We are into the final push for the year. This is the time when films get that Oscar buzz and movies you have never heard of get released in two theaters some time after Christmas just so they are eligible for this year’s round of awards shows. That is not to say that there isn’t anything mainstream and fun out there. After all, this is the holiday season and the only time that families really have a lot of free time to get on each others’ nerves and run off to the theater for a little escapism. Here is what should be around for the rest of the year.
December 2nd
Aeon Flux -Paramount Pictures
The MTV cartoon is brought to life by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron following in Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry’s footsteps of winning an Oscar and then donning a tight fitting outfit to play a one dimensional cartoon anti-hero. Aeon Flux is a secret agent sent on an assassination mission, the rest is run and gun. Don’t expect any earth shattering dialogue, but the former dancer should add some grace and fluidity to the action sequences.
First Decent -Universal Pictures
This film is llisted as a docu-drama. I’m not sure what that means but it sounds like something that takes real people (meaning non actors) and stretches the reality of their lives. Kind of like reality television. This film looks at the rise of snowboarding by following some of its founders and some of its current stars. If you like snowboarding, a lot, you’d probably like this film. Otherwise, it is probably best to just stay home.
TransAmerica -IFC Films
This film is probably only getting a mention because it stars Desperate Housewives’ Felicity Huffman strangely as a transsexual named Bree. Plus this is one of the few leading lady roles available to vie for Best Actress type awards. Otherwise this is a small independent film about a guy in the last stages before surgically becoming a woman who finds out he has a 17-year-old son. They take a road trip together and I am sure there is bonding and fighting and revelation along the way.
December 9th
Brokeback Mountain -Focus Features
A smash at the Toronto Film Festival, this ‘gay cowboys’ movie looks to be the indie heavyweight of the season. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as cowboys who fall in love in 1963 Wyoming this Ang Lee directed flick is garnering rave reviews and a lot of award interest. This interest comes most notably for taking its characters beyond the ‘gay cowboy’ tag and into the realm of warm humanity.
Memoirs of a Geisha -Sony Pictures
I was more interested in this film when Steve Spielberg was going to helm it. Now Rob Marshall, the director of Chicago, brings the tale of a poor girl who becomes a famous geisha. Starring the luminous Ziyi Zhang it might be nice to see a film where she doesn’t fly and chop people up with swords. . It also includes every other luminary from Asian cinema including Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, and Bond girl Michelle Yeoh.
The Chronicles of Narnia -Walt Disney Pictures
The first of the beloved C.S Lewis books about four children who stumble into the extraordinary land of Narnia on the other side of a wardrobe. The preview look impressive and the story is great, lets just hope that Lewis’ Christian prosthelityzing is kept to a minimum. Producers hope that a Harry Potter like empire can be created from this series of books but they will be hard pressed as the material thins out around book 4.
December 14th
King Kong -Universal Studios
I’m not sure that any film this year has been as anticipated as Peter Jackson’s latest film foray, a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong. The buzz is that this film has looked amazing from the first frame. Adrien Brody might not be the most obvious choice as the leading man but he is a great actor and Jack Black seems born for the part of the overzealous movie director. Some of the behind the scenes stuff has been scary since Jackson looks half dead and at half the weight we are used to seeing him. But if he put half of that energy into making the film it is probably one of the greatest things we will see this year. Notice that all of the other studios are staying out of the way of this gorilla.
December 16th
The Family Stone -20th Century Fox
This is a romantic comedy about family tensions. This one seems perfect for the awkward holiday season. Producers are banking that an all-star cast headed by Diane Keaton can recreate the box office magic of her last romantic comedy ‘Something’s Gotta Give.’ This film features Sarah Jessica Parker as a woman who goes home with her fiancee, Dermot Mulroney, and meets the imposing Stone clan. Hopefully this film doesn’t drown under the weight of its stars.
The Producers: The Movie Musical -Universal Pictures
How do you go about making a movie of a Broadway play based on a movie about putting on a play? You get Broadway stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick to reprise their Tony award winning roles and you just do it. This film is a welcome reward for all of those people who were unable to get tickets to the sold out Broadway run of the show. If you don’t know the story by now, an unscrupulous producer, Lane, and his accountant, Broderick, try to make money by producing the worst Broadway flop ever, a musical entitled ‘Springtime For Hitler.’ Let the laughs begin.
December 21st
Fun with Dick and Jane -Sony Pictures
Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni star as an ordinary suburban married couple who turn to robbery to keep up with the Joneses. This is a remake of the 1977 George Segal and Jane Fonda film. With Carrey anything could be fun and Tea Leoni has an often underrated comic ability last seen in the short lived television show ‘The Naked Truth’. In the preview the actors seem a little flat, there could be some chemistry problems with this one, or perhaps it is just a bad preview.
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 -20th Century Fox
Did this film really need to be made? Was the last film not atrocious enough to last us for quite some time? Can’t the studios think of anything better to throw wads of money at? Steve Martin balances his subtle work in Shopgirl with this in-your-face comedy. The previews for this one look much better than for the first film as the Baker clan go on vacation. This looks a lot more like the 80s film Summer Rental than anything else but don’t expect big lines to see it.
December 23rd
Munich -Dreamworks
Steven Spielberg brings more Jewish history to life as he presents the story of an agent who tracks Palestinian terrorists after the assassination of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Spielberg has already proved adept at presenting this sort of material sympathetically if slightly maudlin and he will most likely do an admirable job here for a film with what seemed to be a rushed production schedule. The preview makes it seem like Mission Impossible, but with a social conscience.
The Matador - Miramax
‘The worst day in James Bond’s life’ is how former Bond man himself Pierce Brosnan describes his new film, The Matador. With flashes of Whole Nine Yards, this film is about an aging hitman who enlists the help of an ordinary businessman that he meets randomly to help him with one last job and to get out of the business. The previews show a wacky side to Brosnan that we haven’t seen before that could be interesting and Greg Kinnear makes a believable everyman in way over his head.
December 25th
The New World (limited) -New Line Cinema
It looks lush and lavish and like it is going to be a long and slow movie punctuated by loud war scenes. That could be just the sort of thing that awards show voters will like but it might drag down the holiday season. I’ll wait to see what the word on the street is on this one and see it in January.
Casanova -Touchstone Pictures
A Heath Ledge double play as he stars as the fabled romantic trying to find real love in this costume drama indie. I’d check out Brokeback Mountain first but if you are looking for a costume drama over the holidays it is probably between this and Johnny Depp in The Libertine.
Match Point (limited) -Dreamworks
Match Point written and directed by Woody Allen is supposed to be a return to form for the film auteur whose work has suffered of late. Starring Scarlett Johansson and centering about male and female relationships, infidelity, and family infighting this is familiar territory for Allen. But the previews lend a feeling that this film is far more intense, and less comical than much of Allen’s work. Since this one will only be in limited release, most people will have to wait for next year to see it.
Related posts:
- Part II Fall Movie Preview - October
- Part III Fall Movie Preview - November
- Part I Fall Movie Preview - September
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