Anyway, 2009 has passed, and I've named the definitive best ofs for the year, so lets kill some time looking ahead at what comes in this, the year we make contact.
The Highlights:
Daybreakers- January 8th- The first exciting release of 2010, it features Sam Neil and Willem Dafoe in a world that is controlled and peopled by Vampires. I like to think of this one as a spiritual successor to Blade, a 'What If?' taking a look at a world where Stephen Dorf, as La Magra, managed to convert the world into vampires... simultaneously starving all of his people, who rely on human blood for food. Idiot.
Anyway, the idea is solid. Vampirism, in the movie world, is transferred by a bite, from an immortal group of people who need to feed daily on normal humans. It would only be natural that they would eventually overtake the normal human population. And then what? What do they do for food? How does a world that can only go outside at night possibly function?
It looks like a cool vamp flick, good cast, and there's some sort of weird blood mutation they have to fight for a little action to mix with the drama. Draction, if you will.
Book of Eli- January 15th- I hate the visual style of this film. Unlike The Road, where they painstakingly recreated or built burned out city husks to simulate the post apocalypse, Book of Eli uses some sloppy cgi on the backdrop. The discerning eye can pretty easily pick out where the sets end and the cg buildings begin.
Ah well, the concept is cool enough. Gary Oldman (the most badass actor, perhaps ever) is an influencial conman using his control over resources to hold the city in his grasp, but he sees his control beginning to waver. Enter Eli, a wanderer with a valuable possession: the last known copy of the Bible. Oldman seeks to take the Bible, and use it to sermonize to the people, controlling them by faith. But Eli happens to be a kung fu marine of the highest caliber.
Could go either way, but for Oldman and Denzel Washington as Eli, I'll give it a shot.
Legion- January 22nd- God is pissed off at mankind, and sends a plague of angels down to start a systematic genocide of the human race. Standing in their way is a single angel, who loves humanity, and gives up his halo to defend a single baby who is the redemption of us all.
Make no mistake, this movie looks terribly cheesy... but in the best way. Angels fighting and really loose interpretations of Biblical prophecy; if only there were a way to cram Chuck Norris in there somewhere. Looks fun, anyway.
Frozen- February 5th- Three teens sneak onto a ski-lift late-night, hoping for one last dash down the slopes. Their timing is off, though, as the resort closes down for the holiday weekend, leaving the kids stuck on the lift over a four day weekend. With a blizzard on the way, the teens have to find a way to drop down safely, slide down the cables, or risk freezing to death.
The trailer looks awful, but word is that the suspense in this movie is keenly directed, and the editing, with a believable cast, pull it off.
Maybe its just a publicity stunt, but someone did faint during the festival screening. Can it really live up to that intensity?
The Wolfman- February 12th- If you read regularly, you know I've already gotten to see this one, and its pretty good. A retelling of the Lon Cheney classic, a man is bitten by a wolf and turns into a wolf/man hybrid during the full moon.
Most of the cerebral story-line has been removed from his movie now, but I think it'll benefit from it. Its just a big, dumb, creature feature, but we don't exactly watch the 30's one for its tremendous social commentary.
Shutter Island - February 19th- Leo Dicaprio is a Federal Marshall investigating the disappearance of an inmate from an island asylum. As he starts getting close the a criminal secret kept by the hospital's doctors and staff, he finds himself suffering from (probably drug induced) delusions, and trapped amongst the island's inmates.
I think I've already guessed the ending to the movie, but we'll see. I like Dicaprio and Scorsese, and the trailer looks adequately creepy, so we'll see. Of course, the movie got pushed back four months for reshoots, so that means some group out there hated it, but general word on the new cut is positive. A nice change of pace for Scorsese, getting away from the cop and gangster dramas.
The Crazies- February 26th- Remake of the George Romero film (the modest success of which would fund Dawn of the Dead), a town is infected by a chemical-carried disease which drives them to hysterics. A family fights to escape, as their friends turn into lunatics around them, and the military seeks the eradication of the entire populace, them included.
Not Romero's best, and I didn't think we needed yet another 28 Weeks later attempt at revamping the zombie legacy... but man this trailer looks solid. I'm sold.
Alice in Wonderland- March 5th- Not so sold on this one. Alice in Wonderland, we know, little girl, rabbits, hatters, etc. This version features an older Alice returning to Wonderland to, essentially, live through all of the exact same adventures she'd had as a little girl.
Visually its hit and miss. I like the warping on Helena Bonham Carter, and the Cheshire Cat looks great, but The Mad Hatter? Johnny Depp comes off looking like a cross between Elijah Woods and Madonna, with a bit of Joker make-up for good measure. Tim Burton is really hit (Mars Attacks!) and miss (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) for me. I'll give it a shot, but I don't expect much. I expect people will hail the designs as brilliant just for the sake of being weird, and totally dismiss the fact that he's a pretty awful storyteller.
Brooklyn's Finest- March 5th- Four different cops struggle with corruption in their own ways. One is embittered and seeks retirement, one wants a taste of the drug money he sees, one gets lost in his undercover facade, and another fears following that same path.
This could be tame, as the story isn't exactly new ground, but there's always the potential in a cop drama. You get a lot of crappy ones out there, but then something like Heat comes along and redefines the genre. Geere, Chidle, and Wesley effin' Snipes all look pretty great here, so it might be worth checking out.
Greenburg- March 12th- Ben Stiller plays a middle-aged man who isn't good at anything, doesn't really enjoy anything, and wonders if there's more to life than just plodding along, getting run over by the more ambitious.
'Mumble Core' seems to be the net-name for this kind of film. Soft-spoken, pleading, character driven films that appeal to dis-associated Gen X and Y'ers. Stiller is best when he's in goofball mode, but I think he could make this one pretty workable. A good rainy day afternoon movie, when you're feeling bland, and want something to match that mood.
Clash of the Titans- March 26th - A titan against a titan! Remake of the Harry Hamlin classic. Man, that old one's such a good movie. This one could suffer from being too overdone, one of those ADD films that tries waaay to hard to overshoot the original (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, just mentioned, comes to mind) but I think it comes off like that due to the trailer editing. Everything looks pretty good, so far. Great design on Medusa and the Kraken both. And as long as they make this a mostly visual update, I think it will come out pretty excellent. Hopefully a new generation will be inspired to check out the Harryhausen animation work in the original. High School kids do still learn the myth of Perseus, right?
How to Train your Dragon- march 26th - A nerdy Viking kid seeks to gain glory in his village by slaying a dragon, only to befriend one and be invited to their society. On the eve of a viking/dragon war, he unites with his friend to save their peoples.
Its a pretty simple story... why, it almost resembles Avatar! But the animation looks good, and Dreamworks puts out some pretty good stuff that generally has a different humor than your usual animated fare. That is, as long as they avoid franchises...
If this had an 80's metal soundtrack, to compliment the vikings and dragons, it'd be complete.
I love you, Phillip Morris-March 26th- Je Suis Homo! Not sure why, but the trailer to this cracks me up. Can it really be so simple as having the straight Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor making out?
Here JC is a typical family man who, after surviving a life-changing car accident, realizes he's gay. He's arrested after conning a series of lavish gifts from vendors for his gay lovers, and in prison finds love with Ewan McGregor. After finding his release, he does everything in his power to get Ewan out of jail, or himself back in.
This looks hugely raunchy. Good to see Carrey back in outrageous form. I like his dramatic turns, but his comedy really has to have a chance to be out there. His family friendly comedies are all crap.
Hottub Time Machine- March 26th- This one will either be amazingly good or terribly bad. Even if its only as funny as, say, The Goods, I'll be pretty happy. The Goods has a similar cast, and while not a comedy classic, was just out there enough to be worthwhile.
Still, the concept is so bizarre, I don't think anyone would have gone through with it if the jokes weren't there in the script. And John Cusack, while not completely gifted with the touch of gold (2012), still fills me with hope.
Date Night- April 9th- A little pedestrian, but I love both Steve Carell and Tina Fey. I think it'll surprise some people'
Kick Ass- April 16th- Here's one of the films I'm most looking forward to for next year. Based on the comic, writer Mark Millar produced and found funding to put this movie together on his own, after Hollywood failed to help him. After rave reviews from comic convention audiences, he finally got an audience. Here is one of those great triumphs of independent film creation.
The trailer, while hilarious, isn't indicative of the plot. A losery comic fan gets tired of crime in his neighborhood, and dons tights to become a super-hero. He gets a pair of sticks, chooses the name Kick-Ass, and beats the crap out of muggers. Soon, he finds that the world of super heroes is real and bigger than he thought, threatening to overwhelm him.
Yeah, looks awesome. Based on a decent comic, so expect good things. Nice to see Nick Cage in a role I have faith in.
Nightmare on Elm Street- April 30th- Remake of the classic, telling the origin of Freddy Krueger and his first outing as the nightmare killer of teenage dreams. It has a really sharp look, and features Jackie Earl Halie (Rorschach of Watchmen) as a more realistic, sadistic Freddy.
The interesting notion of this one is that its not completely sure, unlike the original, if Freddy actually is a child molester, or if he's just some poor guy the town picked as a scapegoat and burned alive. Interesting angle.
Current reports, though, show this movie tested poorly in screenings and is in reshoots right now to correct some major story oversights. Gotta hope they get this one right, Freddy is a great character idea, and has too much potential to be wasted so.
Iron Man 2- May 7th- You know this one. Oh man, friggin' excited. This time around, Iron Man's armor is trying to be taken by the US Gov't, being hailed as a deadly weapon. Though Tony is able to put on a good public face, he secretly is still hounded by his family's legacy as warmongers. Representative of this shadow is Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, who develops a power source that mirrors the Iron Man armor's, transforming himself into a whip wielding agent of destruction, aimed at Tony. Also introduced is Scarlett Johansen as Black Widow, industrial spy. To help against this pair of ne'er do-wells, Rhodey (now Don Cheadle, replacing Terrance Howard) leverages the complaints of the US Gov into a power suit of his own, War Machine.
Robin Hood- May 14th- Robin Hood, filmed in the style of Braveheart. I recall when Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out, how we were finally getting a more realistic version of the classic tale to replace the old '38 one with Errol Flynn, which had become cheesy.
Going back to it now, Prince of Thieves is terribly cheesy, to the point where I can't watch it. The '38 one is now totally cool and kitschy. Ah, the circular nature of time.
I dunno if this movie is really needed or not, but I'll give it a shot.
Prince of Persia- May 28th- This one may end up being the best video game movie ever made... not that that's aiming particularly high. I think this one is supposed to be the new 'Pirates' franchise for Jerry Bruckheimer, since Pirates 4 seems to be on the rocks now. Looks like it has the potential to live up to it. My one complaint: Jake Gyllenhall, cool as he is, is not Persian. I guess this is another one for my 'badass white guy' movie list.
Toy Story 3- June 18th- Yep, they're back. I'm a little apprehensive about it, but so far Pixar hasn't made a bad movie. Not all are equal, but certainly not a single bad movie. Impressive.
This time around we see Andy moving off to college, and the toys afraid of being left behind and no longer played with. They manage to work their way into a preschool, to be played with by a swarm of young 'uns, only to have to break back out after nearly being torn apart. Somewhere in there, Buzz goes crazy and starts speaking Spanish.
The Last Airbender- July 2nd- Lookin' ok so far. This is based on the Anime about a kid who is the last of his Monk's order which controlled the elemental forces of the air (bending it, as it were). He battles the armies of the fire Monk, because fire-guys are always evil in stuff like this.
The big surprise about this one is that M. Night Shymalon is directing it. Its absolutely nothing like his prior works, though the last few were pretty crappy. He's a great technical director, though, so here's hoping he works well in a movie that doesn't have room for a twist ending. Of course, if this movie fails, it could be the twist at the end of his career, so we'll see.
Predator 3- July 7th- Dammit! I already had this idea/synopsis written up, and someone beat me to the chase. A group of hunters get wind of the adventures of Arnold in the jungle from the first movie, and chase the Predators down, hoping to turn the tables on the whole hunter/prey scenario. Well, sad as I am that I don't get the chance to write up this script now, Robert Rodriguez got a hold of it, so I can do nothing but sit back and wait for the eventual pile of awesome that he'll serve up to me.
Inception- July 16th- No idea what the fuck this movie is about. I know that Leo Dicaprio is a good actor, and Chris Nolan (Prestige, Dark Knight) is pretty much flawless so far. It looks cool, it sounds cool, and it appears to be about the power of ideas, a world of the mind, the possibility of thought crime; I gather Leo is a psychic who travels into peoples' brains and steals thoughts from the city scape that represents their thoughts, but that's just speculative. I didn't know what the Matrix was about going into it either, hoping for the same pleasant surprise here.
Dinner for Schmucks- July 23rd- A comedy remake with Steve Carell. A group of really snobby know-it-alls have a dinner once a month and challenge eachother to bring the stupidest person they can find to dinner, and get them to talk for as long as possible to the amusement of the group.
The schmuck, in this case, is Carell. Good original movie, but it was French, IIRC, and not particularly accessible. This should be fun.
The Other Guys- August 6th- From the Anchorman crew, if you like their stuff. It focuses on a couple of cops, Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlburg, who are essentially all the other cops in a Lethal Weapon movie. They keep getting shown up by this one particular pair of black guy/white guy buddy cops, and plot to steal their 'big case' away from them, and take the limelight themselves. Sounds like great parody material to me.
Ramona- August 13th- Based on the Beverly Cleary kids' books. This was a great series when I was a kid. Hopefully the whimsy comes through on the screen. About time Cleary's writings came to screen. Have they before? Edit: Yep, it was a TV series a few years back. Missed that completely.
The Expendables- August 13th- Bruce Willis, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, all in one movie. This action flick is a send up of all the cheesy 80's action greats, and has all their stars and villains making appearances. If you're a twenty or thirty something, this is a must see.
Priest- August 16th- I dont' know much about this one, except its about a Priest who's family is kidnapped by Vampires, and he uses his holy powers to save them. Sounds cool enough. This will probably be my birthday movie.
Due Date- November 5th- From the guys who made The Hangover. And, really, it sounds almost exactly like The Hangover, but more about babies. A guy needs to get from one city to another to attend the birth of his first child, and hitches a lift with a crazy guy who gets him totally lost. Not much to it, but it doesn't need to be a lot. Could be very Planes, Trains, and Automobiles-like. Either way, its got Robert Downey Jr. in it, and I'll watch about anything with that guy.
Megamind- November 5th- Dreamworks is crankin' them out this year. Megamind is the titular character, a supervillain who manages to kill his super hero adversary... and then without all of his crazy revenge plots suddenly has no reason to exist. Convinced that he needs a new challenge, he trains "Titan" to replace the old hero. His plan goes amok when Titan decides to be a villain, with his sights set on nothing short of world domination, and only the man who trained him can stop him.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1- November 19th- Part 7 Part 1. By now you all know HP, and here we are on the final adventure. The book was epic, so expect a lot from the movie. Breaking it into two parts to make it extra long was probably a good idea, you really want everything from that book to be in these movies. Part 2 comes six months later, so that's not a bad wait... and wasn't part 6 just a few months ago? I guess that one had been pushed back some.
Looking back, I'm glad they were able to keep the kids for the entire series. There was talk around movie #4 of replacing them, fearing they were growing old too fast, and would outstrip the characters. Keeping the core group in their respective roles has really added weight to the series, though, and I'm sure I'm not alone in having enjoyed watching the group grow and develop as actors as well as characters. Who knew Daniel Radcliffe would end up becoming a pretty decent actor? And would get naked on stage? Its a good thing he's working for WB, not Disney. That would have gotten him fired so quick with them...
Narnia- Voyage of the Dawn Treader- December 10th- Ah, back in the Christmas slot, where this really needs to be. Narnia has been an odd one to follow. The first movie, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, debuted to fairly strong reviews and was a generally faithful adaptation of the book, which also managed to add in a few bits of its own (actually showing the bombing of England, for example). It was #1 for two weekends, and was a new Holiday franchise for Disney. I remember people crying when Aslan gets sacrificed in the film, and the cheering at his return. Four sequels were announced.
Somehow, by the time part 2, Prince Caspian, came around, nobody cared anymore. Maybe people were just tired of fantasy epics, or maybe it really was the move to the summer (Iron Man killed this film, week after week of its short run). It still did ok at the box office, but it didn't come close to matching its predecessor. So, surprisingly, Disney sold the franchise.
Now fox is here, ready to make a mess of the franchise like they did with the X-Men series, and so many other beloved properties. Much of the team came over in the move, so we can hope the series has the same level of quality of the previous films. This is a testing ground for Narnia. If it does well here, we'll get to see the last two chapters made. Another luke-warm reception and Dawn Treader will sink the franchise.
Tron: Legacy- December 17th- This one's been in the works for quite some time. The cast came back to reprise their roles, just showing how much more interest geek-chic has gained over the years. When I was a kid, this movie was mocked and derided. Over time its become a monument of pop fandom, and a sequel only seems natural in current Hollywood.
Not sure exactly what its about, seems Jeff Bridges went back into the Tron system, and became a lost wanderer of the internet, now being hunted down by his son, who follows in his footsteps. Some great de-aging done of Jeff Daniels here. All round, looks like a quality production. You can tell everyone working on it is excited and they have taken their time to fine-tune every aspect. This will probably be the show stopper at the end of the year.
Paul- (TBD)- Finally a follow up from Simon Pegg and co to Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Here the usual suspects play a couple of sci-fi and comic nerds who happen across the wreckage of an alien named Paul, and use their geek knowledge to help him find a way home. Fingers crossed for more of these guys' magic.
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - (TBD)- Based on the comic series by Brian Lee O'Malley, which is nothing but wit and charm. Scott gets a new girlfriend he's crazy about, but is it love? Seems standing between himself and her heart are the femme's seven evil ex-boyfriends. Scott has to battle and defeat the seven exes and their evil mechanizations for world power to earn and secure true love.
Finally, a use for Michael Cera! I've liked this kid since Arrested Development and Juno, but he really hasn't had a good time to stretch his legs, despite having constant work the last couple years. I mean, Year One was less than stellar. Maybe here he'll come out of his shell a little.
Let Me In- (TBD)- A remake of Let the Right One In, a vampire movie that was one of my favorites from last year. US remakes always run the risk of being pretty craptastic, but this one is piecing together well so far. They got some good kids to act in it Chloe Moritz (of the previously mentioned Kick Ass) and Owen Smit-McPhee (The Road) are the first glimmer of hope. This was still pretty artsy for a vamp flick, though. Gotta hope the director has the proper respect for the source material, book or movie or both.
Solomon Kane- (TBD)- Might go straight to video, but we'll see. An inquisition era warrior puts his soul on the line to save a girl from a flock of escaped demons that roam the Earth. Based on the book series by the author of Conan.
Looks pretty good, great design work on the baddies. Solomon is one of those characters that's just a little too bad ass for his own good, but that's about what you get from the Pulp guys. Good action-y fun.
That's what I've got for now, and there will be more announced as time goes by, of course. Somewhere in there we're supposed to get a Conan movie and, theoretically, the long delayed 3 Stooges movie with Jim Carrey and Benecio Del Toro. Year's looking great for popcorn flicks, but only time will tell if and where our movies of substance will come from. Still, can't complain about a year with a lot of fun movies, either. 2009 was full of disappointments, really, and only a few highlights, like Trek and District 9. 2010 is lookin' better already.
And coming soon, the Lowlights of 2010.
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