Let's face it, the summer blockbuster movie season wasn't all that blockbustery. Sure, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Amazing Spider-Man did exactly what we expected them to do, but what else? Most every other big budget film either tanked at the box office or proved to be a critical disappointment.
Thank goodness for the fall season, where our expectations of quality are raised, and generally filmmakers reach to meet those lofty standards. It's where some of the early year festival darlings start to roll into theaters and where the true Oscar contenders take their opening bows. That said, we here at Punch Drunk Critics each have our favorites, and so we thought this was a good time for each to rundown our most anticipated films for the rest of the year.....
John Nolan
The Man with the Iron Fists
A kung-fu flick with out of this world fighters directed by Rza and co-written by Eli Roth? Do I really have to still tell you why this one is at the top of my list? The best director for any project is one that not only understands the film they are making but also has a love for the type of film which they are making. I honestly can’t think of anyone more suited for any genre than Rza is for a martial arts film. I’m not even going to bother mentioning how awesome the soundtrack is going to be…all you need to do is watch the trailer and you’ll know.(November 2nd)
Red Dawn
I totally understand the hatred for remakes, I honestly do. I will freely admit that I have enjoyed a majority of the rehashed 80’s flicks even if they were totally unnecessary. Red Dawn, however, is totally necessary and I’m not just saying that because the politics are dated, I’m saying that because EVERYTHING is dated and the story deserves to be told for a new generation. I can’t speak for everyone but personally when I was a teenager I would dream of something happening that would let me prove myself a hero, Red Dawn will give kids a chance to live this on screen. (November 21st)
Skyfall
My love for Bond films is one of the main reasons I got into movies in the first place. After Casino Royale my love for Bond was re-ignited and stronger than ever. While Quantumof Solace was a slight misstep I feel confident in my belief that Skyfall will be another high point in the series. The only proof I need is in the trailers. If Daniel Craig looks half as cool in the rest of the movie we are all in for a treat.(November 9th)
Lincoln
As a film, does Lincoln have the most pedigree ever? Take a look at the cast and crew: Steven Spielberg, directing. Daniel Day-Lewis, starring. Tony Kushner, writing. That trifecta is mighty, and Daniel Day-Lewis has basically never made a bad movie (I'm ignoring Nine, obviously), and Steven Spielberg proved his emotional range again with War Horse, and my hopes are very, very high. Plus, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the movie, too, and anything he does basically makes me dissolve into fangirl giggles, so there's that. Also, have I mentioned that DDL is on my list of Men I Would Leave My Life For? DDL forever, you guys.(November 9th)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
If Guillermo del Toro had stayed on as director of The Hobbit, yes, we probably would have gotten a creepier, more wonderfully nightmarish version of J.R.R. Tolkien's precursor to The Lord of the Rings. But man, did Peter Jackson enthrall us with his trilogy adaptation of that work, and I'm not surprised he eventually agreed to helm The Hobbit, too. Is it going to be harder to mimic the success of "LOTR" this time around? Absolutely, since The Hobbit is ultimately a children's book, and has a wider, more dwarf-heavy cast of characters, and perhaps doesn't have enough material to make into three films. But I'm a Tolkien fanatic - yes, that is a "LOTR" tattoo on my back, thanks for noticing my nerdiness - and it's undeniable that The Hobbit will certainly be a welcome return to Middle Earth. I have to hope that Jackson can do us good by this trip, too.(December 14th)
Zero Dark Thirty
No moment was sweeter in my years of Oscar viewing than in 2010, when Kathryn Bigelow swiped Best Director and Best Picture from under ex-husband James Cameron's nose, denying Avatar of the awards as Bigelow gathered them up for The Hurt Locker. Oh, sweet wonderfulness! Word on the street is that Cameron cheated on Bigelow with Linda Hamilton of "The Terminator" films, and man, his ego from Avatar was so damn big, and to see him smacked down by the wife he couldn't even be faithful to was pretty awesome for me. But it helps that Bigelow is just a really damn good director (yes, I love Point Break), and she excels in crafting films about complicated male relationships and zeroing in on the links between testosterone and adrenaline. Zero Dark Thirty will have some of that, I'd think - as well as giving all us normal people a little bit more information about what went down during the capture of Osama bin Laden. I don't think any other director could handle the material for this film, and I'm so excited to see how Bigelow will make me cry this time around. Because if you can watch The Hurt Locker without crying, you're one heartless bastard.(December 19th)
As a film, does Lincoln have the most pedigree ever? Take a look at the cast and crew: Steven Spielberg, directing. Daniel Day-Lewis, starring. Tony Kushner, writing. That trifecta is mighty, and Daniel Day-Lewis has basically never made a bad movie (I'm ignoring Nine, obviously), and Steven Spielberg proved his emotional range again with War Horse, and my hopes are very, very high. Plus, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the movie, too, and anything he does basically makes me dissolve into fangirl giggles, so there's that. Also, have I mentioned that DDL is on my list of Men I Would Leave My Life For? DDL forever, you guys.(November 9th)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
If Guillermo del Toro had stayed on as director of The Hobbit, yes, we probably would have gotten a creepier, more wonderfully nightmarish version of J.R.R. Tolkien's precursor to The Lord of the Rings. But man, did Peter Jackson enthrall us with his trilogy adaptation of that work, and I'm not surprised he eventually agreed to helm The Hobbit, too. Is it going to be harder to mimic the success of "LOTR" this time around? Absolutely, since The Hobbit is ultimately a children's book, and has a wider, more dwarf-heavy cast of characters, and perhaps doesn't have enough material to make into three films. But I'm a Tolkien fanatic - yes, that is a "LOTR" tattoo on my back, thanks for noticing my nerdiness - and it's undeniable that The Hobbit will certainly be a welcome return to Middle Earth. I have to hope that Jackson can do us good by this trip, too.(December 14th)
Zero Dark Thirty
No moment was sweeter in my years of Oscar viewing than in 2010, when Kathryn Bigelow swiped Best Director and Best Picture from under ex-husband James Cameron's nose, denying Avatar of the awards as Bigelow gathered them up for The Hurt Locker. Oh, sweet wonderfulness! Word on the street is that Cameron cheated on Bigelow with Linda Hamilton of "The Terminator" films, and man, his ego from Avatar was so damn big, and to see him smacked down by the wife he couldn't even be faithful to was pretty awesome for me. But it helps that Bigelow is just a really damn good director (yes, I love Point Break), and she excels in crafting films about complicated male relationships and zeroing in on the links between testosterone and adrenaline. Zero Dark Thirty will have some of that, I'd think - as well as giving all us normal people a little bit more information about what went down during the capture of Osama bin Laden. I don't think any other director could handle the material for this film, and I'm so excited to see how Bigelow will make me cry this time around. Because if you can watch The Hurt Locker without crying, you're one heartless bastard.(December 19th)
The Master
One fine afternoon I was sitting at my desk when along my twitter feed I see this tweet about a new trailer for a new film called The Master. I’m confused, "What’s The Master?" I then proceed to click the link and saw what is the most captivating trailer I’ve seen all year so far. I still don’t really know what the film is about but it has P.S. Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Joaquin Phoenix and I was sold. Paul Thomas Anderson releasing a new film should be an event but even this some of the camera shots, use of color and the focus on the actors just stayed with me. I’m hooked and I need a fix ASAP. I owe Anderson a punch in the lip for being awesome.(September 14th)
Looper
Ever since I saw Rian Johnson’s first film, Brick, I’ve been a fan. I’ve watched that film so many times, and the way he gets as much nuance out of it is ridiculous. The way he’s used genres and flipped them on their head so far has been breath of fresh air to me and my cynical brain. So once I heard about Looper some years back I got excited then when I finally saw the trailer with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Bruce Willis makeup and it showing us the concept of a mob hit man that has to kill his older self, it blew my mind away. This movie has mob killing + time travel so that equals a Ben & Jerry’s-like piece of cinema pleasure!(September 28th)
Skyfall
There are a few things l love unconditionally in this world. Some of those things are The X-Men, Street Fighter, Ninjas and James Bond. I’ve seen every Bond film since I was a wee lad. What’s not cool about a spy with jet packs, gadgets, women with crazy sexualized names and Aston Martins? So once they announced a new 007 adventure I was already excited, and then they said Sam Mendes would direct and I was a little confused. “You mean the American Beauty guy?” Now of course I’ve seen much of his films but I’ve never seen him do some James Bond level action. I felt this way until that trailer hit the interwebs, and I was smacked in the face with a Bond film that not only looks beautiful but interesting. What did M do? Wow, Craig looks extra tough here! Oooh a new Moneypenny! So far this cast looks amazing and it looks to be a stronger film than Quantum of Solace so I’m looking forward to get nice and hyped this winter with my favorite Spy.
Rust and Bone
Emerging from the festival circuit with the greatest expectation of late season success, Rust and Bone features an incredible Oscar pedigree, starting with French director Jacques Audiard, who recently gave us the Oscar-nominated crime film, A Prophet. A breakout performance is being hailed for Matthias Schoenaerts, star of last year's Best Foreign Language contender, Bullhead, who by all accounts acquits himself well opposite Oscar winner Marion Cotillard. The story does sound ripe for some heavy melodrama, with Cotillard as a killer whale trainer who loses her legs in a freak accident, not long after starting a cautious relationship with a struggling nightclub bouncer and single father. Cotillard is always amazing, and Schoenaerts is a star on the rise. The combination should make for a combustible on-screen pair.(November 16th)The Man with the Iron Fists
The Wu-Tang Clan founder and maestro of all things Kung Fu, RZA has dug deep into his Rolodex to bring his hyper violent martial arts homage to the silver screen. Reuniting with past colleagues Quentin Tarantino, Russell Crowe, and Lucy Liu, RZA stars as a renowned blacksmith in ancient China forced to defend his village from an invading force. Crowe has never met a Western role he didn't love (3:10 to Yuma, The Quick and the Dead), playing a mysterious gunslinger and potential rival. I remember when RZA first started talking about his desire to make a martial arts flick years ago, way back around 2005, so to finally see it come to fruition (November 2nd)
The Master
Unbelievably, it's been five years since Paul Thomas Anderson drank our milkshakes with There Will Be Blood, and while it's been an excruciating wait for the auteur's fans, the positive buzz surrounding his controversial new film is worth getting excited over. Shot in glorious 70mm, The Master has already torqued off the Scientology community (Tom Cruise reportedly hates it) for possibly insinuating that L. Ron Hubbard pulled the religion out of thin air. The general consensus from the festival circuit has been that it's more of an examination on all organized religion and an indictment of none, so it'll be interesting to see what the reaction is once a wider audience sets their sights on it. In case you haven't noticed, our little site here takes its name from a P.T. Anderson film, and I consider him to be the single finest director working today with not a single bad movie to his credit. Combine the controversial subject matter, a fantastic cast that's already earning Oscar talk, and a handful of trailers that emphasize the film's insightful quality, there's nothing else that gets me excited more than seeing The Master in just a few short days! For a more complete list of my top picks, you can go here.(September 14th)
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