philosoraptor42

Naturally I hope that all of these films will have a UK release date (at least for a DVD release) before the end of the year. But right now in January 2014 there appears to be no release date for the UK planned (according to IMDB at least). So, we begin with movies just with no UK release date (and in some cases no US release date either btw) and then the next list is of movies with no release date at all (just the clear intention that they be released in 2014).

ANTICIPATED MOVIES WITHOUT A UK RELEASE DATE

[REC] 4: Apocalypse (2014)
Director: Jaume Balagueró
Stars: Manuela Velasco, Críspulo Cabezas, Mariano Venancio, Héctor Colomé
Spanish Release Date: 10/10/14
The young reporter Ángela is rescued from the building and taken to an oil tanker to be examined. However, it is unbeknown to the soldiers that she carries the seed of the mysterious demonic virus.

Jaume Balaguero co-directed the first two "REC" films. He also recently made the creepy and effective Spanish horror film "Sleep Tight”. Having let the other REC director, Paco Plaza, do what he wanted with "REC 3: Genesis", Jaume Balaguero is back to resolve the cliffhanger from REC 2 in this final instalment.

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Europa Report (2013)
Director: Sebastián Cordero
Stars: Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz
German DVD Premiere: 22/10/13
An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon. (90 mins.)

This is an interesting concept and I've heard a few recommendations, but so far there seems to be no sign that this is actually getting a DVD release in the UK, never mind a cinema release. This was out in America way back in August and the latest release date on IMDB is for the German DVD release and even that's back in October last year. I suppose being the OTHER movie set in space asides from "Gravity" has made it seem like a particularly hum-drum project, but I'm still keen to check it out all the same.

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Horns (2013)
Director: Alexandre Aja
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Heather Graham, Kelli Garner
Dutch Release Date: 06/11/14
In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.

Alexandre Aja wrote the awesome remake of "Maniac", wrote and directed the remarkable remake of "The Hills Have Eyes" and has also been critically acclaimed for writing/directing a number of other horror movies which I have as yet to check out. This book adaptation starring Daniel Radcliffe about a man who finds himself growing horns seems very intriguing.

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Saving General Yang (2013)
Director: Ronny Yu
Stars: Ady An, Adam Cheng, Ekin Cheng, Vic Chow
Japanese release date: 14/12/13
Northeast China, early Northern Song dynasty, AD 986. The Khitan army takes its revenge for a past massacre...

Released back in April in Hong Kong, this doesn't seem to have received any kind of western release. The latest release date on IMDB is for Japan last month. Still, I'm intrigued to see Ronny Yu's Chinese costume action thriller. Strangely enough this is the director of "Bride of Chucky" and "Freddy Vs Jason" two highlights from film retrospectives I've done in recent years.

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Snowpiercer (2013)
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Stars: Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, John Hurt
German release date: 03/04/14
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.

This is seriously frustrating for me. Half the cast are British and most of the others are American and yet neither the US nor the UK have received this one yet. Meanwhile France (presumably because this is based on a French graphic novel) has already shown this to general audiences. Naturally South Korea has also already seen this since the director is possibly my favourite Korean director Joon-Ho Bong, who made "The Host" and "Mother". Plus it's a sci-fi movie where those humans still surviving in an icy cold future are all confined to a single train. Bizarre, but massively intriguing and I have every confidence that Joon-Ho Bong has pulled it off with aplomb.

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Tricked (2012)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Peter Blok, Robert de Hoog, Sallie Harmsen, Gaite Jansen
Japanese release date: 18/01/14
During his 50th birthday party thrown by his wife, Remco's life takes a turn for the worse. His business partners are scheming behind his back to sell him and his former mistress shows up pregnant.

Apparently released last month in the US and back in March in Verhoeven's home country, the Netherlands, but still no sign that it's coming to the UK. Verhoeven's Dutch language movies like "Soldier of Orange" and "Black Book" might not be as flamboyant as "Robocop" and "Total Recall", but they have a greater sense of respectability. This appears to be no exception.

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Upside Down (2012)
Director: Juan Diego Solanas
Stars: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst, Timothy Spall, Blu Mankuma
Swedish DVD Premiere: 26/02/14
Adam and Eden fell in love as teens despite the fact that they live on twinned worlds with gravities that pull in opposite directions. Ten years after a forced separation, Adam sets out on a dangerous quest to reconnect with his love.

Once again, it's already been released in America. I think it's only the sci-fi premise that keeps me interested in this one since the reviews have not been kind. Still the idea of a romance between two figures who literally live in a higher and lower world with one from the lower level reaching up to make a connection with the one from the higher level. It's a very clever concept which I could imagine someone like Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry doing wonderful things with. But Juan Solanas doesn't have the same reputation.

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ANTICIPATED MOVIES WITH NO RELEASE DATE

ABCs of Death 2 (2014)
Director: Rodney Ascher, Kristina Buozyte
Stars: Martina García, Ian Virgo, Andy Nyman, C. Ernst Harth

I haven't seen the first ABCs of Death horror anthology movie yet, but I've heard good things and I'm looking forward to it.

(No trailer yet - imdb page here)

All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Director: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson
Stars: Caitlin Stasey, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Brooke Butler, Amanda Grace Cooper
A rebel girl signs up a group of cheerleaders to help her take down the captain of their high school football team, but a supernatural turn of events thrusts the girls into a different battle.

I'm a big fan of Lucky McKee and his previous film "The Woman" (a collaboration with Jack Ketchum) was his best yet. I'm really looking forward to this.

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The Host 2 (2014)
Director: Park Myeong-Chan

Joon-Ho Bong is still on board as a producer for this sequel to his 2006 movie "The Host". The short clip released so far looks pretty awesome.

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Maps to the Stars (2014)
Director: David Cronenberg
Stars: Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, John Cusack
Complex look at Hollywood and what it reveals about Western culture.

Director David Cronenberg's films seem to have taken a bit of a dive in quality recently with "A Dangerous Method" and "Cosmopolis" (particularly the latter), but it's always worth keeping an eye on his projects.

(No trailer yet - imdb page here)

Ninjas vs. Monsters (2013)
Director: Justin Timpane
Stars: Daniel Ross, Cory Okouchi, Jay Saunders, Devon Brookshire
In this final installment, the Ninjas and their friends find themselves pitted against the most evil and memorable monsters of them all - Dracula...

This was supposed to be released last year, but it's a very low budget film so it may take a long time to come to DVD and I guess I'm unlikely to see it released in cinemas. I had a good time with both "Ninjas Vs Zombies" and "Ninjas Vs Vampires" and I'm keen to see the end of the trilogy. It's horror/comedy/action, 'Buffy the Vampire' style.

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Predestination (2014)
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Noah Taylor, Christopher Kirby, Sarah Snook
The life of a time-traveling Temporal Agent. On his final assignment, he must pursue the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time.

The Spierig Brothers have released two very interesting films so far. They began with "Undead", a film about both zombies and aliens, and "Daybreakers" a kind of urban fantasy movie paralleling the vampire's lust for blood with human greed.

(No trailer yet - imdb page here)

Click the following three links for:
My Movie Guide: January 2014 - March 2014
My Movie Guide: April 2014 - June 2014
My Movie Guide: July 2014 - December 2014