A look ahead… the films of January 2011
Sorry to all who frequent this site and have noticed that there have been very few additions in the last few weeks. It's been almost as long since we've posted any new trailers, so, just to catch up, I'm going to post every major film's trailer coming out in January 2011 (other months will follow).
January 7
Season of the Witch (Relativity Media) - Director: Dominic Sena; starring Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman and Claire Foy. A 14th-century Crusader (Cage) returns to his homeland, which has been devastated by the Black Plague. To appease members of the church, he and his comrade (Perlman) look to transport an accused witch (Foy) to a remote abbey, where monks hope that a ritual will end the pestilence.
Opinion: It's January, it's Nicolas Cage, how seriously can you take it?
January 14
The Green Hornet (Columbia) - Director: Michael Gondry; starring Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, Edward Furlong, Christophe Waltz, Tom Wilkinson and Edward James Olmos. A newspaper publisher by day and masked crime fighter by night, The Green Hornet and his martial arts expert sidekick, Kato, fight crime while trying to keep their true identities a secret.
Opinion: I've been itching to see Waltz again since he lit up the screen in Inglourious Basterds. This looks like a fun movie to watch, but I'm hoping whatever villain he plays has even half as much charisma as his Col. Landa.
The Dilemma (Universal) - Director: Ron Howard; starring Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Channing Tatum and Queen Latifah. A comedy centered on a guy (Vaughn) who struggles with whether or not to tell his best friend (James) that his wife (Ryder) is having an affair.
Opinion: Vaughn's comedies are usually not horrible, but they're not great, either. It will be interesting to see what Ron Howard does with this cast, given that he hasn't done an adult comedy since Edtv in 1999.
January 21 (Paramount) - Director: Ivan Reitman; starring Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Lake Bell, Cary Elwes, Olivia Thirlby and Greta Gerwig. A comedy centered on casual friends Adam (Kutcher) and Emma (Portman) as they try to keep their relationship strictly physical.
Opinion: Two rom-coms in two weeks usually spells disaster for one or both. For this one, another in a string of comedies about beautiful twenty-somethings foregoing actual relationships for mere sex, about the only thing that I can see helping this film's chances are any residual Oscar buzz that might follow Portman after her turn in Black Swan.
January 28
The Mechanic (CBS Films) - Director: Simon West; starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn. An elite assassin (Statham) takes on an apprentice (Foster) who has a connection to one of his earlier targets.
Opinion: Every month or so, I need a fix for an action film, and anything with Statham in it is usually sufficient to provide it, so long as it isn't directed by Neveldine/Taylor, the a**clowns responsible for both Crank films. And yes, this is a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film of the same name.
The Rite (New Line) - Director: Mikael Håfström; starring Anthony Hopkins, Toby Jones, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Rutger Hauer and Franco Nero. A thriller centered on a disillusioned American seminary student who attends exorcism school at the Vatican, and his encounter with demonic forces.
Opinion: Another exorcism movie? It's only because of Håfström, who directed the creepy-as-hell 1408 three years ago, that I'm even looking at it. And Hopkins needs to make me a fan again, since this past spring's The Wolfman is my single least-favorite film of the year (so far).
