Films to see in 2007

Well, 2007 is shaping up to be quite a bumper year for intriguing new releases - some long awaited projects finally get released, and we’ll see if those film makers who have badly departed from the route marked ‘quality’ can steer back their critical careers back to success.

Inland Empire

I’m scared. French release trailer here. This is probably the film I’m most looking forward to in 2007. It’s had some warm and cold reviews, but the prospect of three hours of Lynch experimenting with digitial video and revisiting ground outlined in ‘Mullholland’ Drive is mouthwatering. Let’s just hope it’s not hopelessly incoherent.

There Will Be Blood

A new P.T. Anderson project - it’s been too long since ‘Punch Drunk Love’. All I’ve heard is that it’s a period piece (which is itself a departure for PTA) set in turn of the century rural America, with Daniel Day Lewis who turns in another memorable performance. It sounds like a re-make of the Jimmy Deans last picture, as it also centres around the fledgling oil dometic oil industry. I wonder if we will see PTA’s political stripes as this is obviously fertile ground to explore considering the current global climate.

The Science of Sleep

Michel Gondry is, to put it mildly, an unusual director. ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ is one of the my favourite romantic films, and again he has a Kaufman script to spark his outlandish visual style. Some fans have cited it as the best Gondry film yet - we shall see.

Zodiac

Finchers back - a lot of great directors seem to be releasing ‘product’ this year after a hiatus - good stuff. This looks like a return to Se7en territory, and concerns the investigation into the Zodiac serial killer who terrorised California in the 60’s and 70’s. Intriguing trailer, and will be interesting to see what he does with the conclusion - check out the wikipedia link here if you’re interested. PLuS i’LL gEt 2 RitE mY RevIeW iN tHe MANner Of a CeReal KiLLa………

300

First of the blockbusters that has me circling dates in the calendar - this looks terrific. Do you like Gladiator movies? Hmm, err…anyway - I loved the trailer which appears to expand on the breakthrough techniques trialed by Rodreguiz in ‘Sin City’ - and Snyder delivered gore and fun galore with his suprisingly adept ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake. Ah, hell, who am I kidding - I just want to see FIGHTING.

Spiderman 3

It’s funny how these films are terrific at the cinema, and then pretty dull when you catch them again on the small screen. Still, Raimi usually delivers the goods, although he seems to at risk of juggling too many balls at the same time with this - three villans, Gwen Stacey and Peter’s corruption seems a lot to rattle through in one picture.

Grindhouse

More details on this are emerging - apparently it’s two 90 minute movies (one Rodriguez, one Tarantino) episodes strung together with a linking ten minutes of fictional exploitation trailers made by the likes of Eli Roth and our very own Edgar Wright. Sounds like it could be great fun, but it think it would need to have a bit more depth that merely a 180 minute homage to hold the attention. Hmm.

The Good German

Soderbergh and Clooney back again, this time for a post World War 2 period piece influenced by the films of old school Hollywood directors such as Curtiz, Wellman and Lang. Not heard much about this, although some purists are apparently disturbed by the combination of old school film making and realistic dialogue - they say ‘fuck’ a lot as I imagine you would when facing down a world threatening murderous political ideology. But that’s just me.

Rescue Dawn

Werner Herzog returns to narrative film-making. I’ve enjoyed his recent documentaries and am still trying to track this conundrum down, but it’s good to see him back in the directors chair with a Christian Bale led survival story set against the backdrop of the vietnam war.

No Country for Old Men

The Cohens are back, and thankfully it seems they’ve put their difficult (and downright unsuccessful) comedy phase behind them with a picture that seems to hark back to their debut, ‘Blood Simple‘. An unusual cast (No Hunter, Turturro or Goodman?) will hopefully result in a return to form.

Sin City 2 & Hellboy 2

Two comic books, two sequels. I enjoyed both original outings immensely, they certainly ranked amongst the best transfers of comic to film yet realised, so let’s hope the - well, I’m not sure sequels is the right word, I think installments is more apt - let’s hope the installments are as much fun and exciting as their predecessors.

Black Books

Shame he’s not doing ‘Starship Troopers II’. Not that anyone else is mind, but boy does that film deserve a sequel eh? (before the pedants start whining I’m talking about a proper sequel, not this travesty). Anyway, this is Verhoven returning to his native Holland for another World War II thriller which sounds like it could be competing with ‘The Good German’. I suspect they’ll be more nudity and blood though.

Eastern Promises

I watched a good documentary on the career of Cronenberg this week, an extra on a disk of ‘The Brood’. He’s never been a director I really liked, or disliked, but he’s certainly consistent in terms of his interests and areas of exploration - although I think he revisits the same ground a bit too often. Nevertheless, after the superb ‘A History of Violence’ he seems to be firing on all cylinders, and has cast Viggo Mortensen in his follow-up tale which seems to be another crime genre piece. The formula worked before, let’s hope he repeats the success.

Fast Food Nation

I’m hearing some great things about Linklaters follow up to ‘A Scanner Darkly’, based on the smash novel of the same name. Another praiseworthy political film, more needed please.

The Fountain & Southland Tales

These could go either way - both talented directors, but sometimes your reach can extend your grasp and the response from Canne to both of these was less than glowing. Still, what do the French know eh? I mean, historically they’re only responsible for more world class directors than any other nation on earth. Pah, amateurs….

Right, well that’s a lot to look forward to. There’s a couple of others, so this looks like a busy year.

~ by mintyblonde on January 13, 2007.