June 2014 Watchlist

Article by Gabe Zia
So with May almost over (just about, anyway) I'm going to talk about June films. And yeah, I'll also include my best of May, even though Maleficent and A Million Ways to Die in the West still have yet to come out. But who are we kidding here, those weren't going to make my best list anyway.

June 6

Edge of Tomorrow

Starting off the month is the latest Tom Cruise action film. This one is about a dude named (I'm being 100% serious here) Cage, who is in a war with aliens. Sound basic enough, but the twist is that Cage is repeating one day over and over again, which just happens to his final day in combat.

The Fault in our Stars

Okay, confession time: I have not read the book. Nor have I read anything by John Green. However, I have some friends who freaking worship the guy, and this book in particular. And it looks fairly interesting, but I've heard that it rips your heart to shreds. Can't be any worse than the first 8 minutes of Up, right? Right?

June 13

How to Train your Dragon 2

This is another film I've been pretty excited for since the first trailer was released. I was a huge fan of the first film, I thought Dreamworks had really outdone themselves with it. And while out-doing themselves isn't what I normally expect from a film, I'm still hoping it'll be as good if not better.

22 Jump Street

Coming on that same weekend is a film I've been playing it pretty safe with, in terms of expectations. The first one, I didn't expect it to be good at all, and low and behold it was one of my favourite films of 2012. Sequels, I have even less expectations for, but I'm hoping it's really good.

The Signal

This watchlist just simply would not be a quintessential Lazy Film Critic watchlist if not for a few indie films that probably won't come out on the day I have listed. But I'm hoping this one comes out in my area, because it looks like one of the coolest films of the year. Not to mention, this looks like it has amazing cinematography, some of the best I've seen in years.

Hellion

Yet another indie film that probably won't come out on the 13th, this one is essentially Aaron Pauls transition film from Breaking Bad to movies. This film premiered to rave reviews at Sundance, so I'm pretty pumped for this film.

June 20

The Rover

For me, there have been two films coming out this year I really desperately wanted to see. The first was Godzilla, and the second is The Rover. This has pretty much my favourite stuff in a film, it's got a great cast ranging from popular actors like Guy Pearce to indie actors like Scoot Mcnairy (Argo), it's got a great director, and it's post apocalyptic. I have a weak spot for post-apocalypse style films, regardless of whether or not it's a dystopian future, a nuclear war type deal, or even lighter toned stuff like Wall E.

June 27

Transformers Age of Extinction

Okay, this is a film I've been skeptical about since the first trailer. I mean, there is some stuff I like. I like the fact that they've got a new protagonist, and a new villain, I like the fact that Stanley Tucci is in it (the rest of the film could be garbage but he'll still be awesome). But there's also the ever present lingering fact- this is a Transformers film. Really I could just say "this is a Michael bay film that isn't The Rock" and you'd understand.

Snowpiercer

Chris Evans stars in another film I'm very excited for this year, and that film is called Snowpiercer. The reason for my excitement comes from the fact that this film has a really cool premise. It's pretty extensive so I'll keep it short. Basically, global warming has ruined the planet, and every human that has survived is now on a train called Snowpiercer. The train is divided between the rich and the poor, and you can pretty much guess where it goes from there.

My favourite film of May 2014: Oculus

I know this film technically released in April, but I didn't see it until May.

Okay, if you're seriously shocked that this was my pick, trust me when I say I'm just as surprised as you are. Seriously though, who in the world would have predicted that Oculus - the film about a haunted mirror - would be my pick? Nobody, that's who. This film had a great set-up, an interesting gimmick that (especially rare in terms of gimmicks) doesn't get old after a minute, spectacular editing, and is a really good film. What I like most about this film however is that it doesn't sacrifice good filmmaking to be scary. Most horror films these days sacrifice things like acting, good dialogue, and a cohesive story in order to scare people. But, this film goes kind of the opposite route. It's not really scary for the most part, but the director was clearly setting out to make a good film, and he more than succeeded.

Go check out the full review for Oculus here!

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