Movies That Will Probably be Good but Have Yet to Come Out - Part 3, or The Final Installment

The Hobbit – December 14

This film should not require an explanation as to why I am excited or think it will be good. But I’ll give one anyway. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy was one of the most impressive projects creatively, narratologically, and technically that Hollywood has produced in recent memory. It was not only an extremely entertaining example of the epic Hollywood blockbuster that our society so craves, but also an exceedingly well-told story across three films. The most recent installment in the franchise, Return of the King, is tied with Titanic and Ben-Hur for the most Oscar wins of any film. I can’t help but expect Jackson to produce (and write and direct) something amazing for Tolkein’s prequel to Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit. Additionally, this is the first major studio film to be shot in 48 fps and I am curious to see what sort of effect that will have on the medium. Also Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) plays a dragon and Watson (Martin Freeman) plays Bilbo. Should be a fun ride.

Les Miserables – December 14

If you haven’t seen the Liam Neeson adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel yet, stop reading this and go watch it.

I’ll wait.

Done? It was pretty awesome right? Well that same story has also been adapted into a Broadway Musical that is widely regarded as one of the best musicals ever made. And that musical has been adapted into this film. It has a crazy cast, many with Broadway musical backgrounds: Hugh Jackman as the ex-criminal Jean Valjean, Russel Crowe as Inspector Javert, Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier, Sacha Baron Cohen as Thernardier, and Anne Hathaway as Fantine. Ho. Ly. Crap. And then, on top of all of that, Tom Hooper directed it. You may know him as the director of 2010 best picture/best director winner The King’s Speech. If you don’t, stop reading this and go watch it. The rest of this list will still be here when you get back. (Quick bit of trivia regarding this movie, all of the musical numbers are recorded on set, not in a studio.)

This is 40 – December 21

Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up was one of the most surprising movies I’ve ever seen. Not because it was particularly plot twisty, but because it wasn’t just a raunchy sex comedy like I expected. I mean, it was a raunchy sex comedy, but there was a lot more to it, such as realistic, sympathetic characters dealing with life’s harsh realities and learning to accept responsibility for one’s actions. This is 40 follows the lives of a few of the characters from Knocked Up, Pete (Paul Rudd), Debbie (Leslie Mann), and Jason (Jason Segel) in particular. Since Knocked Up, Apatow has proven himself a talented modern story teller time and time again and I look forward to his return these character’s lives in what will hopefully be an equally touching and hilarious film as Knocked Up was.

Django Unchained – December 28

I like Quentin Tarantino. A lot. He’s clever, intelligent, hilarious, and knows how to direct actors in such a way as to get a completely unnatural and yet totally believable performance every time he steps behind the camera. Django Unchained features some of Tarntino’s favorite actors returning, both Samuel LMF Jackson and Christoph Waltz are back, and some exciting new comers, Jamie Foxx is premiering in the Tarantinoverse in this film and, whom I personally am most excited for performance-wise in this film, Leonardo DiCaprio who, based on some of his previous roles, seems to me to have been born to be directed by Tarantino and should have been introduced to the verse a long time ago. This film looks like it’ll be a killer good time and I will definitely have a review of it over on SidewalkOnline come this December.

BONUS! Seven Psychopaths - October 12

Ok not really a “bonus” so much as I missed this one in an earlier post so I figured I’d tag it on here. But this movie looks hilarious and has, again, a stellar cast: Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, and Woody Harrelson. It’s the first project writer/director Martin McDonagh has worked on since 2008’s In Bruges, which was brilliantly and sadistically hilarious. If you haven’t seen In Bruges you should. Seven Psychopaths revolves around the accidental kidnapping of a gangster’s Shih Tzu, and every aspect of it looks hilarious. Just watch the trailer.

Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything? There aren't anymore installments. This is it. If there is anything I missed or you just have something to say, whether pertaining to this post or not, please comment in the comment section right below this. Seriously. It's right down there. I need your comments. I'm so lonely in my apartment with five other people...

Movies That Will Probably Be Good But Have Yet to Come Out This Year Part 1

So I’ve been taking a look at all my recent posts and realized that despite being a cinephile, see this blog’s name, I haven’t written a post about a film that wasn’t a link to a movie review I wrote for SidewalkOnline Magazine (my latest, Dark Knight Rises, here) in like…hella days. I’ve been doing some pretty thought provoking and deep stuff lately and, while that’s nice, I thought I’d like to post something else. Something about movies. And since summer’s coming to a close and the blockbuster season with it, I thought I’d give you guys a couple examples of movies that are still coming that I think will be worth watching. So without further ado (which I really say too often, if you know of anything else I can say that means pretty much the same thing let me know in the comments, it’d be much appreciated. [Also when I say “without further ado” it’s almost always followed by more ado. Maybe I should try and work around that. But I digress]), welcome to my three installment article Movies That’ll Probably be Good That Have Yet to Come Out This Year (MTPbGTHYtCOTY-rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it?).

Lawless – August 29

This film about a depression-era bootlegging gang (moonshine, not pirated movies) who runs into trouble with a corrupt deputy (Guy Pearce) who wants a cut of the profits in return for his ‘ignorance’ of their operation stars Shia Lebouf and Tom Hardy as the brothers leading the gang and features Gary Oldman as the leader of a rival gang. With a round of such phenomenal actors and relatively new talents John Hillcoat and Nick Cave directing and writing respectively this movie promises to be at least an entertaining film if not one that will skillfully combine the thought-provoking quality of an independent film with the good-old fashioned gang warfare violence characteristic of older studio films, though this is a Weinstein Company film so very much in the indie realm. That image on the left is the poster and below is the redband trailer: please be aware the trailer does contain violence and nudity.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – September 21

Point 1: This film is written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the novel the film is based on. So if ever a film could be adapted into a book well, this is the way to do it. Point 2: This is Emma Watson’s second performance since the conclusion of the Harry Potter franchise. That in and of itself is enough to make it worth considering. Plus Paul Rudd is in it. Who doesn’t love Paul Rudd and his adorably-too-short-for-his-body arms? After the primary inclusion of point 1 combined with point 2 and Paul Rudd, the film adaptation of this beloved novel should be considered worth a viewing.

Looper – September 28

Honestly I can’t tell if this is an indie film or a studio pic so I’m just not gonna categorize it like that. Regardless, its stellar cast and intriguing plot make this film one to look forward to. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an assassin who kills targets sent back in time to his location in order to effectively make the assassination untraceable. Until one day future JGL (played in this film by Bruce Willis) drops out of space as JGL’s next target, after which, for lack of a better term, shit goes down. The film looks like an interesting exploration of the sci-fi/action genre combo, and while it doesn’t appear like it will address much in the way of time travel conceptually, it should still prove an interesting and fun flick. It’s written and directed by Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed Brick, which, though I haven’t gotten to it myself, is supposed to be a phenomenal film.

Taken 2 – October 5

And now we come to the first studio film on the list (or possibly second again I’m really not sure about Looper). Taken 2 follows Taken’s plot pretty obviously. Liam Neeson killed tons of Albanian’s in order to save his daughter, and now the father of one the guys Neeson killed wants revenge. Now Liam Neeson and his wife Jean Grey (or Famke Jannsen, however you want to look at her) have been taken and Neeson has to enlist his daughter’s help in order to escape. Here’s what it boils down to: Neeson killed a bunch of people pretty awesomely in Taken. In Taken 2 that promises to happen again. Also the script is written By Luc Besson, who you probably know as the guy who wrote The Fifth Element and Leon:The Professional. I would mention the director, but it made me not want to see the movie when I looked him up. So see it for Liam Neeson being an old Irish badass.

Cloud Atlas – October 26

I can’t explain this film. The plot is way too confusing based on the trailer to glean anything. But regardless it looks cool. It has a stellar cast with so many famous actors in it that I’m just going to recommend you click the link in the subheading so that you can see them rather than me listing them and linking to each of their imdb profiles individually. Also it’s a Wachowskis film. And I love the Wachowskis. The Matrix, V for Vendetta, I even like Speed Racer pretty well. This movie looks neat. And if you watch any of the trailers in this installment, watch this one, because without it you won’t be able to comprehend why this movie looks so good. Though I’ve seen it twice now and I’m not sure I understand.

Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? Do you have movies you think I missed (keep in mind there's two more installments coming)? Am I completely moronic for including one of these? Do you have anyrequests for articles? Or movie reviews? Please tell me in the comments below so we can discuss it. I'd like to hear from my readers.