly a third of the way to my target of 150 films of the year so far, with thanks to the spectacular Glasgow Film Festival. So I may need to up the ante and make that target a bit higher, we'll see how things go. The films of the GFF have already been reviewed day to day during the festival itself, so I don't need to say anymore here - follow the links though to travel straight through the interwebs to the review of that specific film!

I, Frankenstein 3D
Lone Survivor
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Grudge Match
Beetlejuice
American Hustle
Mr Peabody and Sherman 3D
The Invisible Woman
RoboCop
The Lego Movie 3D
That Awkward Moment
The Monuments Men
Her
The Lego Movie
A New York Winter's Tale
Only Lovers Left Alive

And from the Glasgow Film Festival - follow the links to find their reviews

The Girl From The Wardrobe
LFO
A Long Way Down
The Congress
The Lunchbox
Exhibition
Metalhead
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
Unforgiven
Concussion
Almost Human
Benny and Jolene
Glasgow Film Festival Digest – a round up of all films

Glasgow Film Festival Digest

Well that's it all over for this year and I am thoroughly looking forward to next year, when hopefully I won't have other plans already in place taking up precious film watching time and will be able to squeeze in a few
more. This year anyway was filled with feel-goods, creepers and dramas, including

The Girl from the Wardrobe – a heartwarming Polish dramedy
LFO – a dark Swedish indie sci-fi
A Long Way Down – British comedy adaptation of Nick Hornby novel
The Congress – cross-continental dystopian live action/animation
The Lunchbox – a feel-good Indian romantic drama
Exhibition – a cold British drama about middle-class problems
Metalhead – an Icelandic heavy metal drama
Drew: The Man behind the Poster – documentary
Unforgiven – a samurai version of classic Clint Eastwood Oscar winner
Concussion – family drama
Almost Human – sci-fi horror from the US
Benny & Jolene – a charming British indie rom-com

GFF: Day Seven

Final day of the Glasgow Film Festival and I've thoroughly enjoyed the varied selection of films seen over the last week and a half, especially seeing as this was my first time actively pursuing the showings (I did see Hamlet 2, a few years back which just happened to be part of the GFF that particular year). So to finish off my run I picked up the Frightfest leftover Almost Human and lastly British indie rom-com Benny & Jolene.

GFF: Day Six

Second last day of the festival and I only had the one showing again today, the dark family drama Concussion, starring two actresses who I know well from the TV series 'Sons of Anarchy', Robin Weigert and Maggie Siff (in a lesser part). Therefore was looking forward to this one.

GFF: Day Five

Back in after work today again and only one film. This one was a remake (or a new version, might be more appropriate) of the 1992 Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood starring Western Unforgiven. Having never seen that one before, I took a couple of hours earlier in the week to watch it. So it was fresh in my memory when seeing this new take by director Sang-Il Lee.

GFF: Day Four

After a great day yesterday, it was back to work today at my job as a graphic designer and therefore could only manage one film, Drew: The Man behind the Poster, played at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (with the worst seats for a movie!). As the day job and hobbies, that include painting and drawing, suggests I was most interested in this one...

GFF: Day Three

Time off the day job to spend most of the day in the cinema - good times! Three festival films crowded my afternoon including the debut feature of Mumbai's Ritesh Batra, The Lunchbox; Joanna Hogg's third feature Exhibition and Icelandic director Ragnar Bragason's Metalhead. And then for good measure I slipped in another regular release that I'll write up in my end of month reviews.

An interesting day really, which included my favourite and least favourite films of the festival so far.

GFF: Day Two

After a couple of days away, I can finally get back to the wonderful line-up of the Glasgow Film Festival. So even though this is actually Day 6 of the festival, this is only the second day I have managed to catch any films. So after a long day at work I caught The Congress on the big screen, having disappointingly missed out on the Tron showing at the Glue Factory due to technical difficulties when booking. Finished off the evening with another regular release which I'll review later.

A measly one festival film today however I mean to make up for my poor show with three more festival showings and an extra one on regular release today.

GFF: Day One

Although I couldn't make the Opening Gala, I was glad to be able to get my schedule started on the Friday. The three films for the day included Polish heartwarmer and debut feature for Bodo Kox, The Girl from the Wardrobe; followed up by Swedish indie sci-fi LFO and finishing the run with the biggest of the three films today based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name, A Long Way Down.

A couple of days away means the next film I get to see is Tuesday. In the mean time, here's what I thought of these films.

Glasgow Film Festival is Nearly Here

With January reviews already up and February not due until the beginning of March, I'm going to make an exception for those films seen during the festival. With tickets already booked I hope to have reviews up as the films are seen day to day.

I've covered a varied selection of films including foreign language, documentary, horror, sci-fi and drama. Although less than I would have liked to, due to other plans already in place meaning there are a few days I won't be able to see any showings. Those that I can make though I am thoroughly looking forward to.

Roll on Friday!

January Goes Boom

Well, I may have missed out on my target last year but with a start this good for 2014, I think I'm going to blow that target of 150 films out of the water! With a grand total of 20 films in this one month alone, the pressure is off. My lack of extra spending money will no doubt help, as I won't be able to go anywhere else in case of the expense. So the films seen this past month include:

American Hustle
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D
All Is Lost
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Last Vegas
47 Ronin
Blue Jasmine
Gravity
Devil's Due
Delivery Man
12 Years a Slave
Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus
American Hustle
Philomena
The Railway Man
August: Osage County
The Wolf of Wall Street
Cuban Fury (preview)
Only Lovers Left Alive (preview)
Inside Llewyn Davis

Now a few of these were released before the New Year and some are second viewings but overall it was a great selection with a lot of awards contenders showing up in the mix. Big cheers go to ShowFilmFirst.com and Total Film with a couple of preview showings at the end of the month too.

Best Film of 2013

Finally we make it to the last category and arguably the most important one. With this list you have to take into consideration the films I’ve missed during the year and the fact that this is just my own opinion. No need to take it so seriously!

It has been great fun going back through all the films of 2013, working out which ones I've still to get on DVD/Blu Ray and which ones I should be telling anyone who will listen to avoid. So I'll shut up now and get on with it, here are my favourite films of 2013!

Best Actor of 2013

Here I take into consideration both leading and supporting roles of all the films these actors have featured in this past year. So it covers their range rather than one specific performance, sometimes you will find someone that will only have one credit but is too powerful in that part to pass by.

Click on the [OR] link next to particular films to find the original reviews I wrote at the time of their release. Not all will have them.

Worst Film of 2013

Out of the 138 films I saw over the year, these are the ones that annoyed me the most. Whether it is because of the poor plot or poor characters, these films were pretty disastrous in my eyes and with an Unlimited Card I am pretty stoked I didn't really pay to see these.

Most Disappointing Films of 2013

This category does not necessarily mean the film is bad, some are still pretty good, however this selection includes the films I personally felt could have been better. My reasoning behind some of these may seem silly but are here because I was expecting more.

Most Surprising Films of 2013

Let the awards commence!

This selection relates to the films that I had low expectations for or ones that I hadn't really thought much about before going to see the release in the cinema. Invariably some are going to disappoint, however this list is for the ones that managed to change my mind for the better before the end credits rolled. So let’s start the countdown.

Elle Mo's Definitive Lists of 2013

With the end of 2013 just past and awards season already underway, I'm taking a moment to go back through the films I saw over the last year and categorise them for your viewing pleasure. Taking into account I have not seen every film that came out in 2013, missing out on big and small ones, such as blockbuster Pacific Rim and Flight down to the minor releases like Only God Forgives and Stoker. If only my full time job didn’t get in the way!

As the films I am including in my lists only include ones seen between January and December of 2013, there are many of the award contenders up for nomination at the moment that won't be included as they were released in January 2014. 

So find out which films annoyed me the most and which actors kept me going back to the screens over and over. Also have a think about what you would place in each of the following categories and feel free to let me know how far off the mark you think I am.

Most Surprising

Most Disappointing

Worst Film

Best Actor

Best Film

First category coming up very soon!

All I Want For Christmas: December

Target missed! Across the year I managed a total of 138 films watched on the big screen, 12 off my target of 150. Still there's always next year!

During that last month of 2013 I did still manage 13, but as usual last minute shopping, tidying and decorating messed with the timetable so a few films were left to be picked up in the new year.

Thor: The Dark World
Gravity 3D
Jeune et Jolie
Carrie
Oldboy
Saving Mr. Banks
Nebraska
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug IMAX 3D
Frozen 3D
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Anchorman 2 The Legend Continues
Frozen 3D

A good selection of films this month - animation, horror, drama - and although I enjoyed most of them, there wasn't really any that stood out from the rest. Looking forward though, there are plenty awards contenders coming up which will hopefully raise the bar and start off the new year with a bang.