Besides taking my last year’s resolution and placing it at the top of the following year’s list of things I need to do, part of my habitual beginning-of-the-year practices is to look ahead at the year of film offerings, filter through all the crap that will come out in the next 12 months and make my most anticipated list.
While you won’t find Michael Bay’s The Tranformers nor the next Peter Parker installment, you’ll find a grouping of visionary directors, great screenplays and talented cast and crews on the sort of projects that might be in contention for the Palme D’or or that will play at your local art house theatre.
Commencing today (Monday) and concluding on Friday, I’ll be counting down the list of most anticipated films for 2007. You’ll find brief introductions to both the film title and the filmmaker behind it (click on the titles for each individual preview page) and make sure to visit tomorrow for the next batch of picks.
Here are picks 50 to 41 – (I’ve included a 51st choice for a project that was made back in 2001 but is only finally seeing the light this year).
When: Yari Film Group – TBA (Most likely a limited summer release)
Who: Formerly Baldwin and now… Alan Smithee?
What: This is a remake of the 1941 film of the same title starring Walter Huston and Edward Arnold, which was itself based upon the novel by Stephen Vincent Benet (which also became a famous play). This is about an unsuccessful writer (Baldwin) selling his soul to the devil (Hewitt) in exchange for fame and fortune. When his success isn’t everything he thought it would be he attempts to wiggle out of the deal, which leads to Daniel Webster (Hopkins) to defend him in a kind of cosmic court setting.
Why: Locked up in some safe somewhere by creditors, this film will finally see the light. It will be interesting to go back in time (to 2001), even more so that Alec Baldwin’s talents are once again showcased with roles in The Departed, The Good Shepard and his current television stint.
When: Currently in pre-production – a possible, very late 07’ release.
Who: 99’s Ravenous was followed by long t.v. stint. Welcome back Antonia Bird
What: Based on an original screenplay by Trainspotting novelist Irvine Welsh, this is set in Edinburgh, the gothic horror comedy is a contemporary reworking of the crimes of the 19th century bodysnatchers Burke and Hare. This notorious duo made a living robbing graves to provide doctors with cadavers for experimentation. When the supply of corpses dried up, they started killing tramps.
Why: The fun we had with Ravenous + Irvine Welsh + Robert “Begbie” Carlyle = fun!
What: Co-scripted with Avi Korine, this is a yarn about a young American lost in Paris, eking out a living as a Michael Jackson (Luna) lookalike. By co-incidence, he meets Marilyn Monroe (Morton). He follows her to a commune in Scotland, joining her husband Charlie Chaplin (Lavant) and her daughter Shirley Temple. Fellow residents include The Pope, The Queen of England (Pallenberg), Madonna and James Dean. The drama is also partly set In a Brazilian forest where a community of missionary nuns bring aid to the locals.
Why: Rocky, Rambo and other misfits are looking forward for some new content.
When: Columbia Pictures – TBA (A fall release date and possible Toronto film festival inclusion most likely.)
Who: Third time might be the charm for Julie Taymor.
What: This is a love story about a British boy and an American girl is set against the backdrop of the social upheaval of the 1960s. Although not about the Beatles, the musical will use their songs to drive the narrative, with the actors singing and dancing to the classic tunes.
Why: The Beatles fans unite! All five people who saw Titus unite! Hopefully some of the more ambitious sequences that Taymor created in Frida might get explored here – it may be a trippy, love story studio film worth the ten bucks and may have a Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet like appeal and don’ forget Evan Rachel Wood is one of the better young female actresses around.
When: No studio attached yet. Should sell and preem at either the Cannes or Venice, or outside chance: Rome film festival. Projected release: late 07’.
Who: A decade after The Rainmaker, Francis Ford Coppola is back with an indie project. American Zoetrope lives again?!
What: Based on the novella by Romanian author and intellectual Mircea Eliade, the story centers on a professor whose life changes after a cataclysmic incident during the dark years before WWII. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India.
Why: Three great leads (Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Tim Roth) and a distinctive European flavor should be for an interesting watch.
What: The drama revolves around a New York teenager, her actress mother and the girl who tries to make amends for her complicity in a terrible traffic accident.
Why: Loved You Can Count on Me. Been anxiously awaiting sophomore feature.
When: Seeking distribution. Perhaps a festival date beforehand.
Who: Paul Auster last directed ages ago – remember Lulu on the Bridge?
What: The fictional character of Martin Frost hails from Auster’s novel The Book Of Illusions and is a well-known American writer who holes up in a borrowed house after the publication of his latest novel. Upon waking in the house on his first day, he is shocked to find a strange woman in bed with him – and she’s just as surprised to find him. He quickly falls for the intelligent beauty but as his love grows she becomes more and more unattainable.
Why: Haven’t read the book – but interesting cast (Michael Imperioli, Irene Jacob and David Thewlis) should deliver unique picture.
When: A festival date likely – perhaps Cannes (Young Adam was screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes).
Who: Scotsman David Mackenzie has a true talent.
What: Based on the screenplay by Ed Whitmore and based on the novel by Peter Jinks – this is a twisted Freudian adventure, the film centres on Hallam Foe, a teenage (Bell) voyeur who fancies his step-mother until he becomes convinced that she murdered his mother. He leaves home when she seduces him and begins a feral life in the rooftops of Edinburgh until he spots and becomes obsessed with a girl who looks just like his mother.
Why: May run along who dun-it lines of Young Adam – yum yum.
Who: After stinker The Stepford WivesFrank Oz comes back to form.
What: Based on a screenplay by Dean Craig, “Funeral” revolves around a dysfunctional British family as they gather to mourn the passing of their patriarch. But a sober, heartfelt goodbye turns into calamity.
Why: Every year we can always count on one breakout Brit comedy (The Full Monty and Shaun of the Dead), this year’s top choice was bought up in many foreign territories. One of several worthy MGM films via Kimmel International.
What: This based on the shocking true story of a murder that stunned the nation back in the mid-1960s. Written by O’Haver and Irene Turner, the film centers on Getrude Baniszewski (Keener), a seemingly ordinary housewife and the mother of seven, who imprisons a beautiful teenager Sylvia Likens (Page), who has been left in her charge, in the basement of her Indiana home.
Why: Killer Films production & Sundance selection sees a potential power exchange between two underrated actresses in Catherine Keener and Ellen Page. Should provide more insight in recent shocking headlines that came from Europe.
