Twenty movies to look forward to in 2011: January - June
I initially started this post with the intention of profiling my Top 20 Most Highly Anticipated films of 2011. However, as I scanned the release schedules, I realised it was going to be a challenge just to whittle my selection down to 20 for the first 6 months of the year. However that still seemed like a more realistic goal than attempting to cover the entire year, so yeah, there will be 2 Top 20 lists covering 2011 in 6 month increments.
I'm certain I've missed some goodie releases with this list - not only am I only profiling the films that appeal to me and/or have piqued my interest, but sleeper hits always pop up from nowhere every year. Also, bearing in mind that South Africa often receives movies much later than the United States, several of these movies have already released overseas in 2010.
1) Easy A: There's nothing more enjoyable than a teen comedy with smarts and a stellar cast. Inspired by The Scarlet Letter, likeable redhead Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) revels in the attention gained from her manufactured reputation as a high school superslut. 87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 14 January (South Africa)
2) Tangled: Despite a terrible teaser trailer, Disney's 3D CGI take on the Rapunzel fairytale has released overseas to great acclaim - and award nominations. With vivid visuals modelled on 18th Century oil paintings, Tangled is apparently a more successful throwback to traditional Disney animated films than 2009's The Princess and the Frog. 89% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 28 January (South Africa)
3) Splice: Sci-fi horror tale in which scientists Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley secretly mix human and animal DNA to create a rapidly mutating, unpredictable creature called Dren. Splice may sounds like a Species knock-off but apparently the film is thought provoking, well acted and genuinely disturbing. 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 28 January (South Africa)
4) Black Swan: Acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky jumps from drug addicts and washed up wrestlers to deranged ballet dancers. Emotionally repressed ballerina Natalie Portman succumbs to paranoia and delusions when faced with a sensual new rival (Mila Kunis). Black Swan probably isn't a comfortable film to watch but it's an Oscar forerunner currently 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 4 February (South Africa)
5) The Green Hornet: A superhero action-comedy where the gimmick is that the sidekick is more competant than the hero. This 3D conversion is directed by inventive Michel Gondry and stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou (in a role associated with Bruce Lee). Early reception has been mixed though and the film is being released during the January dumping period for movies in which studios have little confidence. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 14 January (North America), 28 January (South Africa)
6) 127 Hours: Director Danny Boyle follows up his Slumdog Millionaire success with this autobiographical survival tale of mountaineer Aron Ralston (James Franco), who is forced to do the unthinkable when a rockfall crushes his arm and traps him in a remote canyon for 5 days. Both inspirational and tough to watch, 127 Hours is currently raking in the awards love, and is 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Release date: 18 February (South Africa)
7) Sanctum: This 3D adventure thriller is produced by James (Titanic, The Abyss, Avatar) Cameron and focuses on a group of cave divers trapped in an underwater labyrinth of tunnels in the South Pacific. With no huge names in the cast, Sanctum should feature panic and claustrophobia of The Descent proportions (before the mutants attacked, of course).
Release date: 4 February (North America), 4 March (South Africa)
8) The Eagle: The apparently only Ancient World-set release of 2011. Based on historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth, Channing Tatum plays a young Roman officer, who, with his British slave (Jamie Bell), sets out to discover what happened to his father and the Ninth Legion in the wilds beyond Hadrian's Wall. Sure, this could be another junky Centurion, but award winning director Kevin (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland) Macdonald has promised historical fidelity and cultural sincerity.
Release date: 11 February (North America), South African release date unknown
9) Sucker Punch: Without a doubt, my most highly anticipated movie of the year! 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder brings this, his first original script, to the big screen, and it looks like a batshit crazy, utterly wild ride. Blending Moulin Rouge, Girl, Interrupted, Kill Bill, Sin City and much more, Sucker Punch centres on an institutionalised young woman who finds liberation through her imagination. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 25 March (North America), 22 April (South Africa)
10) Battle: Los Angeles - When aliens attack Los Angeles, Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez form part of the infantry who have to protect the civilian population while fighting a powerful extraterrestrial foe. Think of the film as Independence Day meets District 9, given the apparent intensity of the battles and on-the-ground grittiness. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 11 March (North America), South African release date unknown
11) Red Riding Hood: If you need some supernatural horror-romance to tide you over until the release of Breaking Dawn: Part 1 at the end of the year, then there's this one from Twilight 1 director Catherine Hardwicke. Amanda Seyfried is a medieval heroine in a village tormented by a werewolf. Gary Oldman is called in to slay the beast. I don't expect Red Riding Hood to be particularly good but it's one of the first of a bunch of fairy/folk tale reimaginings in the works. And I do like Seyfried!
Release date: 11 March (North America), South African release date unknown
12) Limitless: A sci-fi thriller in which Bradley Cooper plays a copywriter who develops amazing intellectual and physical abilities as a result of a mysterious drug that comes into his possession. Based on the 2003 novel The Dark Fields. Robert De Niro co-stars. Super powers without the usual superheroics? Count me intrigued. Also, yay for copywriters getting some big screen attention for once.
Release date: 18 March (North America), South African release date unknown
13) Paul: Although Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright is AWOL from this geek comedy, his frequent collaborating leads Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are teamed here as British geeks who encounter an alien (voiced by Seth Rogen) while road tripping across America to Comic Con. We should be in for a real treat with Paul, which, for the record, was written by funny lads Pegg and Frost themselves.
Release date: 18 March (North America), South African release date unknown
14) Your Highness: Think of this one as a lewd Princess Bride, or, alternatively, a slacker comedy set in the Middle Ages. Brothers Danny McBride and James Franco must save their father's kingdom from an evil wizard (Justin Theroux). Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman are the damsels along for the adventure. Historical fantasy and comedy is an unusual combination that doesn't always mix well, but Your Highness looks like a lot of fun from the director and star of The Pineapple Express.
Release date: 8 April (North America), South African release date unknown
15) Scream 4: Admittedly the self-aware horror series deteriorated as it piled on the sequels, but it's worth noting the imminent arrival of the nostalgia-driven fourth movie in the franchise, 11 years after Sidney, Gail, Dewey and co. were last terrorised. Scream 4 reunites the old gang - actors Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, series writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven - while introducing new young bodies to the slaughter. The question here is how the film will approach Saw-esque horror movie conventions of the 21st Century?
Release date: 15 April (North America), South African release date unknown
16) Thor: The first of Marvel' 2 big comic adaptations released in 2011. And also the first of 2011's 2 most ambitious superhero films, seeing as it takes costume and cape wearers beyond Earth's boundaries and possibly even audience identification. In Kenneth Branagh's 3D converted film, Chris Hemsworth is the arrogant god of thunder cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Magic and science mix when Thor meets astrophysicist (Natalie Portman) and must defend his adoptive home against Asgard's darkest inhabitants. Time to make superheroes Epic!
Release date: 6 May (North America), South African release date unknown
17) Priest: This several times delayed Korean comic adaptation (and now 3D conversion) could easily be derivative rubbish. However, the premise sounds cool enough, with Paul Bettany as a tattooed warrior priest who must leave the "safety" of a Church-run fortress city and search the desolate Wastelands for his niece - kidnapped by vampires. It's Blade Runner meets Judge Dredd meets Underworld meets The Searchers. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 13 May (North America), South African release date unknown
18) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Until I watched the trailer, I was utterly dismissive of the 4th Pirates movie. But now that the filmmakers' have dumped Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom's tedious love story, it looks like it's back to harmless fun with Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. Penélope Cruz joins Sparrow on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth before the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Filmed for 3D.
Release date: 20 May (North America), South African release date unknown
19) X-Men: First Class - Despite the same name, this fifth film set in Marvel's X-Men universe has little to do with the limited comic series. Taking place in the 1960s, First Class reveals how former best friends - and mutants - Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) came to be enemies. A non-contemporary X-Men film sounds great, and I loved director Matthew Vaughn's previous superhero effort, Kick-Ass. However, First Class's cast sounds worryingly overstuffed, as if Fox is trying to include as many fan favourite characters as possible. And we know how well that turned out in The Last Stand.
Release date: 3 June (North America), South African release date unknown
20) Green Lantern: DC's will-driven intergalactic space cop finally makes it to the big screen. Ryan Reynolds is cocky test pilot Hal Jordan, who is granted near limitless power when he is recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. Judging by the trailer, Green Lantern is an origin tale with a comedic strain akin to Iron Man. The film should be good but whether it gets audiences to embrace more extra-terrestrial sci-fi with their superheroes remains to be seen.
Release date: 17 June (North America), South African release date unknown
I'm certain I've missed some goodie releases with this list - not only am I only profiling the films that appeal to me and/or have piqued my interest, but sleeper hits always pop up from nowhere every year. Also, bearing in mind that South Africa often receives movies much later than the United States, several of these movies have already released overseas in 2010.
1) Easy A: There's nothing more enjoyable than a teen comedy with smarts and a stellar cast. Inspired by The Scarlet Letter, likeable redhead Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) revels in the attention gained from her manufactured reputation as a high school superslut. 87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 14 January (South Africa)
2) Tangled: Despite a terrible teaser trailer, Disney's 3D CGI take on the Rapunzel fairytale has released overseas to great acclaim - and award nominations. With vivid visuals modelled on 18th Century oil paintings, Tangled is apparently a more successful throwback to traditional Disney animated films than 2009's The Princess and the Frog. 89% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 28 January (South Africa)
3) Splice: Sci-fi horror tale in which scientists Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley secretly mix human and animal DNA to create a rapidly mutating, unpredictable creature called Dren. Splice may sounds like a Species knock-off but apparently the film is thought provoking, well acted and genuinely disturbing. 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 28 January (South Africa)
4) Black Swan: Acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky jumps from drug addicts and washed up wrestlers to deranged ballet dancers. Emotionally repressed ballerina Natalie Portman succumbs to paranoia and delusions when faced with a sensual new rival (Mila Kunis). Black Swan probably isn't a comfortable film to watch but it's an Oscar forerunner currently 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 4 February (South Africa)
5) The Green Hornet: A superhero action-comedy where the gimmick is that the sidekick is more competant than the hero. This 3D conversion is directed by inventive Michel Gondry and stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou (in a role associated with Bruce Lee). Early reception has been mixed though and the film is being released during the January dumping period for movies in which studios have little confidence. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 14 January (North America), 28 January (South Africa)
6) 127 Hours: Director Danny Boyle follows up his Slumdog Millionaire success with this autobiographical survival tale of mountaineer Aron Ralston (James Franco), who is forced to do the unthinkable when a rockfall crushes his arm and traps him in a remote canyon for 5 days. Both inspirational and tough to watch, 127 Hours is currently raking in the awards love, and is 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Release date: 18 February (South Africa)
7) Sanctum: This 3D adventure thriller is produced by James (Titanic, The Abyss, Avatar) Cameron and focuses on a group of cave divers trapped in an underwater labyrinth of tunnels in the South Pacific. With no huge names in the cast, Sanctum should feature panic and claustrophobia of The Descent proportions (before the mutants attacked, of course).
Release date: 4 February (North America), 4 March (South Africa)
8) The Eagle: The apparently only Ancient World-set release of 2011. Based on historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth, Channing Tatum plays a young Roman officer, who, with his British slave (Jamie Bell), sets out to discover what happened to his father and the Ninth Legion in the wilds beyond Hadrian's Wall. Sure, this could be another junky Centurion, but award winning director Kevin (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland) Macdonald has promised historical fidelity and cultural sincerity.
Release date: 11 February (North America), South African release date unknown
9) Sucker Punch: Without a doubt, my most highly anticipated movie of the year! 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder brings this, his first original script, to the big screen, and it looks like a batshit crazy, utterly wild ride. Blending Moulin Rouge, Girl, Interrupted, Kill Bill, Sin City and much more, Sucker Punch centres on an institutionalised young woman who finds liberation through her imagination. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 25 March (North America), 22 April (South Africa)
10) Battle: Los Angeles - When aliens attack Los Angeles, Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez form part of the infantry who have to protect the civilian population while fighting a powerful extraterrestrial foe. Think of the film as Independence Day meets District 9, given the apparent intensity of the battles and on-the-ground grittiness. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 11 March (North America), South African release date unknown
11) Red Riding Hood: If you need some supernatural horror-romance to tide you over until the release of Breaking Dawn: Part 1 at the end of the year, then there's this one from Twilight 1 director Catherine Hardwicke. Amanda Seyfried is a medieval heroine in a village tormented by a werewolf. Gary Oldman is called in to slay the beast. I don't expect Red Riding Hood to be particularly good but it's one of the first of a bunch of fairy/folk tale reimaginings in the works. And I do like Seyfried!
Release date: 11 March (North America), South African release date unknown
12) Limitless: A sci-fi thriller in which Bradley Cooper plays a copywriter who develops amazing intellectual and physical abilities as a result of a mysterious drug that comes into his possession. Based on the 2003 novel The Dark Fields. Robert De Niro co-stars. Super powers without the usual superheroics? Count me intrigued. Also, yay for copywriters getting some big screen attention for once.
Release date: 18 March (North America), South African release date unknown
13) Paul: Although Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright is AWOL from this geek comedy, his frequent collaborating leads Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are teamed here as British geeks who encounter an alien (voiced by Seth Rogen) while road tripping across America to Comic Con. We should be in for a real treat with Paul, which, for the record, was written by funny lads Pegg and Frost themselves.
Release date: 18 March (North America), South African release date unknown
14) Your Highness: Think of this one as a lewd Princess Bride, or, alternatively, a slacker comedy set in the Middle Ages. Brothers Danny McBride and James Franco must save their father's kingdom from an evil wizard (Justin Theroux). Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman are the damsels along for the adventure. Historical fantasy and comedy is an unusual combination that doesn't always mix well, but Your Highness looks like a lot of fun from the director and star of The Pineapple Express.
Release date: 8 April (North America), South African release date unknown
15) Scream 4: Admittedly the self-aware horror series deteriorated as it piled on the sequels, but it's worth noting the imminent arrival of the nostalgia-driven fourth movie in the franchise, 11 years after Sidney, Gail, Dewey and co. were last terrorised. Scream 4 reunites the old gang - actors Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, series writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven - while introducing new young bodies to the slaughter. The question here is how the film will approach Saw-esque horror movie conventions of the 21st Century?
Release date: 15 April (North America), South African release date unknown
16) Thor: The first of Marvel' 2 big comic adaptations released in 2011. And also the first of 2011's 2 most ambitious superhero films, seeing as it takes costume and cape wearers beyond Earth's boundaries and possibly even audience identification. In Kenneth Branagh's 3D converted film, Chris Hemsworth is the arrogant god of thunder cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). Magic and science mix when Thor meets astrophysicist (Natalie Portman) and must defend his adoptive home against Asgard's darkest inhabitants. Time to make superheroes Epic!
Release date: 6 May (North America), South African release date unknown
17) Priest: This several times delayed Korean comic adaptation (and now 3D conversion) could easily be derivative rubbish. However, the premise sounds cool enough, with Paul Bettany as a tattooed warrior priest who must leave the "safety" of a Church-run fortress city and search the desolate Wastelands for his niece - kidnapped by vampires. It's Blade Runner meets Judge Dredd meets Underworld meets The Searchers. Profiled as part of Trailer Tuesday here.
Release date: 13 May (North America), South African release date unknown
18) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Until I watched the trailer, I was utterly dismissive of the 4th Pirates movie. But now that the filmmakers' have dumped Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom's tedious love story, it looks like it's back to harmless fun with Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow. Penélope Cruz joins Sparrow on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth before the infamous Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Filmed for 3D.
Release date: 20 May (North America), South African release date unknown
19) X-Men: First Class - Despite the same name, this fifth film set in Marvel's X-Men universe has little to do with the limited comic series. Taking place in the 1960s, First Class reveals how former best friends - and mutants - Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) came to be enemies. A non-contemporary X-Men film sounds great, and I loved director Matthew Vaughn's previous superhero effort, Kick-Ass. However, First Class's cast sounds worryingly overstuffed, as if Fox is trying to include as many fan favourite characters as possible. And we know how well that turned out in The Last Stand.
Release date: 3 June (North America), South African release date unknown
20) Green Lantern: DC's will-driven intergalactic space cop finally makes it to the big screen. Ryan Reynolds is cocky test pilot Hal Jordan, who is granted near limitless power when he is recruited into the Green Lantern Corps. Judging by the trailer, Green Lantern is an origin tale with a comedic strain akin to Iron Man. The film should be good but whether it gets audiences to embrace more extra-terrestrial sci-fi with their superheroes remains to be seen.
Release date: 17 June (North America), South African release date unknown
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