Top 15 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009
Top 15 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009
Posted by
SexiVixxEN
361 days ago
I debated on just how many films to include when making this list. However, as the list got bigger it just didn’t end as I just added several films showing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (seriously check out the pics for Mary and Max right here) and on and on and on. So, that’s how I ended up with 15 and even had to add two more to a “Just Missed” section which follows shortly.
A lot of folks are saying how great 2009 looks, but to be honest I am not feeling the vibe entirely. Sure, there are a bunch of fanboy flicks, but so often those films hit theaters and may excite for the moment, but even in 2008 The Dark Knight was the only fanboy film to make my year end top ten as I most often find the truly memorable films feature more than special effects and explosions. With that in mind I give you my fifteen most anticipated films of 2009, with three that fell just shy of the list. Why not go for 20? Because I only added these next three because there is only a small piece of me that wants to see them, but the overall excitement factor is just average.
A TRIO THAT JUST MISSED THE LIST
Edge of Darkness
(TBA 2009)
Mel Gibson returns after the his run-in with “sugar tits” and he is under the direction of Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye). Intriguing for sure.
Star Trek
(May 8)
About six months ago this probably would have been in my top ten, but since seeing the trailers I am not as impressed as it is starting to look like a TV show with a bigger budget. Then again, isn’t that all it really is?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(July 17)
I am a fan of these films even if each one is hardly any different than the one before it.
With that over with… Here’s my top fifteen most anticipated…
15) The Lovely Bones
Photo: Paramount Pictures
I only have this on the list because I absolutely love the book and am curious to see if this film will turn out to be the dud I believe it will be or if Peter Jackson will surprise me. Based on the cast he has put together I don’t have a good feeling about it at all, and I am also not sure it is a book that truly can be adapted for the screen and work on the same level as the novel. I am also worried the massive delays the film has seen don’t bode well as the film was shot at the tail end of 2007 and was supposed to be released in 2008 only to now find a December 11 release date. I don’t know about you, but two years of post-production seems a bit lengthy. Nevertheless, I hold out hope… meager hope…
14) Avatar
Photo: 20th Century Fox
I am sure this will be at the top of many lists of anticipated 2009 films, but I can’t bring myself to get overly excited. James Cameron is a true talent and his attitude toward this film would lead us all to believe it will be the greatest thing since fire. Expectation for this film from the fanboy corners of the online spectrum is through the roof and I can only wonder will it be able to live up to it?
13) Green Zone
Photo: Universal Pictures
The only reason I am excited about this one is due to Paul Greengrass, otherwise yet another film about the war in Iraq doesn’t interest me.
12) Shutter Island
Photo: Just Jared
Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley making a film based on a Dennis Lehane novel. Uh, how could you not want to see this movie?
The only reason I have it here at number twelve as opposed to inside my top ten is because I have read the book and have serious doubts about the ability of turning this psychological thriller into a good film. I wonder, anyone out there read the book and agree with me on this one?
11) 9
Photo: Focus Features
This flick wouldn’t have even shown up on my radar had that impressive teaser trailer not recently debuted. Yet it did, and now I find myself intrigued by a film set in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by rag dolls. Go figure.
10) Sherlock Holmes
Photo: Warner Bros.
Like Shutter Island, the cast of Sherlock Holmes is what intrigues me the most as Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Mark Strong star for Guy Ritchie in this adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original tale which is said to have also drawn inspiration from the comic book
9) Up
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar
Pixar has a way of turning an idea that seems silly or mundane into one hell of a feature. They did it with a rat and then with a robot with a very limited vocabulary. Now they are doing it with an old man as he floats his home to a far off land using helium balloons and brings a little boy scout along for the ride. I wasn’t convinced I was interested in this film until this clip hit the Internet. Now, I am certainly looking forward to May 29.
8) The Hurt Locker
Photo: Summit Entertainment
From what I understand, this is supposed to be the war movie to see as Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker received rave reviews out of the Toronto Film Festival and was promptly snatched up by Summit Entertainment. Many thought the studio may have done it in an effort for a late Oscar push, but word is we should expect it this coming summer. Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere said watching it is “like having your heart operated on by a construction worker wielding a power pneumatic nail-driver.” Yeah, that sold me because, strangely enough, I require all my surgeons to use power tools in my operations. Just a personal preference.
7) Agora
Photo: Fotogramas.es
This one doesn’t even have a distributor yet, but there are rumblings of a mid-December release as Rachel Weisz stars as the legendary astronomer Hypatia (Weisz), trapped in the legendary Library of Alexandria, and tells the story of her fight to save the old world’s wisdom from the religious riots sweeping the streets of Alexandria.
Weisz is only part of the intrigue, however, as the film is co-written and directed by Alejandro Amenbar (The Others and The Sea Inside). It’s his first theatrical feature since the Oscar-winning The Sea Inside in 2004. Five years is a long time to wait.
6) Whatever Works
Photo: Wild Bunch
Come on, Woody Allen, Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood… Need I say more? I hope not, because that’s all you are getting.
5) Inglourious Basterds
Yup, I am a Tarantino fan and no matter how annoying the build-up to his films may be I have to see them and the closer get to that August 21 release date the more excited I am sure I will get. Considering he has Brad Pitt in this one playing what looks like some kind of kooky character named Lieutenant Aldo Raine makes me that much more excited and I may end up being the only person in the theater that hasn’t read the script. Yay for me!
4) The Road
Photo: Dimension Films
I wonder if Dimension plans on releasing this film in 2009 or if they will just keep pushing it off so I have to make it a most anticipated film of 2010 as well. No matter what they do I hope it gets a theatrical release. If it ends up as a direct-to-video release that will just make me sad as I am not sure I would want to watch it at that point for fear it did actually turn out to be a disaster.
3) Nine
(from left) Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Stacy Ferguson, Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson on the set of Nine
Photo: The Weinstein Co.
Inspired by one of my favorite films, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Nine is directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago) and is a musical centered on Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) a film director stuck in neutral as he tries to make a film while haunted by the demands of all the women in his life, including a wife, mistress and even his deceased mother. As you can see from the pic and caption above, it has more to offer than just Daniel Day-Lewis. I recommend everyone check out Fellini’s feature before seeing this flick though, you won’t regret it and you have until September 9 to do it.
2) Watchmen
Photo: Warner Bros. (20th Century Fox?)
There isn’t much more to be said about Watchmen that hasn’t already been said with all the legal squabbling going on between Fox and Warner Bros., the distaste for the idea by the graphic novel’s creator Alan Moore and the anticipation from the fanboys of the world as the most celebrated graphic novel comes to the big screen on March 6.
1) Public Enemies
Photo: Universal Pictures
Is there anyone out there not excited about Michael Mann’s adaptation of Brian Burrough’s “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34″? Starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, this crime drama from the man that brought us Collateral and Heat also stars Marion Cotillard, Giovanni Ribisi and Billy Crudup and is set during the great crime wave of 1933-34, when the government’s attempts to stop Depression-era criminal legends such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd transformed J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI into the country’s first federal police force.
A lot of folks are saying how great 2009 looks, but to be honest I am not feeling the vibe entirely. Sure, there are a bunch of fanboy flicks, but so often those films hit theaters and may excite for the moment, but even in 2008 The Dark Knight was the only fanboy film to make my year end top ten as I most often find the truly memorable films feature more than special effects and explosions. With that in mind I give you my fifteen most anticipated films of 2009, with three that fell just shy of the list. Why not go for 20? Because I only added these next three because there is only a small piece of me that wants to see them, but the overall excitement factor is just average.
A TRIO THAT JUST MISSED THE LIST
Edge of Darkness
(TBA 2009)
Mel Gibson returns after the his run-in with “sugar tits” and he is under the direction of Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye). Intriguing for sure.
Star Trek
(May 8)
About six months ago this probably would have been in my top ten, but since seeing the trailers I am not as impressed as it is starting to look like a TV show with a bigger budget. Then again, isn’t that all it really is?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(July 17)
I am a fan of these films even if each one is hardly any different than the one before it.
With that over with… Here’s my top fifteen most anticipated…
15) The Lovely Bones
Photo: Paramount Pictures
I only have this on the list because I absolutely love the book and am curious to see if this film will turn out to be the dud I believe it will be or if Peter Jackson will surprise me. Based on the cast he has put together I don’t have a good feeling about it at all, and I am also not sure it is a book that truly can be adapted for the screen and work on the same level as the novel. I am also worried the massive delays the film has seen don’t bode well as the film was shot at the tail end of 2007 and was supposed to be released in 2008 only to now find a December 11 release date. I don’t know about you, but two years of post-production seems a bit lengthy. Nevertheless, I hold out hope… meager hope…
14) Avatar
Photo: 20th Century Fox
I am sure this will be at the top of many lists of anticipated 2009 films, but I can’t bring myself to get overly excited. James Cameron is a true talent and his attitude toward this film would lead us all to believe it will be the greatest thing since fire. Expectation for this film from the fanboy corners of the online spectrum is through the roof and I can only wonder will it be able to live up to it?
13) Green Zone
Photo: Universal Pictures
The only reason I am excited about this one is due to Paul Greengrass, otherwise yet another film about the war in Iraq doesn’t interest me.
12) Shutter Island
Photo: Just Jared
Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley making a film based on a Dennis Lehane novel. Uh, how could you not want to see this movie?
The only reason I have it here at number twelve as opposed to inside my top ten is because I have read the book and have serious doubts about the ability of turning this psychological thriller into a good film. I wonder, anyone out there read the book and agree with me on this one?
11) 9
Photo: Focus Features
This flick wouldn’t have even shown up on my radar had that impressive teaser trailer not recently debuted. Yet it did, and now I find myself intrigued by a film set in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by rag dolls. Go figure.
10) Sherlock Holmes
Photo: Warner Bros.
Like Shutter Island, the cast of Sherlock Holmes is what intrigues me the most as Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Mark Strong star for Guy Ritchie in this adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original tale which is said to have also drawn inspiration from the comic book
9) Up
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar
Pixar has a way of turning an idea that seems silly or mundane into one hell of a feature. They did it with a rat and then with a robot with a very limited vocabulary. Now they are doing it with an old man as he floats his home to a far off land using helium balloons and brings a little boy scout along for the ride. I wasn’t convinced I was interested in this film until this clip hit the Internet. Now, I am certainly looking forward to May 29.
8) The Hurt Locker
Photo: Summit Entertainment
From what I understand, this is supposed to be the war movie to see as Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker received rave reviews out of the Toronto Film Festival and was promptly snatched up by Summit Entertainment. Many thought the studio may have done it in an effort for a late Oscar push, but word is we should expect it this coming summer. Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere said watching it is “like having your heart operated on by a construction worker wielding a power pneumatic nail-driver.” Yeah, that sold me because, strangely enough, I require all my surgeons to use power tools in my operations. Just a personal preference.
7) Agora
Photo: Fotogramas.es
This one doesn’t even have a distributor yet, but there are rumblings of a mid-December release as Rachel Weisz stars as the legendary astronomer Hypatia (Weisz), trapped in the legendary Library of Alexandria, and tells the story of her fight to save the old world’s wisdom from the religious riots sweeping the streets of Alexandria.
Weisz is only part of the intrigue, however, as the film is co-written and directed by Alejandro Amenbar (The Others and The Sea Inside). It’s his first theatrical feature since the Oscar-winning The Sea Inside in 2004. Five years is a long time to wait.
6) Whatever Works
Photo: Wild Bunch
Come on, Woody Allen, Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood… Need I say more? I hope not, because that’s all you are getting.
5) Inglourious Basterds
Yup, I am a Tarantino fan and no matter how annoying the build-up to his films may be I have to see them and the closer get to that August 21 release date the more excited I am sure I will get. Considering he has Brad Pitt in this one playing what looks like some kind of kooky character named Lieutenant Aldo Raine makes me that much more excited and I may end up being the only person in the theater that hasn’t read the script. Yay for me!
4) The Road
Photo: Dimension Films
I wonder if Dimension plans on releasing this film in 2009 or if they will just keep pushing it off so I have to make it a most anticipated film of 2010 as well. No matter what they do I hope it gets a theatrical release. If it ends up as a direct-to-video release that will just make me sad as I am not sure I would want to watch it at that point for fear it did actually turn out to be a disaster.
3) Nine
(from left) Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Stacy Ferguson, Nicole Kidman and Kate Hudson on the set of Nine
Photo: The Weinstein Co.
Inspired by one of my favorite films, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Nine is directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago) and is a musical centered on Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) a film director stuck in neutral as he tries to make a film while haunted by the demands of all the women in his life, including a wife, mistress and even his deceased mother. As you can see from the pic and caption above, it has more to offer than just Daniel Day-Lewis. I recommend everyone check out Fellini’s feature before seeing this flick though, you won’t regret it and you have until September 9 to do it.
2) Watchmen
Photo: Warner Bros. (20th Century Fox?)
There isn’t much more to be said about Watchmen that hasn’t already been said with all the legal squabbling going on between Fox and Warner Bros., the distaste for the idea by the graphic novel’s creator Alan Moore and the anticipation from the fanboys of the world as the most celebrated graphic novel comes to the big screen on March 6.
1) Public Enemies
Photo: Universal Pictures
Is there anyone out there not excited about Michael Mann’s adaptation of Brian Burrough’s “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34″? Starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis, this crime drama from the man that brought us Collateral and Heat also stars Marion Cotillard, Giovanni Ribisi and Billy Crudup and is set during the great crime wave of 1933-34, when the government’s attempts to stop Depression-era criminal legends such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd transformed J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI into the country’s first federal police force.
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