10. Lincoln
Talk about an insane amount of potential here. Spielberg doing a Abraham Lincoln biopic starring Daniel Day Lewis? It's times like these that you get suspicious of the phrase too good to be true. Of course, Spielberg's done nothing but spew crap into the theaters for the past 7 years, so I'm not exactly expecting his A game here. Daniel Day Lewis doesn't even have a B game, so if nothing else, we're going to get a jaw droppingly wonderful performance in a possibly mediocre film. But I have no reason to judge the quality other than having sat through drivel like War Horse in its entirety. Movies like War Horse make me embarrassed for being interested in the art form. Please let this be more like the old Spielberg epics than War Horse.
Lincoln opens November 9
9. Anna Karenina
Let's see how this fits in the Tom Checklist: Russian Literature - check, Good Director - check, Good Writer - check, Great Actors - check. Okay, so see this. It's one of the biggest classics of all time, directed by Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement), written by Tom Stoppard (Brazil, Shakespeare in Love), starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law. So, yes, sir. That looks good.
Anna Karenina opens November 16.
8. Looper
Ryan Johnson's an interesting guy. I've only seen his first film, Brick, which was a hard boiled noir story set at a high school, which was pulled off very nicely. Back with Joseph Gordon-Levitt here, we have a hardcore sci-fi story about a man whose job is to kill people who get sent back in time, erasing them from the future and getting rid of the problem of having a body. When his future self (played by Bruce Willis) gets sent back, however, things get messy. His older self knows the drill, and manages to escape the initial execution. So we follow the story of a man hunting down his older self with intention to kill. Yippiekiyay, Mr. Falcon! That sounds great, right?
Looper opens September 28
7. Flight
How long has it been since we had a good Denzel Washington movie? I haven't been counting, but I'd say it's been a number of years. Some liked The Book of Eli, but I thought that was an awful waste of time. This appears to be a spectacular return to form for both Washington and director Robert Zemickis. It's a true story of a pilot who managed to safely land a plane that began to fall apart in mid-air, saving every life on board. Rather than being proclaimed the hero he was, he was put on trial for having alcohol in his system. Drama ensues.
Flight opens November 2
6. This is Forty
I support Judd Apatow, and I like his movies. I find that Knocked Up has not aged well for me, but I still really like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Funny People. In fact, I'm apparently one of the very very few who liked Funny People at all. So sue me. His newest endeavor follows Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann being 40 and hitting an existential crisis of sorts. Oh, and it has Albert Brooks, so you know at least part of it will be good.
This is Forty opens December 21.
5. Seven Psychopaths
Nooks and crannies. In Bruges is all I'll ever need on writer/director Martin McDonough's resume to convince me to see every single movie he ever makes. Back in 2008, that movie had me on the floor with laughter and had my eyes pealed at his attention to detail. The guy knows his stuff, and, although this doesn't look quite as clever as his debut, that last scene in the trailer with Christopher Walken proves this is going to be a very fun couple of hours.
Seven Psychopaths opens October 12
4. Argo
I'm a little torn on Ben Affleck's directing career. I, like every other critic, really dug Gone Baby Gone. The Town, his followup, really failed for me on a lot of levels, however. I think he's very competent behind the camera, but unless he has a great script going, I'm not so sure he's really that talented at all components of filmmaking. That being said, watch that trailer. That's one great looking movie he's got here. I'll be there opening day and so should you.
Argo opens October 12
3. Django Unchained
I like the way you die, boy. Count me in for Quentin Tarantino's "southern." Part of me is a little bit annoyed with the fact that all Tarantino does anymore are epic homage-ridden revenge flicks, but the other part of me is damned entertained almost every time. A stellar cast including Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson can't hurt, even if this will turn into a controversial slavery film.
For some reason, the Weinstein Company is releasing Django Unchained on December 25, Christmas Day.
2. Cloud Atlas
If this gets pulled off, it will be a stunning masterpiece unlike anything you've ever seen before. It comes from absolutely phenomenal material. David Mitchell's novel of the same name was an amazing read that was engrossing and yet completely foreign to my mind. It's the tale of six stories starting in the 1800s and ending in a post-apocalyptic world, with plenty of room for the same mistakes to get made time and time again. The Watchowski siblings and Tom Twyker have done their best to keep this under three hours long and, based on the trailer, I think they may have just pulled off this stunning feat.
Cloud Atlas opens October 26
1. The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson has proven again and again that he's one of the most talented filmmakers currently working. I'd put him in the top five best filmmakers out there. I must have a soft spot for those magnificent Andersons. After There Will Be Blood, Anderson's last opus, I'm never going to doubt the man again. He's back five years later with the tale of Freddie (played by Joaquin Phoenix) a lost soul who encounters Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seamour Hoffman). Dodd has just started his own religion, a sort of allegory to Scientology that attempts to take in lost souls like Freddie. No doubt this will be a stunning dissection of organized religion, and I'm giddy for it. Bring it on.
The Master opens September 21
What are you looking forward to?
no red dawn?
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