The Year of Our Lord.....2013

More by force of habit than conscious decision, I now start each year compiling (and editing and re-compiling) my list of films to watch for the forthcoming 12 months. I've been burned by the odd studio delay, or prolonged post-shoot edit process, hence the tippex, but on the whole have been successful at seeing my whole list before the year end - and if possible, on the big screen. My last two years ended up looking like this:

(Note - I didn't see The Man with the Iron Fists or On the Road.....1 red cube is default)

As for this year, after expelling the likes of Cloud Atlas, Carrie, Malavita, Good Vibrations, The Iceman, Riddick and The Last Stand I have finished the below list, with the first five films all hopefully having been seen in the next month (I have tickets for Bullhead, Zero Dark Thirty and Stoker at the BFI Southbank).

You will see that I've already cracked out the Tipp-Ex mouse, and replaced The Last Stand and Hummingbird with The Tomb and What Richard Did. Although I have specified 52 films I want to see (no; must see!), I have also come up with a Top 13 for 2013, which are as follows, and in order (a cinephile can waste hours rearranging the orders of film lists based on numerous merits - it really depends on the day and frame of mind):

Django Unchained
Dir. Quentin Tarantino
UK release: 18 January

Elysium
Dir. Neill Blomkamp
UK release: 20 September

Stoker
Dir. Park Chan-wook
UK release: 1 March

Alan Partridge: The Movie
Dir. Declan Lowney
UK release: 16 August

Zero Dark Thirty
Dir. Katherine Bigelow
UK release: 25 January

The Counselor
Dir. Ridley Scott
UK release:TBA

Gangster Squad
Dir. Ruben Fleischer
UK release: 10 January

Twelve Years A Slave
Dir. Steve McQueen
UK release: TBA

Man of Steel
Dir. Zack Snyder
UK release: 14 June

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Dir. JJ Abrams
UK release: 17 May

Welcome to the Punch
Dir. Eran Creevy
UK release: 15 March

Pacific Rim
Dir. Guillermo del Toro
UK release: 12 July

Trance
Dir. Danny Boyle
UK release: 27 March








Just missing out on the Top 13 are Calvary, Gravity, Hitchcock, The Look of Love, Oblivion, and The Double - all of which I'm also very excited about. 

So, what are you guys looking out for? Mega-robot Jaegers fighting underworldly beasties in Pacific Rim? A return to the McQueen intensity hour for Twelve Years a Slave? Danny Boyle's return to cinema after that small opening ceremony malarky with Trance? What about Fassbender, Pitt, Renner and Bardem in Cormac McCarthy-penned The Counselor? Matt Damon kicking ass in space in Elysium? Let me know below.