At the beginning of the year I made a list of my weak reactions out of the Cannes Film Festival. However, a few films have made their way onto this list thanks to strong film festival reactions as I have put together a list of 20 films to look forward to as we move into the final six months of 2009.
One film I didn’t include merely because it is coming out next week and I felt it would be a wasted space is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I am undoubtedly anticipating seeing it and had it been only a few more weeks in the offing I would have given it notice here.
This one is a no-brainer for me as anything with Ricky Gervais instantly captures my attention and comes with a load of comedic talent around him including Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor, Patrick Stewart and Jason Bateman. Of course, the plot device takes a bit of convincing as the film is set in an alternate reality where everyone tells the truth all the time, but not only tells the truth, they actually say what’s on their mind, which takes it a bit out of the realm of believability, but considering what we are talking about I don’t think that hardly matters.
Gervais’s character, in this world, invents lying and through a series of wacky scenarios will most likely come to some moral lesson in the end, but the hope is it will be funny along the way. I enjoyed Ghost Town, so here’s to hoping this one is a match.
Get additional information on this film here.
The only reason I am interested in this film is the fact I love, love, love V for Vendetta and Vendetta helmer James McTeigue is directing this one and once again has the Wachowski’s producing. I don’t have high expectations, but I do have high hopes as Korean pop star Rain plays Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. After some issues with the secret society known as the Ozunu Clan he breaks free and plots his revenge.
Get a look at pictures and additional information from this film here.
I have no idea why Universal is keeping the lid shut tight on director Paul Greengrass’s upcoming film, but I can only assume it is to unveil the fact this is yet another Iraq War film as late as possible and spring it on the audience touting the fact the Bourne duo of Matt Damon and Greengrass are once again working together. The fact these two are involved is enough for me to get interested, but who knows about the rest of society.
Get a look at pictures and additional information from this film here.
Jane Campion’s Bright Star made quite a splash at the Cannes Film Festival with a lot of attention paid to Abbie Cornish such as Screen Daily’s Allan Hunter saying, “She captures all the youthful impetuosity of the English Fanny [Brawne] and portrays her as a young woman trying to maintain control of a life torn apart by all the fresh emotions and new sensations that she is experiencing. It is a performance that should win her awards season consideration and emphatically underlines why she is one of the most highly regarded performers of her generation.” The film is apparently a weepy, but not a melodramatic one. Can’t wait to see it.
Get a look at pictures and additional information from this film here.
The only film on this list of 20 that doesn’t have an image to accompany it is the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man, which stars a fleet of unknown actors. The film is set in 1967 and is a dark comedy set around a dysfunctional family. Here’s the synopsis as given by Focus Features:
A Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik, a physics professor at a quiet midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry’s chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man?
Get additional information on this film here.
