Hello 2014!

With a new year, we have a whole set of new films to look forward to. Of course, if you are like me, you still have a huge number of 2013 to get over with. But as it is becoming a tradition on this blog, I give you my most anticipated films of the coming year on 1st January (even though I'm failing my exams for writing this).

Honorable Mentions- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Sils Maria, The Monuments Men, Beauty and the Beast, The Boxtrolls, Cuban Fury, Fury, Chef, 22 Jump Street, Tammy, The Interview, Dark Places, Madame Bovary,  The Imitation Game, Tom at the Farm, Maps to the Stars, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, Unbroken, The Cobbler, Noah (still not sure on this one, but then, Aronofsky), Life Itself, Jupiter Ascending (again, for the directors), Jane Got a Gun, untitled Cameron Crowe, Neighbours, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Stretch, The Maze Runner, Under the Skin, Annie, Get On It, The Search, Dumb and Dumber To, Horrible Bosses 2, Veronica Mars, Exodus, Cymbeline, Every Thing Will Be Fine, Happy Christmas, Frank, Brooklyn, Midnight Special, Need for Speed and any Terrence Malick film if he decides to release one this year.

The 25:

25) X-Men: Days of Future Past
This would have been higher on my list were it not for that gargantuan cast. Seriously, too many characters. There is big chance of this film not working, but I'm still quite excited. Also, that picture is hilarious.

24) Far From the Madding Crowd
Thomas Vinterberg made one of the most acclaimed movies of last year, The Hunt. This will be his English language debut. The material is great and so is the cast. I'm happy to see Tom Sturridge bagging such roles.

23) The Lobster
The concept is kind of genius- people forced to find their soulmates or else they turn into animals. The cast is exciting and I have become quite a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos over last year.

22) Muppets Most Wanted
The Muppets was one of the biggest surprises of 2011 for me. It was the happiest movie of the year and so I have high hopes for its sequel.

21) Nymphomaniac
I don't think any film has me equally intrigued and scared like this one. It is going to be something.

20) The Trip to Italy
I thought the first one was totally brilliant and super hilarious and I have a feeling this one will be too. And I love Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon!

19) Maleficient
Though the teaser did little for me, I have been excited for this film since day 1. Angelina Jolie is PERFECT for a role like this. And gotta love Elle Fanning.

18) Godzilla
Talking of teasers/trailers, Godzilla's absolutely rocked! Plus the cast and the visuals have my attention completely.

17) Transcendence
The trailer was absorbing enough and that cast is quite amazing. Curious to see how Wally Pfister fares as a director. Also, so nice to see Johnny Depp looking normal in a film... sorta...

16) Into the Woods

I love Chicago. That alone guarantees my interest in this film. But then we have fantastic actors like Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, James Corden (!), Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick in big and small roles playing fairy tale characters- oooooooooooo!!

15) Gone Girl
I'm sorry, David Fincher. I just hate Ben Affleck's chin so much! Otherwise your film would have been higher on the list, I swear on Jack's everything! I do love Rosamund Pike though.

14) How to Train Your Dragon 2
I regret not having watched How to Train Your Dragon in the theatres in 3D. Not making that mistake with its sequel, which looks quite breathtaking too.

13) Foxcatcher
Love it when an actor tries something different. Steve Carell looks set to wow us in this and, having read up on the whole incident, I think this might be a helluva movie.

12) The Fault in Our Stars
I absolutely loved the novel and Shailene Woodley has been fantastic in everything I've seen her in. I seriously hope and pray the film does John Green's beautiful, hilarious and heartbreaking book justice.

11) Guardians of the Galaxy
I think this is going to be a very atypical superhero movie, and we need some of those now. And wowsers Lee Pace, Chris Pratt and Karen Gillan in a movie together!

10) Magic in the Moonlight
Statistically, observing the trend in Woody Allen's recent films, this *should* be a dud. But I absolutely adore the idea of Emma Stone being in one of his films and this looks and sounds quite lovely.

9) Inherent Vice
It's probably a lazy reason but it's a Paul Thomas Anderson film. It's bound to be good if not great. Joaquin Phoenix is also in top-form right now and the story is very interesting.

8) The Raid 2: Berandal
Because The Raid is a perfect film. 'Nuff said.

7) The Double
Submarine is one of my most favourite films ever. This looks v.v.v.v.v. different, but that's not a bad thing, especially with some people talking about its similarities with Fight Club. Also, bless Richard Ayoade for bringing Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska together in this film!

6) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I am a huge fan of the first one and I like the fact that it seems to be merging superheroes with spies. Chris Evans is so great in this role too.

5) Only Lovers Left Alive
I like vampires. I like vampire romances. I like off-beat romances. I like John Hurt. I like Anton Yelchin. I like rockstars. I love Mia Wasikowska. I looove Tilda Swinton. I looooove vampire Tilda Swinton. I looooooove Tom Hiddleston. I looooooooove vampire Tom Hiddleston. I looooooooooove vampire rockstar Tom Hiddleston.
I think I will like this film.

4) Interstellar
I love a smart blockbuster and Christopher Nolan is just about the king of those. Excited to see what he does now, with the Dark Knight trilogy behind him. And then there is that cast which includes Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and like a million other amazing people and basically, this might be brilliant.

3) Carol
Todd Haynes directing Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in a film based on a Patricia Highsmith novel about two women in a relationship in the 50s on the run- YES PLEASE!

2) How to Catch A Monster
I *did* call this my most anticipated film of all time, but I am a bit scared about the surreal aspects of the film and obviously, how good the Gos will be as a director. Still, that's a picture of Ryan Gosling directing a shirtless Matt Smith. I'm ready to sell my soul to be able to attend the premiere.

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel

Look at that poster! This film is going to be gold. Don't you just wish that Wes Anderson was God so that the whole world would be as pretty as his films and everyone would be as fun as Ralph Fiennes's Gustav H. seems to be? Jokes (existential jokes? Idk) aside, my favourite thing about Wes Anderson's films are the darker layers hidden beneath their gorgeous exteriors and as delightfully screwball-like as The Grand Budapest Hotel's trailer seems to be, I think the film will have much more to offer. Cannot wait!


And there you have it. I hope all of us have a fantabulous 2014 :D

Thoughts

1) Remember when I had intended to embark on a "Crazy Nikhat Month" earlier this year (yeah, that totally happened), and I had asked you guys to suggest crazy disturbing but essential movies for me to watch? Josh had recommended Dogtooth and Alps, both directed by Greek director Yorgos Lanthinos. Even though I gave up on this month after Eraserhead (yikes!), I did watch both of Lanthinos's films and really liked them. Last week, it was announced that he is going to make his first English feature called The Lobster. The synopsis is really interesting-

"An unconventional love story set in a dystopian near future where single people, according to the rules of the Town, are arrested and transferred to the Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into the woods. A desperate Man escapes from the Hotel to the Woods where the Loners live and there he falls in love, although it’s against their rules."

The cast also is very impressive. Jason Clarke, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Olivia Coleman, Ariane Labed and Angeliki Papoulia are all going to star in the film. Here is what the director had to say about the film-

"The Lobster is a story about love, without being a conventional love story. It observes the ways and reasons certain people come together to form couples, while others don’t. It is a story about the terrifying effects of solitude, the fear of dying alone, the fear of living alone and, above all, the fear of living with someone. Forcing ourselves to like someone is one kind of suffering; trying to find someone we really like is a different sort of suffering. The Lobster tries to discover synonyms for love in words such as fear, norms, deadlines, matching, synchronicity, naivety, prosperity and lies."

2) Is it me or are there suddenly a lot of biopics being announced? There is the Stephen Frear's helmed Lance Amstrong biopic with Ben Foster in the lead role. There is already an official image that has been released. The film also stars Chris O'Dowd, Guillaume Canet and Breaking Bad's creeptastic Jesse Plemons. Next, Tom Hardy will play Elton John in Rocketman. Did anyone see this coming? I honestly did not. It is being written by Billy Elliot's writer Lee Hall and has been described as a bigraphical musical fantasy with hyper-visuals and a non-linear storyline. But with Hardy joining this project, he has had to drop out of a few. Everest, which is going to be directed by Doug Liman, earlier had Hardy playing climber George Mallory but now that he has dropped out, Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to be the replacement. And for the role of George Finch, actors such as James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, Dan Stevens, Matthew Goode and Jim Sturgess and a couple of others are being considered. All I can say is wowsers, this might become my dream movie! All the beautiful British men unite! Finally, Emile Hirsch is going to play John Belushi in a biopic about the doomed comedian. It will be directed by Steve Conrad who wrote The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Again, I did not expect that but I do love Hirsch and he needs to come in more movies.

3) So Tim Burton had finally gotten back into everyone's good graces with the announcement of Big Eyes, but alas, it wasn't to last. He is going to make a sequel to Beetlejuice that will be set 26 years after the original. WHYYYYYYY?!!!!!! Michael Keaton has already agreed to star. The only way I can condone this movie is if Burton casts Winona Ryder too. She was the all-black-wearing morbid heart and soul of the first one and I have been waiting for her comeback for forever. Do it, Burton!

4) Craig Roberts is going to star in 22 Jump Street, the sequel to the surprisingly fun 21 Jump Street 2012 remake. Both Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are returning to reprise their roles and this time around, they will be going undercover to a college. I adored Roberts in Submarine and Skins: Rise so this is good news.

5) Woody Allen's next film is going to be called Magic in the Moonlight.  There isn't much info on it yet except that it is set in the south of Fraance, it is a romcom which spans 20 years, presumably during the 20s and 30s. The cast is led by Colin Firth and Emma Stone and also stars Marcia Gay Harden and Jacki Weaver. The first official image has been released and I must say, all of this looks very promising. Stone seems perfectly suited to be a comic lead in Woody's movies and here's hoping this isn't another Jesse Eisenberg-To Rome With Love deal. I still haven't seen Blue Jasmine because India is a crazy place but yes, Woody forever.

6) They found a new Christian Grey! I don't know why I have this need to keep posting about this movie but the whole thing still seems so unlikely, I just want to see where they go with it. Anyways, Jamie Dornan will play the complicated perv and True Blood's Luke Grimes will play his brother. I actually really approve of both these casting choices. If anything, I will watch this movie for hot men and these two totally are. Dornan played Kirsten Dunst's sexy beau in Marie Antoinette and Grimes plays the dreamy vampire James in True Blood.

7) Sherlock series 3 will come out on January 19th, 2014. CURSESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! So much waiting :'(

8) So Paul McCartney's new video is fucking bonkers. Not only is it shot in Abbey Road studios, but it has like a million famous people. They just keep coming!

a) Johnny Depp needs to start looking sexy in his films again because that man has the bone structure of a god.

b) Meryl Streep is the bestest.

c) Chris Pine looks so happy just to be there. Seriously, this-

He's like an introvert trying to socialise at a cool party. One of us! One of us!

9) Pixar's next, The Good Dinosaur, has a first poster out. It *is* very Dreamworks-y, but whatever, I love Pixar. The story is set in a sort of alternative universe where the meteors that destroyed the dinosaurs actually never came and the dinosaurs are still there and they have become farmers and are trying to kill little bugs on their land, which are actually cavemen. Dawww.

10) The next Across the Universe Podcast episode will be the first time we have a guest on. Ryan from The Matinee will be our first visitor from across the universe, so to speak. We will be talking about our Favourite Music-related Movies (excluding musicals). We would love to hear some of yours which we will mention in the episode depending on the amount of responses we get. Do comment below!

11) Trailers- The teaser to Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor" is finally here! It literally just teases and gives nothing away but god, I missed Eleven :( Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Imogen Poots star in The Awkward Moment. It's a rather random red-band trailer to a rather random movie but I have a new-found appreciation for Efron so I shall give it a go. The Immigrant boasts of a very incredible cast- Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner. The period settings don't hurt either. The trailer is interesting enough. X-Men: Days of Future Past finally has a trailer out. First of all, the Hans Zimmer score in the trailer, though setting its mood in everyway, isn't really a good thing. Ask Man of Steel. That worked for the Dark Knight trilogy and I am scared that Bryan Singer might end up Nolan-ifying this. Why can't everyone just be happy? Secondly, I am actually very skeptical about this film. It has a tad too many people, like 5 normal ensembles in one and I don't know how well Singer can pull it off. Thirdly, I will *obviously* watch this film because McFassyMan or McManBender or whatever you call it but I am not keeping my hopes up for you know, the story and execution and all that important stuff. Just give me the gorgeous men. In direct contrast to this, I actually think Captain America: The Winter Soldier looks great. The first film was unique with its period settings and I think this one will also be unconventional due to the spy and government angle. And then there is THIS. God bless Tumblr. My favourite trailer this week is actually not a real trailer at all, but I wish it was! The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders is just perfect. I love Edward Norton.

12) I know I have already spoken about Masters of Sex but I saw its opening credits for the first time today and they are fucking fantastic! They are probably my favourite since True Blood. Everyone please watch the show. All the actors are just killing it.

13) Finally, God bless Tumblr x 1000000000000000000-

Everyone who read it in the original Mean Girl voices are as cool as Glen Coco!

Everyone who tried to imagine the Game of Thrones actors saying the lines just got punched in the face by Regina George!

Byeeeeeeeee.