Flixist’s 2013 movie preview: Part 1

As we come to the end of January it’s time for Flixist to get its act together and look ahead at the year to come in movies. We didn’t really miss that much in January and that’s where movies go to shrivel up and die. However, the rest of the year looks pretty damn amazing.

There’s of course all the action and big budget films coming along including phase 2 of Marvel’s superhero awesomeness and a Michael Bay film that looks so Michael Bay it may implode in on itself. But there’s also plenty of interesting indy stuff we’re excited for and the return of some of our favorite directors.

Read on to find out what the first half of 2013 has in store.

Director: Scott Stewart
Release Date: February 22, 2013

I don’t quite know what Dark Skies is about, but I know its trailer creeped me out, and any trailer than can creep me out (a la Sinister) is on the top of my list of movies for any year. Director Scott Stewart’s Legion and Priest were ridiculous, stupid fun for me and I’m interested to see what he can do with less angel-zombies and future-vampires. Also, watching Kerri Russel bang her head against a sliding door against her will is totally relevant to my interests. – Sean Walsh

Director: Park Chan-wook
Release Date: March 1, 2013

I love me some Park Chan-wook. Fellow Korean director Kim Ji-Woon’s English-language debut was a bit of a disappointment, but I feel like Stoker has a lot more potential than The Last Stand ever did. I don’t know anything about it, which is par for the course, but the bits and pieces that I’ve gotten all point towards something pretty damn cool. Way back when, I met someone who was on the set of Stoker and said it was a strange thing: for the first 17 takes, the language barrier caused some problems between Chan-wook and the actors. But on take number 18, things clicked and it was pretty goddamn awesome. Assuming the film is made of Take 18s (and there’s no reason not to believe that), Stoker has the potential to be one of the best films of the year. – Alec Kubas-Meyer

Director: Harmony Korine
Release Date: March 22, 2013

Color me surprised by Korine’s upcoming Spring Breakers. I seriously thought the film was going to be a mindless party movie with James Franco taking on a shallow role to expand on his acting repertoire. I judged a book by its cover, even when I knew Korine had some writing/directing chops with Kids and Gummo under his belt. This could be dark and awesome, or it could be derailed by its cast of Disney actresses. I know one thing’s for sure: There’s going to be a lot of boobs, butts, and bikinis. – Geoff Henao

Director: Danny Boyle
Release Date: March 27, 2013 (UK)

If there’s anything director Danny Boyle is good at it’s mind trips, and Trance looks to be one gigantic mind trip. Boyle’s style of directions gives his films a style that bends the viewer into the experience, creating some of the most captivating movies around even if they only have one actor in them or aren’t actually that great. Whatever he’s doing he imbues an originality into it and since Trance looks like one hell of a mind fuck I think his direction is just going to elevate it to the next level. Also, Vincent Cassel. – Matthew Razak

Director: Paul Feig
Release Date: April 5, 2013   

Here’s an abridged list of things I love: Paul Feig, Melissa McCarthy, buddy cop movies, Thomas Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future), and Sandra Bullock. The Heat has and/or is all of these things. After watching Melissa McCarthy go on for almost five minutes during the credits of This is 40 and seeing the red-band trailer for The Heat, this film may very well be my most anticipated movie of the year. – Sean Walsh

Director: Shane Carruth
Release Date: April 5, 2013

Primer was a great low-buddget mindbender of a film. What it doesn’t have in terms of budget, it more than makes up for with twists and smarts. For years it left me waiting to see what Shane Carruth would do next. The answer is Upstream Color, a film that looks moody and disturbing even though I have no idea what it’s about so far. I’m avoiding any other details about the movie up until its release so I can enjoy the surprise and full impact of Carruth’s sophomore effort. That even goes for any coverage that the Flixist team does at Sundance regarding this film. – Hubert Vigilla

Director: Steven Spielberg
Release Date: April 5, 2013

Growing up I can’t think of any other film that I may have watched more than the technological milestone Jurassic Park. My obsession with dinosaurs married with my childlike desire for awesome merchandising (dinosaur toys, video games, and lunch boxes!? yes please!) made me feel as if I would never need another film ever again. Of course that didn’t prove to be true, but it is still a movie I return to on a regular basis and I am always left surprised at how well it has stood the test of time. I’m sure that will continue to stand true when I see it in theaters again this spring, 3-D or not. – Thor Latham

Director: Fede Alvarez
Release Date: April 12

I was immensely worried when I heard they were remaking Evil Dead. As part of the trilogy that really got me into films, and the film that led to my favorite movie Evil Dead 2, hearing of a remake was pretty much a sin against every god there is. But I held out my reservations and since then have done a complete 180. After talking with Bruce Campbell and director Fede Alvarez about the film its clear that thanks to the involvement of the original filmmakers this is going to be its own beast all together. I hate using the term reimagining, but if you’ve seen the red band trailer you know that this has hints of the original, but looks honestly scarier. – Matthew Razak

Director: Michael Bay
Release Date: April 26, 2013

I’m going to go on record now saying that Pain & Gain will be a Baysterpiece. With its cast of glorious manly men, Mark Wahlberg’s always fantastic meathead comedic chops, and most likely guns and ‘splosions, Pain & Gain feels like the film Bay was born to make. When P&G releases, feel free to come back here and rub it in my face because I’m a sucker apologize to me as I was right the whole time. – Nick Valdez

Director: Shane Black
Release Date: May 3, 2013

So, the writer of such classics as Lethal Weapon and Last Action Hero is directing the third installment of Iron Man, Ben Kingsley is playing Iron Man’s arch-nemesis, the Mandarin, and we’re getting the Extremis armor? Phase 2 just can’t start soon enough. – Sean Walsh

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Release Date: May 10, 2013

Many people have reservations about the cinematic adaptation of one of America’s greatest works of literature; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. I share these concerns, however,  I think that Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby interpretation is something to look forward to. If nothing else, you know the movie is going to be incredible eye-candy, and it could easily spark new interest in a classic novel that most young people dread being forced to read. The Great Gatsby will come out in the Spring of 2013, and we’ll see if it will hold up against its forefather, or will end up collecting dust on bookshelves. – Liz Rugg

Director: J.J. Abrams
Release Date: May 17, 2013

Star Trek kicked ass. I’m not sure if you were unaware of it or not, but it is quite possibly the best reboot of a franchise ever. Somehow Abrams managed to reinvent the franchise, update it and give it a new twist while still remaining true to the original and not obliterating the previous films/TV shows/books timeline. It’s was epic. Into Darkness has a pretty tough act to follow, but even if its looking more like an action movie than a Star Trek film I think we have to be excited for it. If Abrams knew what he was doing the first time around he’s not going to mess it up the second time. 

Director: Justin Lin
Release Date: May 24, 2013

I’m stupidly looking forward to the sixth entry in the Fast and Furious saga. Very few franchises even make it to six, but I’m glad this ode to hot women, hot men, and fast cars made it this far. I’m a little worried about it’s release date though since Fast and Furious Six/The Fast and Furisix/Fast Six/Fastix releases in just five months, but we won’t get our first trailer until the Super Bowl. Am I just being cautious? I mean, I don’t even know what its officially called. Nevertheless since Furisix marks the return of Tanktop Jebus Michelle Rodriguez to the franchise, I’m stupid hyped to watch Paul Walker’s particular brand of “not acting” once more. – Nick Valdez

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Release Date: June 7, 2013

After Earth is Mr. Plot Twist’s last probable chance to try to get another good film under his belt. If he messes up with big name actor Will Smith, I really don’t think he’ll be directing again anytime soon. I do like Will Smith, not his son so much, but I like him and hopefully this science-fiction film will be good. Who doesn’t want to see what the Earth looks like 1,000 years after we’ve left it in ruins? – Logan Otremba

Directors: Zach Snyder
Release Date: June 14, 2013

I don’t think there is any other movie coming out this year that I am more hesitant to be excited about than Man of Steel. Superman is cemented in our culture’s popular fiction as a hero who is instantly recognizable; whose mythology is known world-wide and is recited in countless languages. And yet he was handed off to Zach f**king Snyder, the man who was brazen enough to think he could adapt one of graphic media’s most iconic novels into film, the same man who soon thereafter released the visual vomit that was Sucker Punch. I thnk what I’m trying to say is, thank God for Christopher Nolan. – Thor Latham

Directors: Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
Release Date: June 14, 2013

Imagine a world where James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson must face the aftermath of some apocalyptic event. Name recognition alone has me excited for This is the End, but the premise of some of my favorite comedy film actors uniting to co-exist in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles (as if it wasn’t already post-apocalyptic, hurr hurr hurr) ups the ante. Also, Craig Robinson drinks his own pee in the film. – Geoff Henao

Director: Dan Scanlon
Release Date: June 21, 2013

Pixar is a studio that can do no wrong (well, almost) and I’m sure Disney is aware of how much of its own cinematic success is owed to those whimsical maestros of CG. There’s a reason John Lasseter is a producer on all of Disney’s big animated movies after all, but that’s beside the point. What’s important is that Pixar knows how to make movie magic, and one my favorite films of theirs is Monsters Inc., so to say that I’m excited to get to see Mike and Sully meet and form their everlasting friendship in Monsters University is an understatement. If there’s one thing the world can always use more of, it’s Billy Crystal and John Goodman. – Thor Latham

World War Z
Director: Marc Forster
Release Date: June 21, 2013

So when the trailer for World War Z came out, I laughed out loud because of how awful it looked. Now, I am a fan of both Romero’s view of zombies like Night of the Living Dead and Boyle’s infected like 28 Days Later because each have their own purpose, but the source material of World War Z calls for the Romero kind of zombie and not the “I can sprint faster than an Olympic athlete-kind” which already put me off. The CGI that is used looks awful by today’s standards, and we got zombies that basically act like ants by building an “infected ladder” up a massive wall. It might make big bucks because it’s a big budget zombie film, but Brad Pitt should feel bad for starring in this. – Logan Otremba

Before Midnight
Director: Richard Linklater
Release Date: TBD

Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are two great movies about relationships — the former about young love and sudden infatuations, the latter about regret and how we deal with the one that got away. Before Midnight reunites Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy, this time in Greece. The film makes its world premiere at Sundance, though a release date has yet to be determined. Everyone’s in middle-aged now, and Hawke went through a messy divorce from wife Uma Thurman, so a lot of my interest in this film is how the perspective on relationships and romance has changed since the previous film. – Hubert Vigilla