Eric Lavallée

Those who remember Pedro Almodovar's earlier work recall that before Penelope and at the same time as Carmen Maura, there was Antonio Banderas. I'm not prepared to call this film as going outside the filmmaker's comfort zone as jealousy and revenge are frequent themes in his body of work, but this one appears to be siding in somewhat of a different category in his long filmography. I look forward in seeing Elena Anaya's game face in a Pedro film and of course the habitual qualities that are the make-up of his works such as composer Alberto Iglesias' involvement.

No need in blaming her for our chewed up DVD copies of her only two feature films, we learnt that during this almost one full decade absence that she worked on and dropped Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, but I think working from this novel might have been the better trade-off. I'm expecting three exquisite performances in this film, and if Lynne Ramsay places, tests Swinton in the same arduous manner she got the best from Samantha Morton in with Morvern Caller, then we could very well see the Palme d'or for Best Actress going to Swinton. We had this on the list last year in the #10 spot.

With auteurs Asian filmmakers such as Jiang-Ke and Hou Hsiao-Hsien also making the leap into martial arts project, it may be WKW who is stylistically challenging himself, first by going into biopic territory but also by enlisting a crew comprised of kick ass, action choreographer, Hong Kong action cinema specialist Yuen Woo-ping and he re-teams with In the Mood for Love's Tony Leung Chiu-Wai for what I think is now their sixth film together.

Octogenarians put through the test of long lasting love via the hands of Haneke with Isabelle Huppert once again playing the adult daughter? I don't think there'll be shards of broken glass in this one. I'm really looking forward to the filmmaker's chosen tone and discourse on this one -- I imagine it to be soft, tender, and brutally honest depiction of growing old and take on a discourse that many baby-boomers are just beginning to realize -- mortality and the breakdown of the human body via old age is inevitable.

If you want a piece of Belgium this year, skip Tintin and look out for the Dardenne's latest. Lorna's Silence might not have been a masterwork in a filmography populated by great achievements in cinema, and despite rehashing of similar themes, they outfitted the film with sense of hope. Here's hoping that Cécile de France (local Belgian actress) navigates troubled waters and we see whipping boy/Dardenne favorite actor Jérémie Renier embody another fringe character. Their hallmark items of gritty handheld camerawork, their attention to detail void of anything theatrical and infectious characters are always appreciated.