Director: David O. Russell
QUICK THOUGHTS: I loved David Rasche’s line as Linton Barwick in In the Loop when he said, “Well, I don’t want to be accused of micro-managing, but I cannot understand why I Heart Huckabees is on a list of DVDs considered suitable for armed-forces entertainment. That self-indulgent crap is not suitable for combat troops.” David O. Russell’s Huckabees was never an overwhelming favorite of mine, but his 1999 war-drama Three Kings is fantastic. With all the reported trouble on his other film, Nailed, keeping that one from seeing the light of day I am curious to see how this one turns out with an impressive cast and a script that once drew the attention of Darren Aronofsky. The Scott Silver script has gone through some rewrites since then, but there must be something there.
SYNOPSIS: Wahlberg plays Boston boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward, a fighter who was losing bouts and was ready to hang up the gloves when his brother, Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), came back into his life. Eklund, whose drug involvement and robbery sprees landed him a 10- to 15-year sentence in state prison, kicked the drugs, became a model prisoner and emerged as a changed man who helped his brother reach the glory that had eluded him.
Director: Andrea Arnold
QUICK THOUGHTS: I have heard good things about this one, which made the festival rounds last year and will now hit limited theaters and on demand this January. I’m not expecting a knockout, but I am expecting to enjoy it.
SYNOPSIS: The most honored British film of the year is Academy Award winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s Cannes Jury Prize winner, FISH TANK. The film is an emotionally stunning coming-of-age story, electrified by the breakthrough performance of its young star Katie Jarvis. Fifteen-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) is in a constant state of war with her family and the world around her, without any creative outlet for her considerable energies save a secret love of hip-hop dance. When she meets her party-girl mother’s charming new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender), she is amazed to find he returns her attention, and believes he might help her start to make sense of her life. A clear-eyed, potent portrait of teenage sexuality and vulnerability, FISH TANK confirms writer/director Arnold’s status as one of the leading figures of new British cinema.
Director: Roman Polanski
QUICK THOUGHTS: Ahhhh, the Roman Polanski movie. Is he editing this thing from jail or what is going on? As much as I will never condone Polanski’s actions and I firmly believe he deserves whatever punishment he receives I can’t help but be interested in his films, they are continuously appealing and I’m never one for a boycott, but I do support justice being served. If that mean’s I’m straddling both sides of the fence then so be it, but at least one eye will be able to catch The Ghost Writer later this year.
SYNOPSIS: When a successful British ghostwriter, THE GHOST, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister ADAM LANG, his agent assures him it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start—not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang’s long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident.
The Ghost flies out to work on the project, in the middle of winter, to an oceanfront house on an island off the U.S. Eastern seaboard. But the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, RUTH, and his personal assistant (and mistress), AMELIA. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Was Lang in the service of the American intelligence agency while he was prime minister? And was The Ghost’s predecessor murdered because of the appalling truth he uncovered?
Resonating with topical themes, this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller is a story of deceit and betrayal on every level— sexual, political and literary. In a world in which nothing, and no one, is as it seems, The Ghost quickly discovers that the past can be deadly—and that history is decided by whoever stays alive to write it.
Director: Paul Greengrass
QUICK THOUGHTS: Paul Greengrass and his Bourne star Matt Damon appear to have brought us a film with a similar appeal, at least based on the trailers. However, the delays on this thing are hard to ignore. Rumors have this film swirling around a ballooning $100 million budget, which is certainly a lot for an Iraq war film that was supposed to be in theaters over a year ago.
SYNOPSIS: Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for their latest electrifying thriller in Green Zone, a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences.
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.
Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth.
Director: Noah Baumbach
QUICK THOUGHTS: The trailer for this one hit and I think most everyone instantly fell in love and was ready for this one to come around. We don’t have long to wait as March 12 isn’t that far off.
SYNOPSIS: Greenberg brings actor Ben Stiller together with Academy Award-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) to tell the funny and moving tale of Roger Greenberg. Focus Features releases Greenberg in select cities on March 12th, 2010. Roger Greenberg [Ben Stiller], single, fortyish and at a crossroads in his life, finds himself in Los Angeles, house-sitting for six weeks for his more successful/married-with-children brother. In search of a place to restart his life, Greenberg tries to reconnect with old friends including his former bandmate Ivan [Rhys Ifans]. But old friends aren’t necessarily still best friends, and Greenberg soon finds himself spending more and more time with his brother’s personal assistant Florence [Greta Gerwig], an aspiring singer and also something of a lost soul. Despite his best attempts not to be drawn in, Greenberg and Florence manage to forge a connection, and Greenberg realizes he may at last have found a reason to be happy.
Director: David Yates
QUICK THOUGHTS: Aren’t we all anxious to see the Harry Potter saga come to an end? And I don’t mean I want the franchise to end — I would love to see a new Potter film every year — I say that because I really want to see how this final book plays out on screen. It’s my only wish we didn’t have to wait until July 15, 2011 for Part II. By the way, other than the unfortunate death of Richard Harris who was then replaced by Michael Gambon, has there ever been a film franchise this long that also managed to maintain its entire original cast? Staggering dedication and commitment.
SYNOPSIS: The final chapter of the Harry Potter film series begins as Harry, Ron and Hermione leave Hogwarts behind and set out to find and destroy the Horcruxes–the secret to Voldemort’s power and immortality.
Director: Clint Eastwood
QUICK THOUGHTS: This one has me extremely curious, but as you can see from the synopsis below we don’t have a lot to go on. So… we wait and hope.
SYNOPSIS: An original supernatural thriller in the vein of The Sixth Sense written by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon).
Director: Christopher Nolan
QUICK THOUGHTS: Just like Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter the details on this one are limited to the single sentence you see below and the trailer included. Christopher Nolan has continuously managed to impress audiences from Memento to The Dark Knight and I have to assume for most film fans this is the most anticipated film of 2010.
SYNOPSIS: A contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.
Director: Jon Favreau
QUICK THOUGHTS: Just as I saw one film may be the most anticipated we come to the film that may be the second most anticipated if you were to poll the masses. The Iron Man not only made sure general audiences realized Robert Downey Jr. was an immense talent, it also delivered three-quarters of a very satisfying film. My only hope is this sequel manages to deliver a finale that doesn’t amount to what looks like one big robot beating up a smaller one before the one big robot is taken out by a beam of light.
SYNOPSIS: Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film based on the legendary Marvel Super Hero “Iron Man”, reuniting director Jon Favreau and Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. In Iron Man 2, the world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the armored Super Hero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands. With Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his side, Tony forges new alliances and confronts powerful new forces.
So that’s the end of Part One of my 2010 preview. Share your thoughts on any of the films included in this Part One and check out other 2010 previews using the links below.
Additional RopeofSilicon 2010 Previews:
