25.
Cosmopolis
August 17
My desire to see Cosmopolis has diminished since its Cannes premiere. Scheduled late in the event for reasons that would appear to have had at least as much to do with its quality as with its French release date, Cosmopolis has already been released in several territories including Canada and the UK and I haven’t heard any kind of buzzing, which seems odd for a David Cronenberg film. If a film is good it doesn’t die on impact though that seems to be what happened here.
Yet, it’s impossible not to be interested in seeing what Cronenberg has to offer and I’m interested to see if Robert Pattinson can begin to breakaway from his Twilight persona. So once this finally arrives stateside I’ll be looking forward to checking it out.
24.
2 Days in New York
August 10
I’m not sure how much of a sequel to 2 Days in Paris this film is, but word of mouth has been good enough for me to want to see it. I enjoy Julie Delpy‘s efforts and alongside Chris Rock, whose work is always more appealing when he’s not side-by-side with Adam Sandler, I’m interested to see what the result here could be.
I remember the parents of Delpy’s character being great in the first film and with them being the catalyst that drives the story here as they descend on Marion (Delpy) and her husband (Rock) in New York this could be a fun flick.
23.
Gambit
October 12
I watched the original Michael Caine and Shirley Maclaine version back in March and with Joel and Ethan Coen writing this remake it has my interest piqued, but the lack of marketing and release date shuffling is a bit of a cause for concern.
In Gambit, Colin Firth plays a conman who recruits a Texas rodeo queen (Cameron Diaz) to help con England’s richest man and avid art collector, Lionel Shabandar, (Alan Rickman) into purchasing a fake Monet painting, but the fun with this one is less in the story and more in the telling, which I don’t really want to spoil here… that is, as long as it follows the narrative telling of the original.
22.
Lincoln
TBA 2012
Joining Gambit in the “Where the hell is the marketing?” department, Steven Spielberg‘s Lincoln appears to be waiting for an engraved invitation to even offer up a single solitary photo from the film as I am still forced to use the above picture of Daniel Day-Lewis having lunch while shooting. What gives?
Anyhow, with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter bombing already this summer, the door is open for the true telling of Lincoln’s life and with Day-Lewis in the lead and surrounded by a fleet of names this one is staring Oscar right in the face. Those names? How about… Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, Bruce McGill, Joseph Cross, Gloria Reuben, David Warshofsky, David Strathairn, Walt Goggins, Lee Pace, Jackie Earle Haley, David Oyelowo and Jared Harris. See anyone you’ve heard of?
21.
Wreck-It Ralph
November 2
I had to have at least one animated film on this list just to sate my own personal desire to enjoy something geared toward children. It lets me know I’m still alive. And since I’ve seen the trailer for Wreck-It Ralph (and liked it) and have managed to avoid marketing for Rise of the Guardians (which people really seem to be liking), I’ve gone with the new upcoming Disney flick. Have I chosen wisely? Lord knows expectation can be a killer and I thought this one looked really good.
I am a bit worried, however. Disney doesn’t have a ton of films coming up so they may end up marketing this one to death to the point I won’t even care by the time November 2 rolls around.
