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2010 will most likely be a good year for blockbusters movies. There’s a lot of anticipation for some of the movies that are coming out like Iron Man 2 and Alice in Wonderland. Here’s a list of the movies I am excited to see in 2010.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street

• Alice in Wonderland

• Bitch Slap

• Clash of the Titans

• Cop Out

• Daybreakers

• Edge of Darkness

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

• Hot Tub Time Machine

• I Love You Phillip Morris

• Inception

• Iron Man 2

• Jonah Hex

• Kick-Ass

• Legion

• Predators

• Priest

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

• Robin Hood

• Shutter Island

• The A-Team

• The Book of Eli

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

• The Crazies

• The Expendables

• The Green Hornet

• The Losers

• The Social Network

• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

• The Wolfman

• Toy Story 3

• Tron Legacy

Note:  I might add some movies to the list as the year progresses.

Warner Brothers just provided IR with this still from “Edge Of Darkness” starring Mel Gibson and directed by Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”), as part of their 2010 preview. The movie brandishes its weapon on January 29th, 2010.

2009 is nearly over and with that we have the simultaneous opportunity to look forward and look ahead. Looking back will take place in a couple of weeks when I let you know what my top ten movies of 2009 are; there are a few more yet for me to see before I put the list together.

In the meantime, here’s a look at what to expect in 2010. We’ll be taking a detailed look at the first four months of the year, and then general looks at the summer and fall (since we’ll be doing detailed previews of those seasons later on). There are some big movies coming out next year – the sequel to Iron Man, the first installment in the final book of the Harry Potter series, the third film in the Twilight series, the first new Toy Story film in eleven years, Tim Burton’s take on a classic fairy tale and the return of the Narnia, Tron and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.

We’ll continue to be busy reviewing not only the major releases but also the lesser known indie and foreign releases out on DVD/Blu-Ray. Hopefully we’ll be adding some new features to the blog and newsletter – details for which will be coming soon. In the meantime, let’s take a sneak peak as to what to expect in 2010.

Please note that some of the movies previewed here will already have opened in limited release or just in New York and Los Angeles for Oscar consideration. Since they are not coming to Orlando until 2010 they are getting previewed here.

As always, release dates are extremely subject to change and chances are that several of these movies will be moved up or back on the release schedule, and maybe some may not be released at all. The farther out the movie is scheduled for, the more likely for change there is. Do consult your local theater listings to make sure the movie is playing in your area before heading out to the multiplex. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

JANUARY

January is usually the time of holiday holdovers, movies that debuted during the Holiday season and remain in theaters. Most of the movies released during this month are those the studio has little confidence in. Occasionally, studios will release a low-budget movie that connects, like Cloverfield.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

THE LOVELY BONES

RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2010

STUDIO: DreamWorks

STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan

STORY: This is a story seen through the eyes of a murdered 14-year-old girl who watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. Her desire for vengeance is weighed against her desire for her family to heal and move on.

PROSPECTS: This is the first movie for director Peter Jackson since King Kong. It’s getting a great deal of Oscar buzz already and is based on a popular novel by Alice Sebold.

OBSTACLES: The novel is not an easy one to film and it remains to be seen if Jackson can bring this story to the screen properly. The serial killer preying on young girls may be a little too intense for some.

FACTOID: Ronan, who takes the central role of Susie, was nominated for an Oscar for her work in Atonement shortly after being cast for this movie.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

BOOK OF ELI

RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Evan Jones

STORY: In a post-apocalyptic landscape a lone warrior guards a book of knowledge from those who would use it for their own ends.

PROSPECTS: Washington is money in the bank, one of the most popular stars in Hollywood. The trailer makes Eli look like Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name a little bit.

OBSTACLES: It will mostly be up against holiday holdovers like Avatar and Sherlock Holmes and if The Road does badly folks might not want to see another bleak post-apocalypse movie.

FACTOID: Kristen Stewart was originally cast but had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts with her Twilight movies. Mila Kunis inherited the role.

EDGE OF DARKNESS

RELEASE DATE: January 29, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic, Frank Grillo, Gbenga Akinnagbe

STORY: A rough-and-tumble Boston homicide detective sees his daughter murdered in front of him on his doorstep. His investigation uncovers a shadowy government conspiracy that he will do anything to bring to the light of day.

PROSPECTS: A dazzling trailer indicates this might be a return to Gibson’s Lethal Weapon form.

OBSTACLES: This is Gibson’s first onscreen appearance since his anti-Semitic remarks during his DUI arrest a couple of years back and there will be some that haven’t forgiven him for that.

FACTOID: Winstone and Huston most recently teamed in the independent Western The Proposition.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES

RELEASE DATE: January 22, 2010

STUDIO: CBS Films

STARRING: Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Courtney B. Vance, Jared Harris, Dee Wallace

STORY: This is based on the true story of John Crowley, a corporate type whose two children developed an incurable – and fatal – disease. Stymied by the medical profession, he approaches a brilliant but unconventional genetic researcher and forms a biotech company devoted to finding a cure, but it is a race in which time is against them.

PROSPECTS: A high-powered cast will certainly bring in a certain amount of attention as will the compelling true story.

OBSTACLES: Bad word of mouth can kill a film like this and while the competition isn’t exactly killer this time of year, nonetheless it will be coming out in a crowded release market.

FACTOID: This will be the first wide release from the new studio formed by the television network.

ALSO IN THEATERS

January 8, 2010

LEAP YEAR (Universal) sends Amy Adams to Ireland, determined to propose to her commitment-phobic boyfriend on the only day when a woman can propose to a man, Leap Day (it’s one of those folky traditions that nobody’s ever heard of). However, getting to where she has to go might prove to be more complicated than she imagined. DAYBREAKERS (Lionsgate) stars Ethan Hawke as a medical researcher in 2019 when the world has been overcome by a plague that has turned the majority of the population into vampires. With human blood becoming the most endangered natural resource of all it’s a bad time to be a human. No word on whether Team Edward is endorsing this or not. YOUTH IN REVOLT (Dimension) was relocated to this date from last fall and stars Michael Cera in dual roles as a socially awkward teen and his altar ego, a suave lady’s man as he tries to woo a beautiful free-spirited young woman who finds his actual personality boring. This sounds too much like Michael Cera’s real life to me. CRAZY ON THE OUTSIDE (Freestyle Releasing) marks comedian Tim Allen’s directing debut. This is about an ex-con trying to make a fresh start but having to combat an eccentric family, his ex partner-in-crime and an unpredictable girlfriend. Tim Allen as an ex-con…it’s not much of a stretch is it? A SINGLE MAN (Weinstein) is opening in limited release. It’s a much-acclaimed drama about a gay Englishman in Los Angeles in the early 1960s coping with the death of his long-time partner. It’s said to be generating some Oscar buzz for Colin Firth in the lead role.

January 15, 2010

THE SPY NEXT DOOR (Lionsgate) stars Jacky Chan in a role that is a combination of Vin Diesel in The Pacifier and Chan’s own The Tuxedo as an international spy on assignment must perform the most dangerous duty of all – babysitting his neighbor’s kids. Me, I say turn Jet Li on ‘em.

January 22, 2010

LEGION (Screen Gems) finds God losing his faith in mankind. He sends his angels to Earth to wreak the Apocalypse. Only an angel sympathetic to the human race and a group of unlikely heroes in an out-of-the-way diner stand between humanity and the abyss. Of course if the angel has the blue plate special then humanity is pretty much screwed. TOOTH FAIRY (20^th Century Fox) stars Dwayne Johnson as a minor league hockey player prone to violence and cruelty. When he dashes a child’s hopes, he is sentenced to act as the Tooth Fairy for a week. I think The Rock needs to lay the smack down on his agent. TO SAVE A LIFE (Goldwyn) is about a star high school athlete who is faced with the decision of changing his life and sacrificing his dreams to save the lives of others. This one will likely be opening in limited release.

January 29, 2010

WHEN IN ROME (Touchstone) stars Kristen Bell as an ambitious but romantically challenged New Yorker who, while on a trip to Rome, defiantly takes some coins out of a “foolish fountain” that is supposed to bring love to those who throw coins into it. She is surprised when four men begin to woo her rather aggressively. When she begins to fall for a charming journalist, she begins to wonder if his affections are real or as a result of the magic fountain. Personally girl, if you have Josh Duhamel chasing after you who cares if it’s real or magic? Just go with it! AFTER DARK HORRORFEST (After Dark/Lionsgate) is the fourth installment of the world’s largest film festival, as eight more films “to die for” will compete to scare the living hell out of you.

 FEBRUARY

With Valentine’s Day in the middle of the month, traditionally romantic comedies do well – as do horror movies. Date movies are the rule of the day as the release schedule for 2010 begins in earnest.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

SHUTTER ISLAND

RELEASE DATE: February 19, 2010

STUDIO: Paramount

STARRING: Leonardo di Caprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow.

STORY: Set in the 1950s, a pair of jaded U.S. Marshals treks to a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the disappearance and possible escape of a woman convicted of a heinous murder from a fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane. The two become ensnared in a plot that may be more malevolent than the actions of the criminals locked away inside.

PROSPECTS: This is director Martin Scorsese’s first major feature film since The Departed won him his long-overdue Oscar. The movie has been in the public eye since Paramount began pushing the movie last summer.

OBSTACLES: The studio delayed release from Oscar season to now, which may indicate they aren’t confident in the quality of the work. This is a departure from Scorsese’s normal playground as he moves into a psychological horror vein he hasn’t traversed before.

FACTOID: Some scenes were filmed at the old Massachusetts State Mental Hospital in Medfield, MA.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2010

STUDIO: 20^th Century Fox

STARRING: Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Ray Winstone, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario

STORY: A young high school student discovers that the ancient Greek gods are real and that he is the son of Poseidon. And you thought your high school years were rough. Anyway, he’s the chief suspect in the theft of Zeus’ lightning bolt and sets out to clear his name with a pair of other kids who are also, like him, half-divine.

PROSPECTS: The last franchise that director Chris Columbus launched was merely Harry Potter and this series of young adult fantasy numbers (six installments to date) has many similarities; a two boy and one girl trio of leads, a plethora of respected character actor adult supporting roles and so on. The new trailer promises big time special effects.

OBSTACLES: This movie doesn’t have the kind of fan base that the Potter films started out with. Mid-winter is not the best time to launch a tentpole franchise, which indicates the studio is not exactly endorsing the movie with guns blazing.

FACTOID: The character of Percy Jackson is largely based on author Rick Riordan’s own son, who has ADHD like the lead character. The book began as bedtime stories for his son based on mythological characters that his son was studying in school.

THE WOLFMAN

RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2010

STUDIO: Universal

STARRING: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik, Geraldine Chaplin, Elizabeth Croft

STORY: Laurence Talbot, son of a nobleman, returns to the family estate after his older brother vanishes. He discovers a legacy that involves more than property and title, a horrible secret that has been haunting the village of Blackmoor for years. How much of Talbot is the beast…and how much the man?

PROSPECTS: The trailer for this one looks killer. Hey, it got non-horror fan Da Queen excited to see the movie. It gets a leg up on horror/action movies Shutter Island and The Crazies both of which come out after it.

OBSTACLES: Director Joe Johnston’s foray into horror was Jurassic Park III which may or may not prepare him for the kind of atmosphere he’ll need to create for this gothic tale. Universal has had mixed success with the re-invention of its classic horror properties, finding success with The Mummy and disappointment with Van Helsing.

FACTOID: The Wolfman’s howl in the movie was performed by Gene Simmons of KISS, while the wolf makeup was created by Rick Baker, who also did the make-up for An American Werewolf in London.

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2010

STUDIO: Lionsgate

STARRING: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Amber Rose Revah, Melissa Mars, Richard Durden, Farid Elouardi, Chems Dahmani

STORY: An inexperienced Embassy worker at the U.S. Embassy in Paris is paired with a slick, shoot first and ask questions later sort in a field operation in an attempt to thwart a terrorist attack in Paris.

PROSPECTS: Travolta is on a hot streak, having had a great deal of success with The Taking of Pelham 123 and Old Dogs last year.

OBSTACLES: Luc Besson-produced action movies have had inconsistent success in the United States.

FACTOID: Co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as King Henry VIII in the hit Showtime cable TV series “The Tudors.”

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

A COUPLE OF DICKS

RELEASE DATE: February 26, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Bruce Willis, Michelle Trachtenberg, Tracy Morgan, Seann William Scott, Jason Lee, Kevin Pollak, Adam Brody, Mark Consuelos

STORY: A pair of mismatched detectives tracks down a stolen baseball card. Along the way they rescue a beautiful Mexican national and contend with money laundering by a drug cartel.

PROSPECTS: Director Kevin Smith has a rabid following that will see anything he directs. Cop buddy movies traditionally resonate with American audiences.  

OBSTACLES: Smith’s following hasn’t yet translated into big box office bucks.

FACTOID: This is the first movie that Smith has directed that he hasn’t written. Prior to accepting this directing assignment, Smith was attached to the new Green Hornet movie but decided he wouldn’t be able to do the movie justice.

ALSO IN THEATERS

February 5, 2010

DEAR JOHN (Screen Gems) is about a young soldier on leave who meets an idealistic college student and then falls in love with her. The two continue to correspond throughout his increasingly more dangerous deployments, correspondence that will have devastating consequences. It’s a shame these two never discovered e-mail. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried topline as the star-crossed lovers in this Lasse Hallstrom-directed effort. Released in limited markets, DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM (Magnet/Magnolia) is the sequel to the Luc Besson-produced cult action movie from France set in the not too distant future as conditions in Paris continue to deteriorate as gang violence further erodes the rule of law. No wonder the French are pissed at America – they’re becoming just like us.

February 12, 2010

VALENTINE’S DAY (New Line) has an all-star cast (including Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper and Shirley MacLaine) as Los Angelenos whose lives intersect in unusual ways on the holiday of the same name. Fellas, be prepared to be dragged to this by your girlfriends or wives and no, you DON’T have any say in the matter. MY NAME IS KHAN (Fox Searchlight) takes a Muslim man from India on a journey from San Francisco across the United States where he inspires and invites debate, changing the minds of many about what it means to be a Muslim. Sorry Trekkies, this isn’t the sequel to the Star Trek movie.  I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS (Freestyle) stars Jim Carey as a married father who falls afoul of the law and winds up in a Texas prison. While there he falls madly in love with his cellmate, escaping four times after the object of his affections is paroled. This tale is so improbable that you know it has to be based on a true story, which it is.

February 26, 2010

THE CRAZIES (Overture) is a remake of a George R. Romero movie that doesn’t feature zombies. In this one, the population of a small town one by one goes insane and homicidal. The remaining uninfected townsfolk try to survive the night in a town gone insane on the inside, while the government is quarantining it with deadly force on the outside. TAKERS (Screen Gems) is about a group of professional criminals who have been baffling police with perfectly executed bank robberies. A dogged police detective is determined to bust the lot of ‘em which, as we all know, will never happen since criminals are soooo much smarter than the police in real life.

MARCH

March usually brings us the first signs of box office bonanza in the New Year as the studios, trying to avoid overcrowding during the summer months that could cause a $100 million movie to crash and burn by scheduling it during March when the competition is less fierce.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2010

STUDIO: Disney

STARRING: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Christopher Lee, Geraldine James.

STORY: The Lewis Carroll story, which has been made for the screen many times and in many formats, gets the Tim Burton treatment as a young lady falls down a rabbit hole and into a strange, magical land where nothing is as it seems and everything is…wondrous.

PROSPECTS: While Burton straddles the line between mainstream success and cult favorite, this could well be his biggest hit since the first Batman. His imagination and sense of whimsy seem perfectly suited for this somewhat psychedelic tale which has in recent decades become something of a symbol of the ‘60s. No word on whether he plans on using the Jefferson Airplane song though. For what it’s worth, the trailer looks pretty dang spectacular. The cast is also not too shabby.

OBSTACLES: Burton can be something of an acquired taste and while he’s done hits in the fantasy genre (such as Beetle Juice and Edward Scissorhands) one gets the impression that he isn’t entirely comfortable in the big-budget studio environment. The recent association of Alice with the drug culture might wind up causing misinterpretations by well-meaning bluenoses.

FACTOID: Wasikowska, most recently in a supporting role in Amelia, beat out Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Dakota Blue Richards for the title role. Ironically, Richards was declined because Burton wanted an adult actress for the role, but Wasikowska is only four years older than her.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

CLASH OF THE TITANS

RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Jason Flemyng, Pete Posthlewaite, Alexa Davolos, Nicholas Hoult, Gemma Arterton

STORY: The classic Greek myth of Perseus is brought to life as a demi-God’s family is taken by a vengeful Hades and he must brave the most fearsome of monsters in order to restore order and save humanity from a potentially devastating war of the Gods.

PROSPECTS: Could benefit from Worthington’s participation in Avatar if that becomes the monster hit everyone anticipates it will. Trailers look pretty eye-popping in the effects department. Director Louis Leterrier last directed The Incredible Hulk which got much approval from fanboy sorts.

OBSTACLES: This is a remake of a Ray Harryhausen classic of the 1980s and will have to deal with the repercussions of ticking off purists who object to an updated special effects bonanza, or with cynics who remember the cheese factor of the stop-motion animated creatures.

FACTOID: Leterrier attempted to lure Harryhausen out of retirement to serve as a producer/advisor for the film but was unsuccessful in doing so.

GREEN ZONE

RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2010

STUDIO: Universal

STARRING: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaacs, Khalid Abdalla, Said Faraj, Antoni Corone

STORY: A U.S. Army Officer during the early days of the Iraqi War goes in search of weapons of mass destruction and discovers an elaborate ruse that calls into question the morality of their actions.

PROSPECTS: The team of director Paul Greengrass and Damon has combined for two Bourne movies that have done quite well at the box office.

OBSTACLES: Movies on the Iraqi War have performed quite poorly at the box office.

FACTOID: Damon went from his role in The Informant! directly to filming this movie which caused some medical problems because of his rapid change from an overweight executive to a lean and trim soldier.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

CHLOE

RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2010

STUDIO: Sony Classics

STARRING: Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Max Theriot, Nina Dobrev, Meghan Heffern, Laura deCarteret

STORY: This is an English-language remake of the French thriller Nathalie in which a woman who hires a prostitute to test her husband whom she suspects of cheating on her. However, when the hooker lies about the results of the test, the family is thrown into turmoil.

PROSPECTS: Director Atom Egoyan has an impressive resume for indie cred, including The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat and Felicia’s Journey.

OBSTACLES: American audiences tend to be uncomfortable with movies about prostitutes unless they look like Julia Roberts.

FACTOID: Neeson had to interrupt filming to be at the side of his wife Natasha Richardson, who would die of injuries incurred in a skiing accident in March 2009. He completed his filming after a brief period of mourning.

ALSO IN THEATERS

March 5, 2010

BROOKLYN’S FINEST (Overture) is a limited release comprised of three overlapping stories, all involving police officers from the borough of Brooklyn. This was originally scheduled to be released last fall.

March 12, 2010

HARD 10 (DreamWorks) stars Jay Baruchel as an airport security guard who gets a girl completely out of his league to fall for him. He has to learn how to make the relationship work, resorting to increasingly bizarre and extreme methods to prove himself worthy of a hard ten. I’ve seen Baruchel; he’d be hard-pressed to score a soft three. OUR FAMILY WEDDING (Fox Searchlight) stars Carlos Mencia and Forrest Whitaker as two overbearing fathers whose children are planning to wed. They must learn to co-exist for the sake of their children with the wedding only two weeks away, but that’s far from easy. I predict awful things will happen to the wedding cake. REMEMBER ME (Summit) stars Robert Pattinson of the Twilight Saga as a mere mortal this time, but involved in a star-crossed romance none-the-less. This time the object of his affections is Emelie de Ravin from television’s “Lost.” I can hear the heartfelt sighs already.

March 19, 2010

THE BOUNTY HUNTER (Columbia) features Gerard Butler in the title role who now must chase down his ex-wife who has skipped out on her bail. Of course, if my ex-wife was Jennifer Anniston I’d probably chase her down too.  HOT TUB TIME MACHINE (MGM) is about a bunch of men who, back in the day, were what are called playas these days. Now, fueled by Red Bull, vodka and regret, they get into a hot tub that allows them to travel in time (hey, if you can time travel in a Delorean, why not a hot tub?) to reclaim their mojo. Since one of the men is John Cusack, I’m there. HUBBLE 3-D (Warner Brothers) is an IMAX 3-D documentary about the repair of the space telescope on a recent mission by the Shuttle Atlantis. Combining footage from the mission along with astonishing pictures taken from the Hubble itself of the distant reaches of the universe makes this a 3D documentary worth watching. SEASON OF THE WITCH (Lionsgate) is yet another Nicolas Cage movie for Lionsgate, this time set in the Middle Ages with Cage as a knight from the Crusades charged with transporting a suspected witch to a remote abbey. At first he is dubious about her guilt but as the journey goes on his suspicions grow about the girl’s true nature.

March 26, 2010

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks) is a feature 3D animation about a Viking teenager named Hiccup who dreams of being a dragon slayer in a tribe that has made an art of it. However, when he encounters an actual dragon, his view of the world – and the view of his tribe – will be altered forever when it is discovered that dragons aren’t exactly what they thought they were.  

APRIL

The last month before the summer blockbuster season is usually a good one for action enthusiasts as summer-like movies open up that didn’t quite fit in to the busy summer schedule.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

DATE NIGHT

RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2010

STUDIO: 20^th Century Fox

STARRING: Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Leighton Meester, Common, Taraji Henson, Kristen Wiig, Ray Liotta, Mila Kunis, Mark Ruffalo

STORY: A married couple out on a date night gets far more than they bargain for when they impulsively steal someone else’s dinner reservation. Their identities are then mistaken for petty criminals who have pissed off a much more dangerous criminal and spend the night on the run from cops, criminals, cabbies and a lecherous security expert who has the hots for the wife.

PROSPECTS: Carrell and Fey are two of the hottest and most talented comic actors in Hollywood, and both of them have an impressive list of comedy hits behind them. Director Shawn Levy has the Night at the Museum movies on his resume, so the talent both behind and in front of the camera knows how to make hit movies.

OBSTACLES: Comedies like this one have got to be funny or else word of mouth will kill them.

FACTOID: Writer Josh Klausner also wrote the upcoming Shrek Goes Forth.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

KICK-ASS

RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2010

STUDIO: Lionsgate

STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson, Mark Strong, Lindsy Fonseca

STORY: A young comic book fanboy decides to become a superhero despite the slight obstacle of having no superpowers. However, he plows on undeterred and in doing so creates a violent subculture of copycats and wannabes.

PROSPECTS: The footage of this at last year’s Comic-Con spurred a huge bidding war for the film. Movies that get this kind of buzz out of Comic-Con normally do exceedingly well at the box-office.

OBSTACLES: This is a very different, very violent take on superhero movies. Although it hasn’t received an MPAA rating yet, an R rating is very likely which may keep a good deal of its core audience out of the multiplex.

FACTOID: The comic book on which this was based was written and drawn by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2010

STUDIO: 20^th Century Fox

STARRING: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin, Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Charlie Sheen

STORY: Gordon Gekko, the poster boy for business greed, exits his jail sentence determined to redeem himself.

PROSPECTS: This was one of the iconic movies of the 1980s and Oliver Stone is directing, as he did the original. LaBeouf is one of the most bankable young stars in the industry.

OBSTACLES: Did anybody really want to see a sequel to Wall Street? Given the current economic climate, it might be difficult to find anyone willing to root for anybody in big business.

FACTOID: Wall Street came out in 1987, marking a 23 year gap between the original and the sequel. Only The Hustler and its sequel The Color of Money had a larger gap between sequels, going 25 years.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

BABIES

RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2010

STUDIO: Focus

STARRING: Ponijao, Bayar, Mari, Hattie

STORY: A documentary about a year in the life of four babies in disparate parts of the world – Mongolia, Namibia, Tokyo and San Francisco.

PROSPECTS: The studio has been pushing the trailer in theaters, and audience reaction has been strong, particularly among women.

OBSTACLES: Not many guys, particularly younger men are going to want to see a two hour documentary about babies.

FACTOID: This is a French production originally intended for television.

ALSO IN THEATERS

April 2, 2010

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (20^th Century Fox) is the misadventures of a wisecracking middle school kid as seen through his diary and hand-drawn cartoons. I’m guessing from the title that we’re not talking about the All-American jock? FURRY VENGEANCE (Summit) stars Brendan Fraser in a tale where the furry denizens of a forest threatened by a real estate development go to war with the developer. A squirrel with a bazooka? Now that would be interesting! THE LAST SONG (Touchstone) stars tween idol Miley Cyrus as a daughter stuck in South Carolina for the summer with her estranged father when she’d much rather be in New York. From Nicholas Sparks, the king of South Carolina romantic dramas. MARY, MOTHER OF CHRIST (MGM) is the story of the Virgin Mary, as told with an all-star cast and a sizable budget. REPO MEN (Universal) is set in the near-future when organ transplants can be bought and sold on credit. When a heart transplant patient gets behind on his payments, the title characters go to repossess the heart. And I thought those credit card bill collection calls were nasty! TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I HAVE TO GET MARRIED TOO  (Lionsgate) is the sequel to his hit dramedy about the state of marriage, this time taking place in the Bahamas as the four couples get together for their annual one-week reunion. Fidelity issues, anyone?

April 9, 2010

THE LOSERS (Warner Brothers) is based on the DC Comic about an elite U.S. Special Forces team that is betrayed from within and given up for dead in the Bolivian jungle. Not quite dead yet, they head back to find the elusive mole who is hell-bent on embroiling the world in a high-tech war. Does that mean a war that’s fought on the Internet?  

April 16, 2010

THE BACK-UP PLAN (CBS) is a romantic comedy about a woman (Jennifer Lopez) who tries at first to hide her early pregnancy from her new boyfriend but when he finds out and commits fully to her, the real chaos ensues. DEATH AT A FUNERAL (Screen Gems) is a remake of the British black comedy about the goings on at the funeral of a beloved patriarch. This is not for those who think funerals should be a somber ceremony of reflection and decorum. PIRANHA 3-D (Dimension) is about one family’s fight to overcome thousands of carnivorous piranha from making lunchmeat out of them. This is yet another horror film remake of the type that have been popular in Hollywood lately. Next: Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

April 22, 2010

OCEANS (Disneynature) is the second film from the new nature documentary arm of Disney, this time focusing on life below the waves. The first, Earth, was quite good so that bodes well for the success of this one.

April 23, 2010

MAC GRUBER (Rogue) is based on a series of SNL skits spoofing the ‘80s TV show “MacGyver.” A movie based on a skit based on a TV show: does that smell like success or not? Don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical.

April 30, 2010

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (New Line) is a reboot of the ‘80s horror film franchise from the production company that brought you the reboots of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13^th. They did get Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley to take on the Freddie Krueger role so there’s at least something intriguing about this project.

SUMMER

Blockbuster, this is thy season. Summer is a world of sequels, of star vehicles, of action and science fiction. This is the time of big budgets, tentpole franchises and Internet buzz. This is when the cool of the air-conditioned multiplex beckons on hot summer days.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

IRON MAN 2

RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2010

STUDIO: Paramount

STARRING: Robert Downey Jr., Gwynneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Garry Shandling, Kate Mara

STORY: Details of the plot have been kept strictly under wraps, but it is known that Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man will be battling Whiplash and Justin Hammer, a Soviet-era villain and a multi-billionaire industrialist respectively.

PROSPECTS: The first Iron Man did amazing box office, second in 2008 only to The Dark Knight. Director Jon Favreau is a current God of Geeks and Internet buzz is as high for this movie as any coming out in 2010.

OBSTACLES: Comic book fanboys are notoriously fickle and can turn on the franchise as quickly as they warmed to it. The first movie set a high bar, meaning that if the filmmakers falter it can mean box office disappointment.

FACTOID: The Whiplash character is actually an amalgam of two different villains in the comic book; Whiplash, from which he takes his nickname and weapon and Crimson Dynamo, from which he takes his civilian name and nationality.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

TOY STORY 3

RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2010

STUDIO: Disney/Pixar

STARRING THE VOICES OF: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger, Wallace Shawn, R. Lee Ermey, Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton

STORY: After Andy grows up and departs for college, his toys are donated to a day care center where they quickly find a completely different environment than they’re used to.

PROSPECTS: Pixar seems incapable of making a movie that isn’t a huge hit and there’s no reason to believe that this won’t be another one. Of all the animated features opening in 2010 (and there are a great many of them), this one is the most anticipated.

OBSTACLES: It’s been ten years since the last Toy Story movie which is a very long time in Hollywood terms; it remains to be seen if the target audience of 2010 is as eager to see it as they might have been in 2002. The re-release of Toy Story/Toy Story 2 in 3D earlier this year didn’t exactly have them busting down the doors.

FACTOID: Toy Story 2 was the first sequel to be produced by Pixar and is the only one to date until Cars 2: World Grand Prix debuts on June 24, 2011. This will be the first occasion that Pixar has done a trilogy.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE

RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2010

STUDIO: Lionsgate

STARRING: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Bryce Dallas Howard, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Dakota Fanning

STORY: As Seattle is beset by a string of senseless unsolved murders, Bella is in a position where she must soon choose between Jacob and Edward. In the meantime, a vengeful vampire is out to make her life miserable and an ancient war between vampire and werewolf is on the verge of being igniting. Ain’t senior year in high school a bitch?

PROSPECTS: Twilight: New Moon was one of the biggest hits of 2009 and the franchise is showing no signs of slowing down. Even while New Moon was in theaters, the frenzy for the third film in the series was already beginning.

OBSTACLES: Due to the rabid nature of the fans of the series and the omnipresent hype surrounding New Moon there is always the remote possibility of backlash.

FACTOID: Kristen Stewart wore a wig because she needed to have her hair cut short for her role in The Runaways.

SHREK FOREVER AFTER

RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2010

STUDIO: DreamWorks

STARRING THE VOICES OF: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, Justin Timberlake, Eric Idle, Amy Sedaris, Jon Hamm, Kathy Griffin

STORY: The irreverent animated feature series continues with its fourth installment where a domesticated Shrek rebels against his un-ogre-ish life and strikes a pact with Rumpelstiltskin that goes horribly awry. Now, Shrek discovers that he really does have a wonderful life and must put things to rights in order to get it back.

PROSPECTS: Opening a full month before Toy Story 3 is an advantage that should keep the family audiences firmly in Shrek’s corner basically through the important Memorial Day weekend and into mid-June.

OBSTACLES: It is difficult to keep any long-running series fresh and interesting and with Shrek hitting its fourth installment, it makes one wonder how good the movie could be. While the movie will pull in good box office regardless, a low-quality effort will prevent repeat business.

FACTOID: This will be the first movie in the series to be released in the IMAX format.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

INCEPTION

RELEASE DATE: July 16, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Leonardo di Caprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Dileep Rao

STORY: Described only as a sci-fi action movie set in the architecture of the human mind, the plot for the movie is a closely guarded secret.

PROSPECTS: Director Christopher Nolan is a fanboy darling and his name on the credits pretty much guarantees an audience. The teaser trailer for the film is mind-blowing.

OBSTACLES: Science fiction films that are more inward-looking have been a tough sell to summer audiences.

FACTOID: This is the first film that Nolan has directed since Following in 1998 that is based on an original screenplay; all of his other films since then have been adapted from other sources.

ALSO IN THEATERS

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (Disney) is based on the popular video game and features a rogue prince trying to keep a weapon of unimaginable power out of the hands of a wicked vizier (May 28). ROBIN HOOD (Universal) is the most recent take on the brigand of Sherwood Forest, starring Russell Crowe in the title role and director Ridley Scott behind the camera (May 14).  SEX AND THE CITY 2 (New Line) is the sequel to the megahit that was based on a hit HBO series (May 28). LETTERS TO JULIET (Summit) features Amanda Seyfried as a young American in Verona caught up in a 50-year-old romance (May 7). MARMADUKE (20^th Century Fox) is a live-action/animated hybrid (along the lines of Garfield or G-Force) that follows the mis-adventures of a high-spirited Great Dane (June 4). THE A TEAM (20^th Century Fox) is an update and remake of the popular series of the 1980s about four outlaw military veterans who become do-gooders for hire (June 11). JONAH HEX (Warner Brothers) is based on the DC Comic about a gunslinger with one foot in our world and the other in the world of the supernatural. Josh Brolin stars in the title role (June 18).  FOOTLOOSE (Paramount) remakes the iconic 1984 hit about a young man who defies a ban against dancing in a conservative Midwestern town (June 18). THE KARATE KID (Columbia) is also a remake of a 1984 hit film, with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith in the roles made famous by Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio, respectively (June 11). GROWN UPS (Columbia) stars Adam Sandler in a bittersweet comedy about a championship basketball team that reunites at a lake house to honor the passing of their childhood coach (June 25). KILLERS (Lionsgate) is about a superspy who leaves the game to settle down for a life of domestic bliss. Three years later, he and his wife discover he’s the target of a multi-million dollar hit and that anyone in their neighborhood is potentially a killer. (June 4). GET HIM TO THE GREEK (Universal) is a comedy about a record company intern (Jonah Hill) tasked with getting a reluctant rock star (Russell Brand) to a concert he doesn’t want to play (June 11). DESPICABLE ME (Universal) is an animated feature starring the voice of Steve Carrell as the world’s most notorious supervillain who discovers that he isn’t the worst of the worst and sets out to reclaim his title (July 9). THE LAST AIRBENDER (Paramount) is based on a Nickelodeon animated series, brought to live action by M. Night Shyamalan. Huh? (July 2) THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (Disney) stars Nicolas Cage as an ageless sorcerer defending the world against his arch-nemesis while training a new apprentice. (July 16)  SALT (Columbia) stars Angelina Jolie as a CIA agent fingered as a Russian sleeper spy who must go underground to prove her innocence and protect her family from terrifying forces (July 23). DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (Paramount) is a comedy about a nightmarish dinner party starring Steve Carell and Zach Galifianakis (July 23). KNIGHT AND DAY (20^th Century Fox) stars Cameron Diaz as a woman set up on a blind date with a superspy who enlists her help on a worldwide journey to protect a battery of unlimited power. Girls, if your blind date looks like Tom Cruise, chances are its too good to be true (July 2). ROBERT RODRIGUEZ’ PREDATORS (20^th Century Fox) is a reboot of the sci-fi action series courtesy of the director of such disparate fare as Spy Kids and Sin City – accept that he is not directing this movie. He’s the producer. Make sense? Didn’t think so (July 7).  BEASTLY (CBS) is a modern-day retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story with Disney Channel stars (July 30). CATS AND DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE (Warner Brothers) continues the ongoing war between our four-footed house pets for control of the planet with almost none of the cast of the first movie returning (July 30).  LITTLE FOCKERS (Universal) is the third installment of the Meet the Parents franchise with Ben Stiller dealing with parenthood – and the machinations of his ex-CIA father-in-law (July 30). HAIRSPRAY 2 (New Line) continues the musical adventures of the Turnblad family, although at this moment it seems highly unlikely that this movie which has yet to be cast or even written will get off the ground, at least in time for its release date (July TBA). MORNING GLORY (Paramount) is about an aspiring morning news producer who tries to save a morning show that is disintegrating by gaining control of the feuding co-hosts (July 30). THE EXPENDABLES (Lionsgate) boasts an all-star cast of action stars (including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke) as a crew of mercenaries bent on overthrowing a South American dictator (August 13). THE OTHER GUYS (Columbia) is about a couple of cop foul-ups who idolize a team of top cops that find that when their turn comes to shine, things don’t quite go as planned (August 6). EAT PRAY LOVE (Columbia) stars Julia Roberts as a married woman dissatisfied with her life who divorces her husband and goes on a global journey of self-discovery (August 13). RAMONA AND BEEZUS (20^th Century Fox) is a family movie based on the Ramona novels by Beverly Cleary (August 13). PRIEST (Screen Gems) is a comic book adaptation about a warrior priest who goes against the church to track down a gang of vampires that has kidnapped his sister in an alternate world where men and vampires have been at war for centuries (August 27). THE BASTER (Miramax) is a comedy about artificial insemination starring Jennifer Anniston (August 20). THE LOTTERY TICKET (Warner Brothers) is an urban comedy about a young man from the hood who has to survive a three-day weekend when his neighbors discover he is holding on to a winning lottery ticket worth $350 million (August TBA). DISNEY’S HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: CHINA (Disney) is a similar story to the hit Disney movie series set in China and with Chinese sensibilities (Summer TBA).

FALL

As children return to school and the backyard barbecue grill is locked away for the winter, the studios turn to Oscar contenders to lure audiences into theaters but that doesn’t mean that we’re done with blockbusters quite yet; there are always a few in reserve for the end of the year. This schedule is the least set in stone; there will be many changes to it before this time of year arrives, with some of the films listed being moved to another date or direct to DVD, while some films won’t get made at all; still others, not mentioned here, will join the Fall release party. Below is a taste of what’s to come.

MAJOR ANTICIPATION

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I

RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2010

STUDIO: Warner Brothers

STARRING: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Bill Nighy, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Ciaran Hinds, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Wright, Maggie Smith, John Hurt, Michael Gambon, Jason Isaacs, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Warwick Davis et al.

STORY: The Harry Potter saga approaches its conclusion as the first movie of a two-movie set that make up the final book of the seven-book series comes to the theaters (the second part comes out July 15, 2011). The inevitable showdown with Lord Valdemort approaches as Harry races against time to discover how to beat the most powerful wizard in the world and with Dumbledore out of the way, it appears Valdemort has already won before a single spell has been cast.

PROSPECTS: One of the most profitable film franchises of all time is going as strongly as ever – this summer’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince received high critical praise and was once again one of the year’s top box office smashes. Only a clueless Muggle would think that the two Deathly Hallows movies will do anything less.

OBSTACLES: The core audience of the Harry Potter series has grown up and many may no longer be interested in the boy wizard who is now, like them, grown up as well. Competing with franchises like Twilight for the hearts and minds of teens may be a bit too much to ask for the Hogwarts crew.

FACTOID: When director David Yates completes the second installment of The Deathly Hallows, he will have directed more films in the Harry Potter series (four) than any other director.

LOOKING FORWARD TO

TRON LEGACY

RELEASE DATE: December 17, 2010

STUDIO: Disney

STARRING: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, James Frain, Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen

STORY: The son of programmer Kevin Flynn searches for his father and finds him in the digital landscape where he has been living for the past 25 years, a landscape that has grown exponentially more dangerous.

PROSPECTS: The first Tron was one of the first movies to use computer graphics to an extensive degree and remains one of the iconic movies of the ‘80s. The themes of the first movie are perfect for the modern jacked-in and plugged-in generation of cyber-youth.

OBSTACLES: Not many of the kids today care one way or another about Tron and the graphics from that movie look clunky by today’s standards. 25 years is a very long time to wait for a sequel.

FACTOID: As a means of continuity with the first film, the classic rock band Journey will contribute at least one song to the soundtrack.

THE GREEN HORNET

RELEASE DATE: December 22, 2010

STUDIO: Columbia

STARRING: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, Edward Furlong

STORY: The pulp action hero returns to the big screen, with Rogen supplying the script and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) directing.

PROSPECTS: Gondry is a bit on the quirky side but he has delivered some fine movies nonetheless. Rogen is one of the big stars of comedy right now; it will be interesting to see how he handles the action sequences that his character will be called upon to perform in.

OBSTACLES: This is said to be a comedic perspective on the pulp hero and that kind of thing tends to turn purists off. Rogen had a good deal of difficulty getting the movie off the ground despite his presence, never a good sign.

FACTOID: The role of Kato was originally going to be played by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle) who was also attached to direct, but dropped from the director’s chair over creative differences with the producers. He was intending to stay on as an actor, but eventually pulled out of that gig as well.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

RELEASE DATE: December 10, 2010

STUDIO: Fox Walden

STARRING: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter, Eddie Izzard (voice), Liam Neeson (voice), Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence

STORY: The third book of the Narnia series comes to life as Edward and Lucy Pevensie, along with a pesky cousin, return to the magic land of Narnia to journey far beyond its borders in an attempt to save it and its wondrous creatures from a danger beyond comprehension.

PROSPECTS: The Narnia series is one of the most beloved children’s books of all time, and the first two movies have the box office to reflect that.

OBSTACLES: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian underperformed at the box office which some attributed to heavier competition in the summer. The high budget for the movie caused Disney to release the distribution rights. Disney seemed a more perfect fit to sell the movie than Fox, which hasn’t fared well traditionally with family movies.

FACTOID: While Voyage of the Dawn Treader was the third book of the series to be published, it actually falls fifth when considered chronologically in the Narnia mythos.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

RED

RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2010

STUDIO: Summit

STARRING: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John C. Reilly, Mary-Louise Parker, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, James Remar

STORY: A former black ops CIA agent lives a life of quiet retirement until a trio of high tech assassins show up to kill him.

PROSPECTS: An impressive cast and an intriguing concept always make for a good combination.

OBSTACLES: Willis’ last film, Surrogates didn’t exactly set the box office on fire.

FACTOID: This is the first movie based on a DC Comic book character to be made at a studio other than Warner Brothers.

ALSO IN THEATERS

GUARDIANS OF GA’HOOLE (Warner Brothers) is the first animated feature from director Zack Snyder (300, The Watchmen) and is based on the series of children’s books by Kathryn Lasky about a group of courageous owls (September 24). THE TOWN (Warner Brothers) is about a career criminal who becomes infatuated with the manager of a bank he’s about to rob. Ben Affleck stars and directs (September 10). THE AMERICAN (Focus) stars George Clooney as a master assassin who waits for his next assignment in an idyllic town (September 1). WARRIOR (Lionsgate) is a mixed martial arts saga about two brothers on a collision to fight in the finals of a brutal tournament (September 17). BORN TO BE A STAR (Columbia) is about a small-town nebbish who discovers his parents were well-known porn stars in the ‘70s (September 3). YOU AGAIN (Disney) is about a successful woman whose brother is about to unknowingly marry her arch-nemesis in high school (September 24). THE ROOMMATE (Screen Gems) is about a deranged college freshman who becomes obsessed with her new roommate (September 17). ALPHA & OMEGA (Lionsgate) is an animated feature about two wolves struggling to get back to their home in Canada after being relocated to the United States (October 1). THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Columbia) is the story of how Facebook came to be as brought to you by director David Fincher. Y’know, the guy who made Se7en. My head spins just thinking about it (October 15). SECRETARIAT (Disney) is the story of the plucky racehorse who went on to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years despite the inexperience of his owner (October 8). SAW VII (Lionsgate) is about…well, heck you know what it’s about. The question is if you’re still interested enough to buy a ticket to see it (October 22). THE ZOOKEEPER (MGM) stars Kevin James as a kindly zookeeper who gets dating advice from the animals in his care (October 8). FASTER (CBS) brings back Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson back to the action genre as an ex-con hell-bent on avenging his brother’s death (October 15). GOING THE DISTANCE (New Line) stars Drew Barrymore and Justin Long as two people in a long-distance romance who gradually come to the realization that they would be happier dating someone closer to home (October 8). JACKASS 3D (Paramount) brings back Johnny Knoxville and the gang in another series of idiotic stunts, only this time in big bold 3D, which makes it another movie you can ignore three-dimensionally (October 15). YOUR HIGHNESS (Universal) stars Danny McBride as a slacker who happens to be the brother of a noble, courageous prince. Forced to accompany his brother on a quest to rescue a princess, he discovers that he might have to actually grow a pair or risk his father’s kingdom falling into the hands of a depraved warlord (October 1). RAPUNZEL (Disney) continues what was begun with The Princess and the Frog as the 2D animators at Disney take on another fairy tale with hand drawn animation rather than the computer-generated kind. That’s what I call old school (November 24). DUE DATE (Warner Brothers) stars Robert Downey Jr. in a comedy about a man trying to get home in time for the birth of his child only to be frustrated by a fellow traveler (November 5). RED DAWN (MGM) is the remake of the 1984 movie about the invasion of the United States and a group of high school students who become guerilla partisans (November 26). MEGAMIND (DreamWorks) is about a supervillain who has vanquished his archrival but with nobody left to fight must find a different way to occupy his time (November 5). BURLESQUE (Screen Gems) stars Christina Aguilera and Cher in a musical about a small-town girl who makes it big in a burlesque club (November 24). UNSTOPPABLE (20^th Century Fox) features Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as the engineer and conductor trying to stop a runaway train filled with toxic chemicals headed for a small town (November 12). LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (Columbia) is a drama about a Viagra salesman. No, really – I couldn’t make that kind of thing up (November 24). IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY (Focus) is about a stressed-out teenager who checks himself into a mental health facility, only to discover that the youth wing has been shut down and that he must now survive with the adult loonies. That’s the technical term, loonies (November TBA). GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (20^th Century Fox) stars Jack Black in the title role as an 18^th century traveler to far-off places that are filled with wonders unseen (December 22). YOGI BEAR (Warner Brothers) is a live action/animated hybrid about the beloved Hanna-Barbera character. Dan Aykroyd will voice the smarter than the average bear picnic basket thief (December 15). LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (Warner Brothers) is about two carefree unattached adults who inherit the children of mutual friends who recently perished in a crash (December 22). HEREAFTER (Warner Brothers) is director Clint Eastwood’s first supernatural drama (December TBA). THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH (Focus) is about a young Roman centurion seeking the answers to the mystery of the disappearance of his father’s legion some 20 years earlier (Fall TBA). PRISONERS (Warner Brothers) is about a desperate father who captures the man he believes responsible for the kidnapping of his wife and daughter, resorting to any means necessary to get the truth of their whereabouts from him (Fall TBA). FLIPPED (Warner Brothers) is the latest from director Rob Reiner as he explores the history of a bumpy romantic relationship that starts when the protagonists are just seven years old (Fall TBA).

And there you have it. There’s a whole lot to look forward to in 2010 and given that the studios had some great success in 2009, we should be seeing a lot of movies that will blow the boundaries of special effects even further, as well as indie movies that will continue to alter our perception of life. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to spending many hours in the cool, quiet darkness of the multiplex next year.

Watch Edge of Darkness Full Movie Online 2009
Click here to watch Edge of Darkness Full Movie Online 2009 !
Casino Royale’s Martin Campbell returns to familiar territory with this adaptation of his own 1985 BBC miniseries — a mystery starring Mel Gibson as a detective looking into his political-activist daughter’s death and uncovering layers of governmental conspiracies in the process. William Monahan (The Departed) provides the screenplay for the GK Films production, co-starring Ray Winstone and Danny Huston.

With the first decade of this century almost at an end and most people looking back, we at On Celluloid look forward to the UK film releases worth anticipating in 2010:

1. Up In The Air (due for release: 15 January 2010) - A film which is likely to figure large come Oscar sees Juno director Jason Reitman helming a film starring George Clooney as a consultant who lives the jetset life helping corporates to restructure and shed staff whilst trying to rack up 10 million air miles forced to contemplate being grounded.  Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick co-star.

2. Un Prophete (due for release: 22 January 2010) – One of the most praised films from the Cannes and London film festivals this year, Jacques Audiard’s prison film should become a breakout foreign language hit as an Arab prisoner gets sent to a French jail.

3. Edge of Darkness (due for release: 29 January 2010) – Mel Gibson stars in a film for the first time for several years in this revenge thriller directed by Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell in which Gibson plays a detective hunting for the killer of his activist daughter.

4. The Princess and the Frog (due for release: 5 February 2010) – Much has been made of this film having the first black heroine in a Disney film but the film also sees a return to hand-drawn 2D animation for the House of Mouse which when the trend is to stick any old animation in 3D, this must be applauded.

5. Youth in Revolt (due for release: 5 February 2010) – Michael Cera stars in the dual roles of Nick Twisp and Francois Dillinger in this adaptation of C.D. Payne’s novel in which Twisp hopes for Portia Doubleday’s Sheeni will be the girl to take his virginity.  Talented helmer Miguel Arteta directs.

6. Shutter Island (due for release: 19 February 2010) – This film featured in my second half of 2009 anticipated movies but was unfortunately delayed.  Martin Scorsese adapts the novel from Denis Lehane (of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone fame) in which Leonardo diCaprio stars as a detective.  Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Williams co-star.

7. Everybody’s Fine (due for release: 19 February 2010) – It’s a been while since Robert de Niro appeared in a decent film but he is getting rave reviews for his performance as a widower who takes a road-trip to re-unite with his grown-up children.

8. A Couple of Dicks (due for release: 26 February 2010) – Kevin Smith returns directing Bruce Willis in a comedy about a pair of cops.  Expect more laughs as Seann William Scott, Adam Brody and Jason Lee co-star.

9. Green Zone (due for release: 12 March 2010) – Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon re-team for this adaptation of the best-selling book Imperial Life in the Emerald City in which a US army officer goes rogue in Baghdad.  Jason Isaacs and Brendan Gleeson co-star.

10. Season of the Witch (due for release: 19 March 2010) – I know very little about this but it stars Nicolas Cage who was mental in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant in a story based in the 14th century about knights transporting a witch to a monastry.  Promises to be mad as a box of frogs.

11. Cemetery Junction (due for release: 7 April 2010) – After the disappointing The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant re-team for a comedy starring Ralph Fiennes in a story about three men working in an insurance company.  Lets be optimistic!

12. Lebanon (due for release: 9 April 2010) – Israeli director Samuel Moaz’s film is a claustrophobic take on the Israeli-Lebanon war of 1982 showing the war through the experiences of paratroopers in a lone tank searching a hostile town.

13. City of Life and Death (due for relase: 16 April 2010) – The “rape of Nanjing” remains a controversial event in the histories of China and Japan which still causes tension between the two countries.  Chuan Lu’s epic won the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastian film festival for its dramatisation of this 1937 event.

14. Robin Hood (due for release: 14 May 2010) – Sir Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe re-team for another take on the mythology of the Nottinghamshire outlaw as Crowe plays the titular character with Cate Blanchett as his Maid Marian.

15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (due for release: 28 May 2010) – Can Jerry Bruckheimer do for the video game adaptation what he did for the theme park ride adaptation with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise?  Jake Gyllenhaal will certainly hope so as he stars as the title character in this franchise starter.  Gemma Arterton co-stars as the English heroine.

Okay, it’s not a remake of the old animated kids TV show, but it does involve Vikings.

Mel Gibson will direct and Leonardo DiCaprio will star in an untitled period drama about Viking culture. William Monahan is writing the script according to Variety.

Graham King will produce with Gibson and Tim HeadingtonShooting is expected to begin in fall 2010, meaning that if everything falls into place, it would be the next directing effort for Gibson.

The principals confirmed the project but would not divulge many details. DiCaprio, who has long been fascinated by Viking culture, will play one in a storyline that will be as unsparing as Gibson’s other period directing efforts, “Braveheart,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “Apocalypto.”

King teamed with DiCaprio and Monahan in the Oscar-winning drama “The Departed” and just worked with Gibson and Monahan in the Martin Campbell-directed drama “Edge of Darkness.”

The Viking film will be DiCaprio’s first picture with Gibson.

“This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry’s finest cinematic talent, and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill,” said King.

Vikings are always cool, however recent films such as Outlander and Pathfinder don’t really show that. Gibson’s Apocalypto shows that he can do the period thing well with a dash of fighting and gore for good measure.

Early days on this one but it does have my interest.

Image on this post is from the excellent Northlanders comic

Leonardo DiCaprio

By  Mike Fleming – Variety.com

Mel Gibson will direct and Leonardo DiCaprio will star in an untitled period drama set in the world of Viking culture. William Monahan is writing the script.

Graham King will produce with Gibson and Tim Headington in a co-production between King’s GK Films and Gibson’s Icon Productions. Shooting is expected to begin fall, 2010, meaning that if everything falls into place, it would be the next directing effort for Gibson.

There is no distributor at the moment, but Gibson and King often make their films outside the studio system and secure distribution later.

The principals confirmed the project but would not divulge many details. DiCaprio, who has long been fascinated by Viking culture, will play one in a storyline that will be as unsparing as Gibson’s other period directing efforts “Braveheart,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “Apocalypto.”

The connective tissue is King.

The producer teamed with DiCaprio and Monahan in the Oscar-winning drama “The Departed,” and just worked with Gibson and Monahan in the Martin Campbell-directed drama “Edge of Darkness.” King also just produced Monahan’s directorial debut, “London Boulevard,” the Monahan-scripted adaptation of the Ken Bruen novel, with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley starring. 

The Viking film will be DiCaprio’s first picture with Gibson.

“This will be an awe-inspiring story, created with some of the industry’s finest cinematic talent and I am just over the moon to be making this film with Mel, Leo and Bill,” King said in a statement after the principals confirmed the project to Daily Variety. 

Aside from “London Boulevard,” King and his GK Films just completed “The Rum Diary” with Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart and the Emily Blunt-starrer “The Young Victoria,” latter of which is being released this month by Bob Berney’s Apparition.

DiCaprio will likely take a film before putting on the Viking horns. He just completed the Christopher Nolan-directed “Inception” for Warner Bros., and will next be seen in the Martin Scorsese-directed “Shutter Island,” which Paramount releases February 19. Gibson just completed the Jodie Foster-directed “The Beaver.”

Mel Gibson hasn’t had the best press recently. Shall we tell you how much we care about what Gibson gets up to in his private life? Not one jot. The man’s an actor; no one elected him president or pope. As far as The Guide is concerned, what he does off screen is his own damn business. What we do care about passionately is what he does on screen. And on screen, Mel never disappoints. He’s hands down one of our all-time favourite movie stars.

Since he literally blasted onto the scene in Mad Max, Gibson has given us one magnetic performance after enough. His portrayal of Martin ‘is he really crazy or not?’ Riggs in Lethal Weapon (the first one, before they turned the series into The Cosby Show) remains a work of genius. We certainly love watching Gibson ‘on the edge’ like that. Whether it’s turning the tables on his son’s kidnappers in Ron Howard’s Ransom or taking on the overwhelming might of the English army in his directorial debut Braveheart, Gibson excels in powerful, ‘against the odds’ roles.

Of late, he’s tended to add some welcome darkness into the mix too. Conspiracy Theory showed Gibson unafraid to challenge his audience by straying from the mainstream a little and he pushed this even further with the – hugely under-appreciated – Payback in 1999, a movie so dark that many people just didn’t get it.

Perhaps because of all the publicity around his private life, Gibson hasn’t been acting much of late. The last time we got to see him in a leading role was way back in 2002 as the Reverand Graham Hess in Signs.

And so we were absolutely delighted to chance upon his latest, due out next year: Edge of Darkness. It looks from the poster and trailer below that we’re in for a treat: Mel Gibson at his dark, unhinged best: a man determined to uncover the truth surrounding his daughter’s murder and extract justice for it, with absolutely nothing to lose in the process.

We can’t wait. Welcome back Mel.

Director: Martin Campbell

Produced by Micheal Wearing

Writers: William Monahan
Andrew Bovell

With Mel Gibson, Caterina Scorsone, Danny Huston, Ray Winston, Shawn Roberts

Edge of Darkness is an upcoming adaptation of Edge of Darkness, a 1985 BBC television series. As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

Some secrets take us to the edge

Release Date: 29 January 2010 (USA)

http://edge-of-darkness.warnerbros.com/

The Syfy Channel's re-imagined Alice Hamilton (Caterina Scorsone). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

When she was a child, actress Caterina Scorsone read Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books, not knowing that one day she would not only be stepping into Wonderland, but also walking in Alice’s shoes. However, in the Syfy Channel miniseries Alice, this iconic literary character is quite unlike the little blonde-haired girl who most of us are familiar with. For one thing, this Alice is a brunette. She is also a twentysomething martial arts instructor who very much has a mind of her own. While Alice may have grown up, she still retains elements of the original character, which Scorsone could not be more pleased about. 

“In this production, Alice is the everywoman, just like in Lewis Carroll’s original story,” explains the actress during one of her days off from filming this past summer. “She is the eyes through which viewers get to observe this wonderful and strange world, and that can be Wonderland or the world in general. Alice is kind of the perspective for the audience on just how bewildering life can be. The character is a tough cookie in this version of Alice. It’s a re-telling, so she’s an adult and very self-sufficient in the beginning of the story and throughout. At the same time, Alice is vulnerable and there are a lot of areas that she has yet to explore within herself as well as Wonderland. And this place called Wonderland is where she, and the viewer, get to discover all those sorts of places that she is not comfortable with all of the time. 

“This is kind of a new spin on the story, so it’s very contemporary and brings elements of psychology into some of the whimsy and fantasy that Lewis Carroll set up in his books. In terms of acting, this has been one of the most satisfying projects I’ve ever worked on. There are a lot of procedural dramas on TV right now, and that’s terrific and they have their place, but as far as personal stakes, they’re not always as satisfying. It’s great to solve a crime and it’s very compelling and interesting and I love watching stories like that, but as an actor, it’s the personal journeys that truly excite me. And in Alice, my character goes through such a transformation, more so than in any other project I’ve ever done. I’ve had the chance to play a tremendous range with her. 

One tough cookie. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

“She starts out pretty much emotionally closed, but by the end of the story, all her walls and defenses have been blasted away. It’s been a joy to work with the other actors who have been cast. Everyone who comes to work is so professional and so well-prepared that you know anything emotionally challenging is going to be supported and played with and you’re going to be given the time to do things right.” 

In Alice, we learn that at the age of 10, our heroine’s father abandoned the family without warning or word, which led to Alice developing a stong distrust in men. Now, years later, she believes that she has met Mr. Right in her handsome new love, Jack, but, unfortunately, her old demons resurface and she sends him away after rejecting his proposal of marriage. However, when Jack is kidnapped, she follows him and his abductors through a mysterious portal and winds up in Wonderland. Once there, she is forced to put aside her doubts in the opposite sex and ask for help in order to find Jack. 

“What’s cool about playing Alice is that, again, being the eyes of the audience or the everywoman, she gets to interact with everyone because so much of the journey and the adventure is through her experience,” says Scorsone. “Just like in the Lewis Carroll stories, she kind of walks through and meets all these fantastically colorful characters. 

Jack (Philip Winchester) and Alice. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

“Jack Chase [Philip Winchester] is the dashing young man who Alice opens the story with. He’s her love interest right off the top, and then there’s Hatter [Andrew-Lee Potts], who along with the White Knight [Matt Frewer] become my character’s trusted companions. Hatter is with Alice throughout the entire story and together they have this journey of self-discovery. Everyone she encounters affects her in some way that is a significant part of her transformation. They impact her subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, and act as a catalyst for the change that is happening inside her as a woman.” 

Scorsone could not have asked for a better person to help guide her through her onscreen adventures than Alice writer/director Nick Willing. “Nick is an amazing director for so many reasons, one of which is that he’s very interested in the rehearsal process,” notes the actress. “He makes sure that you have a significant amount of time to rehearse in order to get to know the material as well as the people you’re playing with. 

“So before our first day of shooting, we had, I think, a week-and-a-half to two weeks of intense discussions and rehearsals at the hotel where we were all staying, and Nick’s process is so neat. Usually you get together and everyone sits around a table and you do a read-through of the script and then start filming. What we did, though, was meet, discuss and rehearse, and only after we went through this really intense process did we sit around the table and do a read-through. 

Alice ends up a stranger in a very strange place called Wonderland. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

“By the time we got to set we were all very familiar with the material and had created trust with each other. So from day one the set has been a safe and creative place to play as well as explore and push the limits of what we thought we could do. Right from the start this has been a pretty magical situation to walk into, where you’re surrounded by people who fully believe in this project and are excited about creating something of value. It’s been one of the most consistently joyful sets I’ve been on. Nick has this incredible ability to keep it light and keep everyone laughing, and at the same time command the respect that you need to get through the really long days and lots of material. And what’s nice, too, is that everyone here is experienced enough to appreciate that.” 

Although the actress and the rest of the Alice cast and crew has spent a great deal of time shooting inside on a soundstage, they have also ventured out quite a bit in and around Vancouver, a place that Scorsone admits to have fallen in love with. “I have this mad fantasy that I’m going to move here and have this beautiful life surrounded by mountains and water,” she says. 

“It’s been so much fun working on-location. We were in Kamloops [British Columbia] for a while shooting in this abandoned sanatorium, and we also went to Golden Ears Provincial Park, which has a beautiful rainforest where the tress are so massive and it’s so damp that they’re completely covered in this lush, dripping moss. We were filming there at five in the morning and there was fog and mist everywhere. It was really quite surreal. There was mist on the water and you were outside of everything familiar to you and in this spectacular place that truly felt like Wonderland. 

Alice finds a friend - and perhaps more - in Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

“Then, of course, we’re wearing these incredibly creative costumes and the set dec is unbelievable. So you have all these elements that are adding to the suspended reality that has been created here. It just makes everything so much fun and easy emotionally as well as creatively to enter this world that we’re talking about here.” 

Obstetrician and violinist were among the career choices that Scorsone considered while growing up. Having acted since the age of eight, she stepped away from it a couple of times, including when she was 19 to go to university. While she was eventually drawn back to the business, Scorsone has no regrets about her brief respite from it. 

“I needed to explore what other possibilities there were,” says the actress. “And what’s fortunate is that that exploration led me back to an appreciation of what I’d been doing. I think when you start acting as a child it’s fun, but you haven’t made an actual choice about it. You’ve inherited it, so I had to get away from it and really decide if art was something important to people. So I quit, went to school, got my bachelor’s degree and after that came back into the business with a more mature perspective and have really been appreciating it ever since.” 

Ever get the feeling that you're all boxed in with nowhere to go; Alice sure does! Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel

Having begun working on TV in the mid-90’s, the actress has appeared in several made-for-TV movies as well as done guest-spots and recurring roles on such shows as Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Power Play, Crash, The Guard and Castle. She also played the lead character, Jess Mastriani, for three seasons in her own series, Missing. 

“When you’re with a character for that long they become a part of you and you get close to them and feel protective of them,” says Scorsone. “Also, working on that show was a huge learning experience for me. With series TV you’re there every day and all day, it’s long hours and you’re surrounded by a tight-knit family of, in my case, 85. So as a professional, you’re learning a number of skills in terms of your acting as well as technical skills such as the camera, lighting and all the other things you need in your ‘tool bag.’ 

“You’re also learning how to ration yourself energetically along with emotionally and how to work well with others when everyone is tired and hasn’t seen their families for a while and it’s crunch time because you’ve got to get the episode done in 14 hours. So doing that series was definitely significant for me, creatively and in terms of my work ethic as well as professionalism and coming to understand the significance of every single crew member’s job on the set, and only together can we make this amazing thing happen.” 

On the big screen, Scorsone’s credits include Borderline Normal, The Devil’s Arithmetic, The Third Miracle and the upcoming political thriller Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson, Danny Huston and Ray Winstone. “I can’t say too much about the story because I don’t want to spoil it,” teases the actress. “But I can tell you that I loved working with Martin Campbell, who’s a fantastic British director. My role is a really cool one, too, and I have a South Boston accent in the movie, which was a fun challenge for me to do.” 

While she might work in an industry that is based on make-believe, it is very much the down-to-earth aspects that make an acting career rewarding for Scorsone. “When you first come onto a project it’s like the Land of the Misfit Toys, where you meet everyone at base camp and it’s all these people who never saw themselves working a traditional 9 to 5 job,” she muses. “For whatever reason, we were all attracted to this nomadic-like, caravan lifestyle where the stories and the challenges are always changing. 

“Everyone is willing to live in this kind of uncertain way where you go from job to job and don’t know what tomorrow will bring. There’s a heart to it as well as a tenacity and a courage that tends to inspire on every project. You get to witness these moments of fantastic humanity at 3 in the morning when it’s freezing cold and everyone is trying to get the shot. There’s a support that everyone throws into the ring for one another when you’re in these unusual situations, and it’s a privilege to be part of such a team.” 

See the conclusion of Alice tonight, Monday, December 7th, from 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel. 

Steve Eramo 

As noted above, all photos by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Sherlock Holmes   Dec 25, 2009

Youth in Revolt   Jan 8, 2010

Leap Year   Jan 8, 2010

Did You Hear About the Morgans?   December 18, 2009

When in Rome    Jan 12, 2010

Edge of Darkness   Jan 26, 2010

A Single Man Feb   2010

Valentine’s Day   Feb 12, 2010

Takers   Feb 26, 2010

Letters to Juliet   May 7, 2010

Dare 2009

This is Indie came out earlier this year but looks interesting. AND of course do not forget INVICTUS & NINE metioned in previous posts and coming out this December!

“Edge of Darkness” – Mel Gibson is a cop whose daughter’s death is cover-up by the government. He teams with a hit man (Ray Winstone) and sets out to avenge her death. Opens January 29, 2010

“Dear John” – Channing Tatum is a young soldier who, one summer, falls for Amanda Seyfried. The write each other over the next seven years as he takes increasingly dangerous missions. Opens February 5, 2010

“Remember Me” – “Twilight” brooder Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin in a story about two people who fall in love amidst their family tragedies. Also stars Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. Opens March 12, 2010

“Clash of the Titans” – Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Neeson star in this remake of the 80’s tribute to Ray Harryhausen and Greek mythology. Opens March 26, 2010

“How to Train Your Dragon” – Based on the Cressida Cowell children’s book about a Viking kid who adopts a scrawny, toothless dragon. Opens March 26, 2010

“Babies” – The babies are coming! Documentary tracking four babies from different spots around the world from birth to their first steps. Opens April 16, 2010

“Kick-Ass” – Based on the Marvel Comic about a high school dweeb who decides to become a superhero despite the fact that he has no special powers or abilities. Trouble arises when he meets real bad guys with real bullets. Opens April 16, 2010

“Date Night” – Steve Carell and Tina Fey are the Fosters, a married couple with little private time. They schedule a “date night” and upon taking someone else’s dinner reservations find themselves mixed-up with the wrong people. Also stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, and Mark Wahlberg. Opens April 9, 2010

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” – Jake Gyllenhaal plays the title character in a movie based on the popular video game. Also stars Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina, and Ben Kingsley. Opens May 28, 2010

“Grown Ups” – Adam Sandler, David Spade, Kevin James, Chris Rock, and Rob Schneider in a comedy about a group of friends coming together years later. Opens June 25, 2010

“Despicable Me” – Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) is the World’s #2 Supervillain with dreams of world domination and stealing the moon. His plans are interrupted when he meets three orphaned girls who look up to him to be a potential dad. Also starring the voices of Jason Segel, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, and Danny McBride. Opens July 9, 2010

“The Expendables” – Sly Stallone and Company are mercenaries on a mission to overthrow a South American dictator. Also stars Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Brittany Murphy, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, and Bruce Willis. I’ve also heard that Ah-nuld is in it… Opens August 20, 2010

Sorry for the delay, life got in the way.  (I’m a poet and don’t know it.  I hope I don’t show it….yes, I’m 12)

I’m back on the blog track with pseudo-comedy, Men Who Stare at Goats.  An interesting story that is not funny enough, action-packed enough, …or really engrossing enough to be recommended beyond a rental.

This movie was one of those I recommended a few weeks ago based solely on its trailer.  Ahhh the beauty of marketing.   I love all the actors involved and it sounded kind of quirky so a Monday afternoon in Surrey with nothing to do?  I stared at some goats.

The Setup:
Bob the reporter (Ewan McGregor) is having himself a midlife crisis.  In order to shake his situation up and to put some value on his life (it’s how you impress the ladies) he goes to Iraq for work.  This leads him to Lyn (George Clooney), a “retired” psychic/spy/jedi master with a tale to tell.  From Lyn, we learn about the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion.  A team of hippies turned super soldiers, led by Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, who use their powers as an answer to what they believe the Russians are doing.  The story is apparently true…trueish. 

The Thoughts:
If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I have mad love for Clooney.  Spacey too.  I will give any movie with these guys in it a try.  Hence why I found myself watching this…this…meh.

You would think a movie with dead goats, jedi army masters and the Iraq war would be a winning combination. Yeah, no.  It’s like this movie didn’t know what it wanted to be. If it was a straight up comedy, I didn’t haha.  If it was an action movie…where was the action?  I like movies “based on a true story” and I can certainly imagine the U.S. army was dumb enough to invest in this project but the delivery of the story was not compelling.

Acting?  Not a problem with these guys.  They just didn’t have a lot to work with.  They do look like they’re having fun, especially Bridges and Clooney, but they’re having more than I was watching them.  I wanted to laugh with them and just didn’t get the chance.  I wanted the movie to tell me what parts of this story was true.  Nope.  Really I left the theatre wanting more than I got. 

The movie even ends on a note that I’m sure was meant to inspire and make me say, “YEAH!”  yeah, no.  But I’ll still go to the next movie you guys do.

The Men Who Stare at Goats Rating:

1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone.  This would have been a great documentary.   Unfortunately what you get is a bland story that doesn’t know what it wants to be.  Rent it if you want to, but save your money from the theatre gods.

Rating system:
½ ticket – rip up your ticket.
1 ticket – go, but don’t tell anyone.
2 tickets – good movie, take a friend. 
3 tickets – tell everyone you know.

Coming Attractions:
Edge of Darkness – He’s back.  Ok, so he might be a racist drunk with creepy Christian values but remember, this is freaking Mad Max/Braveheart.  NO ONE does pissed off like Mel Gibson.  Check out the Patriot when one of his kids gets killed.  Welcome back Mel, we missed you.  Now go take anger management courses.

Randomly Recommended
Little Voice (1998) – I don’t like musicals you say.  Guess what, neither do I, but every once in a while there comes a great movie that just happens to have music in it.  Once is like that and so is Little Voice.  Jane Horrocks does an amazing job as a mousy shutin who only can express herself through impersonating her favourite singers.  It is scarey good.  Ewan McGregor and Brenda Blethyn round out the amazing cast of this small but powerful movie.  Oh, and see “Once” as well.

Unfortunately I don’t have access to all movie trailers so below is a performance by Horracks as Shirley Bassey.

A Bug’s Life  (1998) – The Pixar movie most have not seen.  FOR SHAME.  Kevin Spacey as an evil Grasshopper.  It’s a Pixar movie directed by the same guy who did the first two Toy Story movies.  I don’t even need to write any more. 

Star Trek

Lost creator JJ Abrams re-imagines the classic television series.

Brüno

Provocative comic Sasha Baron Cohen unleashes his gay-Austrian- fashion-critic character on an unsuspecting public.

Food, Inc

The popular documentary chronicling all the ways in which we go wrong when it comes to food.

My Sister’s Keeper

Based on the popular novel. Starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin.

Edge of Darkness

The immensely popular BBC miniseries finally makes its way to the U.S.

Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome America

Funnyman, Will Ferrell lampoons George Bush Jr. in this HBO produced recording of his B’way romp.

Older titles back in stock:

Dirty Dancing Ultimate Edition – The ultimade edition means the dancing will be even filthier.

Cimarron – Lavish Western epic, even more lavish cast, and shot by cinemascope genius Robert Surtees!

Pride and Prejudice – BBC miniseries lays the whole story out there for you.

Someone’s Watching Me! - Lost John Carpenter suspense thriller starring Lauren Hutton and Jerry’s Uncle Leo from Seinfeld!

There can be a fascinating contrast in Hollywood between a star’s professional work and his or her behaviour outside the realm of filmmaking. An actor or director can build a body of respected work only to turn around and do something most would revile. Look at the recent attention driven yet again to Roman Polanski. Is he a genius or a rapist? An artist or a monster? Or both?

Another interesting example is Mel Gibson, whose actions over the last few years have been more bewildering than anything else. He is guilty of asserting anti-Semitic comments while trying to distance himself from them at the same time. He revealed his deep religious faith and directed the most financially successful film about Christ ever produced before getting involved in a series of drunken episodes that culminated in his arrest. He made “Apocalypto”, drawing fire that pegged him as culturally xenophobic and sloppy in his research along with praise directed toward the film’s originality and scope. In the midst of all of this, he seemed to have given up acting altogether. Until now.

Gibson was a go-to action star in the 80’s and 90’s, appearing in high octane films such as the “Mad Max” films, “Payback”, “Ransom” and the “Lethal Weapon” series. In “Edge of Darkness”, he appears to be heading back to his bread and butter. Directed by “Casino Royale” helmer Martin Campbell and co-written by one of the screenwriters of “The Departed”, the project looks tailor made for Gibson’s return to form. Whether or not he deserves one is up for debate.

As for the film, it’s looking to evoke a badass Bostonian attitude crossed with a “Death Wish” scenario, scattered with cliches – or homages – of the guy with nothing left to lose. Warner Bros. knows exactly what people will think of the trailer’s ironic final bit of dialogue. Gibson is back, with a firm belief in the dark side of divine retribution.

Download Trailer :480p

Release Date: January 29, 2010

Director: Martin Campbell
Writers: William Monahan, Andrew Bovell
Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Shawn Roberts, Bojana Novakovic, Frank Grillo, Gbenga Akinnagbe
Plot: As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.