Suckarepellent

It’s February, we’re a month into the new year and I thought it would be a good time to give a little preview of some of the films coming out in 2007. While the early months of the year are usually a wasteland where studios dump whatever is left on their shelves into release, there are quite a few films coming that I’m really looking forward to. In descending order, here they are…

1. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love)
Release Date: Fall
Loosely based on the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, it’s a story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector (Daniel Day-Lewis). Essentially this has become my most anticipated film of all time. For 10 years, since I saw Boogie Nights in the theatre and was completely blown away, PT Anderson has been my favorite filmmaker. It’s been 5 years since his last film Punch-Drunk Love, and I could not possibly be looking more forward to this film. If I take a week off work when this comes out, it’s because I’m seeing it a billion times.

2. THE DARJEELING LIMITED
Director: Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic)
Release Date: Winter
The death of their father sends three brothers (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody) on a journey through India. While I was disappointed by The Life Aquatic, Wes Anderson remains one of my favorite filmmakers and Rushmore is still one of my favorite films of all time. This is the 2nd film Wes has written without former co-writer Owen Wilson, it will be interesting to see how he works with Roman Coppola who wrote and directed one of my favorite films of 2002, CQ.

3. GRINDHOUSE
Director(s): Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill),
Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City)
Release Date: April 6th
TRAILER
An exploitation double feature. It’s Rodriguez and Tarantino, it’s two horror movies for the price of one. And it looks AWESOME.

4. HOT FUZZ
Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead)
Release Date: April 13th
TRAILER
I loved Shaun Of The Dead. It was hilarious and scary and was one of the biggest surprises for me of the past few years. I instantly became a huge fan seeking out their previous BBC show Spaced and eagerly awaiting what they would do next. Well after 3 years it’s here as Hot Fuzz. A top London cop is transferred to a small town in what I hope will be to action comedy what Shaun Of The Dead was to horror comedies.

5. ZODIAC
Director: David Fincher (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club)
Release Date: March 2nd
TRAILER
In the 90’s David Fincher was one of my favorite directors. His dark vision helped to create some of my favorite films including the cult classic Fight Club (which I saw on opening night). It’s been 5 years since his genre exercise Panic Room, and it’s time for him to get back in the game. Zodiac traces the real life tale of the Zodiac serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 60s and 70s. The trailer looks great and I’m hoping this will not tread the same ground as Se7en and instead form a nice companion piece.

6. SPIDER-MAN 3
Director: Sam Raimi (Evil Dead Trilogy, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2)
Release Date: May 4th
TRAILER
It looks great, but it will be an absolute miracle if Raimi can pull it off. It looks like there are way too many characters and storylines they are trying to squeeze into this film but even though I am extremely skeptical I can’t ignore my inner geek. Fingers crossed.

7. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Director: Joel Coen (Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski)
Release Date: Fall
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande. The Coen Bros. used to be among my favorite filmmakers though they have been dormant since their double stinkfest: Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers, hopefully the awfulness of those films has had time to wake up the Bros. Coen and this will be the film that returns them to their former glory (or writes them off forever.)

8. RATATOUILLE
Director: Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles)
Release Date: June 29th
TRAILER
A young rat living within the walls of a famous Paris bistro wishes to become a chef, but is hindered by his family’s skepticism and the rat-despising staff and patrons. Pixar’s filmography had been completely without rival until last year. And because they had to replace the original director of this film, I’m especially anxious to see if they can pull it off. Hopefully Cars was just a hiccup and not the beginning of a downward slide.

9. KNOCKED UP
Director: Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin)
Release Date: June 1st
TRAILER
A young guy finds out he impregnated his date during a one night stand. As the producer of some of my favorite TV shows Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, I have faith that Apatow will be able to deliver on the big screen. Though I was not an especially huge fan of 40 Year Old Virgin, I am still extremely excited about this one. If he can just nail the right mix of sentiment and comedy he could make a classic.

10. BE KIND, REWIND / MARGOT AT THE WEDDING
Director: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Science Of Sleep)
Director: Noah Baumbach (Kicking And Screaming, The Squid & The Whale)
Release Dates: Fall
Jack Black stars in two interesting projects this year from two interesting directors. In Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind he stars as a video store clerk who accidentally erases all the tapes in the store and sets out to film the missing movies starring himself. Even though Science Of Sleep disappointed the hell out of me, Eternal Sunshine is still my favorite film since Eternal Sunshine. And in Noah Baumbach’s Margot At The Wedding Nicole Kidman stars as Margot who takes her son to visit her aunt in a comedy/drama that promises to be as funny and sad as Squid & The Whale. At least I hope so.

ALSO COMING:


300 / Visually stunning, hopefully the Gladiator genre trappings don’t ruin this.
THE ARGENTINE / OCEANS 13 / Two very different films from prolific director Steven Soderbergh, one about Che Guevara and the other his third Oceans entry. I only like about half of his films, but I still see them all because I love him.
BLACK BOOK / Set during WWII, this is Paul Verhoeven’s (Robocop, Total Recall) return to filmmaking after a 7 year hiatus.
BLACK SNAKE MOAN / Sam Jackson is an old bluesman that has to cure Christina Ricci’s nymphomania. Yeah, its another one of those.
HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX / The last two films were the best in the series and I hope this continues the streak.
THE HOST / Korean monster movie, really great reviews, missed it at the NYFF.
SOUTHLAND TALES / Richard Kelly’s long delayed follow-up to cult hit Donnie Darko (saw that opening night). It was booed at Cannes (isn’t everything?) so this could be a mess, but I have to see for myself.
STARDUST / Described as being like the Princess Bride, thats pretty much all I need to be interested. Directed by Matthew Vaughn who dropped out of X-Men 3 to make this.
SUNSHINE / Love Danny Boyle, trailer looks great, we’re working on this, and I can’t wait.
SWEENEY TODD / Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team up again (this time with Sasha Baron Cohen) in this musical adaptation. Even though I haven’t loved one of his films in a decade (outside of Sleepy Hollow) I grew up with Burton and can’t give him up.

5 FROM SUNDANCE: SON OF RAMBOW / THE TEN / ROCKET SCIENCE / THE SIGNAL / SNOW ANGELS