Holiday Movie Preview
November 26th
 | Australia (20th Century Fox) – Baz Luhrmann’s follow-up to Moulin Rouge unites Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in a romantic western set against the backdrop of the Japanese bombing of Darwin in 1942. Four Christmases (New Line Cinema) – It’s the holidays in the era of the nuked family as married couple Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon have to attend four Christmases with their four separated parents in a single day. Transporter 3 (Lionsgate) – Jason Statham returns to the franchise that made him a star, once again ferrying potentially dangerous, possibly illegal, things for people across Paris, no questions asked. Milk (Focus Features) – This bio-pic about the assassination of San Francisco city supervisor and gay rights advocate Harvey Milk is brought to us by Gus Van Sant, returning to mainstream Hollywood after the low-key indies Elephant and Paranoid Park. It’s also now all the more pertinent given the anger in California over Proposition 8. |
December 5th
| Punisher: War Zone (Lionsgate) – After two bungled attempts to bring the skull-clad vigilante to the big screen (inexplicably starring Dolph Lundgren and Thomas Jane, respectively), Marvel tries it again with Ray Stevenson as the fully-loaded anti-hero. Extreme Movie (Dimension Films) – From four writers of Saturday Night Live (including Will Forte and Andy Samburg) comes a series of comedic sketches about teenage sex. Starring Frankie Muniz, Ryan Pinkston, Jamie Kennedy, Andy Milonakis, Matthew Lillard, and Michael Cera. Cadillac Records (Sony Pictures) – Adrien Brody plays legendary music producer Leonard Chess, an instrumental force in the development of Rock in the 50s. The film co-stars Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Columbus Short as Little Walter, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, and Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James. (Limited Release) Frost/Nixon (Universal) – From the play by Peter Morgan (The Queen), Ron Howard dramatizes the momentous television interview between British journalist David Frost (Michael Sheen) and disgraced US President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella), which took place just three years after Nixon’s post-Watergate resignation. The film is heavily favoured to be one of the year’s award-season, prestige pictures. (Limited Release) |  |
December 10th
The Reader (MGM) – Based on the best-selling novel, the story starts as a love affair between a teenage boy and an older woman. Years later in law school, the now adult character learns that the woman he loved is a Nazi war criminal, as he and his classmates observe her trial. Director Stephen Daldry also made Billy Elliot and The Hours. (Limited Release)
December 12th
 | The Day the Earth Stood Still (20th Century Fox) – From the director of Hellraiser: Inferno and The Exorcism of Emily Rose comes the remake of a film from the director of The Sound of Music and The Andromeda Strain. Oh, and Keanu Reeves plays the alien messenger Klaatu, the message is more ecological than nuclear, and it’s entirely possibly that the film’s humanity will be replaced by awesome looking effects. Nothing Like the Holidays (Alliance) – What last year’s This Christmas was to holiday, family dramedies about black families, this film is to holiday, family dramedies about people of Puerto Rican decent. Delgo (Freestyle Releasing) – A computer animated fantasy film that’s kind of Romeo & Juliet meets World of Warcraft. Independent animation studio Fathom, based in Atlanta, GA, has spent 10 years developing this film. Doubt (Miramax) – Based on the John Patrick Shanley play, a nun (Meryl Streep) confronts a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman), suspecting him of sexually molesting a new student. Shanley wrote the screenplay and directed. (Limited Releease) |
December 17th
Gran Torino (Warner Bros) – Clint Eastwood follows up Changeling with something that calls back to his Dirty Harry days, playing a retired, Korean War vet that loses his racist façade as he gets close to a Chinese family next door and protects the teenage children from a local gang. Eastwood’s first starring role since Million Dollar Baby. (Limited Release)
The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight) – Mickey Rourke got a lot of praise on the festival circuit for playing the part of a washed-up professional wrestler that climbs back into the ring for one more go round, perhaps at the cost of his life. Darren Aronofsky’s follow-up to The Fountain is getting a lot of Oscar buzz for Rourke. (Limited Release)
December 19th
| Seven Pounds (Sony Pictures) – Who does it star? Will Smith. Who directed it? Pursuit of Happyness filmmaker Gabriele Muccino. What does the title refer to? Your guess is as good as mine. What’s it about? No one knows. The Tale of Despereaux (Universal) – Three unusual characters: a misfit mouse who prefers reading books to eating them (Matthew Broderick), an unhappy rat who schemes to leave the darkness of the dungeon (Dustin Hoffman), and a bumbling servant girl with cauliflower ears (Tracey Ullman), find their fates are intertwined with that of the castle's princess (Emma Watson). An animated film based on the novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. Yes Man (Warner Bros) – Ten years ago, Jim Carrey got a big pay day for Liar, Liar after an experiment with failure in The Cable Guy. Now, Carrey (hopefully) returns to comedic form following the bizarre Number 23 in Yes Man, about an introvert that decides to literally say “Yes” to all of life’s possibilities. The Brothers Bloom (Summit Entertainment) – Definitely my favourite coming out of the Toronto Film Festival, and still in my top ten for the year, Rian Johnson’s sophomore film follows Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody), the world’s greatest confidence men, in one last con. (Limited Release) |  |
December 25th
 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount) – David Fincher re-teams with Fight Club star Brad Pitt to tell the F. Scott Fitzgerald tale of a man that ages backwards. Excitement for this is high, even though the release dates been pushed back twice. Marley & Me (Fox Searchlight) – The trailer might say fun-loving good times, but Marley & Me is based on best-selling memoir by Philadelphia Inquisitor reporter John Grogan about the life of his beloved golden lab Marley, and how the dog helped the family cope in good times and bad. The Spirit (Lionsgate) – Frank Miller hopes to do a little better than his previous forays into filmmaking (like Robocop 2 and 3) by following in the footsteps of Sin City, which he co-directed with Robert Rodriguez. It seems Miller’s tried to stay true to the Will Eisner’s original creation, and includes as many of The Spirit’s femme fatales as possible, while thankfully leaving out sidekick Ebony White. Bedtime Stories (Disney) – Adam Sandler plays a slacker buffoon whose niece and nephew can make details in his bedtime stories come true. Call me crazy, but I think Disney felt inspiration hit with Enchanted last year. At least this Sandler movie is for kids, rather than just being childish. Last Chance Harvey (Overture Films) – In one of those “chance meeting” sort of things, down on his luck Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) strikes up a conversation with sheltered workaholic Kate (Emma Thompson), as they end up influencing one and other to change both their lives. |
December 26th
| Valkyrie (United Artists) – After a lot of time shifting, Valkyrie is being released in the shadow of controversy, with a lot riding on its success. Sure it features the re-teaming of Usual Suspects duo screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie and director Bryan Singer, but it also has Tom Cruise as a Nazi officer with no German accent. Shades of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves could ruin the effect no matter how good it is. Revolutionary Road (Paramount Vantage) – Speaking of long-awaited re-teamings, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet re-unite for Sam Mendes’ latest look at disaffected suburbanites. Di Caprio and Winslet play a self-assured married couple that swear they won’t turn out like their neighbours, though they slowly do anyway. (Limited Release) December 31st Defiance (Paramount Vantage) – Daniel Craig ditches James Bond’s tux to portray real-life hero Tuvia Bielski, who with two of his brothers saved 1,200 Jews and other Nazi fugitives as Soviet partisans in West Belarus during World War II. For added prestige the film was directed and co-written by Edward Zwick, whose past war films were Glory and Courage Under Fire. (Limited Release) |  |
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