 "Photo: Courtesy Monsters & Critics")
 "Photo: Courtesy First Showing")
 "Photo: Courtesy The 16th Street J")
 "Photo: Courtesy Buena Vista Pictures")
 "Photo: Courtesy Universal Pictures")
 "Photo: Courtesy The Weinstein Company")
 "Photo: Courtesy Paramount Pictures")
 "Photo: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures")
The beginning of the year can be a mind-numbing time for moviegoers, as the studios roll out a slate of B-grade productions in the wake of their prestigious Oscar contenders. But in 2009, cinephiles have some upcoming releases to look forward to while waiting out the mediocre winter wasteland. Here are nine films to watch in ‘09.
1. “Duplicity” (March 20): Hot off his superb 2007 drama “Michael Clayton,” writer-director Tony Gilroy takes a comedic turn in this espionage thriller starring Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. Owen is always enjoyable and it will be interesting to see Gilroy apply his talent to more light-hearted material.
2. “State of Play” (April 17): Although you cannot help wishing Brad Pitt and Edward Norton hadn’t backed out of the lead roles, this political thriller still looks compelling. Talented performers like Russell Crowe and Helen Mirren are an added draw.
3. “Bruno” (May 15): Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the screen with his character Bruno, essentially the homosexual equivalent of Cohen’s now infamous Borat. If the film exposes American intolerance and all-around stupidity in the same shockingly hilarious way “Borat” did, this is sure to be an entertaining experience.
4. “Up” (May 29): It’s almost impossible not to be intrigued by the trailers for this new computer-animated release from the geniuses at Pixar. It features a cantankerous geezer and a chubby Boy Scout bickering in a floating house suspended by thousands of balloons.
5. “Public Enemies” (July 1): Stylishly gritty director Michael Mann helms this Depression-era story of the cat-and-mouse game between FBI agent Melvin Purvis and gangster John Dillinger. You cannot beat the dream-team casting of Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in the lead roles, despite the story’s basic similarities to Mann’s magnum opus, “Heat.”
6. “Inglourious Basterds” (Aug. 21): Quentin Tarantino brings his artfully trashy style to this remake of a 1978 Italian WWII action B-movie. Although it is exciting to see Brad Pitt working with Tarantino for the first time, most intriguing is Tarantino’s casting of the dubiously talented Mike Myers as a villain.
7. “Shutter Island” (Oct. 2): The great Martin Scorsese adapts Dennis Lehane’s pulp-inspired psychological thriller novel to the screen. It looks as though Scorsese is trying something new (read: not a gangster movie) again, and it is always good to see him teamed with the talented Leonardo DiCaprio.
8. “Where the Wild Things Are” (Oct. 16): Visionary director Spike Jonze’s adaptation of the classic children’s book has been through hell in its three-year slog to big-screen release, with reports that Warner Bros. heads considered the film too dark or adult for mainstream success. Hopefully, Jonze’s film will reach the screen as he envisioned it because his dark and fantastical style seems perfectly suited for the story.
9. “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Nov. 6): Director Wes Anderson adapts Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel in this stop-motion animated film. The vivid visual style of Anderson’s live-action films should lend itself well to the animated medium, and the film’s voice cast includes the great George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
2 comments