Two films falling off the Most Anticipated chart this time. One, Inception, has been released with the mostly rapturous reviews justifying the massive level of interest, the other, The Green Hornet, falls off the chart because a new trailer effectively killed my excitement for the movie in two dull, laughless minutes. Look to add another misfire to Michel Gondry's spotty post-Eternal Sunshine career.
Entering the list is Peter's Weir's The Way Back. I know very little about this film except that it stars Ed Harris and Colin Farrell and is about the escape from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and the subsequent 400 mile trek back to India. It enters the list based on my excitement for a new film from Weir, who has only made two films, both wonderful, in the last twelve years, The Truman Show and Master and Commander. Weir's films almost always hit the Oscar sweet spot with seven of his last eight receiving Oscar nominations in at least one category. In an Oscar race that looks like it's going to be wide open, The Way Back is a movie to look out for.
Speaking of trailers, off the strength of one of the best trailers in recent memory, David Fincher's The Social Network hits the chart at #5 with a bullet. Before this my interest in The Social Network was just curiosity at the seemingly random collection of talent. A Facebook movie, directed by David Fincher, written by Aaron Sorkin, and starring Justin Timberlake? Twenty bucks and a Kewpie doll to anyone who predicted that combination. I should have had more faith in Sorkin and Fincher since this preview suggests that they've made a film that digs deep and captures a moment in time the way something like All the President's Men did. This trailer did what trailers should and so rarely do, make the viewers sit up straight and say to themselves, "I must see this."
The teaser, specifically, made my sister jump around the house in uncontained excitement.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they really got my attention.
ReplyDeleteAm I crazy or does this give you the sense that Eisenberg could be an awards contender? I know Sorkin writes great parts and he seems to have nailed a real intensity here.
Never heard of Peter's Weir's The Way Back, will be adding that to my list.He's made a number of great films over the years, some of which I've got on my A-Z of film recommendations on my blog.
ReplyDeleteJustin Timberlake has in my mind never made a decent film, so him in it doesn't bode well for The Social Network
To my mind Sorkin/Fincher trumps Timberlake.
ReplyDeleteAnd to be fair to him, he never really had the opportunity to be in a decent film so he may rise to the occasion, like Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love.
Timberlake I feel could have turned down all those lousy scripts in the last 5 years, my point is he could have said no. My worry is his choice in scripts is poor.
ReplyDeleteWho knows, I hope social network is good, we will have to wait and see ( : It's about time Fincher got his act together, to me his last great outing was Fight Club 10 years ago.
Not a Zodiac fan? I thought that what his best, most complete film yet.
ReplyDeleteBenajmin Button, on the other hand - that film I have issues with.