Ronald WanBy Ronald Wan, with additional reporting by Yeong Kar Yan
What happened in summer ought to stay in summer because, frankly my dear, moviegoers didn’t give a damn at the cinemas for the past few months, going by the dismal figures and slew of movies panned by critics. In fact, Hollywood literally went to the dogs (read: the abysmal and catatonic Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore).
Box office revenue increased only thanks to studios churning more expensive 3D movies for the sake of 3D (Do we really need to watch Shrek in detailed ogre ugliness?) but actual attendances by people were disappointingly low in Hollywood and elsewhere, including Singapore.
Who could have blamed the crowd from avoiding the cinema with duds like Prince of Persia, Knight & Day and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? No amount of sorcery from Nicolas Cage or Tom Cruise’s maniacal grin could have saved this bad summer.
With exceptions like Toy Story 3 and Inception, every critic and movie buff must have wished summer was just a dream, or a dream of a dream, depending on how you look at your totem.
A summer of lament and discontent gives way to some serious fare to consider in the next few months with the fall movie line up. From Harry Potter to a movie about our favourite social network, a season traditionally pelted with Oscar heavyweight contenders is set to sizzle and excite many moviegoers, including the Zeitgeist.
It’s been a crazy summer. Good riddance to Nicolas Cage’s dreadful oily hair (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). We’re ready for Lord Voldemort’s mane – or lack of – instead.
Easy A
Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) is your average high school kid whose life takes a dramatic turn when a white lie about losing the big V spreads like wildfire around the school. Being the pocketful of sunshine she is, Olivia fakes a fling with gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) to up his popularity and maintain her bad rep. Joining Stone on the big screen are Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl), Amanda Bynes (Hairspray), Lisa Kudrow (Friends) and Cam Gigandet (Twilight). Out Nov 25.
The Town
The Town refers to Charlestown, Boston, where there are plenty of robbery criminals and Ben Affleck is one of them. Interestingly, he befriends the traumatised bank manager played by Rebecca Hall after robbing her bank and sets off the plot into a heist intrigue of gamesmanship and redemption. Affleck directs after gaining street cred with Gone Baby Gone and Hollywoodland, and it seems he’s getting better behind the camera. Good riddance to Daredevil. Click here for our review.
The Social Network
You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies – especially when you are Mark Zuckerburg, founder of Facebook and the world’s youngest billionaire, which forms the story backbone of The Social Network, a delicious drama and parable of our time full of eye candy from Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerburg to Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin, co-founder and uber cute best friend, including Justin Timberlake as party boy Sean Parker, Napster founder anda key contributor of Facebook. Click here for our review.
Never Let Me Go
Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, the film adaptation stars Brit darlings Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (also spotted in The Social Network) who play human experiments harvesting organs for sick patients while caught in a love triangle that spans decades. It’s not so much a science fiction film but rather a dark treatise on the vagaries of youth, love and jealousy. Out Mar 17.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Woody Allen is still in London. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is his fourth film shot there following Match Point, Scoop and Cassandra’s Dream and this latest is about faith, a concept which “sounds bleak” to the neurotic director. Expect the hallmarks of Allen like the usual cynicism disguised as wit, melodrama transformed into humour and the multitude of characters (Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts) who are seemingly normal but rather dysfunctional if you ask me.
Burlesque
We’ve seen this plot somewhere before – small town girl arrives in big city, works as waitress and eventually performs and sings on stage. Sounds like the story of every struggling actress in Hollywood but this time, we have Christina Aguilera and her big voice squaring off with another big-name star with a bigger personality and bigger voice, Cher. Looks like a hit musical with all the she-bang, soundtrack included. Bring on the feather boas. Out Jan 13.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
Word has it Deathly Hallows is no longer showing in 3D, but we don’t really need Voldemort’s slitty nose in our faces to enjoy this highly anticipated blockbuster. The war’s begun and the wizarding world needs a bit of saving from our favourite boy wizard, Harry Potter. Time is ticking and he needs to find the Horcruxes to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all. With the movie split into 2 parts, fans can breathe a sigh of relief and expect stellar plot development (hopefully) in this final instalment from the bestselling book series by J.K. Rowling while studio honchos smile in glee at the double profits. Give us a time turner, we want to watch Harry Potter now! Out Nov 17.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Based on the third book of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, the movie sees Edmund and Lucy returning to Narnia with their cousin, Eustace, when they’re swallowed into a painting of a ship at sea. The children are taken aboard the royal ship, Dawn Threader, owned by their old buddy and now King of Narnia, Caspian X (Ben Barnes). Together, they will sail across the seas in search for the 7 lost lords of Narnia. The White Witch will also make another appearance, as will Aslan, the “Great Lion”. Out Dec 9 (In select cinemas on Dec 2).
The King’s Speech
Colin Firth stars as King George IV, the reluctant and shy King suffering from stammering, and who understandably detests making public speeches as a result. He meets Lionel Logue, an unconventional speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who helps him to cope with his condition and overcome personal demons. Oscar buzz is building for Firth’s steadfast performance in this well-thought British film.
Black Swan
Ambition can consume one’s soul and Black Swan questions how much is ballerina Nina played by Natalie Portman willing to do in order to dance in a New York dance production of Swan Lake. This psychological thriller is directed by Darren Aronosky, who is famed for making trippy films that make one think harder than one should or could. The film also explores the themes of rivalry and friendship among women. Out Feb 17.
TRON: Legacy
Most people associate Tron with the arcade game but in fact, the latest film Tron: Legacy is a sequel to the original Tron film in 1982, which in turn inspired the game. The original enjoys a cult following till this day and no surprises fan boys (older men really…) will be flocking to the cinemas for the glossed up modern version. Out Dec 16 Dec.
127 Hours
127 Hours is scrumptious Oscar bait – it’s directed by Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire fame and the plot’s based on an inspiring true story. James Franco stars as mountain climber Aron Ralston who is trapped by a boulder for 5 days. Nothing next to the Chilean miners’ ordeal or even the protagonist of Buried, of course, but for those excruciating 127 hours, we watch Franco emote and struggle in a claustrophobic environment, a stellar performance that has critics fawning. Early screenings had moviegoers fainting and vomiting from a visceral scene where Franco saws off his arm. You’ve been warned. Out Jan 13.
Hereafter
The title suggests an existential film on the afterlife and it’s probably right. Hereafter is a supernatural drama on death and the afterlife directed by Clint Eastwood, the auteur director and actor’s actor who gave us Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby. The plot centres on 3 characters affected by death in different ways and critics have described the film as beautiful, gentle and definitely not a ghost story. Out Jan 20.
Megamind
By the people behind animated features, Shrek and Madagascar, DreamWorks Animation is set to blow our minds with their next biggest 3D movie of the year, Megamind. For once, the villain is the star in a movie, and Megamind (Will Ferrel) is the lovely blue alien who likes to cook up diabolical plans with his abnormally large head (sort of like Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls). But here’s the catch, he actually defeats super hero and life-long rival, Metro Man (Brad Pitt) one day when his evil plot goes wrong. What’s there left for a supervillain to do with no hero to fight? Out Nov 4.