- Blue Jasmine
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Peter Sarsgaard, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Alden Ehrenreich and Michael Stuhlbarg
Release date: 26 July, 2013 (USA)
Synopsis: (plot undisclosed)
COMMENT: Woody Allen and Cate Blanchett working together? It just sounds some kind of wonderful, no matter how's the plot. Personally, I would love to see Woody doing his first drama since 2007's Cassandra's Dream. He's always good with actresses and Blanchett is "just" one of the best actresses alive, so I bet she will be brilliant in this one, as she always is.
- Don Jon's Addiction
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza
Release date: 18 January, 2013 (Sundance Film Festival)
Synopsis: "Jon Martello objectifies everything in his life: his apartment, his car, his family, his church, and, of course, women. His buddies even call him Don Jon because of his ability to pull "10s" every weekend without fail. Yet even the finest flings don't compare to the transcendent bliss he achieves alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Dissatisfied, he embarks on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women."
COMMENT: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's praised directorial debut. Considered one of the most interesting movies of this year's edition of Sundance Film Festival, I won't miss Don Jon's Addiction, not only because of the impressive cast but also because I'm quite curious to see JGL's work as a writer and a director. Reports say it hits some of the same questions we saw in Steve McQueen's Shame (sex/porn addiction) and objectification without losing its comedic tone, which sounds quite interesting.
- Elysium
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley and Diego Luna
Release date: 9 August, 2013
Synopsis: "In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes, a government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn't stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds."
COMMENT: I was sold to Elysium since the day I heard it was going to be directed by Neill Blomkamp, the same man behind the incredible District 9. In fact, the story of Elysium seems to be in the same wave as his last acclaimed effort's, which gives me hope about buying a ticket for a truly brilliant sci-fi movie this year.
- Fruitvale
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Chad Michael Murray, Kevin Durand, AJ Anable and Ariana Neal
Release date: 19 January, 2013 (Sundance Film Festival)
Synopsis: "Oscar Grant was a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who loved his friends, was generous to strangers, and had a hard time telling the truth to the mother of his beautiful daughter. He was scared and courageous and charming and raw, and as human as the community he was part of. That community paid attention to him, shouted on his behalf, and filmed him with their cell phones when BART officers, who were strong, intimidated, and acting in the way they thought they were supposed to behave around people like Oscar, shot him in cold blood at the Fruitvale subway stop on New Year’s Day in 2009."
COMMENT: Fruitvale seems to be special: it is the winner of both Jury Grand Prize and Audience Award of Sundance Film Festival 2013, the same prize Winter's Bone, Like Crazy and Beasts of the Southern Wild (I loved all them) won in the festival's previous editions. The true story of Oscar Grant, Fruitvale is the directorial debut of Ryan Coogler and critics and audiences simply fell in love for this one and it became the first big Oscar contender of 2013.
- Gravity
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney
Release date: 4 October, 2013 (USA)
Synopsis: "Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone--tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space."
COMMENT: What's interesting about having Bullock and Clooney lost in space? Well, it can be nothing special (I honestly never liked Bullock that much), but I'm quite curious about this project's "epic greatness buzz". Cuarón has already proved to be one of the most interesting directors in the business after directing the third installement of the Harry Potter franchise and the critically raved Children of Men. People always love a sci-fi epic with great visual effects and I'm no exception: I hope Gravity impresses.
- Inside Llewyn Davis
Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Justin Timberlake
Release date: 4 December, 2013 (France)
Synopsis: "A singer-songwriter navigates New York's folk music scene during the 1960s."
COMMENT: A really like some of the Coen brothers movies (not all of them), but Inside Llewyn Davis appeals like no other Coen movie did before: maybe it's because it is about music. Oscar Isaac was the best thing about the atrocious Sucker-Punch and I was impressed by him in Drive and since Carey Mulligan is a really talented actress (An Education + Shame = "God!") and John Goodman is simply John Goodman - this one is just "irresistible" to me.
- Man of Steel
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon
Release date: 14 June, 2013 (USA)
Synopsis: "A young journalist raised by his adoptive parents after he was transported to Earth in infancy from the dying planet of Krypton finds himself in the position to save humankind after Earth is attacked."
COMMENT: I didn't like the last Superman movie, but I've some high hopes for this one, since we have Christopher Nolan producing, Zack Snyder (300) directing and big talented names starring. The trailer gives you a gorgeous look and it promises to be something stylish and not that "common", you know. Cavill has big boots to fill, but I believe he has what the role of Clark Kent/Superman recquires. Man of Steel seems to have everything in order to be the superhero movie of the year.
- Only God Forgives
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Tom Burke
Release date: 23 May, 2013 (Denmark)
Synopsis: "The film follows Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, as he is forced by his mother Jenna to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death."
COMMENT: I think I can say Drive was my favorite movie of 2011 and I won't miss the second Gosling-Winding Refn collaboration for anything in this world. Another story of crime, with fighting scenes, Ryan Gosling punching and getting punched, violence... God, I guess I'll run to the nearest theatre once Only God Forgives gets released in my area.
- The Bling Ring
Starring: Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga and Erin Daniels
Release date: 5 June, 2013 (Belgium)
Synopsis: "Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the Internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to rob their homes."
COMMENT: After Dunst, Johansson and (Elle) Fanning, Emma Watson becomes the fourth "Coppola Girl", which is something I'm really curious to see. After her amazing post-HP turn in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Watson teams with one of my favorite directors for a story of youth, fame-obsession and crime. The Bling Ring's teaser trailer promises something "fresh" and there's something seductive about thinking of Watson as a bad girl.
- The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and Hers
Director: Ned Benson
Starring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Viola Davis, Ciarán Hinds and William Hurt
Release date: 2013
Synopsis: "A New York couple's relationship as told by the husband." (His) and "A New York couple's relationship as told by the wife." (Hers)
COMMENT: What's so special about this husband-wife story? Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy! Ned Benson is a new name and a directorial debut is always exciting and this man was able to cast one of the actresses of the moment for his leading lady. I think what really appeals me in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is the fact that the movie is divided in two parts: one featuring the story told by the husband's point of view and one anothor told from the wife's.
- The Great Gatsby
Director: Baz Luhrman
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton and Isla Fisher
Release date: 10 May, 2013 (USA)
Synopsis: "The Great Gatsby follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles."
COMMENT: The delayed Baz Luhrman adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's novel opens the "Summer season" and since it has a lot of cinematic high-pedigree involved, this is one of the most antecipated movies of the year, by far. Australia lacked an intriguing plot, but I don't think it will be a problem year once The Great Gatsby story is a beloved classic. DiCaprio and Mulligan together under the order of the same man who directed Moulin Rouge? I'm sold!
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone and Stanley Tucci
Release date: 22 November, 2013 (USA)
Synopsis: "Katniss and Peeta's victory is cut short as the Quarter Quell puts them back into the Hunger Games for the second time."
COMMENT: The first chapter of the saga of Katniss Everdeen was one of the most satisfying cinematic journeys of 2012, so expectations are high for the second movie of The Hunger Games franchise. Gary Ross is no longer in the director's chair, giving Francis Lawrence big shoes to fill and I'm simply curious to see how's going to be his approach of "the best book" of the saga. And, of course, we have (the awesome!) Jennifer Lawrence, who seems to be living the best years of a career...
- The Place Beyond the Pines
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta and Rose Byrne
Release date: 29 March, 2013 (limited USA release)
Synopsis: "A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective."
COMMENT: Derek Cianfrance, the director of the romantic-drama Blue Valentine, directing what seems to be a thriller? Super interesting, to say the least! Plus, 2012's Toronto Film Festival critics raved this one and it features a stellar cast, with Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling as highlights. Where can I buy my ticket?
- The Wolf of Wall Street
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, John Bernthal, Jon Favreau and Jean Dujardin
Release date: 6 December, 2013 (Brazil)
Synopsis: "A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration."
COMMENT: A Martin Scorsese movie is always a cinematic happening and, this time, he's working with Leonardo DiCaprio once again. Their previous collaborations translated into great pieces of cinema, with The Departed being the best of them, so how could I ignore The Wolf of Wall Street? Plus, this is a corruption tale told by Scorsese: it might turn into a major Oscar contender!
- Twelve Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry and Sarah Paulson
Release date: 1 November, 2013 (Sweden)
Synopsis: "A man living in New York during the mid-1800s is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the deep south."
COMMENT: First it was Hunger, then it was Shame, now it will be Twelve Years a Slave: Steve McQueen seems to love to approach some controversial subjects alongside his "male muse" Michael Fassbender. I don't know the book, but "slavery" plus having McQueen and Fassbender teaming once again is a reason stronger enough to make me want to watch this movie, since their previous collaborations resulted in high-quality cinema.
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