Callum Mount’s Top 3 Of 2013 & 5 Most Anticipated Of 2014

16th December 2013

By Callum Mount.

Top 3 of 2013

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to catch all the films I wanted to see this year, let alone all the ones I should have seen. This being the case I am limited to those films I have actually seen. That rules out Only God Forgives, Blue Is The Warmest Colour, Her…I haven’t seen a lot of films this year, that’s the point, so just remember that this is in NO way definitive.

Stoker

Exhibit B in the case of why there shouldn’t have been an English language remake of Oldboy (Exhibit A being Oldboy), Chan-Wook Park’s first foray into the West has all the hallmarks of what makes his films so special. Park’s sumptuous visuals channeling Wentworth Miller’s screenplay makes for an astonishingly unsettling and refreshingly intelligent film. Long after its end, its imagery and ambiguity nestles, festering under your skin, leading to the inevitable and equally powerful second viewing.

Pacific Rim

With the summer of films we’ve just had, I had to pick one of them, and Pacific Rim was the one film I left the cinema feeling I had seen something that truly embraced and fulfilled every promise it made. As Guillermo Del Toro himself has said, it’s a film made for the child he was, and that film just so happens to have caught my imagination in the same way. Epic, unpretentious and, most importantly, fun, seeing giant robots smash the living daylights out of gargantuan monsters was the cinematic highlight of my summer.

A Field In England

I’ve been a big fan of Ben Wheatley ever since I happened upon a cheap copy of Down Terrace with no clue and loved it. When I first found out about this simultaneous cross platform release, excited didn’t cover it. In the wake of Kill List and Sightseers, A Field in England looked like it should be a marvel, and it delivered, standing out from the majority of films being made of late. It fully displays the talents of its cast (Reece Shearsmith and Micheal Smiley dazzle) made on such a minimal budget and in just 12 days, this is something to be not only celebrated, but praised. A truly original and haunting experience.

5 Most Anticipated of 2014

Godzilla

One of the most iconic franchises of all time, Godzilla has had a notoriously hard time being portrayed by Hollywood, but I firmly believe Gareth Edwards will be the key to this version working. Sci-fi at its best is a balancing act between heart and spectacle. If the film maker doesn’t care, especially when it comes to a fantasy, it really shows. The fantastic visual sensibility and emotional depth Edwards displayed in Monsters has all the makings of what we’ve been waiting for since the 1998…incident. At the very least, this should take us further away from any more GINOs, which is always something to look forward to.

Foxcatcher

Bennett Miller’s follow up to the fantastic Moneyball looks like it could be 2014’s The Fighter; an inspirational sports film with real human drama. While the entire cast looks fantastic, and Mark Ruffalo is always one to go and see do his thing, Channing Tatum is adding more and more strings to his bow, demonstrating himself as more than just the eye candy I had too hastily written him off as (my bad Channing, won’t happen again!). Hopefully, this will be the film to cement him as a truly quality talent where he belongs.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

This is a film that I have been waiting for for years. While all of my sense tells me to be cautious of a film that has taken so long to get out, I can’t help but be intoxicated with the possibility of reigniting the feelings I had seeing Sin City for the first time. With a welcome return to first time out favourites and the inclusion of new names, Juno Temple being a personal highlight on the cast list, I’m very keen to see how this one pans out.

Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It

I just love Trailer Park Boys. That’s simply it. Since my brother brought the series back from Canada, I’ve had a soft spot for the trio’s schemes, always just out of reach of that last big job to retire on and keep them out of jail for good. When they decided to call it a day, I thought I was content with what they had put out. That was until I heard about their third feature film outing and upcoming 8th season. Now I can’t wait to see what’s become of the residents of Sunnyvale since last we met. I’m sure it will be greasy. Gre-he-heasy.

The Raid 2: Berandal

The Raid was one of the best action films released in the last 15 years. Maybe more. Sparking back the feeling I would get watching Jackie Chan films when I was younger, it was brutal, beautiful and tense. The sequel looks as though it’s going to raise the stakes in every sense. Moving out of the tower block to encompass vehicular madness on the Indonesian streets as well as boasting a confident 148 minute running time, this is going to be the action film of next year.

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