08 Pre-Summer Preview

A look at the movies I am looking forward to or that are on my radar in the up coming months. Without delay, let’s begin.

January 11^th
27 Dresses – Katherine Heigl stars as the ultimate brides made who can’t find love of her own. I bet she does at the end, and we can only hope this is a bearable romantic comedy. She was good in Knocked Up, so let’s hope that carries over.

January 18^th
Cassandra’s Dream – Woody Allen’s newest film staring Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell is a crime drama and his serious tone follow up to the excellent Match Point. Any thing with Ewan gets me excited and I like Farrell as well, let’s hope for the best.

Cloverfield – JJ Abrams of LOST produces this monster movie that has been shrouded in mystery and has been building buzz ever since its debut trailer on Transformers. I am hoping for a good fun flick, but not setting my expectations terribly high. I think I’m more intrigued to see if any of the crazy tie-ins pay off in this thing.

Teeth – A horror film about a girl with teeth in her vagina begins enacting revenge on some unsuspecting males. I don’t know about this one but have heard good things. So at least you have heard about it now, we will see if anyone follows through on seeing it.

January 25^th
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days – this import is getting raves and is about abortion and the drama surrounding getting it done in time for it to be legal, which would be the time mentioned in the title. I know little about this other than it is supposed to be very good.

Be Kind Rewind – Michel Gondry’s new film staring Mos Def and Jack Black tells a silly story of two guys forced to recreate the movies of all the erased tapes in their video store. Could be comic genius, especially with some of the rumored movies they act out.

Rambo
I haven’t seen any of these films, but this one looks intriguing and the violence is off the wall. Let’s see if Stallone can find more critical success after his last film, and trademark character sequel, Rocky Balboa.

February 1^st
Strange Wilderness – Steve Zhan, Jonah Hill, and Justin Long star in this, stoners make nature videos, movie. Looks so stupid it might be good, but probably not. The stoners can dream can’t they?

February 8^th
The Band’s Visit – An Israeli film that has received a number of excellent reviews and would be a front runner for best foreign film if it wasn’t eliminated for “too much English.”

February 13^th
My Blueberry Nights
Natalie Portman, Norah Jones, Jude Law, David Strathairn, and Rachel Weisz star in Wong Kar Wai’s first English language film. 2046 and In the Mood for Love are both fantastic, lets hope for more good work here.

February 14^th
Definitely, Maybe – Only on my list because anything Ryan Reynolds is in might be funny and Abigail Breslin is still on my good side due to Little Miss Sunshine. There are also three really gorgeous co-stars in this film, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, and Elizabeth Banks; could be good Valentine movie for both parts of a couple.

Jumper – Doug Liman’s new action romp about people, Hayden Christensen, who can jump from one place in the world to another at any time on their own will and the people, Samuel L Jackson, that hunt them. Could be cool action movie, could be a silly sci-fi flop, we will see.

February 15^th
Diary of the Dead – Romero’s follow up to Land of the Dead is supposed to be even better, which shouldn’t be hard since Land was god awful terrible. I hope to not be suckered into giving this one a shot as well. Keep an eye out you horror junkies though.

February 22^nd
Charlie Bartlett – Is a high school comedy that got delayed from last August and I remember hearing good things about. Anyways, we will finally get to see it, and if I remember right it looked pretty good.

The Signal – A horror movie about a signal beamed through electronic devices that turn people into killers. Was a hit at Sundance and is one of the few horror films to intrigue me in a while.

February 29^th
Chicago 10 – A documentary, with roto-scope animation re-enactments, of the trials of some of the accused protestors of the Democratic National Convention fiasco in 1968 has received rave reviews. I have seen nothing but good things about this one and Spielberg is now working on a film that is based off of this incident as well, so the word is.

The Other Boleyn Girl – Natalie Portman, Eric Bana, and Scarlett Johansson star in this tale about King Henry VIII love triangle with the Boleyn sisters. Bana and Portman are two of my favorite actors; throw them in a costume historical drama, and that catches my interest in a hurry.

Semi-Pro – The new Will Ferrell comedy about a down and out ABA basketball team promises more of the same from Will Ferrell, and if you aren’t board with that yet, then you will probably find plenty to like. Woody Harrelson is also in the mix for some solid White Men Can’t Jump flashbacks; where is Sydney though?

March 7^th
10,000 B.C. – Roland Emmerich’s newest film could be really entertaining and looks like an effects romp. But don’t expect this to be this years 300, as WB is hoping this to be this year’s spring tent pole. We will see how this turns out, but it might be worth seeing for the effects alone.

The Bank Job – This heist thriller staring Jason Statham is a British import and doesn’t look like utter crap, but actually pretty good. Promises some laughs and hopefully some twists along the way, could be a sleeper.

March 14^th
Funny Games – The preview for this film is so messed up but so good. It looks like a really messed up film, but it could be a really good thriller. Staring Tim Roth and Naomi Watts, a couple of rich kids barge in and decide to torture their family, looks very out there.

Pride and Glory – Edward Norton stars in a cop family drama and Norton’s involvement alone warrants you to purchase a ticket. Colin Farrell and John Voight also star; I am just a little worried the preview gives away way too much.

March 21^st
Drillbit Taylor – Owen Wilson stars as a high school body guard and it is produced by Judd Apatow, could be good, right?

March 28^th
Stop-Loss – An Iraq war movie about the effects it has on its soldiers. Ryan Phillippe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star and it could be alright; especially since Gordon-Levitt is involved.

Run, Fat Boy, Run – David Schwimmer directs Simon Pegg in this comedy about a run away groom who after 5 years tries to win his fiancée back by running a marathon. Pegg is great and I would love to see what Schwimmer is capable of behind the camera.

21 – Based off a true story about 6 M.I.T. students who find a way to win at black jack and the consequences of trying to pull off the card counting scheme for a big score. Kevin Spacey is their mentor and Laurence Fishburne stars as a hard hitting guy trying to stop them.

April 4^th
Leatherheads – George Clooney’s newest directorial effort is a rom-com set around early century football and looks like a great old time. Renée Zellweger stars as the love interest and John Krasinski is Clooney’s competition for her affection. Looks quite good!

April 11^th
The Brothers Bloom – Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, and Rachel Weisz star in the new movie by Rian Johnson (Brick) about con men that one last score takes them around the world. This is probably my most anticipated film of the season and I can’t wait to see it, and want to know as little as possible going in.

April 18^th
Baby Mama – Tina Fey’s newest film and follow up to Mean Girls gets my ticket because of 30 Rock alone. Fey hires a surrogate mother so she can continue her high profile career and hilarity ensues. Hopefully it will be good.

April 25^th
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo – The follow up promises more inappropriate humor, more pot jokes, and more NPH, and the comedy will probably be fairly smart. What more can you ask for?

There might actually be some good movies in the lull for this New Year, with April actually looking more and more solid every year for potentially really good movies. Only time will tell how it all pans out!