After a relatively disappointing summer season, all eyes turn to Hollywood’s output for the remainder of 2010 – JOE tells you what to look out for.
All told, aside from Toy Story 3 and Inception, it was arguably a pretty disappointing summer for Hollywood and its audiences, both in terms of the critical consensus of some of their biggest releases (iffy reviews for Iron Man 2 and The A-Team), and disappointing box office returns in comparison to that of 2009. Thankfully, however, aside from some uninspired sequel-itis (the third Meet The Parents flick, Little Fockers below), there looks to be plenty of cinematic delights to pique your interest over the coming months.
Ten years after the original, there’s STILL tension between these two?
If you’ve been following JOE’s weekly Trailer Park feature, much of the following JOE recommendations should come as no surprise, as we’ve been at a heightened state of excitement over many upcoming releases over the last few months. However, with so much on the horizon, exactly which upcoming movies should you see, should you skip, and more importantly, which is the biggest release that should be avoided at all costs? Luckily, JOE is here with the latest up-to-the-minute release dates, trailers and advance buzz on Hollywood’s slate of Autumn and Winter releases.
Tron returns to cement its Legacy
Tron Legacy
Released: December 26
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garret Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen
Plot: Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the abandoned Flynn’s Arcade — that could have only come from his father — he finds himself pulled into a world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years.
JOE’s View:
Disney’s stunning Tron Legacy holds not just the longest break between movie and sequel (28 years), it’s the first post-Avatar film to have been filmed entirely in 3D, rather than the less-impressive post-production 3D conversion (Clash of the Titans, Alice in Wonderland) studio execs have been rapidly clamouring for. For that reason alone, we can’t wait to see the stunning, iconic Tron visuals to pop into life on-screen.
Expected to be a monstrous blockbuster for the Christmas season, the prospect of revitalising the Tron franchise with a $200m budget has been a massive undertaking for debut director (yes, debut) Joseph Kosinski – not that you’d notice from the latest jaw-dropping trailer, embedded below.
Featuring Jeff Bridges in his current and digitised 1982-self (much like Bejamin Button’s then-state of the art de-aging CGI), Tron looks to combine its minimalist art style with groundbreaking CGI and a pounding score created by French electronica legends Daft Punk, which has been created specifically for the film. In our opinion, much like Avatar, 3D action films hit new heights when they look to transport the viewer to new worlds – something Disney are promising, and look set to be delivering. With Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3, Disney became the first studio to ever have two $1bn grossing movies in one year – could they go even further?
Harry Potter’s final installment
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Released: November 19
Director: David Yates (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emily Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes
Plot: Part one of the final installment in the multi-billion Harry Potter movie franchise reunites Director David Yates with the heroic team of Daniel Radcliffe, Emily Watson and Rupert Grint. Deathly Hallows follows the trio on a quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort’s secret to immortality – the Horcruxes.
JOE’s View: Next summer, after ten years and eight movies, the phenomenally successful film adaptations of the Harry Potter franchise finally comes to an end. Though there are seven books in the series, Warner Bros have made the surprising (but extremely lucrative, so perhaps not too surprising) decision to split the final installment of the “biggest motion picture event of a generation” into two parts – much like the loathsome Twilight franchise plans – in 2011.
With some quote-worthy lines from a villainous Ralph Fiennes, at least one person shouting “Haaaaarry!” (as presumably is contractually obliged in every Harry Potter trailer), dragons and Hogwarts explosions, Hallows looks to raise the ante considerably. Director David Yates returns from his well-recieved efforts helming Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince to bring Warner Bros’ phenomenal achievement to a fitting finale. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ release split between Part 1 (November 19) and Part 2 (July 2011), the below trailer encapsulates scenes from both.
Robert Downey Jr. has a Due Date
Due Date
Released: November 5
Director: Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx
Plot: Due Date focuses on two men strewn together in extreme circumstances: a highly strung expectant father Peter Highman (Downey) and aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis) on a cross country road trip, attempting to ensure that the father can arrive in time to see his child’s birth.
JOE’s View: The Hangover breakout star Zach Galifianakis reunites with director Todd Phillips for the upcoming road trip comedy Due Date, co-starring Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. The below trailer has a very Planes, Trains & Automobiles vibe, though it would be a pretty tough task for both stars to top the chemistry of Steve Martin and the late John Candy.
Although scatter-shot editing somewhat muddies any comedy potential at the end of the below trailer, Galifianakis’ reaction to Downey Jr’s neglectful father gives us plenty of hope Todd Phillips can relive the highs of The Hangover before it’s much-anticipated Thailand-set sequel hits in summer 2011. We’ll see in November whether or not Phillips can keep his hot streak of box office success alive.
Danny Boyle returns from his Slumdog success
127 Hours
Released: January 7, 2011
Director: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire)
Starring: James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Lizzy Caplan
Plot: Mountain climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) is trapped in an isolated canyon after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm while he is hiking in Utah. Over the next five days, Ralston examines his life and survives the elements before making a life-changing decision in order to free himself.
JOE’s View:
After a worldwide lap of honour, collecting everything from BAFTA’s to Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting director Danny Boyle returns with 127 Hours, starring James Franco (Pineapple Express, Milk). Franco has been quietly building an impeccable portfolio in recent years and finally has a project worthy of his talents, as he looks set to hog the screen in this drama based on a faithful event in the life of mountain climber Aron Ralston.
In 2003, Ralston went for a hike into Robbers Roost, Utah and became trapped in an isolated canyon after a fallen boulder crashed onto his arm. Over the next five days, the climber survived on tiny sips of water before deciding to make a life-altering decision – unless he amputated his own arm, he would have no chance of ever returning home. Boyle’s feature is based on Ralston’s autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place and the first trailer below captures the director’s typically dynamic visual style and inspired music cues.
Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Released: September 24
Director: Oliver Stone (Wall Street, W.)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Carey Mulligan, Josh Brolin
Plot: 23 years after the original Wall Street release, Money Never Sleeps centres around a reformed Gordon Gekko (Douglas) as he attemptss to help Wall Street before its soon-to-be stock market crash, as well as trying to repair his relationship with his daughter Winnie with the help of Jacob (Shia LaBeouf), Winnie’s fiance.
JOE’s View: It’s been 23 years since Michael Douglas’ Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko in 1987’s Wall Street, Oliver Stone’s drama which came to encapsulate the culture of greed, consumption and awful clothing which now defines our view of the decade. With the global economy collapsing during pre-production on Stone’s long-awaited follow-up, the timing couldn’t be better for audiences to rediscover the sometimes-shady, high-risk world of investment banking and stock trading.
Aside from Douglas, Stone has assembled a stellar cast including Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, rising British actress Carey Mulligan and apparently, a cameo from original star Charlie Sheen. The film was also screened out of competition to mostly positive reviews at the Cannes Film Festival, though Stone has apparently gone back into the editing suite to trim the drama’s original Cannes runtime. Aside from Stone’s recent hit-or-miss track record (we haven’t forgotten the double whammy of Miami Vice and Alexander), we feel on safe ground considering the involvement of Douglas and his commitment to revisit his most inconic role.
300 director turns to CGI owls?
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Released: October 22
Director: Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen)
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess
Plot: Legend of the Guardians follows Soren, a young owl enthralled by his father’s epic stories of the Guardians of Ga’ Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones.
JOE’s View: Who better to helm a 3D CGI kids adventure than the director of blood-soaked epics Watchmen, 300 and the 2001 Dawn of the Dead remake? Yes, believe it or not, before he embarks on the dark girl-power fantasy Suckerpunch, director Zack Snyder has decided to adapt the first installment of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole fantasy trilogy book series. It’s hard to understand the studio’s decision, but in any case, Snyder looks to be bringing his typical stylish, slow-mo heavy visuals to the celebrated series.
As with all Snyder trailers, Guardians boasts extremely sharp editing, a rousing rock soundtrack, and scenes which could easily be paused and set as desktop background. Could the 300 and Watchmen maestro be about to make owls cool to a young generation of audience? We applaud Snyder’s versatility in choosing such a project and wish him the best. Also, Hugo Weaving as an Owl warrior? Sold.
The Social Network
Released: October 15
Director: David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Andrew Garfield
Plot: Adapted from Ben Mezrich’s 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, The Social Network focuses on the tumultuous early years of Facebook, which was founded in 2004.
JOE’s View:
A film about Facebook? It may sound crazy, but in the hands of the ever-reliable David Fincher, we have plenty of reasons to feel hopeful. The Social Network is a comedy-drama based on the founding of Facebook, and adapted from the novel of the same subject, The Accidental Billionaires. Zombieland’s Jesse Eisenberg takes the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (26 years old, with an estimated net worth of $4 billion), whilst Justin Timberlake co-stars as Napster founder Sean Parker.
The Social Network’s below trailer features an excellent version of 90s slacker anthem, Beck’s Loser, and gives a good sense of the squabbling and double-crossing that arose from the social networking rapid success. As reliable a director as Fincher is, we do feel he needs to hire an editor, with Zodiac and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button both justifiably criticised for their overlong runtimes – early word is that The Social Network is 3hrs 10mins in length. Let’s hope Fincher doesn’t feel to afraid to snip a couple of scenes before he moves on to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in 2011.
One to AVOID – Gulliver’s Travels
Released: December 30
Director: Rob Letterman (Shark Tale, Monsters Vs Aliens)
Starring: Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Billy Connolly
Plot: The latest adaptation of the classic Jonathan Swift tale, Gulliver’s Travels centres around Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black), a free-spirited travel writer who, on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of industrious, yet tiny, people.
JOE’s View: Even the tagline fills us with woe. ‘Black is the new BIG?’ – what does that even mean? High-concept comedies have had a pretty tough time at the box office, most notably the execrable Evan Almighty, whose budget spiralled out of control in 2007. At least with Evan Almighty, however, the budget was right there on the screen – whereas we have no idea where the budget for Gulliver’s Travels may have gone, so shoddy does the CGI work look. You can almost literally see Jack Black prancing about behind a green-screen, rather than in the world of Lilliput.
A special mention must also go to poor Emily Blunt, who had to turn down the prestigious role Scarlet Johansson took in Iron Man 2 as Black Widow (now to feature in The Avengers spin-off in 2012), due to a sheduling conflict, to star in this mess instead. Bah, bring back Ted Danson we say – his 1996 version of the tale probably had better CGI too. Approach with caution below.
