5 Films To Look Forward To In August 2013

It's time for the school holidays...

1) Red 2

This sequel to 'Red' follows retired agents who are forced to return to the world of fighting and spying.

2) Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters

Percy must join forces with some of his Godly friends in order to find the Golden Fleece and save their homeland.

3) Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

This film finally takes the popular TV character to the big screen when the radio company Alan works for is taken over by a big corporation.

4) The Lone Ranger

The team that brought you 'Pirates of the Caribbean' returns with this movie following a Native American Warrior and a justice-serving Ranger.

5) Kick-Ass 2

The sequel to 'Kick-Ass' promises more violence, humour and comic book style mayhem.

So 2013 would seem to be the summer of sequels. Hope you enjoy them and have fun in the sun!

Sound City (2013)

One aspect of the film industry that I think can sometimes be overlooked is the documentary element. It's a shame that people often forget about documentary films as quite often they are interesting, engaging and filmed incredibly well. Some examples of great movie documentaries include 'An Inconvenient Truth', 'Supersize Me' and now, this documentary about a recording studio in California, 'Sound City'.

 This film tells the story of Sound City Studios, a famous music studio in the San Fernando Valley where classic albums from the likes of Nirvana, Elton John, Queens of the Stone Age and Fleetwood Mac were created and recorded. It's safe to say that this studio has one hell of a history and this documentary, directed by Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, attempts to tell the story behind this incredible place.

 To be completely honest with you, I love music and listening to it and all that but I have absolutely no idea what goes in to making an album. Therefore, I was expecting the majority of this film to go way over my as rock legend that I had never heard of explained how mixing boards worked and how to find the acoustic sweat spot in a room (I hope those phrases are correct. If they're not, then I am sorry). On watching the film, the opposite occurred. I surprised myself by actually recognising a hell of a lot of people that were interviewed for this documentary. To add to the array of musical talent included, the tone of the film felt very inclusive. While many aspects of the film were clearly there for those who are interested in the production and creation of music and lyrics, it was still kept at an accessible level and not too technical to the point where even I understood it all.

 The story of the film was also done very well. It takes the viewer from the founding of the studios in 1969, through its illustrious time periods and it's rough moments, and on to today and what happened after Sound City closed in 2011. The passion for this studio is clear from the interviews that take place throughout the movie and really recreate that feeling in the viewers watching.

 The only down point that I really have about this film is the particular focus on the 'Neve board' which is a mixing console that has a specific sound and is considered to be the best desk and is highly sought after (thank you Wikipedia). While I am sure that for people who are truly passionate about this area of music this focus on the board is completely justified. However, as someone who is new to this kind of thing, I didn't really see the point and couldn't quite grasp what was so special about it. This may be just me though and my complete ignorance in terms of this sort of stuff.

 Overall, the documentary is certainly a good one. It is interesting, entertaining and manages to really show of the world of rock music and the impact that this studio had on it.

The Croods (2013)

 To continue the animation theme, the latest outing from the Dreamworks team is 'The Croods', an animation telling the tale of a family of cavemen who must try and find a new home after their cave was destroyed with a little help from a quirky stranger. With a voice cast made up of Nicolas Cage (Grug, the father), Catherine Keener (Ugga, the mother), Emma Stone (Eep, the daughter) and Ryan Reynolds (Guy, the helper) this film already has plenty of reasons why it should be good. But is it?

 In terms of originality (which I think is kind of important when it comes to animation) I guess some aspects of this movie really shine. For starters, the cavemen aspects hasn't really been done much, even in live action films, which allows for some new angles on situations and different jokes and scenarios. This is particularly evident in the comparison between the caveman family and Guy who is more evolved and more creative in his ways of thinking. The balance between the two occasionally creates some funny and also touching scenes. However, in most other aspects, the film is fairly predictable. The girl gets the guy, the stubborn Dad sees the error of his ways and a dysfunctional family becomes functional once again. At the end of the day though, seen as it is a kid's movie, there was no other way they could've taken it really.

 The animation is no better or worse than anything seen in the last few years, but a few scenes do stand out, mainly due to the fact that they are wide shots of landscapes. The animators quite clearly haven't attempted to stick to any sort of historical fact for this movie and this has allowed for a great deal of imagination which comes across strongly in the creation of the people, places and animals in this alternate world. These extra touches and the room given to the creators for invention leads to some funny and at times astoundingly visual scenes, adding to the overall feel of the movie.

 To compare it to other CGI films released over the past few years it is nothing special. A few slight moments may make it stand out when compared to the others, but it can't really emerge as one of the top animation films seen recently. That being said, it is still a good film with periods of humour as well as more serious scenes making it a film to watch if you have nothing else to really do.