A look at 2009 (From The Argus)

A look at 2009

11:18am Monday 5th January 2009 in Blogs By James Tully - film blog

There are a lot of good films to look forward to in 2009. Heres just a few of them and why you should be excited!

The Wrestler - A star turn from Mickey Rourke as an ageing wrestler who now works the independent circuit. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem of a Dream). Advance word says that Rourke will be Oscar nominated for this drama.

Frost/Nixon - Another Oscar favourite. Michael Sheen and Frank Langella play David Frost and Richard Nixon in this dramatisation of the interviews in which Nixon incriminated himself. Directed by Ron Howard.

Milk - Drama starring Sean Penn as gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who went to become the first openly gay man to hold a position in US office. Penn is brilliant in the main role and San Francisco has never looked better on film.

Bolt - Return to form from the Disney Studio. Bolt is a dog who stars in a TV show as a superhero. The problem is that he thinks it is all real. A very funny animated film that is not just for children. Also showing in 3D!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - A new film from David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club) is always a reason to get excited. This romance/drama is about a man who ages backwards. Not quite sure how they are going to pull this off on film, but it sounds interesting. Stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

Watchmen - Who knows if this will make its release date of 16th March due to legal entanglements between Warners & Fox. A superhero deconstruction film with amazing effects and a great cast. based on the 'unfilmable' 'Greatest graphic novel of all time'. So not too much to live up to then?

Let the Right One In - A swedish vampire film due for release here in April. It has been a lot of US critics end of year best lists and is supposed to be amazing. keep your ears open for this one.

State of Play - A remake of the british tv hit. The film stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Jason Bateman. The story centres around a murder investigation that is followed by the press.

Star Trek - JJ Abrams reboot of the Star Trek franchise has already whet the fans appetite with just a few stills. The fact that Simon Pegg is in it is enough for me.

Transformers 2 - More robot action. Not much more to say about this one!

Public Enemies - Michael Mann (Heat, Last of the Mohicans) returns with this story of 1930's gangster John Dillinger. Johnny Depp stars as Dillinger and Christian Bale also stars.

2012 - Disaster movie from director Roland Emmerich. Based on the legend that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and therefore so does the world. Impressive special effects will carry this through. Emmerich is the best at this, having previously directed 'Independence Day' and 'The Day after Tomorrow'

This covers the first few months and is only skimming the surface of what is coming out. Hope you enjoy them.