Of movies upcoming
Over the last few weeks, I have been a touch annoyed with people coming up to me and recommending that I watch Avatar 3D, since it is ‘awesome’. Now I am sure it is all well-intentioned and they just want to make sure that I don’t miss out on something supposedly quite fabulous (I haven’t seen it yet) – but then here’s the thing – I have known about this movie for the last two years, ever since I came to know it was in post-production, and ever since the first official preview was done during last year’s comic con in July. Basically, I have known and have been waiting for it for quite a while. And honestly, I have sort of known all along that it was supposedly the next generation in SFX. And well, I spoke to some of those same people about this movie way back, when no one knew about it, and now I have to hear it back as a recommendation! Pah! I cannot imagine another place to vent out this touch of frustration, sounding as it might at the cost of whatever little ounce of humility I possess – and so we are at this blog today.
And so, at the cost of the same little humility, hereby I m putting down 20 movies to watch out for in the next 24 months. Sadly they are all restricted to Hollywood movies, since I obviously do not have any claim to mastery of upcoming bollywood movies, and foreign language movies are very difficult to keep a track of. At the risk of sounding too pompous, let it be known that they were all declared in this blog much before most people became aware of it (and I think that is a reasonably safe assumption). After all, all those hours spent on IMDb and Wikipedia better be worth something!!
1. Invictus – This one is pretty recent, might also be already out in theatres for all I know. Clint Eastwood is back with a bang, as is the trusted Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.
2. Inception – Chris Nolan’s next. ‘Nuff said. (Also up next much later is another Batman movie, though I m beginning to doubt if it would be possible to scale the heights that ‘Dark Knight’ peaked.)
3. Shutter Island – The pair of Martin Scorcese and Leonardo di Caprio is back. This one’s based on a Dennis Lehane novel, and it is pretty Christie-esque in its feel. In the hands of Scorcese, this should be a good one.
4. Iron Man 2 – Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow) in a cat-suit. Need I say more? :)
5. Up In The Air – Jason Reitman’s next venture. ‘Jason who?’ you say. Juno, Thank you for smoking. That speaks, I guess. Also, the Golden Globe nominations.
6. The Ghost Writer – Polanski’s next. Rumour is that he is working on the post-production while under his house arrest. For whatever he’s done – and I do not for a moment condone it – his movies are always one to watch out for.
7. Sherlock Holmes – Guy Ritchie’s next. Might already be out for all I know. But another mighty expected movie. Also, he’s already announced a sequel for RocknRolla too!
8. Alice in Wonderland – More than 50 years after the original beloved book was made into the movie, Tim Burton is handling this one. It is not the same story, just the same characters. Watch out for this one.
9. The Last Airbender – Shyamalan’s next movie, based on a TV series. Yes, I am a part of a shrinking population that still hasn’t lost confidence in Shyamalan.
10. The Book of Eli – Another of those post-apocalyptic tales. Haven’t we had enough of them already? I don’t know how this will turn out to be, but with Denzel Washington, hopefully it won’t be too bad.
11. Nine – Sounds too much like Fellini’s 8-1/2 in its look and feel. Maybe that is why they called it ‘Nine’!
12. Wall Street 2 – Oliver Stone is back with Gordon Gekko as the scheming investor.
13. Robin Hood – After Kevin Costner, the mantle has passed on to Russell Crowe, who can probably sleepwalk through roles like this now. Great things have been delivered by the Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe pair before.
14. Toy Story 3 – I don’t think this requires a lead line. Pixar’s next, should easily be the movie event of the summer.
15. The Hobbit – This one has been forever in coming. But the movie is in safe hands – so we can still anticipate, almost as if LOTR series never stopped. Plus, Jackson hasn’t been particularly busy either.
16. Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn – This one also has been forever coming, but in Spielberg’s hands, the end product cannot really be all that trash. Plus, its Tintin!
17. The Lovely Bones – This is what Peter Jackson had been doing when he wasn’t making ‘The Hobbit’. I’ll be honest, I don’t see much in the story – but it is Jackson and the praise heaped on the lead cast by ‘Time’ that has me curious.
18. Black Swan – No idea how this’ll turn out, but it is Darren Aronofsky’s next project. You don’t just watch his movies and not be amazed by them.
19. & 20. Fantastic Mr Fox & The Princess and The Frog – They are both on ‘Time’s ‘Top 10 movies of 2009’ list. In their case, that alone is the reason to be on this list. (Plus, I had trouble reaching 20, even after all the huff and puff I started out with :D)
On a related note, I m now officially a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki movies. I mean, I saw the likes of Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle ages ago, but it is only now that I saw a bunch of others – Ponyo on the Cliff, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso…. Without doubts, absolutely beautiful cinema – the level of imagination in his movies is breathtaking. Highly recommended!
And so, at the cost of the same little humility, hereby I m putting down 20 movies to watch out for in the next 24 months. Sadly they are all restricted to Hollywood movies, since I obviously do not have any claim to mastery of upcoming bollywood movies, and foreign language movies are very difficult to keep a track of. At the risk of sounding too pompous, let it be known that they were all declared in this blog much before most people became aware of it (and I think that is a reasonably safe assumption). After all, all those hours spent on IMDb and Wikipedia better be worth something!!
1. Invictus – This one is pretty recent, might also be already out in theatres for all I know. Clint Eastwood is back with a bang, as is the trusted Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.
2. Inception – Chris Nolan’s next. ‘Nuff said. (Also up next much later is another Batman movie, though I m beginning to doubt if it would be possible to scale the heights that ‘Dark Knight’ peaked.)
3. Shutter Island – The pair of Martin Scorcese and Leonardo di Caprio is back. This one’s based on a Dennis Lehane novel, and it is pretty Christie-esque in its feel. In the hands of Scorcese, this should be a good one.
4. Iron Man 2 – Scarlett Johansson (as Black Widow) in a cat-suit. Need I say more? :)
5. Up In The Air – Jason Reitman’s next venture. ‘Jason who?’ you say. Juno, Thank you for smoking. That speaks, I guess. Also, the Golden Globe nominations.
6. The Ghost Writer – Polanski’s next. Rumour is that he is working on the post-production while under his house arrest. For whatever he’s done – and I do not for a moment condone it – his movies are always one to watch out for.
7. Sherlock Holmes – Guy Ritchie’s next. Might already be out for all I know. But another mighty expected movie. Also, he’s already announced a sequel for RocknRolla too!
8. Alice in Wonderland – More than 50 years after the original beloved book was made into the movie, Tim Burton is handling this one. It is not the same story, just the same characters. Watch out for this one.
9. The Last Airbender – Shyamalan’s next movie, based on a TV series. Yes, I am a part of a shrinking population that still hasn’t lost confidence in Shyamalan.
10. The Book of Eli – Another of those post-apocalyptic tales. Haven’t we had enough of them already? I don’t know how this will turn out to be, but with Denzel Washington, hopefully it won’t be too bad.
11. Nine – Sounds too much like Fellini’s 8-1/2 in its look and feel. Maybe that is why they called it ‘Nine’!
12. Wall Street 2 – Oliver Stone is back with Gordon Gekko as the scheming investor.
13. Robin Hood – After Kevin Costner, the mantle has passed on to Russell Crowe, who can probably sleepwalk through roles like this now. Great things have been delivered by the Ridley Scott-Russell Crowe pair before.
14. Toy Story 3 – I don’t think this requires a lead line. Pixar’s next, should easily be the movie event of the summer.
15. The Hobbit – This one has been forever in coming. But the movie is in safe hands – so we can still anticipate, almost as if LOTR series never stopped. Plus, Jackson hasn’t been particularly busy either.
16. Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn – This one also has been forever coming, but in Spielberg’s hands, the end product cannot really be all that trash. Plus, its Tintin!
17. The Lovely Bones – This is what Peter Jackson had been doing when he wasn’t making ‘The Hobbit’. I’ll be honest, I don’t see much in the story – but it is Jackson and the praise heaped on the lead cast by ‘Time’ that has me curious.
18. Black Swan – No idea how this’ll turn out, but it is Darren Aronofsky’s next project. You don’t just watch his movies and not be amazed by them.
19. & 20. Fantastic Mr Fox & The Princess and The Frog – They are both on ‘Time’s ‘Top 10 movies of 2009’ list. In their case, that alone is the reason to be on this list. (Plus, I had trouble reaching 20, even after all the huff and puff I started out with :D)
On a related note, I m now officially a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki movies. I mean, I saw the likes of Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle ages ago, but it is only now that I saw a bunch of others – Ponyo on the Cliff, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso…. Without doubts, absolutely beautiful cinema – the level of imagination in his movies is breathtaking. Highly recommended!
posted by Anshuman at 2:58 PM
0 comments
