Most Anticipated of 2011

There’s a strong chance I haven’t even heard of most of the movies that will end up being my year-end favorites, but as of now, here’s what I can’t wait to see:

20) Source Code

Duncan Jones’ follow-up to Moon, one of my recent favorites.  Honestly, I didn’t care for the trailer much, but I’m excited for this based on Jones’ name alone and the fact that it’s another original sci-fi.

19) The Grandmasters

Wong Kar-Wai’s new film about Bruce Lee’s trainer.

18) J. Edgar

A Clint Eastwood directed biopic about J. Edgar Hoover starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  Not usually a biopic fan, but I can’t wait for anything Leo does at this point.

17) Tintin

Peter Jackson produces, Spielberg directs.  I’m honestly not very familiar with the source material, but I like the idea of Spielberg making an animated film, plus he and Peter Jackson should make a great combo.

16) The Hunter

An Indie thriller starring Willem Dafoe.  I can’t say exactly why I’m anticipating this one so much, just have a good feeling about it.

15) The Skin That I Inhabit

Pedro Almodovar’s latest.  That’s all I know about this one.

14) Hobo With a Shotgun

Like Machete, this was originally a fake trailer.  Should be another good 90 minutes of Grindhouse fun.

13) The Rum Diary

The first film from Withnail and I director Bruce Robinson in 19 years.  Johnny Depp stars in his 2nd Hunter S. Thompson adaptation.

12) Meek’s Cutoff

Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams are collaborating again after 2008’s Wendy and Lucy, which was great.  This is about settlers traveling through the Oregon desert in the 19th century.  Could be amazing.

11) Hanna

The trailer makes this look like a blast.  Good director, good cast, should be fun.  Check out the trailer here.

10) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Social Network was so good that I can’t wait to see this.  David Fincher’s next has some of the same cast and crew as Network, with Trent Reznor writing the score and Rooney Mara taking the lead role.  Even though I don’t like the idea of Hollywood remaking every recent successful foreign film, I’m on board with this one.

9) The Borrowers

The new Studio Ghibli film, written by Hayao Miyazaki.  Can’t wait.

8.) Wuthering Heights

Andrea Arnold’s follow-up to Fish Tank, one of my favorites from last year.  Classic source material, can’t wait to see what she’s able to do with it.

7) Shame

Director Steve McQueen and his leading man Michael Fassbender’s follow-up to their amazing 2009 film Hunger.  I can’t see this duo not going 2 for 2.

6) Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Valhalla Rising) is one of the most interesting up-and-coming directors around, and this is first big “Hollywood” film, starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Ron Perlman.  The film is about a stunt driver who discovers that he has a price on his head.  Can’t wait to see what Refn does with a more straightforward story like this.  My hopes are sky high.

5) A Dangerous Method

The third film from David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, this time also starring Michael Fassbender (!) and Keira Knightley.  The film’s about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, and it should be amazing.

4) Hugo Cabret

Martin Scorsese directing a kid’s film?  In 3D?  I’m happy to see Scorsese trying something so new, and the source material is great.  It’s also got a good looking ensemble with Chloe Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Michael Pitt, Christopher Lee, Ray Winstone, and Sacha Baron Cohen.

3) Melancholia

Lars Von Trier’s follow-up to Antichrist.  I love anything Von Trier, and I love sci-fi, so my expectations are pretty much through the roof on this one.  Von Trier jokingly said that he’d have “no more happy endings!” before filming this one, and sure enough the plot deals with Earth’s imminent destruction.

2) The Tree of Life

I said the same thing last year, but I can’t remember a time when this wasn’t on my most anticipated list.  It looks like all the delays are finally over, especially since a beautiful trailer was released recently.  Terrence Malick movies are always an event, and this sounds like it could be one of his best.

1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

It’s been an incredible series, and the end is looking to be 2 hours of epic non-stop climax.  I thought part 1 was amazing, so this should basically be the best thing ever for big Potter fans.  I’ll be sad when it’s over.

Invictus

Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, a President trying to bring together a divided nation with the help of their rugby team, the Springboks.  Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar, the Springbok’s captain.

I have mostly mixed feelings on Invictus.  On one hand, I appreciate how Eastwood doesn’t use any technical flourishes or stylizations.  He lets the story and the performances do all the talking.  On the other hand, I think this makes the film fall flat.  Eastwood seems to just be on autopilot at this point, following the textbook and not taking any risks.  For this reason Invictus never really seems to maximize its potential and instead just ends up being another solid biopic. 

RATING:  7/10

I also have to once again comment on a terrible, overly sentimental song, this one titled “Colorblind,” that’s every bit as hokey as it sounds.  The cue for this song comes out of nowhere, so it’s also a total distraction.  These things are trying to ruin otherwise good movies left and right, it seems.

Golden Globe Nominations

 

Up in the Air leads with 6 nominations.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Picture (Drama)
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”

Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hangover”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine”

 Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”

Best Actress (Drama)
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabby Sidibe, “Precious”

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)
Matt Damon, “The Informant!”
Daniel Day Lewis, “Nine”
Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
Joseph Gordon Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Julia Roberts, “Duplicity”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’nique, “Precious”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Screenplay
Neill Blomkampt & Terri Tatchell, “District 9″
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Nancy Meyers, “It’s Complicated”
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Animated Film
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“Up”

Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant!”
James Horner, “Avatar”
Abel Krozeniowski, “A Single Man”
Karen O and Carter Burwell, “Where the Wild Things Are”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Baaria”
“Broken Embraces”
“The Maid”
“Un Prophete”
“The White Ribbon”

Best Original Song
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine”
“I Want To Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine”
“I See You” from “Avatar”
“The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”
“Winter” from “Brothers”

Pleasant surprises and thumbs up include Meryl Streep being a double nominee, District 9 getting a screenplay nomination, and Martin Scorsese being awarded the Cecil B. Demille (lifetime achievement) award.

Biggest disappointments go to Sandra Bullock for somehow also being a double nominee, Clint Eastwood for getting a best director nod, and Ponyo being snubbed in the animated films category.

“Invictus” trailer

2nd Matt Damon trailer of the day.  You can view it here (no embed yet).

Looks promising.  It’s interesting to see Clint Eastwood (a staunch conservative) make a Nelson Mandela film, even if it’s not your everyday “greatest hits” biopic but focused instead on a small slice of his life.

“Road,” “Invictus” Posters