Posted on January 16, 2010 at 8:00 am
The success of “Avatar” has shown audiences how vivid and immersive 3D IMAX movies can be and so I am especially glad to see a wonderful new slate of upcoming 3D IMAX films for 2010 including Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” with Johnny Depp, the animated “How to Train Your Dragon,” and two eagerly-awaited sequels: “Shrek Forever After” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” Can’t wait!
Posted on January 1, 2010 at 9:00 am
Lots of great stuff to look forward to in 2010. Audiences may be most excited about sequels like “Iron Man 2,” “Toy Story 3,” “Twilight: Eclipse,” and the second-to-last Harry Potter because we already know and love the characters and want to know what happens next (or even if we do know it because we read the book, we want to see how it looks on screen). There are some intriguing remakes on the schedule for 2010, too, and we look forward to seeing how “Tron” will be updated with new technology for special effects and how Robin Hood will be played by Russell Crowe. Wait, it gets better — it is directed by Ridley Scott, has Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian, and features two of my favorites, Mark Strong and Oscar Isaac.
We’re also looking forward to some big action movie releases like “Prince of Persia,” starring a very buff Jake Gyllenhaal and “The Last Airbender,” with “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Dev Patel.
Some other 2010 releases I have high hopes for include “Fair Game” with Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as her husband in this real-life spy story directed by Doug Liman of the first “Bourne” movie, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine,” which sounds a bit like one of my favorites, “Two for the Road,” because it traces a couple’s relationship over time, and “The Company Men,” with Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, and the wonderful Maria Bello in a story about coping with downsizing in difficult economic times. I am also looking forward to “The Runaways,” about the all-girl rock band of the 1970’s, with a great cast that includes Dakota Fanning and “Twilight’s” Kristen Stewart.
Happy new year!
Posted on September 2, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Here are my thoughts on fall movies:
Sept 24 “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” Director Zach Snyder is known for striking visuals (“300” and “The Watchmen”) so his first family-friendly film, the 3D animated story of Kathryn Lasky’s owl warriors should be something special.
Oct 1 “The Social Network” “The West Wing’s” Aaron Sorkin tells the story of the internet phenomenon that went from a student’s dorm room program to put the school directory online in 2002 to a worldwide phenomenon linking 500 million people, with half of them checking it every day.
Oct 8 “Secretariat” Every autumn brings us some tale of athletic triumph and this is the triumphant tale of the horse that won the triple crown in 1973, setting records still unbroken. Diane Lane plays the owner dismissed as “a housewife” and John Malcovich is the trainer who “dresses like Superfly.”
Oct 22 “The Company Men” A year in the life of three men who’ve been downsized from office jobs, with Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, and Maria Bello.
Nov 5 “Megamind” Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell provide the voices for this animated story of superhero vs. supervillain — and supervillain vs. even bigger supervillain.
Nov 19 “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” The final chapter of the Harry Potter series is so big they made it into two movies. In this one, the final battle begins!
Posted on August 9, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I know, I know, it has the inevitable “I got more from him than he ever got from me” scene and I am always cautious about “mighty whitey” (white person transforms the life of a person of color) and “magical Negro” (person of color transforms the life of a white person) movies. But there is something unmistakeably touching about this trailer and I am looking forward to the movie.
Posted on August 7, 2009 at 8:00 am
Is it because we’re in a year that ends with a nine that there are so many “nine” movies coming out?
There’s “Cloud 9,” a German film about a long-married woman who has an affair. Next is “District 9,” about an extraterrestrial race confined to a ghetto-like environment on Earth, opening August 14.
Then there is “9” (the number) produced by Tim Burton, an animated film about a post-apocalyptic world in which the humans must fight the machines. 9 is the name of the main character, voiced by Elijah Wood. It opens (of course) on Sept, 9 — 09/09/09.
And then there is “Nine” (the word for the number), based on the Broadway musical of that name, which is itself based on a semi-autobiographical Fellini film called “8 1/2.” Directed by Rob Marshall of “Chicago,” it is a big, splashy, star-filled musical about a distracted director (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the women in his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his mother (Sophia Loren), and his star (Nicole Kidman). Also starring Fergie, Kate Hudson, and Judi Dench, this is a blockbuster Thanksgiving release.
Everybody straight now?
