2013 is election year! That, when taken with all the strikes, riots and general chaos that we can expect means you’ll probably be spending a lot of time at home. Well don’t despair because here is a list of all the coolest movies coming your way!
• 300: Rise of an Empire
This is SPARTA! 300: Rise of an Empire will be a prequel to the 2007 film, 300. The film centres on Themistocles and Artemisia I of Caria, as well as Xerxes I of Persia. The Battle of Artemisium was a naval engagement that was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in September 480 BC.
Prediction: More ships than spears
Release date: August 2, 2013
• 47 Ronin
47 Ronin will be a fictional account of the forty-seven Ronin, a real-life group of samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenge the murder of their master. The movie features an ensemble of Japanese actors and...Keanu Reeves.
Prediction: A poor man’s Last Samurai?
Release date: December 25, 2013
• A Good Day to Die Hard
John McClane is back and this time he’s in Russia. When McClane’s son Jack gets into trouble while in Russia, McClane travels to Moscow to help him out, only to get caught up in a terrorist plot involving the circumstances behind his son’s arrest.
Prediction: Yippie Kay-yay Mother Russia
Release date: February 14, 2013
• After Earth
It’s Shyamalan! Run! After Earth is an upcoming science-fiction thriller film directed by M Night Shyamalan. In the distant future, a legendary general (Will Smith) and his 13-year-old son (Jaden Smith) crash-land on a long-abandoned and now dangerous Earth. The son must travel alone to recover their rescue beacon. Let’s hope this isn’t a disaster like most Shyamalan’s films.
Prediction: Hopefully not a crash landing
Release date: June 7, 2013
• Elysium
Matt Damon. Jodie Foster. William Fichtner. Sharlto Copley. Oh, you want more? It’s Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to District 9. Interested now? Set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarised worlds.
Prediction: Face Huggers Unite
Release date: August 9, 2013
• Ender’s Game
Have you read Orson Scott Card’s 1985 sci-fi novel, Ender’s Game? If the answer is no, go read it now! Andrew “Ender” Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future alien invasion, leading an ensemble cast that includes Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Aramis Knight.
Prediction: Battle Star Galactica
Release date: November 1, 2013
• Iron Man 3
Will the sequel atone for the lacklustre Iron Man 2? Maybe. This time Tony Stark faces a powerful enemy, the Mandarin, when he embarks on a quest to find those responsible for destroying his private world. Along the way, he discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: “Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?”
Prediction: The tin soldier is triumphant
Release date: May 3, 2013
• Kick-Ass 2
In the sequel, the costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins up with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows. We were sold once we heard they cast Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes.
Prediction: Kick Ass is Kick Ass
Release date: 28 June, 2013
• Man of Steel
Supe is back! Henry Cavill is pulling on the blue tights this time around, to do battle with Michael Shannon. Raised with the values of his adoptive parents, Clark Kent feels alienated because of his unique super abilities and struggles to find his own place in life. When the world is attacked, he becomes the hero named Superman to protect the Earth and its people.
Prediction: A super beginning
Release Date: June 14, 2013
• Oblivion
2013 seems to be the year of Sci-Fi. The film follows Tom Cruise as one of the last remaining humans on Earth. The rest of the population has evacuated the planet following an alien attack, and he is part of the cleanup crew, extracting the last vital resources. His life changes when he rescues a female stranger.
Prediction: Will run on Cruise Control
Release date: April 19, 2013
• Oldboy
This one is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the original Korean Oldboy is one of the best foreign language films we have ever seen. Conversely, because the original is so good, Spike Lee’s English language remake has a lot to live up to. Oldboy is a dark and ominous tale of one man’s journey to discover why he was kidnapped and seek revenge on those who did.
Prediction: Spike may strike out
Release date: October 11, 2013
• Oz: The Great and Powerful
Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel to both the novel and the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. It’s hard to be excited about the movie since it stars James Franco, who from the trailers looks like he was forced to do the movie by his mother. However, Director Sam Raimi is more than adept at bringing magic and wonder to the big screen, and that seems to be in evidence from the first trailer we’ve seen.
Prediction: Oz: The CGI Disaster
Released date: 8 March, 2013
• Pacific Rim
Director Guillermo Del Toro describes his upcoming movie as, “a beautiful poem to giant monsters”, and it is one of our most awaited movies of next year. Why? Hell, it’s about giant robots and monsters fighting! Set in a world where giant monsters have risen from the ocean, humans retaliate by building large mechanised suits to combat the threat. Basically it’s Godzilla plus Gundam.
Prediction: We need... bigger guns
Release date: July 11, 2013
• R.I.P.D.
R.I.P.D, based on the Peter M Lenkov graphic novel, is about a recently slain cop (Ryan Reynolds) who joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department and tries to find the man who murdered him. The great news is that Jeff Bridges is also on board.
Prediction: The Shield meets Dawn of The Dead
Release date: July 19, 2013.
• Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is the sequel to the 2005 film Sin City. In the wake of the tragic loss of actor Michael Clarke Duncan earlier this year, Director Robert Rodriguez has recast the role of Manute to Dennis Haysbert.
Prediction: Sin City: A Shame It Sucked
Release date: October 4, 2013
• Stand Up Guys
So... Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin are in a film together. If that does not get you excited, there’s something wrong with you, really.
Prediction: Triple Threat
Release date: January 11, 2013
• Star Trek: Into Darkness
The much awaited Star Trek sequel, Into Darkness, is almost here and it looks like we are in for another epic Sci-Fi journey, albeit this time a much darker story is set to unfold. The brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch plays the villain but we still don’t know his character. It is rumoured that he might play the role of Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Prediction: Where no man has gone before...again.
Release date: May 17, 2013
• The Great Gatsby
In the next few months we are set to see Leonardo DiCaprio in Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and perhaps more importantly, as the titular character in The Great Gatsby. It is the latter project which interests us more, and could lead him to award glory.
Prediction: Mr Gatsby, meet Mr Oscar
Release date: 10 May, 2013
• The Hangover Part III
This time, there’s no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off.
Prediction: Strike 3: You’re out!
Release date: 24 May, 2013
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Dwarfs, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the misty mountains, but Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get the Dwarven gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.
Prediction: Bored of the Ring
Release date: 13 December, 2013
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunger Games was a compelling and well-made film. Catching Fire may be a slightly harder immediate sell than The Hunger Games,but it has the ingredients for quite an edgy piece of cinema.
Prediction: Burn after watching
Release date: November 22, 2013
• The Lone Ranger
Here’s Johnny! Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice. The two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.
Prediction: Same character, different name.
Release date: 3 July, 2013
• The Wolverine
The first Wolverine movie was a disaster and Marvel is really trying to do Wolverine justice this time. The basis of this film is a 1982 run of the comic from Frank Miller and Chris Claremont,that took the character to Japan.
Prediction: Cutting edge
Release date: July 24, 2013
• Thor: The Dark World
The second of Marvel’s 2013 releases, and the second of its phase two films in the build-up to 2015’s The Avengers 2, Thor: The Dark World may end up being the best comic book movie of 2013. This time, Thor battles to save all the Nine Realms from a mysterious enemy older than the universe itself.
Prediction: It’s Hammer Time!
Release date: November 8, 2013
• World War Z
Brad Pitt is starring in this one, with Marc Forster directing. As a zombie pandemic engulfs the globe, United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt) travels the world trying to find a way to stop the outbreak that is defeating armies and destablising governments as they try to prevent social collapse.
Prediction: Pitfall
Release date: June 21, 2013
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, December 30th, 2012.
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As much as I like seeing Hollywood flicks, I would really appreciate it if you people could tell me what our own cinema is up to? What is the status of Waar and Siyaah and all those other movies that were set to change the course of Pakistani cinema?
Can't wait for The Great Gatsby. 2013 seems to be good for cinema.