Talkin' 'bout Movies
Sep. 8th, 2007 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cmk418Because the Rick Ankiel (baseball-HGH) situation depresses me so much that I'd prefer not to address it right now, I thought it'd be fun to talk about the upcoming award season and what I'm looking forward to.
This list is comprised of films that debuted in Venice or Toronto as well as a few that I've seen previews or advance reviews for.
In release order -
9/14 Eastern Promises - Croenenberg's Russian mob story. It should be a fun modern-day horror story (the Russian mob scares the bejesus out of me, but they also fascinate me - which is why I'm going)
9/14 In the Valley of Elah - part of me really would like to tell Paul Haggis to shove it, but I think this one is going to have legs into December
10/5 Michael Clayton - George Clooney, political intrigue, George Clooney
10/19 Gone, Baby, Gone - This dark detective flick brought to you by (wince)Academy Award winner, Ben Affleck (end wince) but The Hollywood Reporter assures me that it is good.
11/2 American Gangster - Haven't we all been waiting for the reunion of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe since Virtuosity? Okay, maybe it's just me. But it looks like Denzel's actually gonna stand toe to toe with him this time and there's no stupid blondes getting in the way
11/21 I'm Not There - The hell I'm not! Todd Haynes' AWARD WINNING! quasi-biopic of Bob Dylan. My only disappointment is that I'm going to be in St. Louis when it opens here (I'm not sure if it's going to be opening there at the same time). And Julianne Moore is in it.
November (I think) - Fred Claus - I saw the preview for this last year. It looks hilarious. And with all the "serious" films I'll be seeing, it'll be a nice change.
12/7 Atonement - Not sure if I can take James McAvoy again, but this will be the one my sister drags me to around Christmastime, unless.
12/21 National Treasure 2 - Yes, I know it's cheesy, but it looks like fun and I really did like the first one. It's the closest franchise we've got to Indiana Jones right now.
December (I think) Sweeney Todd - I will watch Johnny Depp paint a wall. So if he wants to chop people up while singing show tunes, I am going to see it.
Unknown Margot at the Wedding - More suburban angst, comedy and sibling rivalry from Noah Baumbach (The Squid & the Whale)
There will probably be a couple more, but I'm not sure when Paranoid Park (Van Sant) or Life, Interrupted (Soderbergh's film on the late Spaulding Gray) are coming out.
And now, on to 3:10 to Yuma. It is quite simply one of the slashiest films I've seen this past year. I adore Russell Crowe. I won't say I like him in everything he does (I liked his outfits in Gladiator but the eye candy couldn't distract me from the fact that the story was utterly ridiculous). In this, he was very good. And any movie where he can smile and look relaxed is a wonderful thing (The foot massage scene in L.A. Confidential is one of my favorites). Christian Bale turned in a fine performance as the object of Russell's fascination, but the guy who took the movie and ran screaming away with it was Ben Foster - I seriously thought that Russell's character was going to kiss him at the end of the movie (I seriously want to read some Ben Wade/Charlie Prince slash really, really soon). It's good and hot and fun (and yes, both Crowe and Bale have scenes to establish their characters' heterosexuality, but they really aren't fooling anybody). Go see it.
ETA: If anyone feels like recommending something that isn't currently on the list, I'm open to suggestions. Especially for comedies.
This list is comprised of films that debuted in Venice or Toronto as well as a few that I've seen previews or advance reviews for.
In release order -
9/14 Eastern Promises - Croenenberg's Russian mob story. It should be a fun modern-day horror story (the Russian mob scares the bejesus out of me, but they also fascinate me - which is why I'm going)
9/14 In the Valley of Elah - part of me really would like to tell Paul Haggis to shove it, but I think this one is going to have legs into December
10/5 Michael Clayton - George Clooney, political intrigue, George Clooney
10/19 Gone, Baby, Gone - This dark detective flick brought to you by (wince)Academy Award winner, Ben Affleck (end wince) but The Hollywood Reporter assures me that it is good.
11/2 American Gangster - Haven't we all been waiting for the reunion of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe since Virtuosity? Okay, maybe it's just me. But it looks like Denzel's actually gonna stand toe to toe with him this time and there's no stupid blondes getting in the way
11/21 I'm Not There - The hell I'm not! Todd Haynes' AWARD WINNING! quasi-biopic of Bob Dylan. My only disappointment is that I'm going to be in St. Louis when it opens here (I'm not sure if it's going to be opening there at the same time). And Julianne Moore is in it.
November (I think) - Fred Claus - I saw the preview for this last year. It looks hilarious. And with all the "serious" films I'll be seeing, it'll be a nice change.
12/7 Atonement - Not sure if I can take James McAvoy again, but this will be the one my sister drags me to around Christmastime, unless.
12/21 National Treasure 2 - Yes, I know it's cheesy, but it looks like fun and I really did like the first one. It's the closest franchise we've got to Indiana Jones right now.
December (I think) Sweeney Todd - I will watch Johnny Depp paint a wall. So if he wants to chop people up while singing show tunes, I am going to see it.
Unknown Margot at the Wedding - More suburban angst, comedy and sibling rivalry from Noah Baumbach (The Squid & the Whale)
There will probably be a couple more, but I'm not sure when Paranoid Park (Van Sant) or Life, Interrupted (Soderbergh's film on the late Spaulding Gray) are coming out.
And now, on to 3:10 to Yuma. It is quite simply one of the slashiest films I've seen this past year. I adore Russell Crowe. I won't say I like him in everything he does (I liked his outfits in Gladiator but the eye candy couldn't distract me from the fact that the story was utterly ridiculous). In this, he was very good. And any movie where he can smile and look relaxed is a wonderful thing (The foot massage scene in L.A. Confidential is one of my favorites). Christian Bale turned in a fine performance as the object of Russell's fascination, but the guy who took the movie and ran screaming away with it was Ben Foster - I seriously thought that Russell's character was going to kiss him at the end of the movie (I seriously want to read some Ben Wade/Charlie Prince slash really, really soon). It's good and hot and fun (and yes, both Crowe and Bale have scenes to establish their characters' heterosexuality, but they really aren't fooling anybody). Go see it.
ETA: If anyone feels like recommending something that isn't currently on the list, I'm open to suggestions. Especially for comedies.
