Director: Sofia Coppola
QUICK THOUGHTS: Sofia Coppola returns to cinemas for the first time since 2006’s Marie Antoinette, a film I feel as if I am damn near alone in really liking, but nevertheless it has me very excited to see what she has for us next. I’ve also enjoyed Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation so this will hopefully be one more winner to add to the collection.
SYNOPSIS: Stephen Dorff (Blade) is a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont. With an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning), he is forced to reexamine his life.
Director: Ben Affleck
QUICK THOUGHTS: Ben Affleck proved he could write a screenplay when he and Matt Damon took home the Oscar for the Good Will Hunting screenplay. Then he proved he could direct with Gone Baby Gone in 2007, a film he co-wrote with Aaron Stockard based on the Dennis Lehane novel. Now he is at it again with The Town, a film based on Chuck Hogan’s novel “Prince of Thieves” and co-written by Peter Craig in his screenwriting debut. I have grown extremely confident in Affleck’s behind-the-scenes talents and hope he’s able to impress me again.
SYNOPSIS: An adaptation of the Chuck Hogan novel “Prince of Thieves” which will star Affleck as a bank robber who becomes smitten with the teller (Hall) of a bank he held up. She makes him want to go straight, but she is also the FBI’s golden ticket to catching Boston’s most wanted bank robber. Hamm plays the FBI agent who also becomes infatuated with the bank employee.
Director: Lee Unkrich
QUICK THOUGHTS: One of the reasons I think I find myself enjoying Pixar movies so much is because I have never been overly enthused to see one. Even WALL•E and Up didn’t have me excited before seeing them. WALL•E is the only Pixar film I’ve ever walked out of truly in love with it. However, the experience with a Pixar film doesn’t end in the theaters. I was mixed on Ratatouille after I first saw it. Now it’s my second favorite of their ten. Even Up didn’t fully register until I watched it four more times at home. Sure, it’s great when a film truly moves you in the theater, but I think it can also be just as much fun to have a film grow on you over the years. For these reasons I’m looking forward to Toy Story 3, but at the same time I can’t say I am falling over myself with excitement.
SYNOPSIS: The creators of the beloved Toy Story films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in Toy Story 3. Woody and Buzz had accepted that their owner Andy would grow up someday, but what happens when that day arrives? In the third installment, Andy is preparing to depart for college, leaving his loyal toys troubled about their uncertain future. Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings. Toy Story 3 will be presented in Disney Digital 3Dâ„¢ in select theaters.
Director: Terrence Malick
QUICK THOUGHTS: Forget the cast. This is a Terrence Malick flick and for that reason alone you should be excited for this film. If you don’t know what I’m talking about make sure and rent Badlands, The Thin Red Line and Days of Heaven. I would even recommend The New World, but that’s only because I enjoyed it while many others were so-so or negative on it. Malick doesn’t make films often and when he does they are worth getting excited over.
SYNOPSIS: Our picture is a cosmic epic, a hymn to life.
We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.
Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle — precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.
The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family — our first school — the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.
Director: Joseph Kosinski
QUICK THOUGHTS: I have included this film only because I know people in the audience are excited for it. Personally I think it looks very cool, but I did not like the original film all that much after seeing it for the first time last year so I can’t say my anticipation level is very high.
SYNOPSIS: Tron Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
QUICK THOUGHTS: I’ll repeat what I said in my 2009 RopeofSilicon Awards post, “The Coen brothers remake a classic and they must have good reason to do so. Bring it on.”
SYNOPSIS: Re-imagining of the iconic 1969 John Wayne western.
Director: Mike Leigh
QUICK THOUGHTS: Mike Leigh is a fascinating writer/director and I am only starting to explore his filmography, but I have seen enough to know his films are worth anticipating and while nothing is known in terms of the story for his next film, I can’t help but be interested in seeing it.
SYNOPSIS: Using his trademark production method of improvisation, Leigh will once again deliver a moving and detailed portrait of his characters’ inner lives. This process has yielded some of the finest performances ever put on film, and it has generated an Oscar-nominated screenplay for four of his previous films: Happy Go Lucky, Vera Drake, Topsy Turvy, and Secrets and Lies.
Director: Oliver Stone
QUICK THOUGHTS: Every year that goes by Oliver Stone’s 1987 Wall Street gets more and more dated. As obvious a statement this is, it really means something with Wall Street. It’s an ’80s movie through-and-through, which makes me wonder how much we really need this sequel. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious to see Michael Douglas reprise his Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko.
SYNOPSIS: In the sequel to the 1987 original, Shia LaBeouf plays a young Wall Street broker mentored by old-time broker Lewis Zabel (Langella). The mentor’s fate plays a major part in the film’s plot. Michael Douglas, who’ll reprise his Gordon Gekko role.
Director: Peter Weir
QUICK THOUGHTS: When I say the name Peter Weir I wonder how many people look around wondering just who exactly I’m talking about. While it would be a shame if the number of people looking around in confusion was very high, that’s what happens when you direct one film over the past 12 years. Weir has directed many films you’ve heard of including Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Truman Show and Dead Poets Society, but his time off in-between films is frustrating for a fan to say the least. So, now that we have a film to look forward to there is something to celebrate.
The film is a World War II drama based on Slavomir Rawicz’s memoir “The Long Walk” telling the story of seven soldiers who escaped from a Siberian gulag and journeyed through the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas to India. You on board?
SYNOPSIS: When they escape a Siberian labor camp in 1940, seven courageous multi-national prisoners discover the true meaning of friendship as their epic journey takes them across thousands of miles of hostile terrain en-route to India and their freedom.
Director: Woody Allen
QUICK THOUGHTS: It’s Woody Allen, that’s all I need to know to be excited and the cast just adds to that excitement especially since Nicole Kidman is no longer a part of it due to scheduling difficulties with her 2010 film with John Cameron Mitchell, The Rabbit Hole. However, like Mike Leigh, Allen’s plotlines are kept quiet so we will just have to wait and see.
SYNOPSIS: Revolves around different members of a family, their tangled love lives and their attempts to try to solve their problems.
Director: David Gordon Green
QUICK THOUGHTS: I was not a fan of The Foot Fist Way, but that isn’t stopping me from remaining confident in all involved in what may end up being the blockbuster comedy of 2010. Scripted by Danny McBride and Ben Best, the team behind Foot Fist and “Eastbound & Down” the main draw for me is another chance to see James Franco in a comedic role. I wasn’t particularly moved by David Gordon Green’s Pineapple Express, but there was so much potential the fact he’s working again with Franco and McBride (the two best parts of Pineapple) as well as cast Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel and Justin Theroux is encouraging. I think this really could be something great.
SYNOPSIS: Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. Danny McBride and James Franco team up for an epic comedy adventure set in a fantastical world-Your Highness. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent’s fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed.
Thadeous (McBride) has spent his life watching his perfect older brother Fabious (Franco) embark upon valiant journeys and win the hearts of his people. Tired of being passed over for adventure, adoration and the throne, he’s settled for a life of wizard’s weed, hard booze and easy maidens. But when Fabious’ bride-to-be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), gets kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the king gives his deadbeat son an ultimatum: Man up and help rescue her or get cut off.
Half-assedly embarking upon his first quest, Thadeous joins Fabious to trek across the perilous outlands and free the princess. Joined by Isabel (Natalie Portman)-an elusive warrior with a dangerous agenda of her own-the brothers must vanquish horrific creatures and traitorous knights before they can reach Belladonna. If Thadeous can find his inner hero, he can help his brother prevent the destruction of his land. Stay a slacker, and not only does he die a coward, he gets front row seats to the dawn of an all-new Dark Ages.
So that’s that. It’s obviously not every film that’s coming out in 2010 as that would be taxing on both my time and yours, but I think it offers a pretty good start of films to look out for ranging from big time blockbusters to some smaller indie fare. I’m sure I left out a few you are particularly looking forward to and if so be sure to share those titles in the comments below.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out all my other 2010 previews take a peek at the links below and peruse whatever may be of interest and stay tuned as things are always updating around here.
Additional RopeofSilicon 2010 Previews:
