10- YOUR HIGHNESS
This
one is directed by David Gordon Greene, the independent director that
sold out by making Pineapple
Express
in 2008. I don't particular mind that he sold out, mainly because
Pineapple
Express
was his best film and this new one should be hilarious. First off,
it's about knights in medieval times. Secondly, it stars and was
co-written by Danny McBride, the hilarious star of Eastbound
and Down
and The Foot
Fist Way.
Not only does it have a terrific setting, writer, star, and
director...but it has an excellent cast. Natalie Portman, Zooey
Deschanel, and James Franco turn up. Why is this not higher on my
list?
9- PAUL
The
duo that starred in Shaun
of the Dead
and Hot Fuzz
re-team as stars and writers in this flick about two sci-fi geeks
that go to Area 51 to check it out and run into an alien voiced by
The Rock. It's directed by Greg Mottola, who did Superbad
and Adventureland.
It sounds hilarious, right? And Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are great
together. This should be a cult-hit, sure, but also a very, very fun
film.
8- ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Tim
Burton made his best film in years the last time out (Sweeney
Todd).
He's following that up with an adaptation of the famous novel by
Lewis Carroll. It has Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway and it's in
3-D. Yes, it might turn out to be a special f/x disaster, but it's
definitely one of the most intriguing films coming out this year. The
dark, hallucinogenic world of Alice with the dark sensibilities of
Burton and the wry, Gonzo humor of Depp. It'll be interesting no
matter what.
7- THE WOLFMAN
Honestly, this looks like the greatest movie ever made. It was bumped
from the Fall to the Spring which means that it might be a train
wreck, but it looks ferocious and fun and it's rated R. The Wolfman
is Benicio Del Toro, who rarely works, and the young minx is played
by Brit hottie Emily Blunt. Anthony Hopkins also shows up. It's foggy
London in the late-Nineteenth century and it has babes and blood.
What more could you ask for?
6- THE GREEN HORNET
They
wrote Superbad,
which had a lot of funny lines it but had a typical story. Then they
wrote Pineapple
Express
which had a lot of funny lines and a bizarre story. Evan Goldberg and
Seth Rogen's latest script is based on the masked superhero, The
Green Hornet. It was radio serial in the 40's and then a TV show in
the 60's. Can you even imagine this duo writing a super hero script?
And on top of that, Michel Gondry, the uber-weird maestro behind The
Science of Sleep
and director of Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
and Be Kind
Rewind,
is directing this. It also has Seth Rogen as the hero and Christoph
Waltz as the villain. Yes, it might be a mess, but the elements of a
great, wild, amazing film are there. This should be a wild ride.
5- HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1
This certainly wasn't the best book (it was the second worst), but it
does have three or four really huge action spectacles that could be
exciting on screen. I read the book two years ago, but I do remember
that there's a big action sequence with a dragon inside Gringott's
bank, there's a melee at Draco Malfoy's house, and there's the big
war at the school. This film is only half of the book, so expect to
see the wedding of Ron's brother and the sequence at the cute blonde
girl's house. Will this film be any good, though? Since it will
abruptly end...and there's a lot of boring camping scenes, not to
mention the whole deathly hallows plot that never goes culminates in
anything exciting or revelatory, it's up in the air at this point. I
did think that the last film was excellent and this has the same
director. There's two films left. After that, it's over forever. I
eagerly expect this to be a great beginning to a stellar finish.
4- SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
Well
this series of graphic novels is awesome. It's funny and perfect and
it might be impossible to translate to a film. The actor Michael Cera
is not a good fit to be Scott, but he's the “it” guy these days.
If he does his quiet, nervous schtick than the film is ruined. Scott
is annoying, a jerk, obnoxious, sweet, and loud at times. The story
has Scott meeting a new girl that he falls in love with. To get her
he has to defeat her evil ex-boyfriends. Yeah, it's odd. It's also
hilarious and quirky and amusing. The film is being directed and
co-written by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote and directed Shaun
of the Dead
and hot fuzz. The one problem that I have with Wright is that he
loves the fast-cut edit. This means that the fight scenes might be
horrendously over-stylized. Like Watchmen,
at least it'll be cool to see it come to life.
3- GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
I'm have an English degree and I've never read this book. I know the
story, though. I've seen the adaptations. This one is different
because it stars Jack Black. Yes, it should be an awesome film.
It's coming out around Christmas. That means that it's a big-budget,
special f/x picture. That means that besides the comedy it should
look stunning. The cast also includes Emily Blunt and Jason Segel.
This might be the most entertaining and most fun film of year.
2- CEMETERY JUNCTION
Ricky
Gervais and Stepen Merchant wrote and directed this film. It stars
Ralph Fiennes and takes place in the 70's. It supposedly a drama with
comedy. These two have made some of the funniest TV shows in the past
decade. It will be interesting to see how they pull off their first
film together. They've said that they tried to make a film akin to
Saturday Night
Fever.
Does that mean we'll see a hilariously cool dance number? These two
could write a film about paint drying and it would be an instant
classic. I can't wait to finally see this.
1- TREE OF LIFE
This
was on my list last year. It probably won't come out until next Fall
because of the Oscar potential. This is writer/director Terrence
Mallick's fifth film. Sadly, he wrote a script about Che Guevara but
had to toss it when Steven Soderbergh made a Che film first. Mallick
made two films in the 70's then took a twenty year break for no good
reason. I'm glad that he came back because The
New World was
his masterpiece. A lot of people don't like his films because they're
slow. He focuses on landscapes and nature more than actual story or
characters. He has a unique, beautiful vision, though, and his films
transcend the multiplex and become works of art. This film apparently
takes place in the 50's and currently. It stars Sean Penn and Brad
Pitt. It should be another stellar work.
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