August 2013 – What happens in the Kremlin stays in the Kremlin

To say that Summer 2013 has been a disappointment would be something of an understatement.

And it wasn’t just the studios that suffered with poor box office receipts; audiences got very little for the money they did spend. Man Of Steel was terrible, Star Trek Into Darkness was forgettable, and the less said about Despicable Me 2 the better.

Things started to look up last month with The Wolverine, a film that was far more enjoyable than it should have been, and, it’s a relief to report, August has continued to bring the season back from the brink. The way, way back.

Granted, there were a few misfires — including Only God Forgives, Kick-Ass 2, Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters, The Heat and 2 Guns — but each at least had its moments. Except for The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, with was quite simply a complete waste of time.

For the most part, however, August was a total joy. RED 2 got things off to a terrific start, while between them The Conjuring and Elysium made sure that there was always something in the cinema worth watching. Even We’re The Millers managed to impress, pretty much the first comedy of the year to do so. Even the usually insufferable Greta Gerwig raised a smile thanks to Frances Ha.

Two films in particular were so good that they went straight into my top five of 2013 so far. The first was Blackfish, a truly harrowing indictment of SeaWorld’s treatment of its orcas. The second couldn’t have been any more of a contrast: The Way, Way Back was an incredibly charming coming-of-age fiction about one boy’s self-discovery on holiday. I also took the opportunity to rewatch Jurassic Park in IMAX 3D.

This month I also attended JAM Film Festival at Tulibole Castle just outside of Kinross. The line-up included Premium Rush, The Breakfast Club and Cabin In The Woods (screened in a tent in the woods), in addition to Good Vibrations and My Cousin Vinnie, which I’d never seen before. While for HeyUGuys I reviewed Richard Curtis’ About Time, listed the top ten cinematic siblings and interviewed the Silibil ‘n’ Brains from The Great Hip-Hop Hoax.

Over at Finding A Neish I documented two disastrous job interviews, wrote about a visit to the aptly named Rejects department store in Kirkcaldy and looked back over my time as a Forces brat.

It’s been a busy month, then, but a memorable one too.

Film of the month: Blackfish

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

It’s been several years since Dave “Kick-Ass” Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) blew Chris D’Amico’s (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) crime boss father up with a rocket launcher, and he has spent that time training in hand-to-hand combat with Mindy “Hit-Girl” Macready (Chloë Grace Moretz). Their costumed antics have meanwhile inspired imitators, and when Mindy renounces crime-fighting at her step-father’s behest to focus on her studies, Dave joins Justice Forever in order to stop Chris’ own super team, The Toxic Mega-C*nts, from blowing up the city. As useful as Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and Doctor Gravity (Donald Faison) are in a fight, however, Dave will need Mindy back if he is to succeed.

When Kick-Ass opened back in 2010, a full decade into the recent superhero resurgence, it famously subverted the genre to shocking effect, leading The Daily Mail to denounce it as twisted and cynical. Audiences had seen Doctor Octopus massacre a room full of surgeons, Doctor Manhattan reduce helpless people to wallpaper paste and the absolute horror that was 2005’s Elektra, but they still weren’t ready to hear a little girl say a naughty word. Didn’t South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut teach us anything?

Kick-Ass 2 is likely to prove just as controversial, if not more so, but for slightly different reasons. If anything the genre as a whole has become even more far removed from reality than it already was, with the once typical violence now being toned down to ludicrous degrees. The superhero movies of the last three years have seen gods skirmish, robots clash and aliens invade with nary a casualty in sight. Christopher Nolan traded ideas instead of blows, while the writers of Man Of Steel have spent the months since its release reassuring audiences that while the bad guy may have leveled an entire city nobody was actually hurt.

In a landscape in which good and evil have become almost meaningless concepts (in X-Men: First Class characters changed sides faster than they could change costumes), it’s once again up to comic book creator Mark Miller to put things right. Justice Forever is comprised of people wanting to help others — Remembering Tommy are a mother/father duo disillusioned by the police’s efforts to find their missing son; Insect Man is taking the fight against homophobia a little more literally than most — while The Toxic Mega-C*nts are genuinely, disgustingly vile — they torture, rape and murder, and they’re serious enough about it not to call themselves Toad or The Abomination.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse return as Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Red Mist (now The Motherf*cker) respectively, and though their characters have apparently been treading water for the last few years they each slot straight back into their roles, and have new arcs to keep them busy for the duration of the sequel. Taylor-Johnson — now married with kids — somehow still convinces as a hapless teen, unlucky in love and even unluckier in a fight, but once again it is Moretz and Mintz-Plasse who steal the show, the former shining during a slumber-party subplot (a veritable warm-up for Carrie) while the latter gamely hides his McLovin’ persona under layers and layers of his mother’s PVC.

But while Kick-Ass 2 is just as subversive, sick and well-stocked as the original, it is nowhere near as surprising. Wadlow’s script has all of the foul-mouthed one-liners and fan-sating pop-culture references that you could want from a Kick-Ass movie, but elsewhere it falls completely flat, stumbling over exposition and resorting to repetition when it seems to run out of things to say. There are a few exchanges between Dave and Mindy that don’t make any sense at all, while the new additions to the cast get little more to work with than their admittedly amazing names (Night Bitch being a personal favourite), which of course were provided by Millar.

Kick-Ass 2 is a very entertaining movie; it has the same colourful characters, the same bloody action sequences and the same scrappy spirit, once again succeeding in making the most realistic superhero movie possible, right down to the scene in which Dave recognises his friend, even despite the mask. That said, there’s no getting away from the fact that the sequel is not as punchy, well-conceived or revelatory as Matthew Vaughn’s original.  But then it doesn’t have to be, just so long as it kicks ass.

Ten 2013 Movies That Can’t Come Quickly Enough

With only one of my predicted favourites making last year’s list of ten best films (and Resident Evil: Retribution ranking among the worst) you may well question my ability to forecast the hits ahead. I certainly do. Nevertheless, here are ten of the movies I am most looking forward to in 2013…

Les Misérables

Straddling years thanks to its 2012 release in the U.S., Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the famous musical makes this list on account of my having not seen it yet. Attracting rave reviews and awards nominations the world over, the film is set to become something of a modern classic, with particular attention being paid to Hooper’s decision to have his cast sing their lines live on set. The trailer alone is something to be cheered, so there is every chance that Les Misérables could be the best Hollywood musical of the year; maybe even since South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

Warm Bodies

Starring Nicholas Hoult as lovestruck zombie R, a victim of an apocalyptic outbreak that has left America in ruin, the film follows his special relationship with a human survivor. As feeling returns to his undead body, his romantic resurrection sets off a chain reaction that might just save the day. Originally dismissed as Twilight with zombies (by me, at least), the trailers have instead shown it to be something more. Something funnier. A rom-zom-com from Jonathan Levine, based on the best-selling novel by Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies could well be the Shaun Of The Dead/Zombieland of 2013.

Stoker

With a script from Wentworth Miller, a cast that includes her from Alice In Wonderland, and a name that implies yet more vampires are on the way, you could be forgiven for thinking Stoker might be some sort of stinker. It turns out that being on the “Black List” is actually a good thing, however, and every indication is that Stoker is set to be something truly special indeed. The film — part family drama, part psychological thriller — co-stars Matthew Goode and Nicole Kidman, and is directed by celebrated South Korean director Park Chan-wook.

The Croods

Although initially tempted to award all three 2013 DreamWorks Animated releases a place on this list, I instead decided to settle for the first set to reach audiences: March’s The Croods. Telling the story of a cautious cave-family forced to venture from their home by an earthquake, the film looks set to combine state-of-the-art animation, accomplished storytelling and lively characters in the vein of past successes How To Train Your Dragon and Rise Of The Guardians. An original tale, The Croods looks both more interesting and exciting than Pixar’s upcoming retread of Monsters Inc.

Iron Man 3

Wherever it might have ranked in your own top ten, there is simply no denying that Marvel’s Avengers Assemble was one of the most enjoyable films of last year. With the group-members each going their separate ways come film’s end, it will be interesting to see just how well the individuals fare without their team-mates there to help them out, both in the ring and at the international box office. First up is Iron Man, and while for years Tony Stark was the golden-boy of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, that all changed with Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk. Whether it sinks or swims, this will be the one to watch come April.

Fast And Furious 6

While you could argue that there has never been a truly awful instalment in the Fast and Furious franchise, until 2011’s Fast Five it would have been equally difficult to argue that there had ever been a particularly good one either. The previous instalment changed that, with the focus shifting from races to a more traditional action adventure format, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson bringing some much-needed charisma to a cast sorely lacking in it. Once again directed by Justin Lin, Fast and Furious 6 will be the first of two parts written by Chris Morgan to bring some closure to the series. It will also add Luke Evans and Gina Carano to the cast, and mark the return of Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz after her picture was glimpsed at the end of the previous movie.

After Earth

While there are those that have given up on  once-prolific director M. Night Shyamalan (many long, long ago), I for one have not. Sure, The Lady In The Water was slow, The Happening was ridiculous and The Last Airbender was childish, but they were by no means badly made movies. They were just badly written. With After Earth — a post-apocalyptic action adventure that stars Will and Jaden Smith as a father and son stranded on a long-abandoned earth — however, Shyamalan has left writing duties to someone else. The trailer looks very promising indeed.

Much Ado About Nothing

Filmed in his own home between his commitments on Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (itself destined to be rapturously received), Joss Whedon drew on his pool of actors from his beloved television shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse to make an ultra low-budget adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Screened at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the movie drew acclaim from numerous critics for its wit, ingenuity and originality. All established Whedon trademarks.

Kick-Ass 2

In a landscape as saturated as the superhero genre it is very difficult for any one movie to stand out, largely because it is either a reboot, sequel or adaptation, but also because so many of the established characters are so very similar. Nevertheless, Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman’s Kick-Ass made something of a splash in 2010 for its adult language, extreme violence and for a subversive streak that was about a mile wide. The sequel, previously subtitled Balls To The Walls, looks set to develop on the success of the first movie. While this time not directed by Vaughn (who inherited and later abandoned the X-Men franchise too), Kick-Ass 2 will reunite the original’s cast to hopefully hilarious effect.

Gravity

Although not without some bite, 2001’s Y Tu Mamá También seems a million movie miles from Gravity, the latest film to be directed by Mexican maestro Alfonso Cuarón. Of course, we had Harry Potter And The Prizoner Of Azkaban and Children Of Men to bridge the gap, but even then Gravity looks like something of an outlier. Originally set to star Natalie Portman and Robert Downey Jr, the film was later cast with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The respective roles are of the last two surviving astronauts on a damaged space station. Although very different in theme and subject, Cuarón has never made a bad — or even mediocre — movie.

Other possible contenders include Evil Dead, Star Trek Into Darkness and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, none of which have me quite as excited as the ten that made the final cut.