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Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret
A 3D family film from they guy who gave us Taxi Driver and Goodfellas? Film snobbery aside, this Holiday release item sees Scorsese, who often wears the film historian and restoration hat, continue trying on new genres and this time, formats. It's seems fitting since he visits with Georges Méliès -- the original man with the movie camera.
Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary
Last year we had it in our number 20 spot, and while a full year of waiting has slightly diminished our hunger for this Hunter S. Thompson adaptation, it still has plenty of elements working for it -- great ensemble, return of a popular filmmaker, and the source material.
Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Francis Ford Coppola’s Twixt Now and Sunrise
This might sound weird since his legend status was confirmed in the late 70s, but I'm actually excited about the prospects of a Francis Ford Coppola following in the footsteps of his daughter and becoming an "indie" filmmaker. Tetro wasn't the grand return to form for the vet filmmaker that plenty were expecting, but I deem the experiment as a renewed passion for low budget filmmaking. Stemming from a nightmare the director had, this 7 million dollar horror film going by a great title and is sees B-list actor Val Kilmer topline (he was a blast in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans) and this could be part of a string of works where the filmmaker is making films for himself. If Godard and Resnais can do it, so can FFC.
Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s Dau
Khrzhanovsky's 2005 debut 4 (Rotterdam winner) was originally conceived as a short and it took four years to complete, which sort of gives us a clue on how much time and effort the Russian filmmaker puts into his craft. Dau was part of 2006's Cannes Film Festival’s filmmakers’ workshop “L'Atelier du Festival” and was lensed by one of my favorite dp's in Lol Carwley (Ballast, Better Things, Four Lions and the Sundance 2011 pair HERE and On the Ice.
Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2011: Eran Kolirin’s The Exchange
Eran Kolirin left quite the impression with the Cannes winner and international film festival favorite The Band’s Visit (2007), which was among the best archetype for films that deal with cultural differences and it was done in a smart, moving and profound and in a very subtle manner. In my estimation, we should experience another dramatically rewarding effort with his sophomore pic.
