Eric Lavallée

Thank god we don't have to wait twelve years between films. Derek Cianfrance's second film was my top pick of 2010. After his critically lauded sophomore film tomahawk chopped critics from Sundance to Cannes to TIFF, Blue Valentine producers wasted no time in backing his next project: a drama about family and motorcycles? It features Ryan Gosling (his career best was with Cianfrance) and its got tech folks such as Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (Shame) and Production Designer specialist Inbal Weinberg.

The naughts were good to us with Jacques Audiard - he handed us back to back to back cinematic gems in Sur mes lèvres (2001), The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) and Special Jury Prize winning A Prophet (2009). Audiard is arguably among the best French filmmakers in the biz, so how will he fare when he dabbles a bit more in CGI and with a spiked production budget north of 20 million? And will Oscar-winning lead actress in Cotillard knock it out of the park like Emmanuelle Devos did in Sur mes lèvres? We don't expect him to compromise on his trademark marriage of style and suspense.

Expecting this docu essay to be reminiscent of such canvases as Koyaanisqatsi, Microcosmos, Powaqqatsi and Baraka, we expect this to not only reveal some of the larger in scope ideas Malick has been toying with for Tree of Life, and we'll be pleasantly surprised if Voyage comes across as more than just a companion piece. Employing several formats (including IMAX) this features the work from renowned natural history photographer Peter Parks and "Planet Earth" cinematographer Paul Atkins. Plus we've taken a liking to Pitt's narration voice in PBS' e² series.

Unlike the folks at the Academy, Mungiu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days hit us like a ton of bricks and 2009's barely noticed Tales from the Golden Age was a welcome side project (five Romania filmmakers contributed). Mungiu's third feature film (his debut was 2002's Occident) should be up our alley.

For film snobs such as myself, you'd need a really valid reason to want to see a film with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey toplining. Arkansas born Jeff Nichols is that reason. From the day in 2007 where I decided to pull out Shotgun Stories from my pile of screeners to the blissful satisfaction I received approximately one year ago when taking in Take Shelter on premiere night in Park City, in just two feature films, this gifted auteur has proven his worth as one of the most talented filmmaking voices in American Independent cinema. Worth noting: Michael Shannon is in this film too.