Movies to watch for in 2009
Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 7:00 AM by Paige Newman
Filed Under:
Movies
New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to hope that last year studio executives made resolutions to bring us some high quality, fun films for 2009. Fingers crossed.
Yes, there are some familiar names, such as “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” “Star Trek,” “Terminator: Salvation,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” “Angels & Demons,” “The Watchmen” (if it happens) and “The Hannah Montana Movie.” But what else is buried among the 2009 offerings? Here are a few offerings to perk up film fans out there:
“Inglourious Basterds” (Aug. 16)
Quentin Tarantino’s latest (the title of which should drive copy editors everywhere slightly insane) tells the story of a group of Jewish-American soldiers who get off on brutally killing Nazis (there’s scalping involved…). This is Tarantino, so expect some serious violence (after all, this is the director who created a classic scene that involved slicing a man’s ear off). The film’s eclectic cast is irresistible and features Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Samuel L. Jackson, director Eli Roth (in an acting role), Cloris Leachman, “The Office’s” B.J. Novak and former “Freaks and Geeks” actor Sam Levine.
“Public Enemies” (July 1)
We all know Christian Bale is starring in “Terminator: Salvation,” directed by the dreaded, not-quite-a-full-name director McG . And if you’ve seen the trailer for that film, you know that Bale uses that same gravelly whisper voice he used in “The Dark Knight” (could someone get Bale a lozenge, stat?). But Bale also stars opposite Johnny Depp in this Michael Mann-helmed thriller about how the Feds tried to take down John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.
Warner Bros. |
Spike Jones brings Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are" to life.
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“Where the Wild Things Are” (Oct. 16)
Spike Jonze directs this Dave Eggers-penned adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book about a boy who is sent to bed without dinner and ends up creating his own imaginary world of monsters. Tales of how Jonze clashed with the studio have circulated, but it sounds like ultimately the director got to realize his vision. “It’s sort of like (the studio was) expecting a boy and I gave birth to a girl (laughs),” Jonze told Ain’t It Cool News. “So they just needed their time to sort that out and figure out how they were going to learn to love their new daughter.”
“Shutter Island” (Oct. 2)
Martin Scorsese brings another Dennis Lehane (“Gone Baby Gone,” “Mystic River”) novel to the big screen. Scorsese-favorite Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo star as two U.S. marshals who go to a remote island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate a woman’s disappearance from the island’s hospital for the criminally insane. And, yes, she’s also a killer.
Other films that look interesting include Pixar’s latest, “Up;” the Robert Downey Jr.-starring “Sherlock Holmes”; Diablo Cody’s “Juno” follow-up, “Jennifer’s Body”; James Cameron’s return to the big screen, “Avatar”; Daniel Day-Lewis in the musical “Nine”; Denzel Washington in the remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123”; Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones”; and Matt Damon in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant.”
And finally one more I can’t resist: Nicolas Cage in Werner Herzog’s remake of "The Bad Lieutenant," -- a combination so bananas, you’ll probably find me in the theater opening weekend.
Are there any films you’re looking forward to in 2009? Share them in the comments space below.
