2010 Preview Part 3! Action, Animation, Drama and Fantasy!

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the third of four installments in our 2010 preview… Today we cover Dramas, Action, Fantasy and Animation. Once more, this isn’t a complete list of everything coming out and is meant only to show what’s on my personal radar and what I consider to have some kind of potential. There are a few big studio action movies that I decided not to include, most notably Salt and Knight and Day. They could very well be good movies, but when I saw the trailers for both films (back to back, no less) I was kind of stunned. They looked like fake trailers, the superstar cameo type you’d see before a movie like TROPIC THUNDER making fun of big studio action movies. Having said that, if I miss something of interest let me know via email, Twitter or talkback and it could be included in the fourth and final list. Let’s get started!

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME (May 28, 2010)

Keeping the Alfred Molina/Jerry Bruckheimer thread alive we come to Prince of Persia… Jake Gyllenhaal: Action Star? Laughable only a few years ago, but he seems to do well in the trailer. I don’t know, this one feels like a lesser blockbuster to me, but it’s got a nice cast and a shit-ton of money is guaranteed to be up on the screen. The real question is if we’re going to give a damn about the characters and/or story. Bruckheimer’s involvement means good action and hopefully Mike Newell as director means some attention paid to character. With actors like Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina involved I sure hope so.

THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (July 16, 2010)

The Year of Nic Cage continues! Call me insane, but this movie looks crazy as hell… in a good way. Let me get this straight… They made a film version of the Mickey Mouse mops and buckets scene from Fantasia… but set in New York City with Jay Baruchel instead of Mickey Mouse and Nicolas Cage as Yensid (or Balthazar Blake as IMDB has him listed). And Aldred Molina is a bad wizard? And there are dragons? And Monica Bellucci’s in it? And Jerry Bruckheimer produced it?!? How could this movie not be awesome?

RAPUNZEL (November 24, 2010)

So far we haven’t had a John Lasseter produced (while commanding the hall of Presidents robots at Disney, that is) film hit it out of the park. I loved the return to cel animation in THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, but I found it to be a fairly forgettable movie. BOLT is the best so far and it feels like it has one foot in late ‘90s Disney and one foot in Pixar’s world. Pixar keeps pumping out classics, but I’m still waiting for Lasseter’s Disney to do the same. The dude knows what he’s doing and I have faith in him. Maybe it’ll be REPUNZEL (although they need to drop the “Unbraided” subtitle right now). I love the style in the screened footage… a mix of painterly with CG animation, but style is one thing. The story has to be there. Co-directed by Bolt’s Byron Howard and Nathan Greno the flick features the voices of Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, David Cross (yay), Carol Burnett (double yay) and Jason Alexander.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3-D (February 12, 2010)

I can’t believe they haven’t started really pushing this yet. At ShoWest last year I saw the opening song, Belle, redone in 3-D and it was awesome. I’m not 100% on the 3-D bandwagon, but I’d actually LOVE seeing 3-D as the reason to reissue older films theatrically, giving audiences a new way to experience classics. I’ve also seen some of A New Hope in 3-D and it’s really cool. I’d love to see a trend in 3-D showcasing vintage film and animation is kind of a perfect testing ground in adding depth to features. But studios have to get behind these kinds of releases to see real returns.

THE GUARDIANS OF GA’HOOLE (September 24, 2010)

Zack Snider directs this animated flick based on the series of novels by Kathryn Lasky. There’s a ton of voice talent… Sam Neill, David Wenham, Jim Sturges, Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Miriam Margolyes, Abbie Cornish and LOST’s Emilie de Ravin to name a few. I know relatively little about the style of animation (I hear those who visited the set of SUCKER PUNCH got to see some of it) and know the story only from summaries online. But I do know that Owls are cool. Case in point:

THE RUNAWAYS (March 19, 2010)

Hold on… This isn’t a sequel to the Tom Selleck/Gene Simmons acid spitting robot spider movie? Well, okay I guess… Wait… When the hell did Dakota Fanning grow up? And why is she sexing up the super fun trailer for the Joan Jett biopic starring Kristen Stewart? This flick gets its premiere at Sundance and it’s one of the films I’m most looking forward to, thanks a lot to the below trailer set to Cherry Bomb. I love Kristen Stewart outside of Twilight (meaning when she gives a shit about the movie she’s in) and since this is a passion project of hers I expect her to be giving it her all.

NEVER LET ME GO (TBD 2010)

This project has my attention for a few reasons. One, it’s directed by Mark Romanek who famously left WOLFMAN and has directed a ton of great music videos (not to mention the underseen thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO). Two, it stars some great young actors, including Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. And lastly, it’s based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY) which Time Magazine included in the 100 Best Novels of all time and has been adapted by Alex Garland (28 Days Later). The book has been described as “a haunting story of friendship and love” and promises a sci-fi element. That’s all I need to know.

THE AMERICAN (September 1, 2010)

From another music video director Anton Corbjin (who also helmed the great Joy Division movie CONTROL) comes this George Clooney starrer about an American assassin hiding out in Italy. It seems the standard “hitman’s last job” set-up, but with the talent involved I’d anticipate some fleshed out characters and powerful filmmaking on display. Clooney’s one of the best movie stars of our generation, so anything he toplines is of prime interest.

THE RUM DIARY (TBD 2010)

THE RUM DIARY is Johnny Depp being reunited with Hunter S. Thompson on film. As a massive fan of their last pairing (in Terry Gilliam’s FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS) I’m very excited to see Depp take on Paul Kemp. While I doubt it’ll be as crazy as Fear and Loathing we have WITHNAIL & I director Bruce Robinson helming, Aaron Eckhart, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi and Amber Heard co-starring all based on Thompson’s famous novel of the same name.

RABBIT HOLE (TBD 2010)

Based on the Pulitzer Prize Winning Play of the same name, RABBIT HOLE is a Nicole Kidman/Aaron Eckhart drama about grief, specifically the grief of a mother and father who lose a child. Downer, right? But a good downer if we’re lucky. David Lindsay-Abaire adapts his own play and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH’s John Cameron Mitchell directs. The flick co-stars Dianne Wiest, Sandra Oh and Giancarlo Esposito.

CHLOE (March 19, 2010)

This film is a perfect example of how a film can become attractive with the right people attached. Atom Egoyan directs this thriller with a mediocre-sounding premise starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried (grrooowwwlll). The idea is that a doctor thinks her husband is cheating on her, so she hires a call girl to test his loyalty. That call girl is Amanda Seyfried and that has my $7.50 right there. Sorry, but it’s true. The right cast, an interesting director and it has my attention. The flick did the festival circuit last year, but I somehow missed it. I’ll get my chance in March, it looks like.

FISH TANK (January 15, 2010, limited)

I’ve seen this one and can vouch for it. Fish Tank is a coming of age flick that is essentially an indie movie done right. It’s filled to the brim with cliché… a young girl rebelling against her slutty/abusive/drunk mother falls in love with her mum’s new boyfriend. If you’ve been to a film festival you’ve likely seen a movie like FISH TANK, but what’s different about this film are the characters that writer/director Andrea Arnold craft. Katie Jarvis establishes herself as a natural in the lead and one of the stars of 2009, Michael Fassbender, plays the supportive (even if in a creepy way) adult love interest.

EDGE OF DARKNESS (January 29, 2010)

Casino Royale’s Martin Campbell directs a William Monahan revenge tale starring Mel Gibson in his return as a leading man. If you’re not excited about this project for any of those reasons then I don’t know what to say. “You had better decide if you’re hangin’ on the cross or bangin’ in the nails.” Yes.

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (TBD 2010)

Based on a Philip K. Dick short story title The Adjustment Team, the flick is about a likable rising star politician (Matt Damon) who meets a hot ballerina (Emily Blunt), but even though there’s a connection he begins to notice forces are at work to keep the two apart. Who, what and why? The first feature from THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM’s screenwriter George Nolfi also features the great Terence Stamp and LOST’s Daniel Dae Kim. Here’s some street footage captured by an iPod nano camera of Matt Damon running in the rain to get you excited!

MORNING GLORY (July 30, 2010)

This is another fuck-up on my part… I overlooked this film, a comedy set in a newsroom called MORNING GLORY. So, instead of comedy I’m putting it here because I want to. The flick has a helluva cast… including Jeff Goldblum as a famous nighttime anchor who quits his spot because of the gossipy turn of the program. Rachel McAdams tries to hire him to save a Morning news show and shit hits the fan. Harrison Ford plays one of the morning news anchors and, I’d wager, doesn’t take to the hotshot Goldblum stepping in on his territory. Produced by JJ Abrams, directed by Notting Hill’s Roger Michell and co-starring Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson and Fiddy Cent this flick could be a summer surprise. I’ll just be happy if Harrison Ford is awake in the movie. I know, my standards are low…

BUNRAKU (TBD 2010)

I went to Romania to visit the set of this movie a while back. It was a fun trip and all the people working on the movie were really cool… that said, I have no idea what it’s going to look like. It’s a highly stylized revenge tale. Think Sin City crossed with a Stephen Chow film crossed with a Leone movie and you’re close, I think. There’s American western imagery, Hong Kong action and a bizarre, but cool cast assembled. Josh Hartnett is the revenge-hungry drifter, Ron Perlman is the mountain man-ish heavy, Kevin McKidd is the assassin in a suit, Woody Harrelson is the bartender (Woody!), Demi Moore and Japanese musician turned actor Gackt. With all the different influences this movie could be the equivalent of mashing all your vegetables in with your meat and potatoes or it could be the next great thing that is imitated for a decade. Either way I’m interested.

THE LAST AIRBENDER (July 2, 2010)

As much as I wanted to include M. Night Shyamalan in the next installment, “Genius Directors”, I just couldn’t after his run of films… THE VILLAGE on… some have been good, some have been horrible, but that steadiness he exhibited after THE SIXTH SENSE is gone. I can’t predict how his next is going to turn out now. So, banished from Genius Directors his next flick, which I’m actually really looking forward to, is THE LAST AIRBENDER adapted from the cartoon series AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. Poor Night and his titles always getting taken from him. Anyway, this is set in a world where there are four tribes, each representing a different element… Water, Air, Fire and Earth. No, it’s not a Captain Planet flick. Each tribe studies to control each element and there is one being every so often that can master all four called an Avatar. This Avatar is a young boy named Aang who has to protect his world from the aggressive and power-hungry Fire Nation. The cartoon has some really strong stuff in it. If Shyamalan plays his cards right this’ll be a big, fun tentpole film that is just as entertaining for adults as kids and teens. Newcomer and real life Karate Kid Noah Ringer plays Aang and Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel is Zuko, the angry and scarred Fire Tribe prodigy that’s hunting him down.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF (February 12, 2010)

I know nothing about these books and the trailers don’t really grab me… however, I do love Greek mythology and no matter how mediocre and dull I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER was I’ll always give Chris Columbus a shot. The dude directed ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING, HOME ALONE and wrote GREMLINS, GOONIES and YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES. Maybe coming from almost zero expectation on this film will make is a pleasant surprise. As long as it’s not a condescending kids flick and he can capture a little of the magic and awe that he did in the first Harry Potter movie then we’ll be right as rain.

RED DAWN (November 24, 2010)

WOLVERINES!!! I forgot this one in the Remakes, Reboots and Sequels category, so I’m slyly slipping it into the action flicks. I’m curious about this movie in particular because of the resurgence of Cold War-era troubles. This tale, like the original, has teenagers rising to save their town from invading Commies. Red Chinese and Russians, I’m sure, will be parachuting in and fucking things up for Captain Kirk’s dad (and soon to be Thor) and his friends, who include Josh Peck (The Wackness), Josh Hutcherson (Zathura, Vamprie’s Assistant), Adrianne Palicki (Legion, Friday Night Lights) and Isbel Lucas (we’ll forget Transformers 2 and say Daybreakers). Jeffrey Dean Morgan is also in the picture. We’ll see how hardcore this flick goes… if the studio is going to play it safe or make it as dirty and kind of terrifying as John Milius’ original.

THE BOOK OF ELI (January 15, 2010)

Yeah, it’s being dumped in January, which usually isn’t a good sign, but how could I not be excited about a post-apocalyptic movie starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman as the bad guy? And Mila Kunis as the kick-ass side-chick! And Ray Stevenson, Tom Waits and Michael Gambon are in it! The Hughes Bros struck me as super giant geeks that knew their shit at Comic-Con and I hope they pull this one off. We don’t have very long to wait for the movie. It comes out in 9 days.

MACHETE (TBD 2010)

“They just fucked with the wrong Mexican!” I saw the AFM sizzle reel for the feature… Lindsay Lohan in a nun’s habit? Robert DeNiro as the targeted politician? Jessica Alba as the hotness? Steven Seagal!?! Michelle Rodriguez with a big gun and an eye patch? Co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis and based on the Grindhouse trailer, Machete has to be one of two things. Fucking awesome or fucking fun. If it’s great it’ll be an equal mixture of both. I saw Danny Trejo swinging from window to window using a man’s intestines, so it has a chance.

THE EXPENDABLES (August 20, 2010)

While not based on a Grindhouse trailer, Sylvester Stallone’s THE EXPENDABLES feels like it could have been. Toe to toe there won’t be so much machismo on screen in any other film of the year. Guaranteed. Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Danny Trejo, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger (!?!) and Angel Batista from Dexter (David Zayas). There’s talk of an official trailer hitting very soon, but for now there’s a leaked sizzle reel that isn’t cut very well (some of the lines fall flat), but shows a lot of promise. (And can I take a moment to ask Stallone not to put the Schwarzenegger/Willis scene in the trailer? That’s something I want to see in the movie, not the trailer. Thanks!)



CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 COVERING REMAKES, REBOOTS AND SEQUELS! CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 COVERING COMEDY, HORROR AND COMIC BOOK MOVIES!

One more piece to go… until I realize how many movies I overlooked, then maybe a PS list. Since I was late getting 3 of 4 up, Genius Directors will post later today! Keep an eye out! -Quint quint@aintitcool.com Follow Me On Twitter