Now that the Oscars are over, we can stop thinking about last year’s films and look forward to what’s coming up this year. Here are the ones I’m most anticipating in the next six months, with release dates and trailers.
Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (today, limited release)
If you’re a regular reader here, you already know how much I love Stieg Larsson’s books. Now the Swedish film is finally opening in the U.S. Yeah, yeah, an American remake is in the works but I ain’t waiting for it (to be ruined, most likely). UPDATE: Read my review here.
Date Night (April 9)
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are two of the funniest actors working, plus it features James Franco and Mark Wahlberg, who makes me laugh even when he’s doing drama. UPDATE: Read my review here.
Robin Hood (May 14)
I’m usually not a fan of movies with men in chain mail but this stars Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential). It could be about growing potatoes and I’d still go.
Iron Man 2 (May 7)
The first one was a fun ride and this one looks even more badass. Besides the returning RDJ, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson, we’ve got Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, and Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. (He doesn’t need his whips; his teeth alone are scary enough.) And Don Cheadle as War Machine! It’s head-crunching time!
Sex and the City 2 (May 28)
Looks like this time, Carrie and her friends travel to some exotic locales. Since I can’t afford all those fabulous clothes and expensive vacations, I’ll be happy to experience everything vicariously through them.
Inception (July 16)
Isn’t the fact this is Christopher Nolan’s first film since The Dark Knight enough to make you want to see it? How about the noirish trailer and a cast chock full of Oscar winners/nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine? This looks like a head trip but one I’ll gladly submit to, considering that most summer fare asks me to turn off my brain and not even put it on vibrate mode.
Eat, Pray, Love (August 13)
Loved this book and am a fan of Julia Roberts, not to mention Javier Bardem, James Franco, Billy Crudup, Richard Jenkins and Viola Davis. The only glitch for me is that Elizabeth Gilbert is a minor celebrity in her own right, having appeared on talk shows and in speaking engagements, so I kept waiting to see her in the trailer or hear her voice come out of Julia’s mouth. And it’s sad that the real Richard from Texas passed away recently before he could see Richard Jenkins play him.
Which movies are you looking forward to?
16 Comments
Christine
March 19, 2010 at 6:42 amOoh, I may actually make it to the theater more than once or twice this year. Quite the little bumper crop you’ve highlighted, PCN.
I hope …Dragon Tatoo makes it to Nashville. I’m with you in that the American version will probably screw with the novel too much.
Yeah, I wouldn’t even have to see the trailer for Robin Hood to want to go see it once I heard who all was involved.
I’m probably the one person who didn’t see the 1st Sex in the City movie (even though I was a fan of the show) or read Eat, Pray, Love (even though I heard nothing but rave reviews of it).
Thanks for the preview smorgasbord, PCN! Fun way to start this Friday morning!
Pop Culture Nerd
March 19, 2010 at 2:03 pmGWTDT will open April 16 at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. Is that anywhere near you?
Christine
March 19, 2010 at 2:23 pmSweet! I forgot all about the Belcourt. It’s just up the street from Brian’s bldg at Vanderbilt! Thanks, PCN!
Novelwhore
March 19, 2010 at 7:24 amOhhhhh how did I JUST find out about GWTDT movie in Vogue yesterday while getting my nails done?! I tried to find info online and was having a hard time; I should have known you would tell me everything I needed to know. I’m dying to see this as well and am thinking it should be showing somewhere in NYC. I’d love for you to go first and let me know how scary it is, as I tend to be a big baby in movies.
I’m also excited for SATC #2, though I hope it’s as good as the first as I’m a little trepidatious, wondering if they shouldn’t have just ended the entire franchise on a high note instead of risking it with a follow-up.
I met Elizabeth Gilbert briefly a couple weeks ago, and I feel she and Julia Roberts actually share some physical traits. Now I need to go back and finish EAT, PRAY, LOVE before I see the movie.
I’m not a huge movie buff but you’ve made me excited, PCN!
Pop Culture Nerd
March 19, 2010 at 2:14 pmI tweeted you this info but if there are other NY readers here, GWTDT is playing at Chelsea Cinemas, City Cinemas 1, 2 & 3, Lincoln Plaza Cinema, Sunshine Cinema.
So awesome that you got to meet Elizabeth Gilbert! (Did she let you call her Liz?) From what I’ve seen of her on TV, she does share some traits with Julia—smarts and charm, primarily. But she doesn’t really look like Julia so it was a little jarring for me to see Julia as her.
le0pard13
March 19, 2010 at 9:57 amThe first five you had here were on mine, too. I still have to see the first SatC [duck!]. I’ve seen everything Nolan has ever directed, and you know I’m not going to miss Inception [like I did with SatC ;-)]. Thanks, PCN.
Pop Culture Nerd
March 19, 2010 at 2:43 pmIs Lady Le0pard an SatC fan? If yes, you’d win lots of points for taking her (and then more if you buy her Manolo Blahniks afterwards).
Not only do I know you won’t miss Inception, I think you’ll do an intelligent dissertation of it, comparing its themes to those in other Nolan films like Memento.
lauren
March 19, 2010 at 11:23 ami’m just starting Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for my bookclub!!
And Aline did some rewrites of Date Night that I got to read…excited to see it too!
Pop Culture Nerd
March 19, 2010 at 2:51 pmYou’re in a book club? Fun! Let me know what you think of Tattoo. The second one was great, too, and I’ve got the third one on my nightstand.
I didn’t know Aline polished Date Night. That should make it even better. Wanted to put her Morning Glory in this list but the trailer isn’t out yet.
Gina
March 19, 2010 at 2:23 pmOooh…so the only one I’m actually waiting for on your list…would be Sex and the City 2. (please put the pitchforks down…we can’t all have the same taste) Not really interesting in Iron Man 1, so obviously not in the second either. Undecided on Eat Pray Love and Date Night….and honestly, I’m not certain I’m for the new version of Robin Hood. (didn’t really like the preview I saw in theaters last go round) Thanks for sharing your “can’t waits” though! =0)
Pop Culture Nerd
March 19, 2010 at 2:55 pmNo pitchforks here! I like people with different tastes; makes discussions more interesting. What movies ARE you looking forward to?
Jen Forbus
March 19, 2010 at 3:05 pmWell, I’ll probably hold off on GwtDT because I haven’t read it yet. I have the audiobook to pick up right now at the library. I’ve actually had the book for over a year and got the audio once before, but time did not permit me to get to it. This time I will, but I must read before watching. It’s a law!
Definitely will see ROBIN HOOD. All one must say is Russell Crowe and I’m there. He’s yet to let me down…even in movies that were less than stellar, he shines! Just an amazing talent.
INCEPTION may be one I try to catch, too. We’ll see. I haven’t been too good about making a lot of movies these days.
EIREGO
March 19, 2010 at 3:21 pmBeen looking forward to Girl/Tattoo. Going to see it today. So will report back. Gotta say it….some really unattractive people in the trailer..Yikes. Not what I pictured from the book.
DATE NIGHT – I have been so disappointed with the movies, Fey and Carell have chosen to do in the past. They always end up funnier on TV. Didn’t like Baby Mama and Evan Almighty. So suck it! Okay, 40 Year Old Virgin was funny, but it was really the ensemble, not Carell that made it work for me. But this trailer looks like these two have gotten it right. Happily awaiting it.
ROBIN HOOD – Okay, it looks pretty good, but do we really need yet another remake of this story? And do we need yet another movie in which Russel Crowe growls at the screen? He did Gladiator, he didn’t need to do this.
IRON MAN 2 – not even going to look at the trailer. Don’t need to. This is going to be great or it’s going to suck. I’m counting on it being great.
SEX AND THE CITY 2 – Honestly? I know people will line up for it (and my wife will drag me to it), but, as I said with the first one, Why not just make a two-hour HBO version? Glad SJP got rid of the wart on the side of her face, but I do not find her compelling. I lived in NYC for 8 years and never once did I see anyone walking around the streets all dressed in white. It’s just silly.
INCEPTION – No idea what is going on, but I want to go see it. LOL!
EAT, PRAY, LOVE – Okay, didn’t read the book. Probably the only one on the planet who didn’t. But it looks good and I like Julia. Don’t know. It’s a wait and see for me.
Call me silly, but I really just wanna see the new Iron Man and the new Harry Potter (yes, I KNOW it doesn’t come out til after summer. And it scares me that it I am only looking forward to those two.
Shell Sherree
March 19, 2010 at 8:28 pmI should have made some popcorn before I sat down for this, PCN ~ what a great selection! Not big on historical dramas {no, I didn’t watch Gladiator, gasp!!} so I’ll probably skip Robin Hood, but Russell Crowe should eat this role up for breakfast {no joke intended at his varying expanse}. I’ll watch Iron Man II as I can’t pass up the chance to watch RDJ for a couple of hours. {Was it the Bond movies that started the ‘villain with a mouthful of metal’ trend years ago?}
The Inception trailer really has me hooked, and I suspect I’ll enjoy Julia Roberts and the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love more than the book, which I gained a lot from but also struggled with in stretches. And Date Night is a definite on my list ~ it looks like a truckload of fun. Thanks for the viewing, PCN!
David
April 9, 2010 at 5:51 pmJust a short comment regarding the Stieg Larsson books as I have been getting questions about if Sweden really is as cold as in the books. The answer is no. Stieg Larsson was part of the literature elite in Sweden and they used to and are still spreading a myth of a dark reality where men and rich people are bad people. But no, it is not like that. Just because somebody is from a rich family, it doesn’t mean they are less likely to care about their own family. And there are actually people in high university positions (paid by the government, sigh) that still today claim that there are conspiracies made by rich men in Sweden that not only exploit immigrant women but even kill babies in rituals.
This has off course been completely debunked, and there was even a case where they scared a poor immigrant girl, saying that there was a conspiracy of men wanting to kill her. They took her to my home city up north Sweden and even to Norway in order to “save” her.
So the myth is a myth, but the myth really exists.
Knight Elite
August 7, 2010 at 11:27 amWell so far I have seen most of these movies. I think that I agree with the first commenter on here though in that Robin Hood is a great one for anyone to add to their list of things to see… However it might be hard to find at this point.