Justice League
Battle of the Sexes
Paddington 2
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Jigsaw
The Death of Stalin
Thor: Ragnarok
The Snowman
Maze
Blade Runner 2049
Home Again
Kingsman: The Golden Circle

To read more of our mini-reviews, visit our Reviews page.

2014's Releases of Note: Part I

2014's Releases of Note: Part I

20th March 2014

I had the bright idea to list the interesting and big movies that are to be released this year (like every other film site), I've only now got the time to do it.

All that I've missed out on from the start of 2014 are leftover Oscar favourites from 2013 and films which weren't expected to do very well. Even without those releases included, I soon realised that to cover the whole year of interesting releases I'd be working until Christmas when Bilbo and Smaug jaunt back onto our screens to either be very awkwardly British or to destroy everything. *TANGENT*... My point was that this is only part one, I don't even know how many parts there'll be in total. I'm guessing 2 or 3 but I'll let the excitement build before revealing that.

So I'm posting this just in time for the blockbuster season, which is starting earlier every year. Captain America, Divergent, Noah and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 all within a month.

  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier

    March 28th

    The first Avenger's first appearance since The Avengers. I'm not including Loki's prance in the suit. Marvel have again taken a sub-genre and inserted a superhero. This time with a paranoid cold-war thriller but with the stars and stripes man casting good morales upon everyone.

    The titular Winter Soldier is someone from Steve Roger's past, I don't think it'll be the cuddliest reunion. The initial trailer actually made me pretty excited for this as I wasn't sure what to expect. The Winter Solider will create some awesome action scenes but I remain unconvinced by the character's look.

    Nick Fury and Black Widow also return but are now joined by Falcon, Crossbones and Robert Redford. The ensemble means the film could get crowded but I'm sure Marvel will pull it off.

    I think this film will do Thor 2 numbers at the box office, so around the $600 million mark.

  • The Muppets: Most Wanted

    March 28th

    The latest Muppets sequel has them scrambling across Europe and has them facing off against evil doppelgangers. Ricky Gervais is the lead human and Bret McKenzie is back on songwriting duties so expect some controversial jokes and some unusual ballads.

  • Divergent

    April 4th

    The latest attempt to mimic the success of The Hunger Games franchise. This film is also based on a book with a few follow-ups so plenty of material for potential sequels. As per usual, this all depends on how much money it makes. I'm not familiar with this series at all but hopefully it can stand on its own two feet and not get completely hindered by people like me comparing it to the Hunger Games at every turn.

    Shailene Woodley is the plucky heroine who is what is called 'divergent' in this dystopian society. Kate Winslet is the big bad from what I've seen in trailers and she is against the divergents so Shailene's gotta go join the resistance or something. There's bound to be a love triangle hammered in somewhere too.

  • Noah

    April 4th

    An epic retelling of the Bible story. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream) so I was expecting this to be stunning. Then the first trailer hit.

    Russell Crowe does his usual gruff seriousness but what turned me off were the Ray Winstone-led militia that seem to me to solely be present to inject more action into the story. It's only got a giant boat, arkloads of animal pairings and a shit-tonne of rain. Obviously not enough.

    This is out pretty soon and I'm still hopeful that I'll really like it but I've a feeling the Moses flick due later this year may be my preffered Bible epic.

  • Calvary

    April 11th

    John Michael McDonagh, writer of The Guard, reunites with Brendan Gleeson for this tale of an Irish priest who receives a death threat. He has a week or so to find out who the culprit is and prevent his death or to get his affairs in order and accept his impending rendezvous with the man from above.

    The combination of those two is what makes this so appealing but a tinge of melancholy is threaded through the dark humour. High hopes for this one.

  • The Raid 2

    April 11th

    The sequel to 2012's The Raid, the Indonesian action movie made by a Welshman that was heralded as the best in years. It's fast-paced combo of fists, elbows and knees made for a brutal and relentless spectacle.

    The reason that the first film exists was to help make money to fund Gareth Evans' plan for a crime epic, Berandal. What he did was to make a cheaper action film but he weaved the characters from both together so that one would lead into the other. The Raid 2 equals Berandal.

    It features the return of our hero Iko Uwais as he goes undercover to bring the druglords to justice. Expect plenty of rib-snapping action, some brotherly tension and English subtitles.

  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2

    April 18th

    The sequel to the too soon and ultimately unfulfilling Spider-Man reboot. Lining up to make all of the same mistakes that Spider-Man 3 made (too many villains for one) but managing to completely sell me on it via a trailer. They went on to slightly tarnish my faith again by seemingly releasing new footage every week. I think we've already seen the whole movie now.

    We've got Electro as the main bad guy accompanied by Rhino and the Goblin. We've also been promised two more sequels and a villain spin-off. The first film felt like a trailer for this film. This film is beginning to look like a trailer for the next few sequels. I wonder if Gwen will be around in those...

    One thing that it has definitely convinced me of is that I will be seeing this in 3D on the biggest screen possible. Well done for that.

  • Transcendence

    April 25th

    Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan's usual go-to cinematographer, takes a stab at directing. He's got Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall and Morgan Freeman to help him out.

    This is about the human mind and a computer becoming one and the same. This may have many benefits but a small bunch of rebels believe that the consequences are too great so they set out to destroy the research enabling this 'transcendence'.

    This actually seems to be a pretty decent sized blockbuster based on the trailer. Wally ahas obviously made plenty of friends in his many years in Hollywood. I really hope he has made an intelligent thought-provoking film, even though it seems more suited to a 90s audience.

  • Bad Neighbours

    May 9th

    This looks hilarious. Seth Rogen is the family man and Zac Efron is the frat-boy. The familiar plot of warring neighbours doesn't seem to bother this film. As with most of this list, I'm basing my opinions on the trailers and the the trailer for this makes me laugh every time. Hopefully it's not all of the best bits.

    It's called 'Neighbors' in the US but we got a name change for two reasons. 1. We've got the guys from down-under on our screens at dinner time every evening who've claimed that name already (give or take a vowel) and 2. That vowel.

    I quite like the four leads of Efron, Rogen, Dave Franco and Rose Byrne so I'm optimistic that this film will do quite well.

  • Frank

    May 9th

    Fassbender stars in a papier-mache head. The head is that of Frank Sidebottom, Fassbender is using it as his persona to front a band that includes Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

    This looks a little bit weird but I love Fassbender's work and it intrugues me that he will be without his face to convey emotion throughout. A small film but one which has plenty of good festival buzz behind it.

  • Godzilla

    May 16th

    Other than through pop culture and the 1998 film, I'm not massively well versed in Godzilla lore. What I mean is that I have yet to see any of the old Godzilla/Gojira films. I have of course seen many clips of the nostalgic puppets or men in suits but never a film. I'm looking to right this soon but for now, my big monster love stems from Ray Harryhausen films. I just love seeing giant monsters coming to life and wreaking havoc on anything that happens upon their path. Recent favourites include Cloverfield and Pacific Rim (of course).

    The 1998 film was seen my be when I was merely six years old so of course I absolutely loved it. My first Godzilla film. I'm still quite taken by its charm when its on TV although I'm a bit more aware of my childhood bias due to the scorn poured upon that film's interpretation of the beloved creature.

    Gareth Edwards' previous film, Monsters, may have giant beasties but its focus was on the humans and judging by the strong cast gathered for his take on Godzilla, they'll have a huge part to play in this too. Bryan Cranston may take the dramatic weight as the token scientist. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen also feature to help bear the weight of mankind's destroyer.

    The trailer demonstrates a film with a similar aesthetic to Monsters amid the monster's destruction, human loss and military operations. The reveal of the roaring beast whilst large metal doors close shut is epic.

  • X-Men: Days Of Future Past

    May 22nd

    The film that brings together the two generations of mutants. Although Wolverine is the star, the focus of the film is the arc of Professor X. From James McAvoy's broken cripple in the 70s to the wise Patrick Stewart he becomes.

    The plot features Wolverine going back in time to convince McAvoy to wise up, to stop pitying himself and to save everyone basically. Save them from what though? Well that comes in the form of the Sentinels. These mutant-killing robots have become unstoppable in the future so they need to be stopped from ever making it past the first prototypes.

    What we hope for with the X-Men films is a character-driven blockbuster full of the mutants we know and love, director Bryan Singer will do well to balance this amount of characters nevermind the time-travelling plot holes.

  • Edge Of Tomorrow

    May 30th

    Tom Cruise continues his sci-fi action trend with this where he plays a soldier in a future war who respawns every time he bites the dust. He must get better along the way and die less frequently, at least long enough to get closer to fellow fighter Emily Blunt.

    I seem to be one of the few who still like Cruise in movies so I am interested in this, I just hope that it's a bit more interesting than Oblivion and features something we haven't seen before.

  • Maleficent

    May 30th

    Disney do to Sleeping Beauty what they did to Alice In Wonderland, i.e. make a CGI stylised live-action film where the focus isn't necessarily on the fairytale princess. I wasn't taken by Alice In Wonderland and so far I am not taken with this.

    Angelina Jolie plays the horned villain that curses baby Aurora. I don't even have much else at all to say about this but I hope there is more to it than it just being the same tale but from the villain's point of view.


That's us until the end of May, I'll leave the rest of the summer months for next time.

As I'm sure you will, please let me know any films you think I may have left out and also which films you're dying to see and those that you're dying to avoid.

Fancy giving this a share?

Ethan M Barr
Embarr Himself

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