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Originally Posted in Creative Loafing.
2009 is already halfway over, and the fall movie season (with all the originality and Oscar-bait it has to offer) is just around the corner. What follows is my list of the 25 films I’m most interested in seeing in the second half of 2009. Read all the way to the bottom for some honorable mentions and films that flat out didn’t make the cut, despite the big-name talent behind the production. (I’m looking at you Scorsese and Apatow.) Then let me know in the comments what you’re looking forward to seeing in the next six months.
Read on for the my 25 most anticipated films of the rest of 2009.
25) Big Fan (August 28)
I know the Sundance hit wasn’t praised for its production values, but The Wrestler scribe Robert D. Siegal looks like he has written another winner about a loser. Patton Oswalt plays a very big New York Giants fan who, though a misunderstanding, is beaten up by his favorite player. From there his life goes into emotional turmoil, and Oswalt is said to give a fearless dramatic performance.
24) Nine (November 27)
I’m a sucker for Musicals and anything Fellini so here we are with Nine. This is another in a series of film-to-stage-to-film adaptations: In this case the movie is Federico Fellini’s 1963 classic 8 ½, about a film director dealing with an artistic crisis and all the various woman in his life simultaneously. The cast consists of six Oscar winners (Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, and acting God Daniel Day Lewis) and Fergie.
23) Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (TBA)
Touted as the “first Mumblecore musical” David Chazelle’s debut feature has delighted audiences on the festival circuit. The film (shot on 16mm black and white) follows the lively romance of a jazz trumpeter and a tap-dancing beauty on the streets of Boston. The film looks like the perfect blending of old and new.
22) The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (TBA)
Davis Russo’s feature film debut has turned heads at festival circuits all year. The film is about bizarre experiments involving janitors and deliciously addictive cookies. These cookies, as it turns out, cause strange visions, wild mood swings and some quasi-male pregnancies. The janitors band together as they become midwives for one another, each man giving birth to a small blue fish. Oh, what a beautiful synopsis.
Listen to podcast #135 for a full review
21) The Lovely Bones (December 11)
Peter Jackson’s long awaited adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel is almost here. The story is about a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family and her killer from heaven, observing how their lives have changed. Jackson looks like he is returning to the kind of supernatural drama of Heavenly Creatures (my favorite film of his).
20) Ponyo (August 27)
It’s Hayao Miyazaki, so how could one not be excited. With this feature he has gone for a more old school look with a water color and pastel-like animation style and using as little CGI as possible. The story is a take off on The Little Mermaid, but this time it’s a goldfish princess who longs to be human.
19) The Princess and the Frog (December 11)
Disney’s long awaited return to hand drawn animation had me hooked five years ago when the project was announced. Featuring Disney’s first African-American princess, the film takes place in the beautifully detailed New Orleans’ French Quarter during the Jazz Age.
18) Agora (December 18)
Alejandro Amenabar’s latest may have gotten mixed notices at Cannes, but I must say the film looks spectacular. This uncommonly high-minded epic set in Roman Egypt’s famed city of Alexandria concerns a slave who turns to the growing surge of Christianity to pursue freedom while falling helplessly in love with his master, famous atheist philosophy professor Hypatia (Rachel Weisz).
17) Life During Wartime (TBA)
Todd Solondz has always made polarizing films and dealt with the most taboo subjects. This film is said to be a loose sequel to his 1998 classic Happiness. Many of that film’s characters now inhabit what seems to be about a war-torn world. Unfortunately I don’t think Paris Hilton is in this one as was originally reported. But it should be interesting nonetheless.
16) Cold Souls (August 14)
Sophie Barthes debut feature has already been compared to the work of Charlie Kaufman. The wacky post-modern comedy is set in the not too distant future where corporations can extract human souls and sell them as commodities. The story centers on Paul Giamatti (playing himself) who decides to try the procedure to help him get into a soulless character for the stage. His plan backfires when he tries to retrieve his soul and learns it has been sold on the Russian black market.
15) The Road (October 16)
This post-apocalyptic tale looks depressing as hell, and I can’t wait. We could either have another Children of Men on our hands (which is good btw) or another Blindness (not so good). There is The Proposition director John Hillcoat helming the adaption of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel and starring Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron. I think were in good hands.
14) Where the Wild Things Are (October 16)
I would have put Spike Jonze‘ latest higher on the list if not for the current post-production hell it’s currently in. The trailers look spectacular, but the test screenings have been near-disasters and I’m a little worried on how the overall product is going come out. Will it pander too much to younger audiences or will it be a tedious art film? But we do have hipster novelist Dave Eggers involved, and the vocal talents are outstanding.
13) World’s Greatest Dad (August 21)
Robin Williams looks as if he could actually be good here. He plays a sad sack of a high school poetry teacher with an insufferable sex-crazed jackass of a son. But when a tragic event occurs, Williams’ character turns it into an opportunity to make his long-crushed dreams come true. Vulgar comedy extraordinaire Bob Goldthwait looks like he could have a crossover hit on his hands.
12) Beeswax (TBA)
Andrew Bujalski’s follow up to 2005’s Mutual Appreciation was a hit at South by Southwest along with Joe Sawnberg’s Alexander the Last. The film will follow the complicated lives and loves of two identical twin sisters, one of which is a paraplegic.
11) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (TBA)
In a bizarre choice of material, film-making icon Werner Herzog has made a remake (or sequel) to Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant. This time out, Nicolas Cage stars as a crooked, drug-addicted cop whose life spins (somewhat hilariously) out of control. The film also stars Eva Mendes, Exhibit and Val Kilmer — and already feels like it could be a cult classic.
10) Thirst (July 31)
Oldboy auteur Chan-wook Park enters the lucrative world of the vampire genre with his latest film. The film follows a small town priest who, during a failed medical experiment, becomes a vampire. This, of course, leads him down the road to anguish and depravity — but he still struggles to maintain his humanity.
9) Broken Embraces (November 20)
Pedro Almodovar’s latest looks like his most gorgeous film yet, and it’s lovely to see Penelope Cruz in an assortment of dazzling wigs. The film tells the story of a blind filmmaker (Lluís Homar) and how he lost not only his sight but love of his life (Cruz).
8 ) The Illusionist (TBA)
This is the new feature from France’s new animation king Sylvain Chomet, his first since the Oscar-nominated Triplets of Bellville. Another exciting element is the fact that the film’s screenplay was written over 30 years ago by the legendary comic filmmaker Jacques Tati. This means we may very well catch a glimpse of the iconic Monsieur Hulot once again (in animated form of course).
7) In the Loop (July 24, VOD: July 15)
Based off the British TV series The Thick of It, this comedy has been described as “Dr. Strangelove meets The Office.” The political farce centers on a British Secretary of State and his entourage trying to halt a war they may have accidentally started, through any means necessary. The reviews for this one have been enthusiastically positive.
Listen to podcast #141 for a full review
6) Humpday (in limited release now)
The Bromance to end all bromances. Lynn Shelton’s latest was a sensation at Sundance with many critics citing it as the first Mumblecore film that could crossover into the mainstream. Two old buddies go to a party at a sex positive commune, get wasted and dare each other to enter a gay porn contest. The next morning the two find themselves unable to back down from their bet. But how is the wife of one of the guys going to take this turn of events?
Listen to podcast #141 for a full review
5) Antichrist (October 23)
I’m so up for the bat-shit craziness this film has to offer. Who doesn’t want to see a NC-17 horror film that looks like a perfume ad? Ok, maybe not as many as I think, but I’m there. What if I told you there is supposedly a talking fox and the mutilation of Willem Dafoe’s little man? Lars Von Trier’s (or “the greatest director in the world” as he likes to call himself) film centers on a grieving couple who retreat to a mysterious cabin in the woods. Then some bad things happen.
4) The Hurt Locker (in limited release now)
What else can I say about this one? Kathryn Bigelow’s film is the most universally acclaimed so far this year (along with Up) and the #1 art house event of the summer. We follow an elite Army bomb squad in a city in Iraq in brilliant uncompromising detail. Just watch this clip and you shall see what everyone is talking about.
3) The Tree of Life (TBA)
It’s still up in the air whether the film will be released this year or next, but I have my fingers crossed. Director Terrence Malick is notorious for his long post-productions, but any Malick film is a huge event. (This would be his fifth film of his 40 year career). The descriptions I’ve heard about this one are mind-blowing, and Malick has reportedly been planning this film for over 30 years. Life will follow the evolution of an 11 year old boy. The audience will see the world through his eyes, full of beauty and love and his visions of history. But as the boy gets older, he gets his first glimpses of death and sickness and parental conflict (Brad Pitt will play the father). The world then becomes a harsh unforgiving place. Sean Penn is will play the boy as a disillusioned adult yearning to find meaning in his life again. There will also supposedly be a time-line of the history of the world that goes back far enough to include the dinosaurs. Talk about ambitious!
2) Avatar (December 18)
James Cameron’s “cinema changing” film is so close. The buzz I’ve heard from all around has been uniform ally great. (Sample buzz: “Avatar will change movie industry forever. Thank you Jim” … “It’s nothing you can imagine, it’s real. Cameron made a new planet and took a cam there.” … “THIS WILL CHANGE MOVIES FOREVER. Trust me, it will.” All I can say is that the film stills are simply mind blowing.
1) Inglorious Basterds (August 21)
Well what did you expect? I’m a Quentin Tarantino fanatic (yes, I even loved Death Proof) so how can I not be excited? The lukewarm Cannes reception, mediocre trailers and the supposed reediting haven’t deterred me one bit. The complex “Nazi scalping” plot looks ingenious, and the international cast doesn’t look bad either: Brad Pitt, France’s Melanie Laurent, England’s Michael Fassbender, The Office’s B.J. Novak, Diane Kruger, and even Mike Myers. Then there’s Germany’s Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger, and major Oscar contender Christopher Waltz.
Check out the review from the secret screening held at the Fantasia Film Festival in July
Now, I did leave off some notable films. Scorsese’s latest Shutter Island just does not look interesting to me, and Judd Apatow’s Funny People has a surprisingly unfunny trailer. (But I’ll see it anyway, simply for Leslie Mann.) I guess I just don’t know enough about the Coen brothers’ latest A Serious Man to get excited about it. For honorable mentions I would put Soderbergh’s The Informant!, Ricky Gervais’ The Invention of Lying (the trailer makes the film look to slight to me). And Richard Kelly may have actually made a film I give a shit about with The Box.
The basic purpose, scope and principles of the document remain unchanged. ,
Leader-solicited responses from whomever with respect to decisions to be made can become routine exercises, especially if the leader regularly seeks guidance from the same group of trusted advisors, or from those who are too intimidated by power disparities to offer honest views. ,
A few more suggestions
-Tetro (Coppola)
-Micmacs à tire-larigot(Jeunet)
-Mesrine
You are all fools for not even once mentioning the obvious #1 best movie of 2009. Black Dynamite! It will make Avatar look like Clone Wars and Basterds look like Benjamin Button.
Black Dynamite will change the art of Cinema, not Avatar.
http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/black-dynamite/red-band-trailer
No, it will not.
I’m guessing I’m the only person in history who’s quivering in anticipation, to see ……….. District 9.
Meh. It’s Alien Nation revisited.
What about Duncan Jones’ `Moon’?
(not New Moon … there’s no vampire content that I’m aware of)
[...] The 25 Most Anticipated Films for the Rest of 2009 – Strange..I don’t see Lindsay Lohan’s porn debut on the list. <Soundonsight> [...]
Hello? The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? Anyone?
Am i the only Peter Jackson fan here who thinks that “the lovely bones” is going to be one of the best, maybe the best movie of the year?
Never saw the appeal of Peter Jackson. He did good work on the first two Lord of the Rings movies but The Return of the King is so wretched it’s nigh unwatchable.
Have you more than the Lord of the Rings to base your opinion? I’m hoping he goes back to his Heavenly Creatures type of work.
Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners, the abysmal King Kong. None of these were particularly good films.
Can’t say I’m even interested in half the movies on here. In the post the ones I will probably see are: Lovely Bones, Princess and the Frog (as I’ve been a fan of Disney since I was born, and it’s been too long since they put out hand drawn film) Where the Wild Things Are, Tree of Life, Avatar, and Basterds.
At this point I could care less about the tech behind Avatar. I’m not even expecting anything from it. But, I like well done sci-fi, and it could be good.
Movies I want to see most are: 9 (the Acker animated one) District 9, Sherlock Holmes, The Boat that Rocked, Pandorum, and Gamer and I’m sure a few others I’m not thinking of at the mo.
The Road (yes I read the book) and many of these on this list look like Oscar rubbish. I’ll give The Road a shot as I like Viggo’s acting, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. I don’t like it when movies are made just to make some vague point, or depress the crap out of me. Unless the journey to those points are interesting. No Country, bored me almost to tears, and the road did to (as a book) Grim survival with little change doesn’t make for compelling storytelling.
Uhh, shouldn’t Avatar be number one. That’s the most anticipated movie in hollywood right now. Everyone is going to want to see that. People don’t know how huge it’s going to be.
I CAN’T be the only one anticipating The Wolf Man!!! Del Torro as Larry Talbot? Come on, people!!!!
Is that November release date firm? I’m looking forward to it.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? I was fortunate to go to Cannes and see Antichrist, Inglourious Basterds, Parnassus, Taking Woodstock and I would have to say that Basterds deserves the top of this list. It was pretty damn good. but Parnassus HAS to be on it at the very least.
I actually agree with the author on NOT looking forward for Shutter Island. I love Scorsese, but Laeta Kalogridis has never done a decent script. I actually care for The Road because it was a good story, but I don`t know how will that translate into the screen. I couldn`t really care less for New Moon and their virgin homoerotic vampires, but it will have a huge Box Office. On the other hand, I want to see District 9, and 9, the Shane Acker one.
For the James Cameron controversy… he always sets the trends when it comes to the technology in VFX, he doesn`t just use the same tricks other directors use, so it will be interesting visually. And yes, I want to see what Chan Wook Park will come up with this time.
But World`s Greatest Dad??? Really?
NEW MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how can you say any movie directed by James Cameron would be more expected than a couple of frames directed by a blindfolded Malick?
Because Malick is a wonderfully gifted visual storyteller and Cameron is a special effects addict with little deft.
No one cares about district 9? or Where the Wild Things Are?
Are you not interested in Sherlock Holmes at all? That’s one I’m really looking forward to.
Michael Fassbender ain’t English. He’s German Irish.
At least Avatar wasn’t number one. Am I the only one who doesn’t give a damn about this movie? I pretty much stopped caring about Cameron immediately after Titanic. He hasn’t done a decent film in 20 years. No, I am not a member of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day-is-the-most-awesome-movie-ever-in-the-history-of-movies club.
Other titles do sound intriguing, however. I can’t say that I’m a big Tarantino fan (he fairly ruined the otherwise fantastic Grindhouse) but I am looking forward to Inglorious Basterds.
While I loved No Country For Old Men, I suspect that had more to do with the Coen’s unrivaled direction than the source material. The Road, on the other hand, looks like a run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic The Stand meets Mad Max. Yawn.
I never read Where the Wild Things Are but Spike Jonze has never disappointed.
The Hurt Locker is on my to-do list.
I fell in love with Malick after The Thin Red Line and, while he is not perfect (please, I am begging you, STOP with the voice-over), his films are always gorgeous. The Tree of Life is definitely a must-see.
Sorry about the double-post, folks. I kept getting a server error and didn’t know the first one had gone through.
The Thin Red Line was a boring piece of artsy-fartsy crap. And, yes, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the most awesome movie ever in the history of movies. Bring on Avatar!
At least Avatar wasn’t number one. Am I the only one who doesn’t give a damn about this movie? I pretty much stopped caring about Cameron immediately after Titanic. He hasn’t done a decent film in 20 years. No, I am not a member of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day is-the-most-awesome-movie-ever-in-the-history-of-movies club.
Other titles do sound intriguing, however. I can’t say that I’m a big Tarantino fan (he pretty ruined the otherwise fantastic Grindhouse) but I am very much looking forward to Inglorious Basterds.
While I loved No Country For Old Men, I suspect that had more to do with the Coen’s unrivaled direction than the source material. The Road, on the other hand, looks like a run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic The Stand meets Mad Max. Yawn.
I never read Where the Wild Things Are but Spike Jonze has never disappointed.
The Hurt Locker is on my to-do list.
I fell in love with Malick after The Thin Red Line and, while he is not perfect (please, I am begging you, STOP with the voice-over), his films are always gorgeous. The Tree of Life is definitely a must-see.
after all the hype and subsequent let down from Death Proof i find it hard to get excited about any tarintino film now.
when has james cameroon ever let anybody down?
A living, breathing male and you don’t have “Jennifer’s Body” on the list? I know it’s going to be a joke but still, I thought all red-blooded males were powerless to Megan Fox…
Jennifer’s Body isn’t even going to be a joke. Diablo Cody wrote it, so expect the same, schmaltzy, cliché-ridden, pop culture-referencing crap that Juno promised (and delivered.)
Frankly, I’m saddened that (a) I know all of this and (b) you brought the movie to my attention again. I could have done without that particular heart-pain today.
A Christmas Carol?
“acting God Daniel Day Lewis”? Kidding, right?
clearly you haven’t seen a movie with ddl. Or you just don’t know talent when you see it. I’m going to go with the latter.
I’ve yet to see it, so maybe missing something, but in Antichrist the story is that Willem Dafoe’s little man remains happily unscathed, while Charlotte Gainsbourg sure loses something vital… and it’s self administered… by scissors. Have to stop now… can’t type and cross my legs that tightly at the same time…
The Illusionist sounds like it was a very personal story that Jacq Tati wrote to his estranged daughter. Be interesting to see how Chomet has chosen to tackle these issues. Belleville was beautifully drawn but very shallow. Tati in his day lead the way Chomet by contrast primary draws upon nostalga. Borrowing ideas is not the same as innovating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illusionist_(2009_film)
The link above doesn’t work it takes you to Edward Norton’s 2006 The Illusionist. You need to cut and paste the above link to include the date.
Does anyone know when Chomet’s adaptation of Tati’s “The Illusionist” is being released I thought it was to be ready for last May? Its been in production for nearly 5 years. By his comments Chomet seems to be aware of Tati’s intent for writing “The Illusionist”, he has said that “It’s not a romance, it’s more the relationship between a dad and a daughter”. Chomet takling Tati’s difficult script that Tati himself had abandoned does feel like a strange fit.
Are you kidding me? Tarantinos “Basterds” at number one? That movie is going to be the worst film he has made yet. Scorsese’s trailer didnt look interesting? Dennis Lehane is an amazing author. I will say that it isnt going to be Scorsese’s best but IT SHOULD BE ON THE LIST. Im flabbergasted. Put Avatar on the list as number one and be doen with it, has JC ever made a “bad” movie?
True Lies was a misogynistic abomination. The Terminator remains Cameron’s best film.
Where is my movie om this list?
I personally am looking forward to New Moon. Could just be me though. I know that a lot of people don’t like the Twilight series much still…
what about AN EDUCATION???
Just looks like the usual oscar bait to me.
Did you not see the Funny People redband?
The redband is much better than the original trailer. But maybe Im just over the Apatow phenomenon.
James Cameron’s A V A T A R should be number 1.
I can assure you that In the Loop is an instant classic, funniest film of the decade by quite some margin, and my film of the year so far.
Hey, nobody likes Harry Potter? Is the biggest thing of 2009.”Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince broke the record for biggest midnight screenings making an estimated $22.2 million in 3,003 theatres. It beat the previous record-holders The Dark Knight which made $18.5 million during its midnight runs”: from Wikipedia
I like Harry Potter just not enough to make the list.
Shutter Island is gonna be immense. Wake up man.
The trailer didnt impress me very much. It looked conventional.
You can’t judge a movie by it’s trailer man. It’s much safer to judge by director, writers, and actors. Otherwise “The Road” wouldn’t make the list either. It’s going to be good because of the director, not the marketing campaign.
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle should be number one.
When did it become so popular to hate Blindness? When it came out, the reviews weren’t great, but people were split on it. Then, one day, one person started insulting and soon the whole blogosphere took note, figuring that if people thought that one person was funny, they would think the same about them too. Bandwagon jumper!
When did it become so popular to hate Blindness? When it came out, the reviews weren’t great, but people were split on it. Then, one day, one person started insulting and soon the whole blogosphere took note, figuring that if people thought that one person was funny, they would think the same about them too.
It’s not a matter of hating the movie I think, “Blindness” was ok, but taking in account the source materia, it could have been way better.
What about funny people? Shouln’t that be No.1
I have seen or am about to see a few of these… “Hurt Locker” is great. Really looking forward to “Anti-Christ,” “In the Loop” and several others here.
Avatar stills? You’ve seen Avatar stills? I’d imagine if you really had seen them someone else would have leaked them by now.
Avatar stills…honestly
The Avatar still is the picture on the top of the article.
That is hardly an Avatar still, that picture’s barely big enough to be protected by copyright. And it’s one – you mentioned plural?
I’m sorry, I’m coming across to harsh, this is a great article. I think Avatar will be huge, there just seems to be a lot of unwarranted hype. So much hype that the movie can only really live up to it or do worse. It’s hard to be better than “this will change movies FOREVER” – I mean that’s pretty much the best you can do.
When the public sees the screening at ComicCon next week, then the hype can commence, I just wouldn’t call a generic 300×500 shot of a spaceship mind blowing.
Your right perhaps I’m a bit overexcited. But this is the first film to use a new 3D virtual camera that produces stereoscopic 3D images smulating human sight. And yes the quotes are just plain rediclous but they dont hurt either. Even if the story turns out to be weak there is at least the guarantee of a great visual experience. And when I first saw that still I was truely wowed.
oh and heres the other still if you want to see:
http://avatartrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/avatar_movie_promo_screenshot.jpg
Concept Art
oh sorry. I guess there is just the one official still.
Hey d-bag, it’s Patton Oswalt, not Patton Oswald. Way to do some research.