7 January 2012

This article is a look forward to the movies of 2012.

By Hemanth Kissoon

2012 is going to have some distractions: The Olympics, European football championship, and allegedly, according to the Mayans, err…. the end of the world! Among all that, there looks to be some tasty movie releases, very tasty indeed!

These are my 27 (I couldn’t fit the list into a round number) most anticipated films hitting the silver screen in the coming year:


27. The Grandmasters

Director: Wong Kar-wai. Starring: Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi.

Art-house darling, Kar-wai (In the Mood for Love; Chungking Express), might actually deliver a stunning martial arts movie to rival those of Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) or Jhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers) in his tale of Bruce Lee’s trainer, Ip Man.

The Grandmasters (Zhang Ziyi)

The Grandmasters (Tony Leung)

26. The Great Gatsby

D: Baz Luhrman. St: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan.

The man behind Moulin Rouge tackles F. Scott Fitzgerald’s lauded novel, with an amazing cast.


25. Wreck-It Ralph

D: Rich Moore. Voice cast: John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch and Sarah Silverman.

I went to a talk with John Lasseter (Chief Animation Office at Disney, director of Toy Story, etc.) who mentioned how he himself was looking forward to this. I am too. About an old-school arcade game character who escapes into a modern day first-person Call of Duty style shooter and causes havoc.


24. Lincoln

D: Steven Spielberg. St: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sally Field, Jared Harris, David Strathairn and John Hawkes.

This is on the list because of a single person. One of the greatest cinema actors of all time. Daniel Day-Lewis. Playing “Honest Abe”.


23. Skyfall

D: Sam Mendes. St: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem.

Quantum of Solace was pretty lame; but the director of American Beauty, Road to Perdition and Jarhead knows how to wield a camera. Look at that cast. The new Bond might be the best one with Craig?


22. The Dictator

D: Larry Charles. St: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly, Megan Fox and Ben Kingsley.

The director and star of Borat and Bruno reunite for a comedy about a third world dictator. Looks hilarious.

21. [Rec] 3: Genesis

D: Paco Plaza. Cast: Cannon fodder.

If you’ve not seen Spanish horrors, Rec. and Rec. 2, what have you been doing? Excellent hand-held sh*t-you-pants edge-of-your-seat claustrophobia set in a quarantined apartment building in Barcelona. The third and fourth parts expand the story into the wider world, here a wedding. 

The Great Gatsby

The Dictator

20. The Man with the Iron Fists

D: RZA. St: Russell Crowe, Jamie Chung, Pam Grier and Lucy Liu.

That’s right mo-fos, one of the Wu-Tang Clan’s rappers has turned director. And he’s only gone and made a martial arts flick. With Russell Crowe?! Could be a new form of torture, or a fantastic movie experience? I’m going down the optimistic route.


19. Last Stand

D: Kim Jee-woon. St: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Rodrigo Santoro, Peter Stomare and Harry Dean Stanton.

He is so effing back. And working with the bad-ass director of I Saw the Devil and The Good, The Bad, The Weird. A modern-day Western in which a small-town sheriff and his team are the only thing stopping an escaped drug lord.


18. Gangster Squad

D: Ruben Fleischer. St: Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin and Nick Nolte.

He made the zingtastic(!) Zombieland, and then made lumpen mess 30 Minutes or Less. Hoping the mojo is back. The police versus the mafia in 1940s and 50s America could be Untouchables good.


17. (Untitled Terrence Malick Project)

D: Terrence Malick; St: Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz, Barry Pepper and Javier Bardem.

Malick has made just five films since 1973 – all are of striking quality. Not many helmers have avoided putting a foot wrong. Shrouded in secrecy, it seems to be a love story.


16. 47 Ronin

D: Carl Rinsch. St: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada and Rinko Kikuchi.

Point Break – Speed – The Matrix, every time Keanu Reeves seems to be coasting along in the relative doldrums, he goes and makes a pop culture-defining movie. Written by Hossein Amini (Drive) and Chris Morgan (Wanted), might this samurai film be one of those?

Gangster Squad

(Untitled Terrence Malick Project)

15. Gravity

D: Alfonso Cuarón. St: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

Cuarón appears to have been chillaxing since his modern masterpiece, Children of Men. That was back in 2006. This is some sort of sci-fi; haven’t heard too much. But his name alone guarantees entry on this list.


14. World War Z

D: Marc Foster. St: Brad Pitt and Matthew Fox.

Have you read the novel? I love the zombie sub-genre; but admittedly the movies tend to be a bit samey. The book, however, is both refreshing and comprehensive – intelligence injected into this area so often lacking. A believable apocalypse, where so many times I went, “Ah, of course that would happen!” Brad Pitt has turned into an extremely savvy and gifted producer, and hopefully will shepherd through an interesting adaptation. Rumours are that it might be part of a trilogy.


13. Dark Shadows

D: Tim Burton; St: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green.

A vampire soap opera from the mind of Burton, and starring Depp and Pfeiffer. Nuff said.


12. The Life of Pi

D: Ang Lee. St: Suraj Sharma, Tobey Maguire and Irrfan Khan.

One of my favourite novels being turned into a film by one of my favourite directors.


11. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

D: Peter Jackson. St: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Evangeline Lilly, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee and Cate Blanchett.

The once infallible Jackson has been involved with two duds lately – The Lovely Bones and Tintin – otherwise this would’ve been higher up the list. Having said that, I can’t wait to see what he’s learned since The Lord of the Rings trilogy put him on the global map, and what he can do with new technology a decade on.

Dark Shadows

The Hobbit

10. Prometheus

D: Ridley Scott. St: Charlize Theron, Naomi Rapaace, Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.

Is it a prequel to Alien? It sure looks like it!!

9. Django Unchained

D: Quentin Tarantino. St: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Kurt Russell, Kerry Washington, Sacha Baron Cohen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Everyone still wants to work with Tarantino. While underwhelmed on initial viewing, Inglourious Basterds has grown greatly in estimation in my mind. He now turns to slavery-era America, with Foxx’s Django out to rescue his wife. DiCaprio is the baddie. Potentially excellent.


8. Looper

D: Rian Johnson; St: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Bruce Willis.

Brick was brilliant, The Brothers Bloom not so. Could this be Johnson’s return to form? About time-travelling hit men.


7. Amour

D: Michael Haneke. St: Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Let’s face it, Haneke is the master. He reunites with his star of The Piano Teacher to look at a relationship after one partner suffers a stroke.


6. John Carter

D: Andrew Stanton. St: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Willem Dafoe, Dominic West and Mark Strong.

The trailers, while containing some impressive imagery, look a little disconcerting. I have faith though in the live-action debut of the director of WALL.E and Finding Nemo. Coupled with the fact that the John Carter of Mars novels are some of my all-time favourites. An American civil war veteran is miraculously transported to Mars, and ends up fighting against tyranny. Think Avatar, but not crap.


5. Stoker

D: Chan-wook Park. St: Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.

The director of Oldboy is making his English language debut. The man has put out so much quality that even his 40 minute short shot on an iPhone 4 is engaging. A family drama (and thriller?) about a girl dealing with the aftermath of the death of her father.


4. Rust and Bone

D: Jacques Audiard. St: Marion Cotillard.

One of my top filmmakers has got a new picture coming out? Know nothing about it? Yep and yep. It’s in this article because Audiard is a rare breed – he’s not delivered a disappointment. His most famous work has been A Prophet, my top recommend is Read My Lips. See also The Beat that My Heart Skipped.


3. The Master

D: Paul Thomas Anderson. St: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern and Joaquin Phoenix.

He made one of the greatest films of the noughties with There Will Be Blood. He also gave us Boogie Nights and Magnolia. Anderson goes into controversial territory with his story of the birth of a religious cult, which bares resemblance to one occasionally in the news.

Looper

John Carter

2. The Avengers

D: Joss Whedon. St: Robert Downey Jr., Scarlet Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgård and Mark Ruffalo.

He created one of the most impressive TV shows in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seriously! It’s an allegory to growing up. Whedon’s been given the keys to the kingdom by Marvel Comics – a team-up of their super-heroes for one extravaganza: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and…. The Hulk!!!

Captain America and Iron Man

Loki

1. The Dark Knight Rises

D: Christopher Nolan. St: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Juno Temple, Marion Cotillard and Gary Oldman.

We join Gotham City eight years after The Dark Knight, where Batman has gone underground after taking the blame for the crimes of Harvey Dent. With a new threat in steroid-addicted genius, Bane, The Caped Crusader is needed one final time. I might have messed my bad self a bit when I saw the first six minutes at the IMAX. You will too. Out July. Book early. Buy nappies.




Let’s hope 2012 rocks our movie world!!

Batman

Bane

Catwoman