Speaking of the fact that the NYFF films that have US distributors and will be released later this year--
CHE, THE CHANGELING, THE WRESTLER, HUNGER, THE CLASS, A CHRISTMAS TALE, GOMORRAH, HAPPY GO LUCKY, SUMMER HOURS, WALTZ WITH BACHIR, WENDY AND LUCY will be among the more interesting of the fall and winter offerings stateside-- what else are people eagerly waiting for as 2008 winds down that may not have the Lincoln Center imprimatur, I was wondering. Here are some titles I have come up with. I'm guessing the following movies may be good or more than good or at the least fun to watch. And some are Oscar contenders, or contain Oscar-potential performances.
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3, SENIOR YEAR (the series directed by Kenny Ortega with Zac Efron and other heartthrobs moved to the big screen);
SUPERBAD and
JUNO’s Michael Cera in
NICK& NORA’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. This is director Peter Sollett's first film since
RAISING VICTOR VARGAS. The now ubiquitous Seth Rogen is coming in in
ZACH AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, by good old Kevin Smith. Jason Mewes got his hair cut short for this one: a first!
On a more serious note, there will be Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic
W, with Josh Brolin as Dubya; Gus Van Sant’s biopic
MILK (with Sean Penn perhaps vying for an Oscar as Milk); and Jonathan Demme’s first narrative feature since his
MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE remake,
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, starring Anne Hathaway, about a dysfuncational family reunion (sounds like Noah Baumbach’s
MARGOT AT THE WEDDING. but I hope it’s not).
Then there is ace screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s reputedly indigestible directing debut,
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, and Aussie director John Hillcoat's filming of Cormac McCarthy’s powerful apocalyptic novel
THE ROAD with Viggo Mortensen and the reputedly extraordinary child actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, and including Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, and Robert Duvall in minor roles. I will be expecting wonders from that one.
In a less exacting mode comes the reunion of Pacino and DiNero as cops again (as in Michael Mann’s
HEAT), in Jon Avnet’s
RIGHTEOUS KILL; the trailers strive mightily to give away all the secrets of that one, alas. This time the two Italian Americans share the marquee with rapper 50 Cent. (Mann contemplates a sequel or remake of
HEAT for 2009, by the way.) Ditto the Coen brothers’ new comedy with Clooney and Pitt,--like
RIGHTEOUS KILL, destined to be totally overexposed in multiple trailers:
BURN BEFORE READING—but it still looks like a romp and a good antidote to
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, though probably not as brilliantly made.. Joe (
ATONEMENT) Wright has an uplifting drama about skid row and classical music,
THE SOLOIST, which has Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead and Catherine Keener and Jamie Foxx in supporting toles.
Other films predicted to be Oscar contenders:
• Sam Mendes'
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD stars Leonardi DiCapro, Kate Winslet. Based on Richard Yates famous novel about the depression.
• Stephen Daldry’s
THE READER from Schlenk’s WWII novel, starring Ralph Fiennes and again Kate Winslet.
• Baz Luhrmann’s
AUSTRALIA with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, an “epic love story” of a journey across the Outback.
• David Fincher directs
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (a not-so-famous F. Scott Fitzgerald novel about a man who ages in reverse) with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, also Tilda Swinton (who’s to be seen in
BURN AFTER READING). Fincher increasingly seems like one of our best directors, so this has to seem promising. (Thanks to the website
OSCAR FRENZY for this last set of titles.)
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