Reel Brief: Coming Attractions 2009 (1)

INT. THEATRE
A GIRL settles into her seat, popcorn in hand, waiting intently for the feature presentation to begin. She glances under her feet and finds gum sticking to her shoe. Slightly bothered, the girl sighs and focuses straight ahead. The lights dim, chatter diminishes, and the screen flickers.

I decided to do my most anticipated movies series differently from the way I did it last year. I picked ten films in no particular order and wrote a little blurb about each summarizing why you should look out for it. Short and sweet. And since variety is the spice of life, I've selected movies of a variety of genres and styles. Note that this is just a sampling; these are difficult to narrow down, and I always discover a few flicks later in the year, especially if they're indies. The first five after the jump.
More musings...
*Release dates subject to change
The Boat that Rocked (Universal)- 8/28 [trailer]
A new comedy from writer-director Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings & A Funeral), The Boat that Rocked is about a group of 1960s radio DJs, led by loudmouthed American "The Count" (Philip Seymour Hoffman in a comedic role!). The crew operates pirate broadcasts to the UK from a ship off the coast. (Historical perspective: the British government limited the amount of radio stations, so many stations would try offshore pirate broadcasting to gain an audience.) Unfortunately, this hasn't received very good reception across the pond. Critics have panned the film for a "muddled" organization and "contrived storyline." This could mean equally disappointing reviews when it premieres here. We shall see...
The Lovely Bones (DreamWorks/Paramount)- 12/11
Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh, the team behind the spectacular film version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, adapted Alice Sebold's bestselling novel about Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), who is raped and murdered by a neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci). From Heaven, Susie watches her family cope with their loss and analyzes the choices they must make. Any literary adaptation will be strictly compared to its source material, but this team has proven itself with LOTR. They've also assembled a talented cast: besides Ronan and Tucci, Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg play Susie's parents, and Susan Sarandon plays her grandmother. Additionally, the film is sure to bring up many provocative themes.
This Side of the Truth (Warner Bros.)- 9/25
The always hilarious Ricky Gervais makes his directorial debut in this flick about "a world where no one has ever lied, until a writer seizes the opportunity for personal gain." This Side of the Truth features an all-star cast of some of today's big names in comedy, including Gervais himself, Jason Bateman, Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, and SNL's featured player Bobby Moynihan. Together, its interesting premise and lineup of comics could make it one of the year's more exceptional comedies. Originally scheduled for a spring release, the film's details are still being kept under wraps until the fall. In the meantime, watch Ricky's announcement of the release date, which features some advice to the little kiddies. :)
Julie & Julia (Columbia)- 8/07 (Isn't the teaser poster cute?) =>
Here's one for the gourmands! Nora Ephron based this flick on NYC blogger Julie Powell's best-selling book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen and French chef Julia Child's memoir My Life in France. The former originates from Powell's blog chronicling her quest to complete each recipe in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Ephron has recruited two lovely ladies to portray the leading roles, Amy Adams as Julie Powell and Meryl Streep as Julia Child. So, I guess this is also one for the ladies!

Nine (The Weinstein Company)- 11/25
The award-winning Broadway musical now has an screen version, thanks to director Rob Marshall (Chicago). Yours truly isn't the biggest fan of musicals and over-hyped Oscar bait, but the plot and cast could change her opinion of this particular film. Daniel Day-Lewis is Guido Contini, a director facing a midlife crisis. He must balance his relationships with his wife (Marion Cotillard), mistress (Penélope Cruz), mother (Sophia Loren), producer (Judi Dench), and protégée (Nicole Kidman). Complicated indeed. We know Kidman can handle the vocal demands (Moulin Rouge!), but it remains to be seen if the rest of these thespians have the skills to take on Nine's showy tunes.
*The other five coming soon!