5 Films (Plus A Few Extra) To Look Forward To In November 2013

So it seems that the potential Oscar films are starting to emerge from the pack, and some of them are out this month so why restrict it to 5...

1) Gravity

 What happens when you're just left floating in space with no real hope of ever getting back home? Well find out in this film that is already making waves across the world.

2) Hunger Games: Catching Fire

 Part two of the series is released this month and shows how Catniss and Peter cope with life after their Hunger Games victory.

3) Saving Mr Banks

 This biopic tells of the relationship between Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and author of Mary Poppins, P. L. Travers (Emma Watson) during the production of the famous Disney movie.

4) Kill Your Darlings

 In his next attempt to remove himself from the HP franchise, Daniel Radcliffe stars in this movie about the beat generation poets and how a murder brought them all together.

5) Carrie

 The remake of the classic horror movie is due for release this month and based on their promotional tactics (if you haven't seen the video, go to YouTube and search 'Carrie prank') it's due to be pretty scary.

6) Don Jon 

 In his first venture as writer and director, Joseph Gordon-Levitt leads this movie about a porn addict and his skewed views of love and sex.

7) Philomena

Just because it's got Judi Dench in it.

Now You See Me (2013)

 'Now You See Me' is advertised as a movie about magic and I guess in a way it is (which is kind of why I watched the film. Please don't judge me). However, it also has a really good twist at the end (that I didn't see coming at all) with elements of drama, cop film, comedy and mystery. Therefore, I will try and review this movie without giving anything away so you can enjoy the movie just as much as I did.

Four magicians with differing specialities are brought together by a mystery magic expert and given a secret assignment involving using ever so slightly illegal methods to bring down various corporate people and fight against the FBI. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco play the four magicians managed by Michael Caine. However, they must compete with a famous critic renowned for revealing magicians secrets (Morgan Freeman) as well as being constantly chased by an FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) and an Interpol detective (Melanie Laurent). That's probably about all I can tell you without ruining tricks or giving away the twist at the end of the story, so sorry but that will have to do.

Considering that this film turned out completely not how I was expecting, I really, really enjoyed it! There are twists and turns all the way through with a pretty huge reveal right at the end which really changes how you view the entire movie. Being the epic nerd I am, I also really liked the magic element. I love films like this and 'The Prestige' (if you haven't seen it then what are you doing? Go watch! Now!) and this movie definitely managed to keep up the standard of good magic movies (and before you say anything, I know there are some pretty horrific magic movies out there, but I am going to pretend they don't exist for the purpose of this review). The magic seems almost possible, even though it probably isn't, and ranges from close up, sleight of hand magic tricks to big theatrical events.

 The acting is also great and it's good to see great legendary actors alongside some of the current crops greatest talents. The only thing I will say about this movie is that looking back on it; I don't really see the purpose of Melanie Laurent's character in the movie. Maybe it is just my memory playing up, but everything that happens in the film would've happened whether she was there or not and, overall, she doesn't seem to really add anything to the movie.

 Other than that this film is genuinely a great movie. It keeps you guessing, is fun to watch and is very entertaining from start to finish.  

The Wolverine (2013)

 Why is it that at some point in a hell of a lot of movie franchises, the story and the characters end up going to Asia? Particularly in action movies. It seems to be that option that once you've run out of story lines that could occur in the place where the movie has been set previously, you have to throw in a few ninjas and samurai swords to make a new sequel worthwhile.

 This is exactly what has happened with the X-Men spin off franchise following Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the movie following the character after the final movie in the original X-Men trilogy. After saving a soldier from the nuclear bomb that tore through Nagasaki, many years later this soldier turned multi-billionaire offers Wolverine the opportunity to get rid of his mutation and become normal so he can die and no longer have the curse of eternal life. However, as you would expect, not all is as it seems with Japanese gangs fighting for the science developed by this billionaires company, family members vying for inheritance and other mutants being a pain in the arse (rather like all of the other X-Men/Wolverine/other spin offs then).

 I personally don't see the point in this movie and here is why. The story doesn't need to be told. I understand why they made the first of the Wolverine movies. It told the story of how he became the mutant we all know and love (or don't) and it helped to explain a lot of the issues that came up with the character in the X-Men trilogy. However, that movie wasn't overly great to begin with (I'm not saying it was horrifically bad, I'm just saying it wasn't great) so why the producers thought another film was necessary with an even more unconvincing story and even weaker character arcs I really don't know.

 This film just helps to highlight that fact that the character is getting old for audiences and isn't really strong enough to merit a film of its own, let alone two. There's no denying Hugh Jackman is great as Wolverine but he needs to let it go, or at the very least just appear in the ensemble movies like everyone else. The story is weak, the characters are boring and the Japanese element just makes the whole film all the more frustrating.

 As an action movie it is not horrific. The sequences are decent with some being almost impressive. As well as this, the special effects are often very good with one particular scene standing out (it involves Wolverine reaching into his own chest and removing a bug that has been placed there by the bad guys). Having said that, none of this makes up for the complete lack of intelligence when it comes to the story. Parts are boring and pointless, others are nonsensical and idiotic (again, I understand that it is a movie with an based on fantasy but I still believe there needs to be some element of realism in there).

 Overall, this is probably the weakest film to have risen from the X-Men series. It's slow, weak and pointless and not worth seeing especially if you are a fan of the original films.