Tags
1. Prometheus
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/
dir. Ridley Scott / star. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce / exec sum. Alien Reboot
release: 8 June 2012
I’ve been waiting for this movie for 20 years. Ever since Alien 3 was the first subtle let down in that franchise, I’ve been left frustrated, disillusioned, wanting for a real Alien movie. Ridley Scott and James Cameron have variously been attached to an “Alien 5″ going all the way back to 1997, as soon as Alien Resurrection both debuted and immediately confirmed that the franchise was dead. I have a lot staked on this being good, and that’s in spite of the fact that Ridley has been making utter crap lately. I won’t be able to judge this one objectively. It’ll probably suck donkey privates.
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2. Untitled Terrence Malick Project
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1595656/
dir. Bobcat Goldthwait / star. Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Chastain, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Michael Sheen, Olga Kurylenko, Amanda Peet
/ exec sum. The Tree of Life 2: The Pretentioning
release: when the earth is consumed by the sun
Just another opportunity to witness some extremely beautiful and thoughtful cinema, and hear a bunch of people cringe in reaction. LOVE.IT.
No video, trailers, leaked info, rushes for the public just yet, and we probably won’t see any for some time.
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3. The Master
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1560747/
dir. Paul Thomas Anderson / star. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern / exec sum. L. Ron Hubbard’s origin superhero story
release: unknown 2012
Returning from his exile on a deserted isle of midgets, vampires and french prostitutes, PT Anderson brings about a project far more ambitious than his “recent” (using that term liberally) There Will Be Blood, where he goes Citizen Kane on the late great L. Ron. He’ll surely draw the ire of Tom Cruise et al. for having Philip Seymour Hoffman offer a thinly-disguised raking across the coals of the founder of Scientology.
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4. The Dictator
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645170/
dir. Larry Charles / star. Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly, Ben Kingsley, Megan Fox, Aasif Mandvi / exec sum. Arab Spring forces Borat to sign consenting actors for his bits
release: 11 May 2012
There are very few funny comedy movies these days, so I’ll grit my teeth and bear the concept of Sacha Baron Cohen having to do a scripted and rehearsed part and hope he doesn’t fail as gloriously as Ali G Indahouse.
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5. The Wettest County
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212450/
dir. John Hillcoat / star. Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska / exec sum. The Road meets Boardwalk Empire meets O Brother Where Art Thou
release: 31 August 2012
John Hillcoat, director of the low key post-apocalyptic film The Road, brings an adaptation of the “The Wettest County in the World” by Matt Bondurant, about a Virginia bootlegging operation during Prohibition. The cast, aside from Mr. The Beef, are simply incredible by their own merits.
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6. Iron Sky
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034314/
dir. Timo Vuorensola / star. Udo Kier, Kym Jackson, Julia Dietze / exec sum. Nazi invasion from a moonbase
release: April 2012 (Europe)
Nazi space invaders come to destroy earth for the master moon race, despite 8 decades of radiation poisoning and lack of oxygen in their moon base. As typical with every Finnish film ever made, this one has a lot of Sisu.
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7. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1611224/
dir. Timur Bekmambetov / star. Benjamin Walker, Rufus Sewell, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead / exec sum. Lincoln fights the evil slave-holding vampire Southerners
release: 22 June 2012
Lincoln kills vampires. Okay … I’ll play along.
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8. Cosmopolis
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480656/
dir. David Cronenberg / star. Robert Pattinson, Samantha Morton, Jay Baruchel, Juliette Binoche, Paul Giamatti, Mathieu Amalric / exec sum. Cronenberg does American Psycho or Whit Stillman?
release: unknown 2012
Based on Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name, Cosmopolis is a meandering tale of excess over the course of a day in Manhattan. Cronenberg is losing his touch bit by bit, but this could certainly have potential to be an interesting film.
trailer to come
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9. Django Unchained
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/
dir. Quentin Tarantino / star. Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kurt Russell, Kerry Washington, Christoph Waltz, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, James Remar / exec sum. Tarantino’s Spaghetti Western/Kung Fu homage Part VIII
release: 25 December 2012
Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen are two guys I just don’t connect with, but their films are of consistent high quality, and their breadth of knowledge and love for cinema is infectious. This all-star cast will tell a Civil War / Slavery / Revenge tale of some sort, and many Tarantino regulars are back and of course there’s Don Johnson (…?…). It will probably be a fun movie at the very least.
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10. Hyde Park on Hudson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477855/
dir. Roger Michell / star. Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Olivia Colman / exec sum. Bill Murray is FDR
release: 7 December 2012
Bill Murray as FDR … yeesh. I really hope he pulls it off. I really, really do. Set during the instrumental and historic meeting of the President with the rather young King and Queen of England while on the brink of war with Germany, the story also focuses on FDR’s budding relationship with yet another cousin.
trailer to come
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11. Nero Fiddled
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1859650/
dir. Woody Allen / star. Ellen Page, Woody Allen, Penelope Cruz, Alison Pill, Jesse Eisenberg, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Greta Gerwig, Judy Davis / exec sum. Fellini’s Midnight in Vicky Cristina
release: 22 June 2012
Woody continues his Grand Tour film postcards back to America with a stop in Rome, and returns to the front of the camera as well. Could be fun.
trailer to come
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12. Black Gold
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1701210/
dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud / star. Tahar Rahim, Mark Strong, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto / exec sum. religion, oil, politics, schmaltz
release: last year but should be coming this way soon
Coming off the immense success of A Prophet, Tahar Rahim stars as an Arab prince sitting on a huge oil deposit, and has to play a few political games to endure the curse. Initial reviews have been mixed, but like The Devil’s Double, this film should be worth a look nonetheless.
