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PREVIEW 2006
THE MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF THE YEAR AS OF JANUARY 25, 2006 |
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Prologue:
Before starting out on this long road of inevitible disappointments (my 2005 List had only four eventual favourites: Brokeback Mountain, Kings & Queen, The New World & OldBoy and another foursome of secondary loves: 3-Iron, Nobody Knows, 5x2 & Howl's Moving Castle - instead ending up being mired with barely-tolerables, mediocrities and semi-forgiven lessers such as Rent, The Corpse Bride, Batman Begins, Shopgirl, Hitchhiker's Guide, Charlie & the Choco Factory, Land of the Dead, Kung Fu Hustle, Sin City, Melinda and Melinda, King Kong and the utterly disappointing Manderlay, which actually won't be released until next week in the US) I would like to take time and consider a film that will most likely not even be done with production before the end of the year, instead surely getting a 2007+ release (although the filmmaker in question is rather infamous for passing right over deadlines).
Notoriously tardy with last year's 2046, Wong Kar-wai looks as if it will be no different with his latest project - even though IMdb claims a 2006 Hong Kong release, I don't believe it, do you? And with rumours of Kidman dropping out and Rachel Weisz possibly being added (or is that for yet another WKW film?) and the possibility of WKW postponing this film until after Nicole films her Baz Luhrmann project - aaahhh!!! It's all very confusing (sort of like the four+ year wait for 2046. Anyway, Wong's The Lady From Shanghai (which incidentally has nothing whatsoever to do with the similarly monikered Orson Welles film of 1947) stars Nicole Kidman (as I alluded to above) - every auteur's favourite wet dream actress - and promises (judging from the man's ouevre) to be a lush, romantically intriguing masterpiece. If only he'd finish the damned thing, but hey, great art does take time now doesn't it?
And now, on with the 2006 preview. There are a multitude of multiplex fanfare coming toward us this coming Summer (and beyond), and I suppose I should get these big chunks of fodder out of the way right quick. The first up will be Tom Cruise redux, with Mission: Impossible III (or MI3 or MiIII or Miz to the impiz to the threeiz, whatever), which bows on May 5th. That assured block of earwax sonic-boom candy will be followed by X3 (does every new Hollywood film have to come equipped with built-in Mtv-esque cool-mode hip-speak pseudo title??), the latest from the X-Men franchise, this time co-starring Kelsey Grammer as the blue-furred mutant genius Dr. Henry McCoy (aka The Beast). Not a bad little series - considering the lower caste genre - with some better-than-your-average comic-turned-movie thespians, such as Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Anna Pacquin and the always-great-to-look-at Famke Janssen. Next up (in June) is the ironically long-awaited Superman Returns, starring a complete unknown wearing the big rubber "S", which will be followed (just a week later) by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the second in the franchise where Johnny Depp gets to chew on as much scenery as is humanly possible, effectively making everyone else in the production obsolete.
Shown at various film festivals in 2005, neither of these films have yet to garner a distributor (and hence, a US release date), but many - including Film Comment - are pushing for their eventual release, and - even with the indecisive title of this little section - I am sure they will get released, if only in NY.
And then there are those films - due for release sometime in 2006 - that I have already seen. At last year's NYFF, among other films, were Manderlay, Lars von Trier's unfortunate slip from Grace (God that was a bad pun - if you've seen the film or it's predecessor, you get it) which was such a major let down after Dogville being named my favourite film of 2004; Tristam Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story, Michael Winterbottoms PoMo look at the novel once called unfilmable, in which he (along with the always hilarious Steve Coogan) actually films a film about filming Tristam Shandy - brilliant (and due to open in NY on January 27th; Gabrielle, a rather Nouvelle Vague-esque take on Joseph Conrad's novella, "The Return"; Hong Sang-soo's Tale of Cinema, the latest from Korea's New Wave flag bearer; and then there is Aleksandr Sokurov's The Sun, a typically Sokurovian (and I mean that in the best sense of the term) look at the final days of Japan during WWII and the breaking (or not breaking) of Emperor Hirohito. Some of these films have release dates, some do not, but all (even the lackluster Manderlay) deserve another look.
Let's start with Ron Howard's The Davinci Code. Let's see - Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou AND Ron Howard - just kill me now!! But I do have this rather massochistic streak that forces me into the theatre to see such offals as Waterworld, The Dukes of Hazzard and the legendarily awful Ishtar, so this little piece of "Oscar Bait" will be no different. Secondly we have Oliver Stone - the purveyor of the repulsive (although I did find some campy glee in Alexander two years ago), who will bring us the unfathomably wretched Nicholas Cage in what is sure to be a film full of ugly insensitivities, and considering the subject matter (which should be discernable from the title alone), it should play as offensively as one can imagine it to be. And then there comes (drumroll please) Mel Gibson's Apacalypto !!!!! First off - other than Mel Gibson needing to shave that bully beard and get a fucking life - the name really needs changed in order for anyone to take it seriously - not that I can figure out how anyone could ever take Mel Gibson seriously anyway. Is it about a dance craze at the end of the world as we know it? The world is ending, let's all do the Apacalypto !!
It looks like a stronger-than-usual bunch of films at Sundance this year. We have Alpha Dog, a new film from the son of Independant Filmmaking, Nick Cassavetes; Destricted, an omnibus film dealing with the juxtaposition of art and sex involving - among others - Gaspar Noé, Matthew Barney and Larry Clark; Come Early Morning, the directorial debut of Kevin Smith's ex-muse, Joey Lauren Adams; Don't Come Knocking from Wim Wenders; Fast Food Nation from Richard Linklater; Terry Zwigoff's Art School Condfidential; The Hawk is Dying, starring Paul Giamatti; The Illusionist, starring the always brilliant Edward Norton; Stay, from the mind of Bob Goldthwait (yes, I said Bob Goldthwait); Who Needs Sleep from Haskell Wexler and Friends With Money, staring Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keeener, Joan Cusack and Frances McDormond.
C'mon, this could have been a great epic work of cinema, if only someone other than the man responsible for Forrest "Fucking" Gump was directing it. A grand epic poem that could be made into a magnificent movie, or a drudging fiasco - take your pick folks. On the bright side - for all you Olde English Epic Poem fans out there - there is an Icelandic (yes I said Icelandic) version of the poem getting a release sometime in 2006 - which you can read about in my Top 25, below.
Before we get hip deep in the most anticipated films of 2006, let's look at a few other films almost making the grade. First up is The Break Up, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn, two of the funniest - and underappreciated - people around, and directed by Peyton Reed, director of the usually overlooked Rock Hudson/Doris Day homage, Down With Love. All The King's Men, starring Sean Penn, Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, Jude Law, James Gandolfini and Anthony Hopkins. This film had originally made my hopefuls of 2005, but ended up getting postponed, so who knows what chances it may have. Next up is Margaret, Kenneth Lonergan's six-years-in-the-making follow-up to You Can Count On Me, starring Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo and Matt Damon (in one of his about 247 film appearences in 2006). Then there is Freedomland, which looks dreadful but eventually Julianne Moore has to make a good film again...right? From the maker of Memento and Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan, comes the story of two rival magicians in battle with one another. Other than the obvious treat of David Bowie as Nikola Tesla, this film may intrigue any legion of comicdom's fanboy alliance out there just for the sheer geeky joy of watching Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Batman (Christian Bale) fight each other. Next up is The Good Shepherd, directed by Robert DeNiro and starring (among others) DeNiro and Matt Damon (again). It will be interesting to see if DeNiro and Scorsese will go up against each other in this year's Best Director race. Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine star in The Children of Men from Alfonso Cuarón and Cillian Murphy stars in the sci-fi thriller from Danny Boyle, Sunshine. There is also The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford starring Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt, and the obligatory remake Poseidon, and the inevitable Sin City 2.
Soderbergh has always been a hit-or-miss kinda guy with me, but then he does sway back and forth between Hollywoodees and Independants, so I suppose that is why. This year he has three films getting launched. First up (in just two days), Bubble will become the first film to debut in theatres, on dvd and on HDTV, all on the same day. Later on in the year, he will be setting forth two "Oscar bait" films, but it seems to be Bubble that I can't stop thinkng about.
Although I have never much of a fan of Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly's latest still intrigues for some unknown reason - even with the cast of lesser-thans such as Seann William Scott and Sarah Michelle Gellar - but we do get Kevin Smith.
Looking the least Spike-ish of the entire Spike Lee oeuvre - an oeuvre I can take (Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, 25th Hour) or leave (Clockers, He Got Game) - this film could satisfy - especially considering the cast of Clive Owen, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster.
Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and an alien epidemic. Need I say more? Okay, how about that it is from the maker of the last days of Hitler film, Downfall. Did I mention Nicole and the alien thing yet?
The already controversial film about the Zodiac Killer, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo (is he in even more films than Matt Damon this year?).
The steady downward spiral that is Kevin Smith's oeuvre (peaking, so to speak, with Jersey Girl last year) can go either way with this release. It could be a return to form (Smith has publically apologized for his selling out) or it could be just another fart fest low-browity - as both Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back were. Being released in two versions - one colour, one black & white - Smith is playing a see saw game with my emotions dammit!!
This film could be a smartly done thriller, if played the right way - unfortunately, with Slade (a commercial/video director) at the helm, smart may be superceeded by superficial.
Okay, the film looks rather common and midstream, but it has Meryl "Fucking" Streep in it, so I will see it after all.
Forman hasn't made a quality film since Amadeus in 1984, and he hasn't made a masterpiece since leaving his home in Czechoslovakia (A Blonde in Love is still one of my favourite films), so the chances of this film making it are rather slim, but one must have hopes, mustn't one?
Perhaps this was all already done in Waking Life - which I wasn't impressed with anyway - and perhaps Linklater is kind of a staggered director (only about every other of his films works), but with that timing in mind - and thanks to the lacklusterness of last year's Bad News Bears - this may actually work.
The big buzz doc of the festival, Patrick Creadon's Wordplay, is a look at Will Shortz and the crossword puzzle fans that keep him in business at the NY Times. The film is being billed as an adult version of Spellbound, and being a fan of that film as well as being a crossword puzzle fanatic myself, I am highly intrigued here. Although judging from some of the clips, these guys may be a bit out of my league.
Rosetta was one of the best films of the nineties and the Dardennes have yet to fail at a film, so their verite-esque minimalist newest work is making me shudder with anticipation.
Although I wasn't as big a fan of Eternal Sunshine as many others (probably due mostly to having to put up with Jim Carrey in order to get through to the otherwise interesting film), Gondry proved himself as a possible auteur of the future. Now, with Science of Sleep, he may step up from possible to actual.
One either loved or hated Reygadas' first film, Japón (although everyone still wants to know what the fuck the title had to do with the film), and I happened to be one of those that loved it. 'nuff said.
I love Nicole Kidman - mixing Hollywood inanity with being an auteur's wet dream (von Trier, Glazer, Kubrick, Wong Kar-wai) - and although I rarely enjoy bio-pics (other than maybe a standout performance), I am still looking forward to this film with wild abandon.
Although it will never outdo my love for Bjork as the greatest thing ever to come out of Iceland - Beowulf done in Icelandic - how fucking cool is that!?
Although Sin City was much more flash than fire, and V for Vendetta seems like just more of the same, there is still that hidden-down-deep comic fan-boy inside me that wants to see this film - although it makes me a bit nervous to admit such a geeky desire.
Postponed from last year (it made my list then too), Aronofsky - the man who gave us the delicious duo of Pi and Requiem for a Dream - gives us what looks to be another head-gamed metaphysical thriller.
What do Christian Bale, Julianne Moore, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Richard Gere all have in common? They will all take turns playing variations of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' latest film. How can this not be a must-see!?
So many claimed that Match Point - although set in London - was Woody's return to form as the auteur he once was, and even though I do not necessarily agree with that sumation (my outlook is: better than his last few but far from his peak years still) I still wish Woody all the best and hope that Scoop - again poised in London and again starring Scarlett Johansson - brings him even closer to his days from Annie Hall to Husbands and Wives.
The genre of mockumentary, when in the hands of Christopher Guest and his loyal team of satiric hooligans (Michael McKeon, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Michael Hitchcock, Rachel Harris, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Don Lake and Parker Posey) can be pure comic genius - and I ain't using that term lightly.
OldBoy was pretty and sharp-witted and we can only hope Korea's enfant terrible can do it again with the final part of his so-called revenge trilogy.
The old boy sure ain't what he used to be - and I'm sure the use of Leo DiCaprio as his new DeNiro is part of that recent fumbling (because his cameratic skills are definately still intact) - but I can't help anxiously awaiting his newest work with each passing year.
Even if it was not a film from Sofia Coppola. Even if it did not star Jason Schwartzman as King Louis XVI. Even if it did not star Kirsten Dunst (she is a much greater actor than usually given credit) in the title role. Even if it had none of these things, the trailer alone - which I spied this past week-end for the first time - would sell me a ticket (if I did not already get into the press screeing). And mark my word folks, Kirsten Dunst will recieve her first Oscar nomination this year.
I know, it's the fucking Prairie Home fucking Companion - full of all its down-home-spun humour and quirky yet Middle America pastiche - but c'mon, if any one director can overcome that obstacle it would be the man who gave us Nashville. Oh yeah, one other thing - Meryl Fucking Streep !!!
From the mind of David Lynch - probably the most provocatively creative genius working in the English language today - the man who gave us Mulholland Dr. (five years later, still standing as the best film of this decade), comes...well what can one say? I think I'm too giddy with anticipation to form a coherent answer to that. Let's just hope my number one anticipated film this year stands up better than the number one from last year - Manderlay (an utter disappointment from Lars von Trier, the second most provocatively creative genius working in the English language today).
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HOME
* REVIEWS
* AWARDS & PREDICTIONS
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* MIDTOWN
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