Happy Friday everyone! Hope your week’s been going well. It’s been a slow week for me blogging-wise as well as my workload at the office. I hope it’s just a Summer thing as people being out on vacation and what not. As you probably know, June was kind of an eventful month that kept me from watching some screenings and other movies I’ve set out to see. I saw that people have started listing their favorite movies of the first half of the year, which I hope to do sometime next week.
In the meantime, I thought I’d pick your brain this week to find out just which movie(s) end up being a surprise to you so far. I’m talking about new releases in 2013 that you haven’t been particularly stoked to see but end up surprising you in a good way.
Just looking at the top banner above and from my review yesterday should give you a hint how much I enjoyed Pacific Rim 😉 I actually tweeted last Tuesday night that I like this movie more than Man of Steel (imagine that!). I mean, as a huge Superman fan, I’m more surprised by that than anyone, especially since I’m not even into robots or big monster movies at all. I never bothered putting the trailers on this blog as I thought they were lame. In fact, I was thisclose from bailing out from the screening altogether!
Well, I’m glad I didn’t skip it as it ends up being my favorite Summer movie so far. It remains to be seen if del Toro’s mammoth robots will conquer audiences this weekend or not, seems like all the experts are predicting a soft opening for the movie (around $30 mil according to Variety).
As far as indie movies go, my surprise pick would be The Kings of Summer. It’s another movie that wasn’t even on my radar but it’ll surely be in my top 10 list of the first half of this year.
…
Now your turn!
What movie(s) surprises you most in 2013 so far?
(Feel free to also list movies that surprises you in a bad way, perhaps those you’ve been anticipating that let you down in a big way)
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World War Z! It was on my most anticipated list but I really fell away from it as time went by. I lost most of my enthusiasm. Boy not only did it not disappoint, it was a blast! Loved it.
Also Iron Man 3 but in a sharply negative way. It was my #2 most anticipated movie and to be honest I really didn’t care for it. I’ll watch it again and give it another shot, but I’m not all that excited too.
Ah man, now I’m even more bummed I missed the screening! I wasn’t anticipating it but it warmed up on me as time passes, I have a feeling I might dig it too!
I liked Iron Man 3 but I could see why some didn’t. Thanks Keith!
I was really surprised that I liked Magic Mike and Ted…a LOT ;-D I certainly could watch both again. That’s a mark of a good film if you could see it again, at least for me it is.
Ahah, not surprised that you love Magic Mike 😉 But TED is a surprise to me that you dug it so much. Yeah it’s always a good sign if you want to see a movie again.
I was surprised with how disappointing Man of Steel was if that counts. I was also surprised with how much I liked the new Star Trek.
Ouch! Man Of Steel disappointing? Say it ain’t so 😦 I dug the latest Star Trek too, so we have that in common.
I thought World War Z was going to be crap but I ended up liking it a lot. I thought Spring Breakers would just be a goof that I would like but not think much of, but it’s one of my favorites so far this year.
Hi Jess! Sounds like that’s exactly what happened w/ me and Pac Rim. I definitely want to see WWZ but Spring Breakers, not so much.
I still can’t get over how sweet WARM BODIES was…
Interesting! I’m not much of a zombie movies fan but I might give that one a shot then. Thanks Ryan, always great hearing from you 😀
To be honest Ruth, I haven’t been all that surprised by much so far this year. I’d probably say that my biggest surprise was that I wasn’t disappointed by Before Midnight. I’d hyped it up in my head but fortunately it lived up to my expectations.
I haven’t seen Before Sunset yet so I need to see that first before I see Before Midnight. Glad to hear that it lived up to your expectations Chris!
I don’t know. The ones I’ve seen so far lived up to my expectations though I think the film that did surprise the most was “Trance” as I didn’t expect the film to be this very stylish yet energetic noir film.
Haven’t seen Trance yet but will rent it as soon as it’s available!
Yes Pacific Rim was awesome. By far my favorite movie was Man of Steel. My surprisee movie had to be Fast 6. I was surprised on how fun and good that movie was.
Hi Issy! Hey, I’m glad you said Man of Steel is your fave, it’ll end up in my top 10 of the year for sure. Yeah Fast 6 definitely surprised me as well, though I haven’t seen the other movies in the franchise.
Hi, Ruth:
Two solid surprises and it’s just shy of August! Some nice high points this year. Looking forward to ‘RED 2’. For all the obvious reasons.
Ah yes RED 2! I forgot it’s this year. This is also one I will watch in cinema 🙂
Hi Jack! It’s always nice when a movie surprises you in a good way. Gonna see RED 2 on Tuesday, too bad no more Karl Urban 😦
I am going to see Pacific Rim on Monday and if it’s really good, I will write the review on Wednesday 🙂 So happy to see Sharlto again in the big screen. I wish he gets more roles in the future.
Movies in 2013 that surprises me…hmmm hard questions since the only movie I have seen is Star Trek Into The Darkness…can I just say it surprised me because Benny looks good with his buffy body? 😉 hehehe apart from that the plot was okay but didn’t surprise me at all.
I am planning to watch many movies this year, only Star Trek, Pacific Rim, The world’s End (if it gets here), and The Hobbit…most only go to my DVD list.
Ahah, I was confused when you mentioned Sharlto but looks like you already realized that he’s in Elysium 🙂 Ahahaha, you and your Benny obsession! He does look good in that tight Star Trek suit 😉 Can’t wait to see The Hobbit 2, sooo much eye candy in that one 😛
Hahaha yeah…too much on my mind. New curriculum really takes all my attention.
Ah…we will not see Benny in the Hobbit, but I have already seen pic of him goofing around with Martin… Smaug and Bilbo are friends 😉
World War Z was a huge surprise for me. Didn’t expect much but turned out that I extremely loved it!
Other than that, I didn’t expect how much I ended-up enjoying Olympus Has Fallen. My second viewing of it however was that good… wait a second… that was a different movie… White House Down! Honest mistake 😛
Typo error… my second viewing was NOT that good… 😀
Hi Asrap! Oh I enjoyed OHF for what it was, but I don’t know if I’ll see it again. Ahah, so you did see White House Down too? I really thought it’d actually beat OHF at the box office but it ended up flopping, AND it had twice the budget, ouch!
The biggest surprise for me has been The Bling Ring. I remember making fun of that trailer the first time I saw it, but I was really just fascinated by the whole thing. I want to see it again.
Hi Brittani! Oh man, I missed the screening of The Bling Ring! Did you see Somewhere? I’m hoping it’d be eons better than that one.
I don’t think any films has surprised me so far this year, most of the films I saw were either met my expectations or just okay, I knew I wasn’t going to be in love with Man of Steel and World War Z. I was right, there were just good entertaining films but not something I’d want to see over and over again. If I have to choose one, it would be White House Down, I didn’t expect to enjoyed it as much as I did. I guess I just miss the good old shoot’em up action flicks where it didn’t take itself too seriously. Ever since Nolan’s Batman Begins and Greengrass’ Bourne films came out, most action films tried to be dark, edgy and way too serious.
WOW, I think you’re the first that answer White House Down as a pleasant surprise, ahah. You’re right about action flicks being too dark and too serious though, or just not funny enough even though it attempted to be an action comedy (i.e. Die Hard 5).
Most surprising were WWZ, Iron Man 3 and Evil Dead. Didn’t expect to enjoy those a lot, but they’re among my favorites of the year so far!
I was surprised how much I enjoyed Iron Man 3 too, but not as much as Pac Rim. Still need to see WWZ!!
That one’s pretty fun!
Glad to hear, esp. considering all the production woes that movie had. I look forward to seeing it when it’s out on BD, which is more than what I’d say about other Brad Pitt movies 😀
Brad Pitt rules! 😉
But yeah, WWZ is good but it definitely needed a stronger ending.
I’ll take your word for it Fernando. I have to admit Pitt looks pretty good in WWZ, sounds like a role that his gal pal Angelina would approve 😀
Glad you liked Pacific Rim so much, seeing it tomorrow. As for me so far I’d have to say This is the End, I never have high hopes for comedies and this one had me in stitches 😀
Hi Tim! Curious to hear what you think of Pac Rim. Too bad it had no chance to conquer the box office, those minions are powerful!!
I don’t mind it taking a steady take at the US box office as long as the international taking push it into healthy figures. If it can claw its budget back in the US then it will make a big profit from the overseas takings 😀
ups…Sharlto is in Ellysium not Pacific Rim…my memory all messed up because of so many teaching planner needed to be written
He..he.. I figure I let you correct it Nov 😀 I totally understand what you mean about being busy. I do hope Sharlto gets more roles in Hollywood though!
Hear hear!!! He might not be handsome but he has talent
Having read the script of Elysium, I think you’ll be please that his role in the film was pretty big for a villain. His character’s not a very nice person though, while reading the script I can definitely see Sharlto in that role and from the trailers I’ve seen, looks like he delivered.
He ALWAYS delivered 🙂 Love him in D9 and he was great as Murdoch in the a team.
Anyway, Sharlto as the viallain remind me of Benedict’s interview “why does Hollywood like to cast British as villain?” I think the interviewee should ask Why does Hollywood like to cast non-American as Villain 😉 (Sharlto makes the 4th actor I like that played as villain in Hollywood movies: Cillian, Benedict, Hiroyuki Sanada and now Sharlto Copley)
Hey Nov, you’ve GOT to read my friend Chris’ review of Europa Report starring Sharlto: http://filmhipster.com/2013/07/15/europa-report-2013/ I might watch that this weekend. Yeah, I think great character actors make for an efficient villain 😀
Was surprised with Warm Bodies & The Croods. Quite an entertainment there!
Another answer for Warm Bodies. I should give that a shot then. Not really interested in The Croods though. Thanks Andina!
Ruth, thanks so much for asking this question! I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this conversation because I now live in a tiny town that does not even have a theater! However, I really appreciate everyone’s comments–you are making my DVD Wish List much easier to compile. And Ruth, welcome back. You have been in my thoughts.
Hello Stella, lovely to hear from you girl! Where do you live now? There’s a certain charm to a small town, but yeah it might be hard to catch the latest new releases.
I appreciate people’s recommendations here too, that’s why I like posting a question like this 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind words, let’s collaborate on a post one day (Gabriel-related of course) 😀
I really can’t think of any. I guess because I generally don’t look at upcoming movies and just go into them pretty blindly…
That’s wise of you Nostra. I can’t help but check out those trailers, etc. and thus I have a certain expectations about movies.
I expected Spring Breakers to be trash and it was… but in a surprisingly brilliant way!
Ahah, I’ve been hearing that a lot from people, Pete.
I was really surprised by What Richard Did, which I rented on Amazon Instant Video based on some of the good reviews I’d seen. It’s a small film with a stunning performance from Jack Reynor, a young Irish actor who’s been cast in Transformers 4, no less.
Hi Josh! I haven’t heard of that movie but I’d have to look that up now. Hope you’ll review that.
Well, I included it in a Five Film in Five Words post, so I wasn’t planning on reviewing it. Since you ask, I’ll try to get up a review soon. 🙂
Speaking of which, I’m actually planning Vol 2 of Five Film in Five Words for tomorrow 😀 Looking forward to your review Josh!
Thanks! My review should be up tomorrow. 🙂
Europa Report surprised me the most so far. I wasn’t expecting such a well produced film with tons of action and suspense. A must see.
Awesome Chris! Now I know what to watch next time we’re browsing iTunes. I wish Sharlto Copley got more film roles!
New releases, I would say these surprised me in a good way: The Place Beyond The Pines, Laurence Anyways, Arbitrage, What Richard Did, Paradise: Love
The documentary Room 237 surprised me in a bad way. It was fairly entertaining, but too crazy a doc to take seriously…unfortunately
Wow, another mention for What Richard Did and I’ve never even heard of it. I just IMDb-ed it and boy it sounds really intriguing. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I did hear about Room 237 but I never saw The Shining so not really that interested in that one.
This Is the End was infinitely better (and funnier) than I expected. One of my favorites so far this year.
That’s great Eric, not sure yet if I’ll check it out though, I think you know why.
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