Programme 33: Review Of 2013

The Watchers Film Show: Review Of 2013 from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.

Our latest programme is available to view - and it's a bumper show for Christmas!

The three of us are together for the first time since Matt joined us in August and we discuss our favourites of the year, what we didn't like, and what we're looking forward to in 2014.

Enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!

Rhys, Tez & Matt
The Watchers

Review: Thor: The Dark World (UK Cert 12A)

The eighth entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second film in Phase 2, Thor: The Dark World sees the titular god of thunder (Chris Hemsworth) facing a threat from the Dark Elves- led by Malekith The Accursed (Christopher Eccleston)- who seek to destroy the Nine Realms by using an ancient weapon called the Aether at a time known as the Convergence, when all the realms are aligned. In London, Dr Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) starts to investigate strange anomalies with the laws of physics. It's only a matter of time before the separated lovers are reunited but the path of true love doesn't run smooth with the fate of the Nine Realms resting on Thor's shoulders and a very credible threat to Jane's safety. Add into this the machinations of the imprisoned Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and you have an absolute rip-roarer of a film which meets the level set by Thor and occasionally exceeds it.

It's a film that's huge in scale, going from icy wastes to the opulent splendour of Asgard to a run-down factory in London- taking in vast desert worlds and, finally, absolutely wrecking Greenwich. Alan Taylor, no stranger to sprawling fantasy epics (having directed half a dozen episodes of Games Of Thrones), is a safe pair of hands in the director's chair. Whilst Kenneth Branagh brought an almost Shakespearean feel to the first Thor, Taylor brings the Game Of Thrones aesthetic to Thor: The Dark World, which is no bad thing.

Performance-wise (and this will come to no surprise to anyone who's seen either the first Thor or The Avengers), Tom Hiddleston steals the show. His performance as Loki is just superb- he's scheming, conniving, insidious and downright evil in places and yet is likeable and charismatic with it. But- with the possible exception of Natalie Portman (who looks like she's phoning it in on occasion)- the rest of the cast are strong. Chris Hemsworth seems right at home in the armour, giving a strong leading performance. Idris Elba gets more to do as the guardian Heimdall whilst Jaimie Alexander is great as warrior maiden Sif. Kat Dennings gets more of the comedy relief role as Darcy but she's good at it so it doesn't matter.

Christopher Eccleston is great as Malekith, but it does feel as if there's a lot of his story missing (or maybe left on the cutting-room floor). The focus of the film is definitely more on the romance between Thor and Jane, and the family politics of the ruling house of Asgard - the Dark Elves feel more like a plot device which is a shame because visually they look imposing and there are good actors beneath the prosthetics not having much to do.

Visually, it's absolutely sublime so massive kudos to the CGI teams and the visual effects teams for some utterly sterling work. It's also genuinely funny in places (there's a great sight gag involving a drinks can). There's a frankly genius Avengers-related cameo (which is done very cleverly indeed) and the first of the mid-credits scenes nicely links to one of the upcoming Marvel releases. They also have left a few plot strands open for a third Thor movie if they want to. And since there doesn't seem to be anything coincidental or unplanned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I would say a third outing is a pretty safe bet.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Tez

News From Comic-Con 2013

This year's Comic-Con International took place from July 18-21. A veritable Mecca for film-goers, TV geeks and comic-book fans, it boasted an array of panels, press conferences and events to showcase the big things coming in film and TV over the next twelve months (and further ahead).

Sadly, we couldn't be there this year- all tickets sold out in a mere 93 minutes- but here's a round-up of the biggest news from the event.

* * *

Man Of Steel vs The Dark Knight

The biggest news of the event was the announcement that the sequel to Man Of Steel will feature Superman and Batman on screen together for the first time. As you can imagine, this news sent the Twittersphere alight with comments ranging from 'OMFG best thing EVER!' to '#ruined'. What we know so far is this: 

Zack Snyder is back to direct and is co-writing the story with David S. Goyer. Goyer will then write the screenplay. Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas (from the Christian Bale Batman trilogy) are acting as executive producers.

Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent. Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane will also reprise their roles from Man Of Steel as Lois Lane, Perry White and Martha Kent respectively.

The new Batman has not yet been cast.

The anticipated release date is Summer 2015.

* * *

Karen Gillan has a Close Shave!

At the panel for Guardians Of The Galaxy, Karen Gillan- renowned for her flowing auburn locks- revealed a startling new look.

She has shaved her hair off for her role in the Marvel superhero movie! 

It's also been confirmed that she will be playing villainous space pirate Nebula in the James Gunn directed movie alongside Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora,  Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, John C Reilly as Rhomann and Djimon Hounsou as Koranth.

Character art and props from the movie (including Star Lord's helmet and Drax The Destroyer's knives) were also shown.


* * *

Marvel's Upcoming Slate

You can imagine that DC's announcement of the Superman/Batman collaboration was a major gauntlet thrown down to their rivals Marvel.

In addition to the Guardians Of The Galaxy panel, Marvel also released new posters and showed clips from Thor: The Dark World (presented by Tom Hiddleston in character as Loki) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as well as a one-shot short showing what Peggy Carter- played by Hayley Atwell- did after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger

Joss Whedon announced that his sequel to The Avengers, due in cinemas on May 1 2015, is called Avengers: Age Of Ultron. For those who don't know, Ultron is an evil robot created by Dr. Hank Pym (aka Ant-Man). However, Whedon has played down reports that Pym will appear in The Avengers sequel as Edgar Wright is directing an Ant-Man movie for the third phase of Marvel Studios' cinematic universe.

Ant-Man will be released on November 6 2015 whilst three further as yet untitled movies are scheduled for release on May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.

* * *

The Best Of The Rest

There were panels for many of the major films coming out over the next twelve months.

Many of the cast members of X-Men: Days Of Future Past attended their panel, where a preview of the film was shown:

New trailers and character posters were shown for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire:

There was a lot of fun at the panel for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with Andrew Garfield appearing as Spider-Man for the first part of the panel:

There was a press conference for Divergent, based on the first novel in a trilogy by Veronica Roth where a young girl rebels against the restrictive rules of her society. and starring Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, Theo James and Kate Winslet:

There was also a special poster released for this:

There were also panels for TV shows including Doctor Who, Game Of Thrones, Sherlock, True Blood and Once Upon A Time plus a special 20th anniversary panel for The X-Files!

Comic Book Movie Round-Up #2: Thor: The Dark World

Our second comic book movie round-up is on the second movie from Marvel's Phase Two collection (the first being Iron Man 3). It is...

Thor: The Dark World

Director: Alan Taylor
Writer: Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely from a story by Don Payne
Provisional Release Date: October 30 2013 (UK); November 8 2013 (US)

What We Know: The title of the Thor sequel was announced at Comic-Con in July 2012

Disney and Marvel Studios released the full synopsis for the film in October 2012.

"Marvel's Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel's Thor and Marvel's The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos... but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all."

Who's In?: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Kat Dennings (Darcy), Jaimie Alexander (Sif), Ray Stevenson (Volstagg), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Stellan Skarsgard (Dr Erik Selvig) and Rene Russo (Frigga) all reprise their roles from Thor.

New cast members include erstwhile Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston as Malekith The Accursed (leader of the Dark Elves) and Lost's Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays the dual role of Algrim The Strong who then becomes Kurse. Zachary Levi will play Fandrel, taking over the role from Joshua Dallas. Richard Brake and Clive Russell have also been cast.

Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids) has revealed he has recorded a single scene for the film.

Alice Krige, perhaps best known as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact, has been cast in a supporting role, with rumours she will be playing Alflyse, Queen of the Dark Elves.

It has been rumoured that Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) was to play Malekith but was unable to take the role due to commitments on the Hannibal TV show.

Alan Taylor took over as director after original director Patty Jenkins left the project over 'creative differences'.

Anything Else?: Back in September, it was reported that the Marvel character Doctor Strange would appear in the film as a colleague of Jane Foster. Joel Edgerton was lined up for the role, but no follow up reports have emerged. There are plans for a Doctor Strange movie afoot so we'll just have to see if he turns up.

It was reported back in October 2012 that Natalie Portman was 'coerced' into returning to do the film. It was stated by TG Daily that Portman had no wish to be involved once Patty Jenkins withdrew but Marvel Studios exercised their right. 

Filming began in September 2012, with battle scenes filmed in Surrey:

Chris Hemsworth with his stunt double

Christopher Eccleston as Malekith 

At the start of April 2013, Marvel Studios offered a preview of the Phase Two films which included concept art and stills from Thor: The Dark World:

Programme 15 - Men In Black 3, The Raid and The Dictator

Programme 15 is here (click here to view on VideoMajic.tv)!


We take a look at Indonesian action movie The Raid, summer blockbuster Men In Black 3 and outrageous comedy The Dictator. 


In the news, there's casting information for Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and the RoboCop remake.


Podcasts can be found here and here


Enjoy!