The Town (2010) – Review

The Town is a heist film more concerned with its characters than the action or crime aspects, but this is a good thing. The film does have well shot and exciting action scenes (the end reminded me a lot of Heat). But it is clear that director Ben Affleck did not set out to make a film about larceny or about the robbers that commit them – he made a film about people that happen to be criminals and those that interact with them (the film is about the characters, not what they do). And while the action scenes are good and play well, it is the scenes that delve into the characters and their emotions that are the most engaging and ultimately elevate the film. In particular the scene between main character, Doug MacRay, and his father is expertly executed further connecting the audience with MacRay and thus making his actions and outcome matter. The scenes between Doug and Claire (his romantic interest) are also very good. Their relationship is really the crux of the narrative, and it is beautifully done. It is interesting that a film seemingly sold on its heist and action features would be more about the relationships between the characters with everything else merely just being the world and lives they inhabit. Affleck loves all his characters; and the viewer can see that in how the camera is used – Affleck seems to place his camera in a grey area. It is neither too close to the action to make the audience feel involved or too far to be fully detached and voyeuristic. Affleck creates an intimate feel, but at a slight and safe distance. He employed the same style with his first film, Gone Baby Gone, but here since the film was sold on action (to some extent) the audience is not sure what to feel during the down time. They came in amped, but most of the film is paced slowly with a building tension as MacRay and Claire’s relationship is plainly doomed. Everyone knows there is going to be a big action set piece at the end – the Hollywood system deems it so – but the narrative structure that Affleck utilizes, one of a character drama explored through budding and conflicting relationships, clashes a bit with audience expectations. Affleck also uses a lot of shots of the city to transition between scenes (a common practice in film and especially TV) seemingly to give pause and perspective both on the narrative and to physically see the neighborhood that the characters are from, which again goes back to the film being about these people, and where they are from. However, the net effect of these transitions and the structure and shooting style of the film is that it plays a bit flat at times. It would be interesting to see how it would play if the audience went in expecting a serious character drama. Overall, The Town is both a very good character piece and a good heist film (though the former is given much more attention than the later).

On to the technical achievements: Ben Affleck again reminds everyone that he is both a very talented actor, but also an adept writer and director (not that he needed to as Gone Baby Gone is a good film too). The film served as a coming out party a bit for Affleck as a director, as his first film was not widely seen due to its limited release and low profile for the general movie-going audience.  He is at his best as a director in capturing intimate and wonderful performances. His collaboration with cinematographer Robert Elswit (check out LeapBackBlog’s feature on him) is interesting as it is subdued a bit. Elswit does not go for too gritty a look, but it is not glossy either. Much like the camera placement, the look of the film finds a place in-between (though, closer to gritty) and the characters are lighted expertly by Elswit –they do not appear so much as actors, but as real people, while still looking good. The norm, it seems, for these types of films is for them to be shot in a gritty Greengrass-esque style, but Affleck stays true to his style, and the film benefits greatly as a result. Sharon Seymour’s production design and the score by David Buckley and Harry Gregson-Williams compliment the tone and feel authentic to the film. The Town needed to have fantastic performances to work. Affleck turns in his best work, possibly of his career, but certainly in a long time. He has always been a good dramatic actor (Hollywood just wanted him to be an action star). Rebecca Hall, as usual, is also very good, playing her role with fragility masking true strength within. She is good enough to turn action seekers into viewers ready for a character drama. Jeremy Renner, coming off an Oscar nod, is lush with emotion and range. He commands the screen and attention as he is ripe with tension inducing spontaneity. Chris Cooper, while not having much screen-time, makes a huge impact in the narrative. Jon Hamm and Blake Lively seem out of place, based solely on associating them with their respective TV shows, but like the rest of the cast are good and fit in well. Pete Postlethwaite somehow makes himself seem tough and scary despite being a flouriest and an older man. Affleck assembled one of the best cast and crew of any film this year, and that translates to a fantastically well made film full of excellent performances.

The Town has great heist-action, but it is the character relationships that make it impressive. 8/10

Robert Elswit – Movies Spotlight – September 2010

Cinematographer Robert Elswit is best known for shooting all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature films. He is also a strong proponent of shooting on film, not digital – stating that digital provides “no texture, no grain”. Elswit is the director of photography on this month’s film The Town, directed by Ben Affleck about a bank-robber who falls in love with one of his hostages. It looks to be one of the best, if not the best, film of the month (and likely one of the best of the year, having received very positive buzz out of Venice and Toronto film festivals). Elswit has shot a lot of films, but his recent work is of such a high caliber that he is certainly one of the top DPs working today.

Early Career:

Elswit got his start in the late 70s’ as a camera operator and assistant camera operator on films like the drama/thriller Fraternity Row and the documentary Genesis. He also got work as a visual effects cameraman working on notable films such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Working also in TV movies, he had a surprise hit with the well-liked sci-fi family film All Summer in a Day leading to more TV and feature work. He got his first break in 1985 on Rob Reiner’s The Sure Thing (his second feature coming off the success of This Is Spinal Tap), as the comedy was a hit (starring a young John Cusack) and his first exposure to mainstream Hollywood as an above-the-line crew member. But like any newcomer in the business, he had to continue working on low budget, not so great films like the rock and roll horror film Trick or Treat and the comedy horror film Return of the Living Dead Part II. He next worked on the worst of Savage Steve Holland’s three feature films (all wacky teen comedies) How I Got Into College and Bad Influence, directed by Curtis Hanson and written by David Koepp (while this film is not very good, both would go on to great success). Hanson liked working with Elswit and hired him to shoot his next two films The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and River Wild. Both thrillers were moderate successes and gave both Hanson and Elswit more notoriety in the business. Elswit’s early career had given him a lot of experience working on all types of films and different genres, but it is his collaboration with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson that really helped him make a name for himself – and it all started with Anderson’s feature debut in 1996 the crime-drama Hard Eight (though Anderson wished it to be called Sydney).

Collaborations with P.T. Anderson:

On Anderson’s first feature film, Elswit’s work garnered him an Independent Spirit Award nod. But, it is Anderson’s follow up Boogie Nights about fictional porn-star Dirk Diggler that elevated him to the status of Indy DP darling. The film is stylistically and aesthetically interesting with the opening scene having a three minute long single camera shot, moving from the street into and throughout the house introducing most of the characters. While, long takes have become part of Anderson’s style, Elswit fine lighting and camera work is also paramount in their success. Next, they made the drama Magnolia, which was another huge success on the Indy films circuit. Like Boogie Nights, the film has another three minute single shot. Elswit and Anderson also use camel lights and move the camera’s iris in/out as a throwback to silent films (both of which have also become trademarks of Anderson’s). Next, Anderson and Elswit embarked on a very ambitious neurotic experience with the dramedy Punch-Drunk Love. The camera work in the film creates a sense of panic (this is also largely due to the score) and the color scheme used at different moments in the film completely illuminates the emotions of the main character. It is one of the most interest films, purely from an aesthetics standpoint, of the decade (and it is a good overall film too). Their next film, the drama There Will Be Blood, catapulted both Anderson and Elwit into the elite of Hollywood, the film reaping a Best picture and directing nod for Anderson and cinematography win for Elswit at the 2008 Oscars. The film is a cinematographic masterpiece.

One of the Best:

Elswit also worked on a number of films while collaborating with Anderson from 1996 through present. Closing out the 90s’ he worked on Matt Reeves’s (who has since become one of J.J. Abrams’s go-to guys, and has Let Me In coming out next month) rom-com The Pallbearer, the ok Pierce Brosnan Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and Joel Schumacher’s mystery 8MM. Elswit seemed to have a knack of working with famous directors and stars on their worst or at least bad films, though his work is always top-notch. And this continued into the early part of the next decade with a pair of Ben Affleck-starring rom-coms (Bounce and Gigli) and one of David Mamet’s lesser films Heist. However, with the success of working with PT Anderson on Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love, Elswit finally started getting better films to shoot (outside his Anderson collaborations), starting with 2003’s Runaway Jury, a thriller by Gary Fleder (not my favorite, but overall it is thought of as pretty good). After working with George Clooney on Syriana, Clooney hired Elswit to shoot his film Good Night, and Good Luck. To preserve the subtlety of the colors, the film was shot on color film on a grayscale set and then color-corrected in post-production (as it is a black and white film). He achieved his first Academy award nod with the film. Elswit also shot the Clooney films Michael Clayton (giving Elswit two films of five nominated for best picture in 2008) and The Men Who Stare at Goats. Rounding off the decade, he shot Mamet’s MMA film Redbelt, the crime-drama The Burning Plain and Tony Gilroy’s follow up to Michael Clayton the corporate espionage film Duplicity. He also shot this summer’s action-thriller Salt, directed by Phillip Noyce. With his work on and the success of films like Good Night, and Good Luck, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton, Elswit has established himself as a first-class cinematographer who can shoot in any genre.

Future Projects:

Elswit’s next film to be released is this month’s The Town. In 2011, he has two films scheduled for release, though at present they are both in preproduction. The first is PT Anderson’s new film The Master a 1950s-set drama about the relationship between an intellectual, known as The Master, and a young drifter, who becomes his right-hand man as The Master’s faith-based organization beings to catch on in America. The film stars Jeremy Renner, Reese Witherspoon and (of course) Philip Seymour Hoffman. After that, he shoots the J.J. Abrams produced, Brad Bird directed Mission: Impossible IV (sidebar, I am really interested to see how Bird handles his first live-action film, and yeah I am excited to see it), which stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames, and may have characters from III in it as well. Both of Elswit’s upcoming projects look to be pretty good and he will likely have more and more awards coming his way in the future.

                                                                                                                       

Robert Elswit Box Set (Selected Career Highlights):

1.)          Hard Eight [DVD]

2.)          Boogie Nights [Blu-ray/DVD]*

3.)          Magnolia [Blu-ray/DVD]*

4.)          Punch-Drunk Love [Blu-ray/DVD]*

5.)          Good Night, and Good Luck [Blu-ray/DVD]

6.)          Michael Clayton [Blu-ray/DVD]*

7.)          There Will Be Blood [Blu-ray/DVD]*

8.)          Redbelt [Blu-ray/DVD]

*Editor’s Picks

At the Movies – September 2010

Must See in Theatres:

Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek) – Drama/Thriller – Sep 15 [limited]

The film is about three friends – Ruth, Kathy and Tommy. As children, they grew up in an almost utopian environment at an English boarding school. However, as they grow into adulthood they find themselves not only discovering new emerging feelings but also the harrowing truth that awaits them. It is based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel. Music video director Mark Romanek finally returns to feature films (his last being 2001’s One Hour Photo) after being attached to many projects that just never happened. This material is seemingly a perfect fit for the style of Romanek; and with a script from Alex Garland (wrote 28 Days Later… and Sunshine), this film is set to be a very good drama-thriller. Romanek has also assembled a good crew, one that augments both Romanek’s style and the tone of the piece, featuring production designer Mark Digby, composer Rachel Portman and cinematographer Adam Kimmel. The film also features a fantastic young cast with academy award nominees Cary Mulligan and Keira Knightley (whose work in this is being touted as worthy of a nod for the 2011 Oscars) and Andrew Garfield (the new Spider-Man, and 2010 breakout actor). Charlotte Rampling and Sally Hawkins co-star in supporting roles. Never Let Me Go has all the ingredients to be an amazing film – check out the trailer.

Worth Checking Out (if not in theatres then at home):

The American (Anton Corbijn) – Drama – Sep 1

The film is about a seasoned assassin, Jack, who heads to Italy to escape his life and hide in the shadows – but budding relationships in his hideaway may leave him too exposed. Very talented director Anton Corbijn, also from a music video background, looks to have another critical success with this film, coming off of the highly praised Control. Corbijn has a good crew with him on the film with a screenplay based on Martin Booth’s novel by Rowan Joffe, a score from famous German rocker Herbert Gronemeyer, cinematography by Martin Ruhe (who also shot Control), and production design from Mark Digby (who got himself on two of the potential top three films, critically, this month). The main selling point for the film for audience members not familiar with Corbijn or Control is star and producer George Clooney, as the rest of the cast is unknown to US viewers. The American should blend action and drama well and have a thriller feel to it producing what will likely be a very good film – check out the trailer.

The Town (Ben Affleck) – Crime – Sep 17

The film is about a bank robber, Doug MacRay, who on an earlier heist took a hostage, a bank manager named Claire, but something different happened on that job. MacRay fell in love with his hostage, though she never saw his face. Now, he has a problem – he wants to court her despite the misgivings of his partner Jem and the fact that the FBI is after him and questioning this girl, his hostage. He must find a way to plan his next robbery, evade the FBI and address his feelings for Claire. Director Ben Affleck has a new challenge for his second feature – he is directing, producing and starring (and for those who see the name Ban Affleck and immediately think of his less than stellar films he has starred in or did not know he directs, rent Gone Baby Gone, his first directorial effort, and suddenly you will be excited to see this film too), and he co-wrote the screenplay based on Chuck Hogan’s novel with writing partner Aaron Stockard (the two also co-wrote Gone Baby Gone). Affleck has brought back Gone Baby Gone production designer Sharon Seymour and composer Harry Gregson-Williams to work on the film, while adding master cinematographer Robert Elswit to shoot it and composer David Buckley to also contribute to the score. The film boasts an excellent supporting cast with Jeremy Renner (hot off The Hurt Locker), Rebecca Hall, Chris Cooper, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Titus Welliver, and Jon Hamm (from the wonderful show Mad Men). The Town is a crime-drama at heart, but mixes in some romance and thriller aspects as well. It will surely be a very entertaining and engaging film – check out the trailer.

Good for Dates:

Heartbreaker (Pascal Chaumeil) – Romantic Comedy – Sep 10 [LA/NY]

The French film is about the talents of Alex Lippi. He and his sister run a business designed to break-up and destroy relationships, and Alex is the best. They are hired by a rich man to stop his daughter from getting married. The problem is that they only have a week, so Alex must work fast and pull out all the stops. TV director Pascal Chaumeil makes his feature debut with this film. He started on TV doing crime dramas but his last two shows were comedies, so he has experience in the genre. Joining him are composer Klaus Badelt (probably best known for scoring the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie), superb cinematographer Thierry Arbogast (a frequent collaborator of Luc Besson, it will be interesting to see his work on this and how it varies from his usual sci-fi or action thriller genre work) and relative newcomer production designer Herve Gallet. Romain Duris stars, making the film much more interesting as he usually does fabulous work (and is the reason this film is getting a US release). Vanessa Paradis and The Walking Dead’s star Andrew Lincoln co-star (among others). Heartbreaker should be a very funny film and Duris is perfect for the role of a man who destroys relationships by inserting himself – check out the trailer.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (Woody Allen) – Romantic Comedy – Sep 22 [LA/NY]

The film is about a pair of married couples – Alfie and Helena and their daughter Sally and her husband Ron. Trouble starts when Alfie leaves Helena to pursue a younger woman under the guise of lost youth. Helena looses all rationality and starts to solely follow the advice of a questionable fortune teller. Sally develops a crush on a gallery owner, as uneasiness brews in her marriage, while her husband has a crush on a mysterious woman he sees through a nearby window. For the film, writer-director Woody Allen returns to England, where he made one of his best films of late – Match Point (and I also really liked Scoop; Cassandra’s Dream was decent too). Allen is working with cinematography legend Vilmos Zsigmond and production designer Jim Clay, both of whom have worked with Allen on previous films. The score, as usual, will be provided by found music selected by Allen. The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Naomi Watts, and Josh Brolin, while principal supporting characters are played by Antonio Banderas,  Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch, and Roger Ashton-Griffiths. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is being compared to Vicky Cristina Barcelona by critics, though without quite the same allure –check out the trailer.

Fun Movies:

Machete (Ethan Maniquis and Robert Rodriguez) – Action – Sep 3

The film is about an ex-Federale, simply known as Machete, who after being betrayed by the organization that hired him plots brutal revenge against his former boss (and why wouldn’t he – he is Machete). Writer-director Robert Rodriguez caters his film (the non-kids films at least) to his specific audience and this is certainly no different. Co-director Ethan Maniquis worked with Rodriguez as an editor in the past. The film is produced by Rodriguez and often partner in crime Quentin Tarantino. Known for shooting, cutting, directing and doing pretty much everything else himself, Rodriguez decided this time to hire action-movie composer John Debney, cinematographer Jimmy Lindsey (worked with Rodriguez many times in the past as a camera operator) and production designer Christopher Stull (who also worked with Rodriguez in the past in the art department; it is cool to see a director giving an opportunity for more responsibility to many of his frequent collaborators). The film stars Danny Trejo and as a great supporting cast including Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, and Michelle Rodriguez. There are also a bunch of famous stars that pop-up here and there throughout. Machete is not a film for everyone, but fans of Rodriguez are very excited to see Trejo go on a rampage with Rodriguez’s highly stylized violence – check out the trailer.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (Paul W.S. Anderson) – Action – Sep 10

The film is about Alice and her continuous fight against both the Umbrella Corporation and legions of undead, victims of Umbrella Corp’s virus, as she tries to find a safe-haven for the dwindling number of uninfected survivors. Writer-director and producer Paul W.S. Anderson returns to the director’s chair in the series, having done the first, though he has had a creative say throughout, as he wrote and produced all four. Hopefully, Anderson directing can return the series to the caliber of the first film, as the last two were not very good at all. Composer tomandandy, cinematographer Glen MacPherson and Arvinder Grewal make up a decent action-movie crew (tomandandy in particular has been doing some really good work of late). However, it is the cast that makes this an interesting addition to the action genre. Lead by series star Milla Jovovich, the cast features female action stars Ali Larter, Spencer Locke and Sienna Guillory, as well as Kim Coates, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. Resident Evil: Afterlife is the next in the ever pointless masquerade of 3-D films; however it was shot with the same cameras as James Cameron’s Avatar, so at least it will not just be terrible tacked-on 3-D. This action-horror film should be fun, but likely and ultimately just as unfulfilling as the last two in the series – check out the trailer.

The Virginity Hit (Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland) – Comedy – Sep 10

The film is about four guys and their experience documenting one of their friend’s journey as he tries to lose his virginity, which leads them places they never expected and tests their friendship. Co-directors Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland shot the film as a pseudo documentary; similar to another film they wrote The Last Exorcism. Backing them up are comedy veterans Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, who are producing the film. The film’s cast is made up of relative unknowns keeping with the illusion, be its perceived, that the film is real. The Virginity Hit looks pretty funny and should make for a good Netflix rental, but it probably will struggle to generate too much box office business – check out the trailer.

Easy A (Will Gluck) – Comedy – Sep 17

The film is about Olive, a good student who never did anything wild, who decides that to increase both her social and financial standing she will pretend to sleep with nerdy guys from her school, only the plan does not go quite as well as she thought. Director Will Gluck’s first feature film, Fired Up!, was very funny and worked surprising well for its subject matter and intended audience, thus this should be no different (aka, though it is a teen comedy with no illusions of expected quality, it should be funny and stand out above the rest this year). TV composer Brad Segal, cinematographer Michael Grady and production designer Marcia Hinds make up the principal crew. Gluck is using Grady and Hinds again for his next film Friends with Benefits, so their work must have been good on this. The good young cast features lead Emma Stone, and supporting players Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Cam Gigandet, Alyson Michalka, and Dan Byrd. Gluck was also was able to bring together a great group of experienced actors to supplement the supporting cast, including – Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Stanley Tucci, and Fred Armisen. Easy A will be funny and should make for a good Netflix rental – check out the trailer.

Devil (Drew Dowdle and John Erick Dowdle) – Horror – Sep 17

The film is about a group of people trapped in an elevator that realize that one of them is the devil (but which one!!!). M. Night Shyamalan seems to only direct terrible films (considering the last few), so for his latest story he decided to produce and hire the brothers, Drew and John Erick Dowdle, behind Quarantine to direct.  He also hired cinematographer Tak Fujimoto to shoot the film, having worked with him on a number of past films. The cast, while not made up of the most known actors, is fairly good with Logan Marshall-Green, Bojana Novakovic, Geoffrey Arend, Bokeem Woodbine, and Jenny O’Hara starring, and supporting work from Chris Messina, Matt Craven, Jacob Vargas, and Caroline Dhavernas (shameless Wonderfalls plug, but hey it is a great show, oh and she stars in it). Devil is being touted as a return to form for Shyamalan, as it is a good horror film with twists that support the narrative and add to the enjoyment (funny that he is not directing to have an actual good film) – check out the trailer.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Oliver Stone) – Drama – Sep 24

The film is about Gordon Gekko, a disgraced financial maestro who is finally getting out of prison, and Jacob Moore, a young trader engaged to Gekko’s daughter. Gekko returns to the financial world to find that things have changed – now it is encouraged to do the types of things that he went to jail for, he must decide if he wants to return to his devious ways or lead a better life. Meanwhile, Moore must decide if the life of a trader is what he really wants. Oliver Stone revisits Wall Street with this film to comment on the recent and on-going financial meltdown. It will be interesting it see how Gekko, a character obsessed by greed and wealth, will act in the environment that led to the huge financial/real estate bubble. Stone needs a hit, as his last really good film was made in the 90’s. He has enlisted composer Craig Armstrong, very good cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and production designer Kristi Zea to aid in his vision for the world and tone of the film. Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen reprise their roles from the first film, while Stone has put together a great new group of actors – Shia LaBeouf (though, I think some of us are somewhat tired of him, Indy 4 was the killer for me), Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, Eli Wallach, and Frank Langella. That is one thing about Stone that is true whether the film is good or bad – he is always able to assemble an interesting group of actors. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps should be enjoyable, with some critics calling it even better than the original – check out the trailer.

You Again (Andy Fickman) – Comedy – Sep 24

The film is about a young woman, Marni, who realizes that her brother is about to marry her high school nemesis, Joanna, a girl that used to bully her. Now, Marni is on a mission to expose Joanna’s true colors and break-up the wedding. Director Andy Fickman does not have the best track record with his films – making really broad commercial uninteresting emotionally un-engaging family fair. And this looks to be no different. He has a good, not great principal crew with production designer Craig Stearns, cinematographer David Hennings and composer Nathan Wang. Star Kristen Bell’s involvement is both good and bad – she is awesome, but has an awful leading-role film-credit list (add another to the list with this, she was so good in Veronica Mars and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it is just too bad she cannot get better leading roles in film). The supporting cast does make this a little more interesting though as it features Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, Betty White (who seems to be the hottest comic property right now), Kristin Chenoweth, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The cast is good enough to almost make You Again seem like it might be good (sure it will be somewhat funny, the cast is too good for it not to be, but a good movie… no way) – check out the trailer (and you will see why).

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Zack Snyder) – Animation – Sep 24

The film is about Soren, a young barn owl, who is kidnapped by the evil owls of St. Aggie’s, where they brainwashed their captives to be soldiers. Soren and his friends are able to escape to the island Ga’Hoole. There, they decide to join the wise noble owls would fight to stop the fiendish owls of St. Aggie’s. This seems like an odd film for director Zach Snyder’s next project, as it is nothing like his previous three films, not mention that the format and source material do not lend themselves to Snyder’s style of filmmaking. Australian composer David Hirschfelder will provide the sonic emotional backbone to the film. Hugo Weaving, Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, and David Wenham make up the talented voice cast. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole looks well made, has a good voice cast and Zach Snyder has the capability to tell a good story (if he does not get too wrapped up in his own style) – and yet for some reason is completely uninteresting. Maybe it is having owls as the characters, but it is probably because it is just another of the same. While it is an original property, it seems completely overdone and tired as a film story – check out the trailer.

Buried (Rodrigo Cortes) – Thriller – Sep 24 [limited]

The film is about Paul, a US contractor working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis, he finds himself buried in a coffin with only a cell phone and lighter (the tag line is: 170,000 SQ miles of desert. 90 minutes of Oxygen. No way out.). Spanish director Rodrigo Cortes makes is stateside feature debut with the film featuring work from countrymen composer Victor Reyes and cinematographer Eduard Grau. Ryan Reynolds stars in the film, a challenging role since he is in a coffin almost the whole time. Stephen Tobolowsky, Samantha Mathis and Erik Palladino co-star (Palladino is really good in Over There, check it out).  The film got a lot of buzz out of the San Diego Comic-Con and Sundance. The film is adored by critics who like thrillers. Buried is the must see thriller of the fall – check out the trailer.

Art-House Watch:

The Winning Season (James C. Strouse) – Comedy/Sports – Sep 3 [LA/NY]

The film is about a has-been coach, Bill, who is given a second chance to right his life when he is offered a chance to coach his local high school’s girls basketball team. Writer-director James C. Strouse’s first two scripts were a little too depressing and slow (he directed the second, Grace Is Gone). Hopefully, he can make a more engaging and entertaining comedy, as his dramas literally drain the viewer. Strouse’s aesthetic style looks really indy (the typical way a lot of independent films look, aka not glossy) and this looks no different as he has indy crew production designer Stephen Beatrice and cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco. The cast is really good with the very funny Sam Rockwell and Rob Corddry and young actresses ready to breakout Emma Roberts and Rooney Mara (who with roles in Fincher films The Social Network and a lead in the remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has already got her breakout roles). Knowing Strouse, The Winning Season with play more like a Dramady than a comedy, but either way it looks to be quite good – check out the trailer.

I’m Still Here (Casey Affleck) – Documentary – Sep 10 [limited]

The film is about Joaquin Phoenix freaking out, quitting movies and becoming a rapper – is it real or is it all one big performance art piece? First-time director Casey Affleck and cinematographer Magdalena Gorka document the transformation. Interestingly, Phoenix is a producer on the film, but he has no new film roles in the works – so the question remains – is this serious or not? Either way, the film should be very entertaining, if Phoenix’s interview on David Letterman is any indication (video here). The documentary will feature a number of Phoenix’s rap performances. I’m Still Here is going to be funny, maybe sad, maybe innovative, but certainly captivating – check out the trailer.  

Jack Goes Boating (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – Drama – Sep 17 [limited]

The film is about a limo driver, Jack, who goes on a blind date, provoking a tale of love, betrayal, friendship, and charm focusing on two NYC working-class couples. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his directorial debut with this film, eliciting the help of indy cinematographer W. Mott Hupfel III. Hoffman has put together a good cast with himself, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz, and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Hoffman, as an actor, is known for his very good character work, so it is no surprise that his first feature as a director would be character centric rather than about a happening. The film has been a huge success among critics, but will have a harder time garnering support from average film-goers. Jack Goes Boating should be a good character piece with Oscar potential for its actors – check out the trailer.    

Waiting for ‘Superman’ (Davis Guggenheim) – Documentary – Sep 24

The film is about the crumbling public education system in America – leave no child behind is failing. It was once one of the best in the world, now it is a disgrace. Documentary and fiction filmmaker Davis Guggenheim tries to bring the issue to the masses with his new film, as he did with Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Talented composer Christophe Beck scores the film. Waiting for ‘Superman’ addresses an issue that needs to be brought to light for the average American and hopefully the film can help a system that so desperately needs it – check out the trailer.

Anticipated Movies of 2010

30.) The Social Network

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones, Brenda Song, Rooney Mara, Joseph Mazzello, and Andrew Garfield

Release: August, fall 2010

Plot: A story about the founders of Facebook.

Buzz: A movie about Facebook is just what we need…Yeah, it really does not sound too terribly interesting to me either, but hey it is directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin so it has to be good right. Maybe? If not for Fincher and Sorkin this certainly would not make the list. Though on the other hand, who does not want to see a gripping drama about kids at Harvard creating a website, there is no way this is not going to be thrilling, think of all the coding and other cool stuff computer science majors do. But again…David Fincher, director of Seven, Fight Club, The Game, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button…It will probably turn out to be good, maybe.

29.) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Director: Mike Newell

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina

Release: May 28

Plot: An adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an evil ruler from creating a sandstorm that could destroy the world as they know it.

Buzz: The film is based on the popular series of video games (never a good sign, given past video game to movie releases). Newell did well with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so this should be in his wheelhouse to put out a fun and entertaining film, but do not expect much more than summer-style fun (i.e., real quality, think Transformers not The Dark Knight). The cast is good here (well, minus Jake Gyllenhaal), as Molina has been quite good in recent projects (like An Education) and it is the second major role for Arterton (the first being in Quantum of Solace). All in all, this should be a fun but it is doubtful that Disney will have another franchise like Pirates of the Caribbean with Prince of Persia.

28.) The Tree of Life

Director: Terrence Malick

Starring: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn

Release: Fall 2010

Plot: A 1950s period piece, a tale of a Midwestern boy’s transformation from innocence as a boy to disillusionment as an adult and his quest to redeem himself by attaining again the meaning of life.

Buzz: Malick is a very visceral director, exploring emotion through the juxtaposition of images, so who better to be the D.P. than Emmanuel Lubezki (who worked with Malick on The New World). Alexandre Desplat is doing the score as well. And, with Penn and Pitt coming off of an Oscar win and nomination, respectively, on paper, this should be a best picture contender. For fans of what could be called serious thematic cinema, the name Terrence Malick incites excitement. Look for this in a limited release that could be expanded in 2011 if it should be nominated for best picture.

27.) Black Swan

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Natalie Portman, Winona Ryder, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, and Barbara Hershey

Release: Fall 2010

Plot: A thriller about two rival ballet dancers.

Buzz: Black Swan is another film with a super exciting (can you read the sarcasm?) sounding logline that makes the list due to the film’s director. No doubt, the film will be gritty and complex in its character study of the ballet dancers, and it does not hurt that Aronofsky cast Portman and Kunis (though, not really sure why Ryder is in this). Like many to follow, it is the potential for this film to be great. Locking down a place on the list (however, more interested to see his RoboCop than this).

26.) My Fair Lady

Director: John Madden

Starring: Keira Knightley

Release: Winter 2010 (could get pushed to summer or winter 2011)

Plot: A musical about snobby professor, Henry Higgins, taking a bet that he can turn a street urchin into a lady of society, but he gets a little more than he bargained for in the process.

Buzz: The 1964 film with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn is wonderful, so why even remake it? Well, if the remake involves Keira Knightley (beating out Scarlet Johansson and Anne Hathaway) and either of rumored actors Daniel Craig or Daniel Day Lewis, remake or update (as Columbia Pictures calls it), this is going to be good. Not to mention that the script is being written by Emma Thompson! On the downside though, John Madden is set to direct. While many like Shakespeare in Love, Madden has not done good work since then, and that was 12 years ago. It is too bad that Danny Boyle and Joe Wright passed on this. (Also, the last Audrey Hepburn movie remake was The Truth About Charlie, which was fairly terrible.)

25.) Robin Hood

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Durand, Matthew Macfadyen, Mark Strong, Danny Huston, William Hurt, Max von Sydow, and Scott Grimes

Release: May 14

Plot: Robin Hood, is there much more to write than that?

Buzz: Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe collaborations have been mostly good, though there was a bad patch in there. The good news about Robin Hood is Crowe is no longer playing both Robin and the Sheriff. The film boasts a pretty solid cast (anything is usually better with Mark Strong and Danny Huston). There is a rumor though that Robin may not be the hero of this story, but wait for the trailer to fully hedge your bets. The issue though is do we really need another Robin Hood story, especially with the very good BBC series?

24.) Get Him to the Greek

Director: Nicholas Stroller

Starring: Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Kali Hawk, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, Aziz Ansari, and Colm Meaney (plus a bunch of musician cameos)

Release: June 11

Plot: A comedy about a record company intern that must do whatever it takes to get a down and out rock star to his comeback tour’s first gig at the LA Greek Theater

Buzz: Stroller and Jason Segel produced the best comedy of 2008 in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, so it only makes sense that Stroller would return to the material, but this time Aldous Snow (Brand) is the focus. The film is produced by Judd Apatow (surprise) and thus should feature his brand of adult comedy with a heart. Hopefully, the loss of screenwriter/star Segel will not leave this spin-off tired and washed-up. The June release implies that Universal has high hopes.

23.) A Couple of Dicks

Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sean William Scott, Jason Lee, and Adam Brody

Release: February 26

Plot: A comedy about two cops as they protect and serve: solving the case of the missing baseball card, rescuing a woman and thwarting gangsters.

Buzz: Kevin Smith makes his feature directorial debut (having directed the pilot of Reaper) on material not written by him (though it is likely he tinkered with the script upon signing on). With Zack and Miri Make a Porno not living up to his expectations, Smith decided it was time to move on as a filmmaker and try working on something not penned by him, the result…(we shall see). Needless to say, fans of Smith will likely see anything he makes and thus,  this has a built-in box office, but will it finally be his first breakout hit since Clerks – can Bruce Willis push him over the top, can Smith’s famously strict style with actors clash with Willis’ star power (inquiring minds want to know)? By the way, who isn’t excited to see Jason Lee in this? On the studio front, there is a rumor that Warner Bros. does not like the title.

 22.) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Alison Pill, and Jason Schwartzman

Release: Summer 2010

Plot: An action adventure fantasy comedy about Scott Pilgrim, who must defeat his new girlfriend’s villainous ex-boyfriends to win her heart.

Buzz: Based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley, this is Edgar Wright’s first feature away from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (side note: if you like them, check out Spaced). If anything, this film is going to have good looking action, as Wright has hired Bill Pope (Matrix and Spider-Man movies, 2&3) to shoot the film. The premise (having not read the comics myself) sounds like it will produce an entertaining story, which in Wright’s hands (he did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) will more than likely turn out to be a fun film. The cast is also packed with young talent (though, who else is a little sick of Michael Cera and his one note comedy), which also includes Mark Webber and up-and-coming Aubrey Plaza.

21.) The Expendables

Director: Sylvester Stallone

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Trejo, Brittany Murphy, and Charisma Carpenter

Release: August 20

Plot: An action film about a group of mercenaries that head to South America to deal with a dictator.

Buzz: First off, YES!!! Second, who else wishes Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal were in this too, oh and of course Kurt Russell (who was asked by Stallone, but Kurt Russell does not star in movies unless Kurt Russell is the star). This is the movie that every 80s/90s action movie fan has been waiting for! On a side note, Terry Crews needs to continue to sing/lip-sync to cheesy songs, it is genius. Will any women actually see this? If there ever were a MANFLICK, this is it.

20.) Alice in Wonderland

Director: Tim Burton

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Michael Sheen, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Crispin Glover, Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, and Timothy Spall

Release: March 5

Plot: A fantasy film in which, a now 19-year-old, Alice returns to the magical world of her childhood adventure.

Buzz: The cast is pretty awesome. The production design is pretty strange. But, it is Tim Burton after all. What seems like a big enough film to be in the summer is slated for March, which is odd, does Disney know something we do not, or do they not want to crowd their flagship release Toy Story 3? Burton (often vastly overrated) seemingly continues to produce audience alienating fare. Hopefully for him, and us, Alice in Wonderland will be his return to form.

19.) Iron Man 2

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jon Favreau, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Leslie Bibb, Mickey Rourke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany (voice), Kate Mara, and Don Cheadle

Release: May 7

Plot: Iron Man returns to do Iron Manny things.

Buzz: Most are thinking right now, “Iron Man 2, only 19th, it should be way higher,” maybe, but there is a sneaking suspicion that the overall goodness of Iron Man (1) was a fluke: the film had an awful third act, why in the world is Jon Favreau directing these and Robert Downey Jr. is probably the real only reason it is good (well and the cool special effects). And, Mickey Rourke as the villain is a little suspect, did anyone see him in Double Team, yeah, do not need that again. However, the additions of Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell are great, and Don Cheadle filling in for Terrence Howard is about a wash. Will the film all come together for another hit (box office is pretty much a sure thing, but critically, and something that holds up well to the three kings of comic book movies, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2, is less than assured).

18.) Hereafter

Director: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Mylene Jampanoi, Marthe Keller, and Thierry Neuvic

Release: December 2010

Plot: Supernatural thriller about three people that survive near-death experiences.

Buzz: Not too much detail is out there about this film yet, but it is suppose to be like The Sixth Sense. Given Eastwoods streak of good films and the release date of this, it is likely yet other Oscar type film, though typically Oscar films are not supernatural thrillers. Eastwood must have liked working with Damon on Invictus as he returns. It is also nice to see De France get another role in an American film after her first was in the not so great Around the World in 80 Days, because she is quite good in a number of French films. The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, who produced The Sixth Sense as well (so maybe they have moved on from M. Night and hired an actual quality director to make a supernatural thriller). The script was written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United). It will be interesting to see how he handled a fictional story.

17.) Looper

Director: Rian Johnson

Starring: No one cast yet

Release: Fall/winter 2010 or maybe 2011

Plot: A sci-fi film set in present day dealing with hitmen that travel back in time to assassinate their intended victims.

Buzz: While the plot is still mostly unknown, the logline not telling the full story, and no cast, Looper is high on the list for two reasons, A) what is known is awesome (and sounds a bit like Terminator) and intriguing, and B) Johnson’s ability to combine genres makes him one of the most exciting directors working today.

16.) Somewhere

Director: Sophia Coppola

Starring: Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Michelle Monaghan, Benicio Del Toro, and Laura Ramsey

Release: Spring or fall 2010

Plot: A drama about a Hollywood bad-boy, on the decline, who takes a second look at his life when his 11-year-old daughter comes back into his life.

Buzz: “Stephen Dorff stars” is not usually the backbone of a hit, let alone a possibly good movie, and yet there is enough to like here, even despite the overused story of redemption at the discovery of a child. Why? First, the pattern of Sophia Coppola’s career, The Virgin Suicides (not that great), Lost in Translation (top 25 of the decade, film of the year, 2003), Marie Antoinette (again not that great), based on the pattern, this is going to be good (plus, it does not star Kristen Dunst). Second, Michelle Monaghan makes her return to acting after having a baby, one of the most promising talents (go see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and she was great in Mission: Impossible III, Gone Baby Gone and Trucker). Third, the film is shot by Harris Savides, who did great work on Milk. And fourth, doesn’t Stephen Dorff as a hard-living washed-up Hollywood “star” hit the same tone as Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler?

15.) The Green Hornet

Director: Michel Gondry

Starring: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, Edward Furlong, Tom Wilkinson, and Jay Chou

Release: December 22

Plot: Britt Reid, newspaper publisher by day, crime-fighter by night.

Buzz: What was once not even a consideration for this list, last summer, the film has now jumped to the 15th spot. How? Nicholas Cage is out as the villain and the superbly awesome Christoph Waltz is in. Plus, the randomly kind of cool casting of the Edwards, and Tom Wilkinson is always good. Now if only Cameron Diaz was recast…(oh well, not likely). The script is by Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg, a team that can do no wrong, or so it seems. And best yet, who on earth ever thought of Seth Rogen – action hero? Or even, Michel Gondry – action director? But one thing is for sure, whether it works or not, it sure should be an interesting experiment (on a side note, who else is glad Kevin Smith ended up not making this?).

14.) How Do You Know?

Director: James L. Brooks

Starring: Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Jack Nicholson, and Owen Wilson

Release: December 17

Plot: A comedic drama about an executive and baseball player chasing the same girl.

Buzz: This is the sixth film directed by Brooks, of the five previous, three were nominated for best picture (Terms of Endearment winning), and two are not good at all. On which side of the line will this be? Well, the film not being ready for the 2009 Oscar Season, Columbia could have dumped it in January-April, but they delayed it all the way until next year’s Oscar Season, a good sign that it will be good, and with the cast it has, pencil it in for a best picture nod in February 2011 (questioning the Oscar potential of something with Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson? See Rudd in Role Models and Wilson in The Darjeeling Limited. Still not convinced, well this does have Reese Witherspoon and umm Jack Nicholson, so…).

13.) Your Highness

Director: David Gordon Green

Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman, James Franco, Danny McBride, Damian Lewis, Justin Theroux, Charles Dance, and Toby Jones

Release: October 1

Plot: A fantasy movie about a heroic strapping young price that must rescue his fair maiden and his father’s kingdom from the evil forces that would destroy it and her, only his loser brother has to come along too.

Buzz: Cast + director + logline = sold. The film is written by Danny McBride and his friend Ben Best, for those that like Eastbound & Down this is something to be excited about. The comedy gold months are usually March/April, August and October, so this seems to have a winning formula.

12.) The A-Team

Director: Joe Carnahan

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, Sharlto Copley, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel

Release: June 11

Plot: An action film about four Iraqi-conflict vets try to clear their name after being framed for a crime.

Buzz: This is another one that was on the “not anticipated” list for 2010 when it was first announced. Since then, a potentially cool director (at the very least he can make a good movie, see Narc, and yes there is also Smokin’ Aces which is not so good, but focus on the positive here) and a pretty awesome cast has been added (probably the best thing about the cast is the addition of Sharlto Copley). Missing from the details is who plays the villain. The film is currently shooting, so likely the villain has been cast, Jessica Biel (probably playing a love interest or something) and Patrick Wilson are the only other name actors, so it is probably one of them, sort of hope it is Biel just for the change of pace.

11.) Kick-Ass

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Mark Strong, Chole Moretz, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Release: April 16

Plot: An action comedy/drama about an unnoticed high school comic book fan that decides that he will become a super-hero, despite not having any powers or training.

Buzz: Based on the comic book series by Mark Miller, Kick-Ass looks to be a lot of fun. Matthew Vaughn’s last film (Stardust) was a great blend of action comedy drama and fantasy making him a perfect choice to handle the material. He also brings his D.P. Ben Davis with him and Stardust co-writer Jane Goldman (which is a good thing). Two potential bad points in the film’s credits are Nicholas Cage and composer Marius De Vries. Normally (with a few exceptions like Adaptation.), if you see the name Nick Cage, you know it is not going to be good, or it will be less good, or you can expect a strange and imprudent performance, but hopefully his antics and overall exaggeration will be beneficial to this (I really hope so, but I am not holding my breath). De Vries, on the other hand, is mostly a songwriter/producer who has worked with Baz Luhrmann (which can be taken either way, depending on whether you like Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge!) and has done limited work scoring films (I was not too big a fan of his Easy Virtue score). Overall though, especially having seen the trailer, this looks to be pretty kick ass (oh come on, you knew that was coming).

10.) The Book of Eli

Director: The Hughes Bros.

Starring: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, Malcolm McDowell, Jennifer Beals, Ray Stevenson, and Tom Waits

Release: January 15

Plot: An action film set in post-apocalyptic America, one man must fight to protect a sacred book that could save mankind.

Buzz: The logline, alone, is pretty tired sounding, but just look at the cast again, or think about how well the Hughes Bros. use their camera and have a flair for cool dark images. Plainly put, if there is only one reason to see this, it is Gary Oldman playing a villain (but really, anything with Oldman, Washington, Gambon, McDowell, and Rome’s Ray Stevenson is very likely to be awesome, or at the very least entertaining).

9.) Toy Story 3

Director: Lee Unkrich

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Michael Keaton, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenberger, R. Lee Ermey, Bonnie Hunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Wallace Shawn, Laurie Metcalf, Timothy Dalton, Jeff Garlin, Kristin Schaal, Don Rickles, and Ned Beatty

Release: June 18         

Plot: Andy has grown up and is off to college, what is to be with all his toys? Day-care!

Buzz: The good news here is Lee Unkrich is returning, having directed Toy Story 2, and with a screenplay by Little Miss Sunshine scribe, Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3 has a better than good chance of being able to live up to its predecessors. And, the whole cast, practically, is back as well. Lastly, it is Pixar, who, in the last two years, has put out Up and WALL-E, nothing but blue skies.

8.) The Adventurer’s Handbook

Director: Akiva Schaffer

Starring: Jason Segel, Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill

Release: Fall/Winter 2010 (could get pushed back to early 2011)

Plot: A comedy about four friends who decide to ditch their mundane lives for global adventure!

Buzz: This film is either going to be really funny or be like Land of the Lost (Will Ferrell version). Watching Segel, Schwartzman and Hill survive the wilds like Man vs. Wild, adding in SNL and Hot Rod’s Akiva Schaffer to direct, just seems like so much awesome comic potential. Details are still short on this, the full cast is unknown and it has not even started filming, but Jason Segel is just so on his game right now that even with little info, excitement is in the air.

7.) Green Zone

Director: Paul Greengrass

Starring: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, and Amy Ryan

Release: March 12

Plot: A thriller about a committed military officer that aids the CIA in search for WMDs in Iraq, pre-Iraqi War, and instead starts to unravel a conspiracy.

Buzz: Greengrass and Damon’s third collaboration (the first two were quite good, stands to reason that this should be no different, on the other hand…). Why do people cast Greg Kinnear? Aside from Kinnear, the rest of the cast is brilliant. This might be the next good Iraq War film after 2009’s The Hurt Locker. This was lower on the list before the trailer arrived, check it out.

6.) The Town

Director: Ben Affleck

Starring: Ben Affleck, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, and Rebecca Hall

Release: September 10

Plot: A crime drama about a thief planning his next job, trying to both balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to a previous score and also deal with a FBI agent out to bring him and his crew down.

Buzz: Reasons to both see a Ben Affleck movie and also to why a Ben Affleck movie is this high on the list: A) Gone Baby Gone, Affleck can direct a solid film, B) the cast is great, C) cinematography by Oscar winner Robert Elswit, D) Affleck is due to star in a good movie after a decade of mediocrity to just plain bad. This has potential to be an Oscars sleeper.

5.) London Boulevard

Director: William Monahan

Starring: Keira Knightley, Colin Farrell, Anna Friel, Ray Winston, Jamie Campbell Bower, David Thewlis, Stephen Graham, Ben Chaplin, and Eddie Marsan

Release: Spring/Fall 2010

Plot: A crime romance drama about an ex-con who is befriended by a movie star, hiding from the world in a Holland Park mansion.

Buzz: William Monahan steps out for his directorial debut; he is also co-writing. Wondering why the name sounds familiar or why this is high on the list, Oscar winner Monahan is the writer behind Kingdom of Heaven (watch director’s cut), The Departed and Body of Lies (all good) and has another script to film coming out in January, Edge of Darkness (narrowly missing this list, Martin Campbell returns to direct Mel Gibson once again seeking revenge). The cast in the film also sparks interest, Keira Knightley is usually good, Colin Farrell has his moments of brilliance, Anna Friel (just watch Pushing Daisies), Ray Winston, David Thewlis and Eddie Marsan are always great, Stephen Graham coming off a fine performance in Public Enemies, and Jamie Campbell Bower (fairly unknown) was a bright spot in the otherwise not so great RocknRolla (he can also be seen in the Harry Potter finales). And for the icing on the cake, Chris Menges is shooting it.

4.) Shutter Island

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Jackie Earle Haley, Elias Koteas, Patricia Clarkson, Ted Levine, and John Carroll Lynch

Release: February 19

Plot: A mystery thriller about a cop that goes to investigate a breakout/disappearance of an inmate at Shutter Island’s prison for the criminally insane.

Buzz: Red flag alert! Why on earth did this get pushed from Oscar season 2009 to the box office and Oscar graveyard of February, especially when it is testing so well? Paramount claims that they do not have the money to push the film for awards; maybe they feel The Lovely Bones and Up in the Air have better chances. Either way, and regardless of the reasons, Shutter Island looks like a fantastic psychological thriller; it is Martin Scorsese teaming up with DiCaprio again, strong track record there (Gangs of New York aside).

3.) Cemetery Junction

Director: Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Matthew Goode, Ricky Gervais, and Stephen Merchant

Release: Fall 2010

Plot: A comedy set in the 70s about professionals working at an insurance company.

Buzz: Writer/directors of The Office and Extras return with their first feature film together (Gervais co-directing The Invention of Lying with Matthew Robinson). For fans of Gervais and Merchant, just the mere mention of their names is enough to make this a highly anticipated project. Throw in talent like Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson and just start to wonder, “how great is this going to be!” Gervais has stated that he wants to do more drama, which can be seen in The Invention of Lying. Will Cemetery Junction cross into mostly drama with some comedy thrown in territory? Whatever form the film takes, just looking at who is involved is enough to have high expectations (teaser trailer!).

2.) Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, and Lukas Haas

Release: July 16

Plot: A sci-fi film about a CEO who is blackmailed set within the architecture of the mind.

Buzz: A toss up between this and Death Hallows for the top spot, just consider them both number ones, if that helps. Is there a better working director today than Christopher Nolan? Since 2005 he has made Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. Can you name any director (maybe Clint Eastwood) that has made three movies released since 2005 with the same overall quality as those three (all of which were my film of the year in their respective years). It really does not even matter who is in this film, behind the camera is Nolan and Wally Pfister with music by Hans Zimmer, it could be stick figures and still be in the top 10 films of the year, so add the remarkable cast to the equation and you have a strong contender for another film of the year.

1.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Director: David Yates

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Evanna Lynch, Clemence Poesy, Stanislav Ianevski, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Matthew Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Jamie Campbell Bower, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Rhys Ifans, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, Miranda Richardson, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Julie Walters, Warwick Davis, Ciaran Hinds, Helen McCrory, Timothy Spall, Rade Serbedzija, Imelda Staunton, David O’Hara, Natalia Tena, Richard Griffiths, Toby Jones (voice), Dave Legeno, Simon McBurney (voice), and Mark Williams

Release: November 19

Plot: Harry and company fight to stop Voldemort once and for good, the thrilling conclusion (part 1).

Buzz: For all that saw Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, David Yates can make one heck of a good Potter film, and he says the audience has not seen anything yet! Just about everyone behind the camera is back, Yates, editor Mark Day, production designer Stuart Craig, and screenwriter Steven Kloves, new to the team is cinematographer Eduardo Serra (picking up from the absolute master job done on the last two by Slawomir Idziak and, especially, Bruno Delbonnel, respectively). His work is also very good (see Girl with a Pearl Earring for reference). The Potter films have also featured maybe the greatest cast of British actors ever assembled, and now the stupendous Bill Nighy joins the cast along with the also very good Ciaran Hinds (if only they could squeeze Peter O’Toole in there somehow). If there is only money and time enough for one movie to see this coming year (sneak into, and make time for, Inception too), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is it. For those who wonder, part 2 is scheduled for July 15, 2011.