We continue our exploration of 2012 with my next ten most anticipated films and I didn’t realize it until I was editing this post to be published, but I pretty much have all genres covered with this ten. The film at #30 is a horror feature and as I count down to 21 I have a music driven feature followed by drama, animation, comedy, a time traveling sci-fi, a disaster thriller and then more comedy.
Of the four lists of ten I will be offering you I think this is the most eclectic and while not all of the titles here pop off the page this could prove to be one of the more interesting groups of films in this preview. It certainly holds the potential for some surprises.
So, without further delay, let’s get to it and kick things off with a little bit of early year, low budget horror shall we and you can browse my three other lists using the navigation at the bottom of page two of this post.
30.
The Innkeepers
February 3
This is the earliest release of the year that I am truly anticipating and most of that anticipation is based on this truly awesome first poster. As for the narrative, it sounds intriguing enough for any fan of a good scary movie.
After over one hundred years of service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees -Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy) – are determined to uncover proof of what many believe to be one of New England’s most haunted hotels.
Sure, the conceit is a bit hokey and you pretty much know that once Claire and Luke get into the house scary things are going to happen, but if director Ti West can do it in such a way that it makes my skin crawl then he’s won as far as I’m concerned.
29.
Inside Llewyn Davis
TBA 2012
It’s a Joel and Ethan Coen movie and like O’ Brother Where Art Thou? they’re once again tackling a music-driven feature. Do I really need to say much more?
Of course, this sounds like it will be quite a bit different than O’ Brother in that it sound like it will be more straight-laced as Inside Llewyn Davis centers on the title character (Oscar Isaac), a struggling folk musician based on a friend of Bob Dylan’s, born and bred in Queens who, despite being a talented singer and guitarist, just can’t seem to make ends meet playing music. Isaac will be joined by Carey Mulligan and John Goodman in the film.
28.
The Silver Linings Playbook
November 21
David O. Russell is finally busy working on his follow-up to The Fighter after flirting with the videogame adaptation of Uncharted and he decided on an adaptation of Matthew Quick’s debut novel, The Silver Linings Playbook.
Bradley Cooper stepped in for the once-attached Mark Wahlberg and will play a former high school teacher who was institutionalized for depression and then released into the care of his mother. He tries to win back his ex-wife but becomes involved with an eccentric neighbor with problems of her own.
Cooper is joined by Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz and Shea Whigham as Russell has certainly pieced together an interesting cast as we haven’t seen Stiles in a major feature in some time and he even dusted off Chris Tucker for a roll in the hay.
27.
The Great Gatsby
December 25
Tough to get a read on this one and I don’t know how much longer I can anticipate a Baz Luhrmann film, especially considering Moulin Rouge is the only film of his I truly love. Strictly Ballroom is good, the only good thing to come out of Romeo + Juliet is that song by Garbage and you will never catch me watching Australia again. But this is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Luhrmann’s got Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton as his four leads… what could go wrong?
Well, for starters, the fact he is so adamant about shooting it in 3D is a major concern for me. Why Baz? WHY?
I also wonder what kind of tone he’s going to bring to the picture as he has a tendency to be a little unrestrained and shoot a bit loose at times. Can he calm down and deliver a solid drama or will he be too inclined to spice things up to the point it’s just nonsense?
I’m concerned and interested at the same time. I guess that qualifies as anticipation.
26.
Brave
June 22
Some people are drawing comparisons to How I Train Your Dragon after watching the trailer for Pixar’s Brave, which I guess is to say any animated film set in Scotland must now be compared to How to Train Your Dragon. If that’s the case, so be it, all I know is I think this film looks marvelous and anything and everything from Pixar is always worth anticipating.
Brave centers on Merida (voiced by the lovely Kelly Macdonald), a character described as “a skilled archer who confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts to discover the true meaning of courage.” Macdonald is joined in the voice cast by Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane.
There was some director controversy during the making of this film, which you can read more about here, which is a little disconcerting, but the early images and little I’ve seen of the trailer has got me really excited about what this film may offer.
