2010 Preview Part 1! Remakes, Reboots and Sequels!

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. You may have noticed I didn’t run a Top Ten of 2009 or Tops of the Decades list... I’m weird about those. I like reading others weigh in, but don’t think anyone really gives a shit about what I like that much, especially after a solid month of these lists hitting. But I’m a movie geek, so I like making movie lists… Instead of looking back I decided to look forward. A 2010 preview piece is not all that original either, but 2010 has some solid looking flicks, movies with promise, and to me it’s far more interesting than ranking films I have seen. There are nearly 70 movies on this list of what we’re looking forward to here at AICN, movies that will see release of some kind on 2010. I’ll be breaking them up into 3 articles... maybe 4 if I get to the end and am reminded of a ton of other notable films... So, 3 articles for sure and a possible "I Forget These" finale. You’ll see some Sundance entries here, but I purposefully left a good dozen films off the list because I’m compiling my Sundance preview piece (yes, I’m going this year) and didn’t want to double up too much. With all that said, let’s get looking at what’s coming up!

CLASH OF THE TITANS (March 26, 2010)

I’m usually skeptical when it comes to remakes or sequels of my favorite childhood movies and Clash of the Titans is no exception, but I will say the trailer works. Damn the Gods, indeed. The CG looks up to snuff, the creatures have personality and the supporting cast is awesome. Let’s see if Sam Worthington can shake his leading man neutral persona and add something to the movie… charm, darkness, anything.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (April 30, 2010)

As a child of the ‘80s I grew up on a steady diet of Freddy and Jason. I love ‘em both, but I always held Freddy up higher. The powers Freddy had, the iconography of the character, the freedom telling dream-stories gave to filmmakers like Wes Craven and Chuck Russell… all that combined to make something really scary. So, when Platinum Dunes set upon Jason I didn’t care what they did with him as long as he killed naked teenagers in hardcore ways in the woods… that’s Jason. Freddy’s a bit tougher to crack. I like the mood of the trailers I’ve seen, but a cursory glance at the script and lengthy conversations with those in the know have me worried that we’re going to get a great leading performance by Jackie Earle Haley, a well shot, high production value greatest hits of the first movie with some stupid teenager stuff thrown in. I hope I’m wrong on the latter points. I’d love to see them knock this movie out of the park and dethrone SAW as the yearly dose of horror.

PIRANHA 3-D (April 16, 2010)

Alexandre Aja has been hit and miss in terms of quality horror, but no matter how much Mirrors fell short of its potential he’s always demonstrated a real knack for atmosphere and iconic horror moments. HAUTE TENSION is great, brilliant if you knock off the last 5 minutes, THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake was strong… now he’s doing Piranha, which I hope comes out to be incredibly fun. With KNB doing the gore and the film being shot in 3-D I have to imagine they’re going for pure exploitation. The flick has some odd people in it, like Christopher Lloyd, Dina Meyer, Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Jerry O’Connell and Richard Motherfuckin’ Dreyfuss. Haven’t seen the trailer yet, playing exclusively in 3D theaters.

LET ME IN (TBD 2010)

Out of all the remakes (and there are plenty) slated for 2010 this one, by Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves, has the highest mountain to climb. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is a masterpiece. There’s no other word for that film. Lyrical, innocent, violent and with masterful filmmaking from Tomas Alfredson, the original, just released a year and some change ago, is going to be hard to top. Thankfully Reeves hasn’t cast teenagers and turned this into another Twilight cash-in… Hit Girl herself, Chloe Moretz, will play the vampire and The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee will play the boy. Reeves has a tough, tough job on his hands, with little chance of success in my personal opinion. But if he pulls it off it’ll be brilliant. It has to be or it’s going to fail.

THE WOLFMAN (February 12, 2010)

The Wolf Man is my favorite of the original Univeral Monster movies. I love Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Creature From the Black Lagoon almost as much, but there’s something about werewolves that works for me. I love the tone of the original film, which plays almost like a fairy tale. Joe Johnston had a lot to control stepping in at the last minute on this troubled project. I hope it all comes together. I dig the trailer, I love Benicio del Toro in the Lawrence Talbot role, Hopkins seems to be hamming it up (not a bad thing), Emily Blunt is teh cute as they say on the internets and Agent Smith with crazy chops is hunting them down, all set against a Victorian London backdrop. Fingers crossed this one works.

ROBIN HOOD (May 14, 2010)

It’s Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe working off of a Brian Helgeland script. Yes, the story of Robin Hood has been told a few trillion times, but those three together have my ass in a seat. The flick also stars Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (March 5, 2010)

Call me crazy, but this movie looks fucking awesome to me. I love that it’s a continuation and not yet another retelling of Alice’s first trip through the looking glass. I love the casting (name me another movie featuring Johnny Depp, Christopher Lee, Stephen Fry, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen and Crispin Glover), I love Burton’s eye for the surreal and think he’s actually a perfect match for this subject matter. Very excited for this one.

THE A-TEAM (June 11, 2010)

Okay, you know what? I have a feeling this movie’s going to be fun as hell. I can already hear the full, studio orchestration of the fantastic A-Team theme, I can see from the above still that Liam Neeson is just going to throw in every bit of swagger he has and this will be the first time we see Shalto Copley after he sucker-punched us with his performance in District 9. I’m also a fan of what Joe Carnahan brings to these kinds of movies. He hasn’t always been 100% successful, but he has the eye. I may be nuts, but I loved the unadulterated fun of the first Charlie’s Angels movie and if I can get at least that from this movie I’ll be happy, but there’s a chance this could be a movie I feel comfortable admitting I like, which would be awesome.

PREDATORS (July 7, 2010)

This one is sneaking under the radar a bit. I had no idea it was going to be a Summer 2010 movie until very recently. I’ve seen some things I’m not allowed to talk about, but I can say that this jaded cynical geek who has seen his childhood heroes ruined in remakes, reboots and sequels over the last decade is a firm believer in this film. Suits instead of CG, neat story and Nimrod Antal getting his chance to play with some huge geek properties. I hope I can say more in the near future, but I will say this should be high on your anticipation list. Adrien Brody, Danny Trejo, Laurence Fishburne, Derek Mears (Jason in the Friday the 13th remake), Alice Braga and Topher Grace round out the cast. Oh, and some giant dudes with dreadlocks, crooked teeth and bad attitudes.

WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (April 23, 2010)

Scarier than 7 foot tall aliens that hunt man for sport are Wall Street money-men. I’m psyched for Oliver Stone’s return to Gordon Gekko’s lair, I’m psyched to see what the man has to say about the current financial climate and yes… I’m even excited to see Shia LaBeouf tackle something that doesn’t involve giant robots, swinging with monkeys, killer computers or crazy David Morse. Stone also brings back Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox here. The one drawback to this film is that LaBeouf is now dating my girlfriend, Carey Mulligan, but I understand. I don’t blame you, baby.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (November 19, 2010)

It’s an amazing achievement, these Harry Potter films. Watching these three kids grow up over the last decade has had an interesting effect on these later films. There’s a connection to these characters, the kind you only really get in real life with friends and family. It doesn’t hurt that the source material is so good and this final chapter in the Harry Potter Saga is dark as shit. I’m actually kind of glad that the powers that be are squeezing every last drop they can out of these movies by splitting The Deathly Hallows because as a result we’re going to get the 4+ hour telling of this massive, action and tragedy-filled final book. I, for one, want to see the Battle For Hogwarts take an hour and treated like a WW1 siege movie… but with magic.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (June 30, 2010)

Wait, wait! Hear me out, hear me out! Yeah, like most of you these films grate on me… dull, sometimes offensive soap operas with a slight supernatural bent and a massive fanbase that seems to understand how crappy these movies are and love them all the more for being so. But the reason why I’m curious about the third installment is the director, David Slade (30 DAYS OF NIGHT, HARD CANDY) and the reports of the cast being a bit turned off that he’s actually trying to make a horror movie with the third installment. That said, Summit has a vested interest in not freaking out its fanbase, so I’m sure whatever small ember of interest I have will be extinguished when we start seeing how similar this next movie will be to the previous two.

TOY STORY 3 (June 18, 2010)

This is the third installment to really get excited for this year. Pixar’s track record speaks for itself, but a lot rides on this sequel. I trust those dudes to know quality, but if Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2) drops the ball here… well, it’ll be the thud heard ‘round the world. But enough of that cynical talk, I have no reason to doubt Pixar and I’m excited to see the return of Woody, Buzz, Slinky, Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and all the gang, especially with the darker tone I’m feeling from the trailer. Issues like abandonment and neglect are prime real estate for those guys and throw in what looks to be a prison break style B-storyline and that’s all I need.

IRON MAN 2(May 7, 2010)

Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. More Downey as Tony Stark, more mech, more gorgeous photography from Matty Libatique… I’m so happy this summer sees the return of Iron Man.

TRON LEGACY (December 17, 2010)

We’re still almost a year away from seeing the sequel to the geek-worshipped 1982 original film. This is another one that I’m not allowed to talk about in detail (I visited the set, but that’s about all I can say). Suffice it to say set visit or no set visit this has to be one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year… not just by me, the nerd who has a framed Australian Tron 1-sheet hanging in my bedroom, but by everyone who even thinks they like movies. Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn, Bruce Boxleitner returns as Alan Bradley and we have a wide variety of new programs. If director Joseph Kosinski can knock this out of the park he’ll be 2010’s Neill Blomkamp.



CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 COVERING COMEDY, HORROR AND COMIC BOOK MOVIES!

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3 COVERING ACTION, ANIMATION, DRAMA and FANTASY!

CLICK HERE FOR PART 4 COVERING THE GENIUS DIRECTORS! -Quint quint@aintitcool.com Follow Me On Twitter