Soooooo, first off I want to just say, "Woah, guys, sorry." For those select few who actually enjoy reading what I have to say about movies I am deeply sorry I've been gone for so long. A mix of various distractions that range from graduate school applications to writing projects that fall into the creative rather than "analytic" side of things have led me to neglect this blog and I feel an inordinate amount of guilt about it. I know most of you won't care one way or another, but I needed to get this apology out there for my own (however selfish) benefit. I've got too much guilt already!
Anyway, I figured what better way to get back into things than by sharing a list of my most anticipated films of this year! January and February are always a radioactive wasteland of pure, unadulterated crap and there's rarely anything I see in theaters that I like enough to write about until March (although I did see The Lego Movie and it was delightful). So, seeing as we're all currently wading through this river of bile and pus, let me provide you with 15 films to keep in mind so you don't lose faith in humanity. Are you ready? Because here we goooooooooooo!
15.) Jodorowsky's Dune by Frank Pavich (Release: March 7th)
Many of you may be familiar with David Lynch's 1984 adaptation (read: turd) of Dune. However, this was not the first attempt at bringing the sci-fi epic to the screen. Debuting last year at Cannes, Jodorowsky's Dune is a documentary that explores Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky's attempt to adapt Frank Herbert's massive novel in the mid-70's. Many people who had the pleasure to see the film at last year's Fantastic Fest had it on their best films of the year lists and it's not hard to see why. It is one of the greatest "if only" stories in cinematic history - Jodorowsky's phantasmagoric aesthetic a seemingly perfect match for Herbert's magnum opus. With beautiful visuals and an unprecedented look into Jodorowsky's mad genius, what went into attempting to bring his vision to life and ultimately what kept it from getting made, this documentary is the closest we will ever get to seeing Jodorowsky's dream come to fruition.
14.) Maps to the Stars by David Cronenberg (Release: TBD)
Admittedly, I haven't found the last quarter of David Cronenberg's filmography to be as compelling as those that have come before. That being said, he is still one of my favorite directors and I'm intrigued to see his take on celebrity culture after his son's recent debut, Antiviral, which critiqued celebrity obsession through the lens of his father's trademark style. Maps to the Stars, well, stars John Cusack as a psychotherapist and life coach whose self-help books have garnered him a fortune. His wife, played by Olivia Williams, manages the career of their thirteen-year-old son who recent exited a rehabilitation program which he entered at the age of nine. Their daughter, played by Mia Wasikowska, was recently released from a sanatorium after being committed as a criminal pyromaniac. It sounds like it has the potential to be bat-shit crazy with a possible (PLEASE, OH, PLEASE) return of the body horror that made Cronenberg famous. Granted, it could be another colossal failure like his recent Cosmopolis, but I hold out hope that it'll be a return to form. Twisted, bloody, exploding form.
13.) Snowpiercer by Bong Joon-ho (Release: TBD)
This one would easily be higher on my list if I was certain I would be able to watch it this year. That being said, when the Weinstein Company bought the rights to Snowpiercer, the latest film by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, I was petrified. For those of you who don't know, God (aka Harvey Weinstein) has a lovely habit of purchasing foreign films and then either never releasing them or cutting and editing them so severely that what American audiences are left with is a mangled mess that inevitably flops. It's bullshit and Harvey Weinstein sucks. Luckily, it was recently-ish announced that Snowpiercer will be getting a director's cut release here in the States which hopefully means that all of us will eventually get a chance to watch it in all of its untampered glory on home video. And that's a beautiful thing because all signs point to Snowpiercer being a masterpiece. What is essentially a South Korean science fiction action film based on a French graphic novel, Snowpiercer tells of a future where an experiment to stop global warming has gone awry and caused another ice age that has wiped out nearly all life on Earth. The only survivors are inhabitants of this massive train called "The Snowpiercer" which travels around the planet powered by a perpetual-motion engine. As time progresses, class systems form on the train with the elite inhabiting the front of the train and the lower classes in the back (not the subtlest idea in the world, but it works). Tired of their squalid living conditions, the lower classes decide to revolt in an attempt to seize control of the train's sacred engine. Bong Joon-ho is one of the most inventive and unusual directors of our time and much like Memories of Murder, The Host, and Mother, I expect this one to be incredibly weird and absolutely spectacular.
12.) Rosewater by Jon Stewart (Release: TBD)
I'm pulling for this film so hard. I want it be thought provoking and brilliant and garner all sorts of praise. But, of course, I'm worried. For those of you that don't know, Rosewater marks the directorial debut for Jon Stewart. Yes, that Jon Stewart. Daily Show Jon Stewart. Not only is it his directorial debut, it's also a straight drama based on the memoir Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari and Aimee Malloy which recounts how Bahari (a London-based journalist) was detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated in prison. Not exactly the most humorous of topics. But, a topic and a story that is intriguing. Not much information has been released about it, but it stars Gael Garcia Bernal who, while not widely known here in the US, is outstanding in films like Amores perros (2000) and Y tu mama tambien (2001). Despite how counter intuitive it might be, I believe in my heart that Stewart will create something truly special. It's a topic close to his heart - Bahari's imprisonment is connected to a 2009 interview he gave on The Daily Show - and if you've watched Stewart much at all, you know that he handles serious topics with tact and professionalism. And when it comes down to it, it's Jon Stewart. He's one of the most talented writers and political commentators/satirists working today and he's going to give us something great.
11.) Noah by Darren Aronofsky (Release: March 28th)
From the mind that brought you such films as Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, and Black Swan comes one of the oldest stories ever told... A biblical epic... Starring Russell Crowe... It's NOAH. Now, describe that in one word. I bet that word wasn't "noncontroversial'! In an interview in 2007, Aronofsky told The Guardian that the figure of Noah had fascinated him since he was 13 years old. He explained that he saw Noah as "a dark, complicated character" who experiences "real survivor's guilt" after the flood. I always find Darren Aronofsky's films to be visually and emotionally compelling and it will be interesting to see what he can do with his first massive budget and a much increased scale (there has been talk of a complex and strange CGI animal cast). It will also be interesting to see how he manages to balance (and how audiences handle) a subject that intrinsically leans right with an added environmental element that rocks the boat far to the left. It's clear from the extent to which the Duck Dynasty fiasco was a major news story for weeks earlier this year that there continues to be a clear divide in our culture when it comes to religious beliefs. I'm nervous to see if Aronofsky will be able to walk that tightrope and deliver a terrific film that appeals to everyone's sensibilities and excited for the precedent that will be set if Noah ends up being a huge success.
