Starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Yayn Ruhian, Ray Sahetapy
A SWAT team move in to reclaim a tower block from a crime lord. Once they get arrive, the tenants, loyal to the crime lord, trap them inside. The only way out is to fight.
This is an hour and a half of adrenaline. Aside from the 5 minutes of scene-setting at the start, The Raid is a relentless ride until the end and it’s excellent. It’s a lot more brutal and graphic than I expected but only enhanced the film, making a lot grittier. The leads (none of whom I know or have seen before) were excellent, it looks good and soundtrack, whilst not instantly memorable, suited the film. But the elements that I enjoyed the most were the fights – I don’t watch many martial arts films – these were powerful and graceful all in one motion. If you like the sound of men screaming “yeeeeeeeeee” all the time they fight then I recommend this film. To be clearer: if you like action, if you like fast paced films, if you want to see something a bit different, then see this film. You will enjoy it.
If you like this then you might like:
Attack the Block (the British version of an assault on a tower block), Die Hard (action and comedy in a tower), Ong-Bak (martial arts showcase)
Following thefriedgold’s recent post on top 10 films to look out for in the rest of 2012 and the comment of not having Brave (how can Brave not make the top 10? It’s Pixar dammit) on the list, here are the next 10 to look out for. These could go either way in terms of quality, but I think they could be worth a watch.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Directed by Crispian Mills
Starring Simon Pegg, Sheridan Smith
Crime author Jack has an overriding fear of being murdered. His big break comes followed swiftly by a bigger breakdown.
Reason to watch: Pegg.
Release date: 8th June
Ted
Directed by Seth Macfarlane
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis
The creator of Family Guy steps in to the film world with this: a boy has a teddy bear that is alive. What happens if the bear grows up with the boy?
Reason to watch: Lewd humour and the juxtaposition of a child’s toy drinking and smoking. Could be laugh a minute or all the laughs could be below.
Release date: 1st August
Brave
Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell
Starring Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Robbie Coltrane
Merida, an independent young archer, is forced to undo a curse she has brought upon her family.
Reason to watch: Are you kidding? Pixar’s output is second to no-one. Even if you “don’t watch cartoons” I would recommend you see this film – it will change your mind. Plus you get a bound-to-be-excellent short before the main event. See this.
Release date: 17 August
The Watch
Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade
Four friends form a neighbourhood watch to get away from their wives. They are forced in to action when they discover an alien invasion plot.
Reason to watch: Formerly “The Neighbourhood Watch”, The Watch reunites Vince Vaughn with Ben Stiller in a film written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad). Potential for comedy greatness if they are all on song…
Release date: 29 August
Total Recall
Directed by Len Wiseman
Starring: Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale
A factory worker suffers from nightmares. But are they actually nightmares – could they be suppressed memories trying to return and could he be a spy with the power to change the world?
Reason to watch: A remake of the Arnie version, directed by the guy who gave us Die Hard 4.0 (enjoyable action, worthy addition), Colin Farrell headlining, written by the guy who wrote Equilibrium (dsytopian sci-fi). I enjoy a big budget complex sci-fi and if they can get close to the quality of the 1990 version, this could be good. The trailer looks really good. Plus Kate Beckinsale is in it.
Release date: 22 August
Dredd
Directed by Pete Travis
Starring Karl Urban, Lena Heady
No nonsense lawman Judge Dredd teams with young Judge Anderson to track and take down a drug supplying terrorist organisation.
Reason to watch: Forget the Stallone version, self-confessed fan Urban is taking on the helmet and becoming The Law, promising a more faithful interpretation of the 2000AD character.
Release date: 7 September
The Sweeney
Directed by Nick Love
Starring Ray Winstone, Damian Lewis, Hayley Atwell, Ben Drew
To protect the law and their city, virtuoso flying squad cops are forced to break the law.
Reason to watch: An update of the 70’s TV show sees Nick Love and Ray Winstone do what they do best – The Sweeney is a Lahndahn film filled with Geezahs fighting other Geezahs. But this time Love is working with an established property and Danny Dyer is nowhere to be seen so I’m hopeful this Brit-flick, which looks classy in the trailer, is going to be a worthwhile watch.
Release date: 12 September
Looper
Directed by Rian Johnson
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt
Joe is a hitman, killing people sent back from the future. One day his future self is sent back. What does he do?
Reason to watch: We have JGL playing a young Bruce Willis trying to kill him in a time-travel film directed by the man who brought us Brick. Two heavyweight actors and a strong director playing with a mind-bending premise. What more reason do you need?
Release date: 28 September
Taken 2
Directed by Olivier Megaton
Starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace
The father of a kidnapper Bryan Mills killed when his daughter was abducted has retaliated by taking something precious to Mills. This has pissed him off and a rampage will begin.
Reason to watch: If you like action films and haven’t seen Taken yet then you have a treat awaiting you. If you have seen Taken then you know exactly what the reason to watch this is: Liam Neeson waging a one man war. Directed by the man with the best name in action films.
A young boy, Pi, finds himself adrift in a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a Bengal tiger following a shipwreck.
Reason to watch: I’m a big fan of Ang Lee who has a strong record with adaptations (Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain) and Life of Pi is based on the highly acclaimed novel of the same name. It’s bound to look good, the story will be strong – much will rest on the performance of newcomer Suraj Sharma as Pi.
Release date: 21 December
Obviously all dates are subject to change…I’ll try and put trailers in as and when they are released. And I’m sure I’ve left off something good…
G.I Joe Retaliation has been pushed back to 2013 so i have added a different entry on to my top 10
2012 is a big year for films and we are almost half way through the year already. We have had the box office smash the Avengers which has literally destroyed all records previously set but there are still plenty of other great films to look forward to. So here is my mini breakdown of what to look out for and the dates you need to put in your planner.
Moonrise Kingdom
Directedby Wes Anderson
StarringBill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton,
Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman and many others
Two young lovers decide to run away together which starts a
search party to find them and bring them home.
Reason to watch: Wes Andersons first live action film since 2007. He loves to use a large star heavy cast, most of which will play a quirky if not slightly wierd character.
Release Date: 25th May
Men in Black 3
Directed by Barry Sonnerfeld
Starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin
Agent K has to travel back in time to stop the events of Agent J being killed.
Reason to Watch: Jermaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords plays one of the bad guys
Release Date: 25th May
Snow White and the Huntsman
Directed by Rupert Sanders
Starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron
This is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs reimagined for an older audience. The Evil Queen sends a Huntsman into the woods to kill Snow White so she can reign supreme. Things don’t go quite to plan though when the Huntsman becomes Snow Whites protector.
Reason to watch: Apart from getting to see Chris Hemsworth fighting off bad guys with a sword (might as well be Thor’s Hammer) but we get the likes of Nick Frost, Ray Winstone, Bob Hoskins and Ian McShane playing dwarves.
Release Date: 30th May
Prometheus
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and many others
An invitation, found by a group of explorers, is used to hopefully find the origins of man on a distant planet. Things seem to start taking a turn for the worst and instead of finding the origins they have to stop the end of the human race.
Reason to watch: Ridley Scott makes his long awaited return to the Sci-Fi genre. A prequel to Alien? Not a prequel to Alien? Based in the same universe? Can he match the brilliance of Alien? There is only one way to find out.
Release Date: 1st June
The Amazing Spiderman
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Rhys Ifans
Peter Parker is back in a reimaging of the Spiderman story. Peter has to come to grips with his new powers and discover what happened to his parents which leads him to Dr. Curt Connors.
Reason to watch: Yes it’s only been 10 years since Spiderman came out but there was this feeling that the film series needed a new lease of life. From the trailers so far it looks like we are more in line with the comics and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey should be reason enough to watch.
Release Date: 3rd July
The Dark Knight Rises
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Eight years have passed since the end of The Dark Knight and there is a new face in Gotham, Bane. Batman must come back to save the city he once protected and come face to face with one of his toughest enemies.
Reason to watch: This is the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman and if the previous two films are anything to go by then this will be one fantastic end to the story. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, JGL, visually fantastic action scenes and probably the odd surprise.
Release Date: 20th July
G.I Joe Retaliation
Directed by John M. Chu
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and Ray Park
The G.I. Joe’s are back and once again battling against Cobra. However this time they also have to deal with people in their own government trying to take them out.
Reason to watch: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Bruce Willis kicking arse together. That is all!
Release Date: 3rd August
New Release Date: Sometime in 2013
The Bourne Legacy
Directed by Tony Gilroy
Starring Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz
There was never just one. Based around Aaron Cross, a CIA operative, he finds himself in the same situation as Jason from the other films in the series. Is there more behind what is going on in the CIA than we first thought?
Reason to watch: If the film follows the same pattern as the other Bourne films and with Renner in the lead role then this could be the coolest film of the year.
Release Date: 13th August
Skyfall
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Helen McCrory, Naomie Harris and Judi Dench
Bond is back and is tested to the limit with his loyalty to M. All while MI6 is under attack and James must find and stop whoever is doing it.
Reason to watch: It has been 4 years since our last Bond outing and given the trailer it seems like we could be back to Bonds best. Bond 24 has also been confirmed already.
Release Date: 26th October
Gangster Squad
Directed by Ruban Fleischer
Starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone
Based in the 1940’s and 50’s a group of LAPD’s finest are recruited to help tackle and take down the Mafia gangs trying to make a name for themselves in LA with Mafia gangster leader Micky Cohen top of their wanted list.
Reason to watch:Tommy guns, shotguns, car chases, funny talking and everyone’s new favourite golden boy Ryan Gosling. Emma Stone once again stars alongside Gosling
Release date:9th November
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage and practically everyone from the LOTR films
A group of dwarves are on a mission to reclaim some treasure that was stolen from them by a dragon called Smaug. Accompanying them is a curious little hobbit called Bilbo Baggins who meets someone on the way who will change his life forever.
Reason to watch: Nine years after The Lord of the Rings concluded we now finally get the prequel story as to how Bilbo came to be in possession of the one ring. The film has been split into two and they could easily (and hopefully) equal or better Jackson’s original LOTR films.
It’s been 4 years since we last saw James Bond on the big screen due to the financial problems MGM had. Now, although the film states MGM, the film is distributed by Sony and is now on for a release date of 26th October 2012.
So today we have been gifted with the first trailer for Skyfall. Set while James is being questioned we see some classic bond images; cars, explosions, girls and a bad guy all while set to a futuristic style of music.
The sequel that we have all been waiting for, Anchorman 2 is being made and it wasnt even announced that long ago.
So what have we got. Well last week we had a poster and now we have a fantastic teaser trailer. Yes the trailer shows nothing of the film and yes it looks like they have just gone straight in to the original film’s costume department but that doesnt matter. If this trailer is anything to go by then we are in for some fantastic laughs from the news team once again.
thefriedgold 
