The ones to watch in 2012
Comments |
MY MOVIE YEAR
with Mike Shaw
It seems like just 12 months ago I was putting together my list
of the most anticipated films of 2011, where I included the likes
of Super 8, Tintin and, er, The Green Lantern. Next year there are
loads and loads of films that I am super excited about and I
actually ran out of space on the Word document when compiling my
personal must-see list. I only have so much space here which means
things like The Hunger Games and Prometheus just missed the cut,
but here, after much deliberation, are my 12 most anticipated films
of 2012.
Django Unchained
Kill Bill was so-so, but Inglourious Basterds put Quentin
Tarantino back at the top of the list of most interesting directors
working today. Next year he is tackling a full-on Western and as
usual he’s got a kickass cast on board, including Leonardo
DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Samuel L Jackson
and Kurt Russell. Django Unchained is the story of a
slave-turned-bounty hunter, played by Jamie Foxx, who attempts to
free his wife. Things do not go to plan. Already it sounds like
it’s going to give Tarantino the chance to exhibit his trademark
ultraviolence. I can’t wait.
Iron Sky
A bizarre sci-fi fantasy, in which the Nazis escaped to a secret
base on the moon at the end of the Second World War. Since then,
they have been working on anti-gravity spaceships and destructive
new weaponry, and the Third Reich are now ready to reclaim the
Earth. I don’t think I need to say anything else.
Gravity
Children of Men writer/director Alfonso Cuaron’s new film is
also space-based, but perhaps a little less insane than Iron Sky.
Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as a pair of astronauts
fighting for survival in a dilapidated space station, there is
already an incredible buzz about this film – and not just among
film fans. Director Guillermo Del Toro has said that the picture
will push “a new boundary in filmmaking.” Very few facts are known
about the film other than Clooney and Bullock are the only two
actors in it, and that it’s in 3D, but I have my fingers crossed
that it will join Solaris and Moon in the pantheon of great films
about interstellar isolation.
Skyfall
Daniel Craig’s third go at Bond is unlikely to be worse than
Quantum of Solace, which sucked harder than a nuclear-powered
Henry. However, Craig has since acknowledged that QoS was bad, and
has put that down to the Hollywood writers’ strike. With no such
problems surrounding this film, it should be closer to the quality
of Casino Royale, which wasn’t just the best Bond film in decades,
but one of the best action films of all time.
The Amazing Spider-Man
Sure, it’s only been 10 years since the last reboot of
Spider-Man, and most people don’t think we need another one, but
this new version promises to stay closer to the comic book roots of
everyone’s favourite web-slinger. Director Marc Webb (500 Days of
Summer) has no experience with effects-heavy movies, but that may
be a blessing and help avoid the “let’s just chuck more CGI at it”
attitude that helped ruin 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Peter Parker is
being played by British actor Andrew Garfield, while the new
incarnation of Mary Jane will be infinitely more likeable, with the
wonderful Emma Stone taking over from the irritating Kirsten
Dunst.
The Avengers
Iron Man was mega. Thor was super. Captain America was awesome.
The Avengers is going to be megasuperawesome. Marvel Studios’ most
ambitious project yet sees their A List superheroes thrown together
in what is sure to be one of the biggest movies of 2012. Buffy and
Firefly creator/director Joss Whedon is at the helm, which means
it’ll be smarter than previous Marvel films and will hopefully
avoid the cliched endings that have plagued other big-budget
superhero movies. As well as Robert Downey Jr et al, we have
Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner rounding off a
superb cast. It’ll be a travesty if this film turns out to be
rotten.
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman Begins was great. The Dark Knight was even better. Can
Christopher Nolan raise the bar one more time with The Dark Knight
Rises? Christian Bale returns as Batman, and is joined this time by
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and the wonderful Tom Hardy (Bronson,
Warrior) as jacked-up terrorist Bane. Without the hoopla of a dead
cast member, The Dark Knight Rises should hopefully get the room to
breathe and not be crushed under the weight of expectation.
The Dictator
Nobody does awkward comedy as well as Sacha Baron-Cohen. Forget
about Ali G, and focus on Borat and Bruno. Funny, right?
Pant-wettingly so in some places. Doing away with the documentary
conceit, Sacha Baron-Cohen’s next character is a Gaddafi-esque
dictator who visits the USA. Cue many jokes about Muslims,
terrorists and uncomfortable scenes centred around the inevitable
clashes in culture. The first trailer has just dropped and is not
very good (at all), but I have faith that the finished product will
wind up being one of the best comedies of the year.
The Expendables 2
And on the subject of great expectations... The Expendables was
one of the daftest, yet most enjoyable films of 2010 and next year
we’re being treated to a sequel. And if there’s one thing we know
about sequels, they’re always bigger, dumber and louder. One of the
criticisms of the first film was that it didn’t live up to its cast
(Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce
Willis, Steve Austin, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li) but that was nonsense
and the new one also stars Jean Claude Van Dam and Chuck Norris.
Add into the mix that Sly has stepped aside as director and
welcomed in Con Air boss Simon West instead, and The Expendables 2
is going to be AWESOME.
The Great Gatsby
One of my favourite books, adapted by one of my favourite
directors and starring one of my favourite actors. I’m more than a
little bit looking forward to seeing this film. Moulin Rouge
director Baz Luhrmann brings his inimitable style to F Scott
Fitzgerald’s classic story, and has cast Leonardo DiCaprio as his
lead. I can already picture how Luhrmann’s distinctive theatrical
filmmaking will be put to use during delirious 1920s party scenes
and have high hopes that his film will replace the 1974 film
starring Robert Redford as the definitive screen version.
Titanic 3D
You’ll be shocked to hear that some people mock my taste in
movies. One of the hooks upon which they hang their cloaks of
ridicule is my love of Titanic. Nonetheless, I stand by James
Cameron’s melodramatic action-drama-romance and am more psyched
about Titanic 3D than pretty much anything else next year. No one
has come close to matching the 3D he gave us in Avatar, and
although Titanic wasn’t shot in 3D, I have a feeling that it’s
going to look just as good as Avatar. Titanic is a huge movie, in
every sense of the word, and the epic scenes of the ship going down
are going to blow audiences away... again.
World War Z
Max Brooks’ horror novel, based on accounts of a zombie
apocalypse, has been a difficult film to accurately convert into a
blockbuster movie. Indeed, the plot has been monkeyed around with
somewhat. Nonetheless, early reports of the film being made by
Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster and starring Brad Pitt are
promising and the script has been called a “genre-defining piece of
work”.
Friday, January 06 2012
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.