Winter Preview

One of the perks of work experience at a film magazine is that I have the luxury of spending hours researching up and coming releases. Here are just a handful of what I’m looking forward to…

Players: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Richard Jenkins, Alison Janney

It’s official. I have a major girl crush on Elizabeth Olsen. She is fast becoming one of my favourite actresses; with just 4 releases to her name, her performances are assured, beguiling and charming. Liberal Arts is to be her 5^th credit, helmed by the equally lovely Josh Radnor. Proving his comedy chops in ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and his subtle directorial prowess in ‘Happythankyoumoreplease’, this follow-up should tick the same easy-going, heart-warming and witty box as its predecessor.

ETA 5 October

 Players: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris (DIRs), Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas

With several supporting turns to her name in films such as ‘In The Valley of Elah’, ‘Revolutionary Road ‘The Private Lives of Pippa Lee’ and ‘It’s Complicated’, Zoe Kazan is no stranger to Hollywood, not least because she’s the grand-daughter of the great Elia Kazan. It’s fantastic then to see her finally getting a starring role, both as actress and screenwriter, in the up and coming ‘Ruby Sparks’: a rom-com of sorts, which sees a novelist will his fictitious female protagonist into existence. A charming premise with real-life couple Kazan and Dano playing the leads (sparks will no doubt fly), I’m expecting good things.

ETA 12 October

Players: Wayne Blair (DIR), Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy

Dubbed the Australian ‘Dreamgirls’, this soulful drama recaptures the spirit of 1968 as an aboriginal girl group entertain US troops in Vietnam. With IT Crowd fave O’Dowd providing laughs this could be the feel-good surprise of the year.

ETA 2 November

Players: Jacques Audiard (DIR), Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure

Cotillard looks to be back on Oscar-winning form as a killer whale trainer who connects with a stranger after a horrible accident. With a director known for intense and riveting dramas, (The Prophet, The Beat That My Heart Skipped) one thing’s for sure this is no Free Willy.

ETA 2 November

Players: David O’Russell (DIR), Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence

Fresh from the boxing ring O’Russell serves up a dramedy that sees the romantic entanglement of Cooper and Lawrence; two complicated souls whom strike up a deal. Slated to be an intense but funny exploration of mental illness this also sees the return of Julia Stiles to the big screen.

  

ETA 21 November

Trouble With The Curve 

Players: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake

After slightly mediocre fare with J.Edgar and Hereafter, hopefully Eastwood can score a homerun with this baseball family drama, which sees him playing an ailing baseball scout who takes his daughter Adams on one last recruiting trip.

It’s certainly tried and tested material; a sports movie with plenty of heart, but Eastwood has proven more than adept at avoiding the saccharine where others might struggle (Bridges of Madison County) as well as helming an emotionally powerful sports film (Million Dollar Baby), so this should be an enjoyable walk in the park for both him and us.

ETA 30 November

Players: Julian Farino (DIR), Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Leighton Meester, Oliver Platt, Alison Janney

That awkward moment your Dad falls for his best friend’s daughter. So goes the plot of ‘The Oranges’ a modern day Romeo and Juliet if you will, which sees two neighbouring families having to deal with the romantic entanglement of Laurie and Meester. Offering up strong comedic talent and a script drenched in wit (based on an early draft I managed to read), I’m most looking forward to appearances from Alia Shawkat (the best friend in ‘Whip It’) and Adam Brody (Seth from ‘The O.C’) who will hopefully be at their sarcastic, socially awkward best.

ETA 7 December

Players: Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal (DIRs), Bradley Cooper, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons

Having premiered at Sundance 2012 we should expect a UK cinematic release sometime soon. Good news indeed as this multi-layered narrative, moving backwards and forwards in time looks to be an intense and thought-provoking film. Featuring some delectable acting talent and a literary narrative basis about a writer who must pay the price for plagiarising, I am already hooked. Shame about the title though.

  

  

Now You See Me 

Players: Derek Cianfrance (DIR), Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta

In a year Ryan Gosling brought us Drive, Crazy Stupid Love and The Ides of March, whatever his next move, it was clearly going to be hotly anticipated. Reuniting with the director of ‘Blue Valentine’, ‘Pines’ tells the story of a motorcycle stunt rider whom in order to provide for his wife and child toys with committing a crime that puts him on a collision course with a cop-turned-politician. With a cast that also includes Bradley Cooper, Rose Byrne and Eva Mendes, I predict that this will be one helluva sexy film.

Also in an interview with screenwriter Ben Coccio he revealed that he “suggested that the movie be set in the kind of town I grew up in, Schenectady, New York. [Derek] told me his wife was from Schenectady. So, in looking for a title, I found out what ‘Schenectady’ means. It’s a dutch derivation of an Iroquois phrase which means, ‘The Place Beyond the Pines.’ It’s already too cool for its own good.

  

Players: Robert Redford (DIR), Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci

After Redford’s last directorial effort, the rather disappointingly lacklustre Lincoln-assasination movie ‘The Conspirator’, slipped under the radar, I’m really hoping his next project sees him back on form. This thriller wrapped filming in November 2011 and is due out sometime next year.

Just like ‘The Conspirator’ it features an unbelievably high calibre cast; not surprising for someone whose many years in the business must no doubt have acquired a reputation that’s like ‘bees to a honey-pot’ for actors. Screen veterans Susan Sarandon, Chris Cooper, Stanley Tucci and Richard Jenkins, as well as Redford himself should all add a touch of class to this thriller, which is centered on a former Weather Underground activist who goes on the run from a journalist who has discovered his identity.

The young’uns of the cast consist of LaBeouf and Kendrick, who can both be magnetic and charismatic under good direction, whilst indie darling Brit Marling ups the hype factor for this one massively. An intriguing film indeed, which will hopefully keep the likes of ‘Ordinary People’ and ‘The Horse Whisperer’ company on Redford’s success record.