#12
The Connection
May 15
Said to be France’s answer to the William Friedkin classic The French Connection, Cedric Jimenez‘s The Connection is a film I’ve had on screener for some time, but continue to fail to carve out time to sit down and check it out. The last thing I want is to start it and be distracted, which is why waiting for a theatrical screening may be my best solution.
Marseille, 1975. Pierre Michel, a young police magistrate with a wife and children, has just been transferred to help crack down on the city’s organized crime. He decides to take on the French Connection, a Mafia-run operation that exports heroin all over the world. Not paying heed to any warnings, he leads a one-man campaign against Mafia kingpin Gaëtan Zampa, the most untouchable godfather of all. But Pierre Michel soon discovers that to get results he will have to change his methods.
Directed by Cédric Jimenez
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche, Céline Sallette and Benoît Magimel
#11
Southpaw
July 31
Full disclosure, had I written this post up before learning Jake Gyllenhaal‘s character’s name was Billy “The Great” Hope this film would have been much higher on my list of most anticipated movies. In fact, at the beginning of the year it was at #12 on my list of most anticipated movies for the whole year. Something about that name is so cheesy it makes me think the movie will fall into similar cheesy territory. Yet… hope remains that I’m being too critical and this ends up being a “knock out”. “Hope”, “Knock out”… See? See how bad things can be when you go for the obvious?
From acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and starring Academy Award® nominated Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Enemy) comes a story of tragedy, loss and the painful road to redemption… Billy “The Great” Hope (Gyllenhaal) is the reigning Junior Middleweight Champion whose unorthodox stance, the so-called “Southpaw,” consists of an in-eloquent, though brutal, display of offensive fighting…one fueled by his own feelings of inadequacy and a desperate need for love, money and fame. With a beautiful family, home and financial security, Billy is on top both in and out of the ring until a tragic accident leaves his wife dead and sends him into a downward spiral. His days now an endless haze of alcohol and prescription drugs, his daughter taken by Child Services and his home repossessed by the bank, Billy’s fate is all but sealed until a washed up former boxer named Tick agrees to take the bereaved pugilist under his wing so long as he agrees to his strict ethos. Relentless and utterly committed to a fighter that thinks as much as he throws punches, Tick rebuilds Billy into a new man: one that is agile, fearsome and uncompromising in the ring while thoughtful, loving and disciplined outside of it. Now, as he works to regain custody of his daughter and mounts a professional comeback, Billy must face his demons head-on as he learns that, sometimes, your greatest opponent can be yourself.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Forest Whitaker, Victor Ortiz, Tyrese Gibson, 50 Cent, Clare Foley, Beau Knapp, Oona Laurence and Rita Ora
#10
Self/less
July 10
I really enjoy Tarsem Singh, visually he’s a master and if you’ve never seen The Fall you ought to get on that right away. I even enjoyed Immortals and while everyone was concerning themselves with the awful Snow White and the Huntsman, the far more enjoyable Snow White feature that year, Mirror Mirror, was largely ignored.
Now Singh is delivering a psychological sci-fi thriller in which Ben Kingsley plays a wealthy man dying from cancer who undergoes a medical procedure, transferring his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man (Ryan Reynolds). While stories of this nature have been told before, I can’t wait to see what Singh does with it.
Directed by Tarsem Singh
Starring: Matthew Goode, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Dockery, Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber and Derek Luke
#9
Irrational Man
July 17
Woody Allen has a new movie and it stars Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Parker Posey. I’m sorry, but yes, I’m able to separate art from artist and that coming together of talent has me looking forward to Irrational Man, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival before arriving in theaters stateside. However, I’m not above acknowledging the fact it centers on a college professor (Phoenix) and the relationship he gets involved in with one of his students (Stone), all surrounding a murder mystery on a college campus. People will surely have something to say about art imitating life, but that’s the way it goes. I’m actually more interested in how this is being compared to Match Point rather than his more lighter features. But that’s just me.
Directed by Woody Allen
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley and Ben Rosenfield
#8
Avengers: Age of Ultron
May 1
While Joss Whedon‘s first Avengers movie didn’t hold up to repeat viewings, I loved it the first time out and I expect to love the sequel. Whedon has proven wonderful at handling ensemble casts of varying personalities and he knows how to tell a good story. With all the hype surrounding Avengers: Age of Ultron is there really any more that needs to be said?
Directed by Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Aaron Johnson, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Delpy and Linda Cardellini
