5. The Tree of Life and X-men: First Class
These two disparate films share the 5th spot. Unfortunately, that is about the only congruence I can point out.
Starting with The Tree of Life, this Terrance Malick film has an intriguingly simple premise. It follows a boy throughout his life and the lingering effect his stern father has on him. From the man who makes a film about once a decade, I confess that my interest in this progress lies mostly in the trailer, the talent, and the fact that there appears to be some sort of existential exploration involved. Right up my alley. And the images in the trailer look gorgeous. Malick is really playing with composition and light. A lot of the shots appear to have some point of view shots that really engross the viewer into the young boy's position. It's really gorgeous work.
X-men: First Class is at the other end of the spectrum, but I think I can articulate my interest a little more. In terms of comic book movies, X-Men shares a spot in the pantheon along with The Dark Knight, Ironman, and maybe Spiderman. Bryan Singer mined a really interesting allegory of Civil Rights in the first X-men, and X-men: First Class appears to exist at the origin of this story. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, two very talented actors, are also taking up the lead roles of Professor X and Magneto respectfully. The trailer I embedded focuses on that relationship, which hopefully will make up the meat of the film. I don't know how that whole Cold War thing will insert into the picture, but I'm interested.
4. Colombiana
You may not know this about me, but Zoe Saldana and I are pretty cool. If by cool you mean I met her once in an airport and was too starstruck (and lovestruck) to say much more than my name. However you interpret our deep, meaningful connection, I've been following her career ever since. This will be her first starring vehicle which is pretty cool considering the work she's done in the past couple of years in blockbusters that don't really take advantage of her talents. Colombiana looks like a throwback revenge flick channeling Kill Bill and Carlito's Way. The trailer is good despite it's overly-present narration.
3. Friends with Benefits
No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits prove the ever-constant coincidental nature of Hollywood as two films with very similar premises coming out in a very short duration of time. There's Deep Impact and Armageddon, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, and even two Snow White movies coming out next year. Having seen No Strings Attached, it does an admirable job in being an edgy rom-com for both genders, but is completely uneven in terms of performances. FWB looks like it's come to play. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis have an interesting chemistry in the trailer. And did you see Woody Harrelson? Gotta love it.
2. Super 8
Filmmaking? Check. JJ Abrams? Check. Steven Spielberg? Check.
Thematically, the precociousness of youth is always a winner in film. What you have in this film is two highly vaunted filmmakers channeling their youth in an admittedly indulgent, but intriguing premise. It's no secret that Abrams and Spielberg spent their youth making little Super 8 films. When I heard that they were making a project that evokes this type of nostalgia about the innocence of artistic expression of youth, combining it with a monster movie that obviously draws on Jaws and E.T., needless to say, I got a little moist. Abrams is a really talented filmmaker with a strong voice so I can only salivate at what he has next.
1. 30 minutes or less
A pizza delivery guy gets a bomb strapped to his chest by two criminals. They inform said pizza delivery guy that he has mere hours to rob a bank. As far as the slacker genre goes, this premise is fairly unconventional. Starring Aziz Ansari and Jesse Eisenberg, 30 minutes or less is shaping up to be oddly, fun. I can't really say why I'm drawn to this comedy. Although it feels a bit like Pineapple Express, I think where this comedy can go right where PE went wrong is the resistance to be too "genre." They've got to stay away from winking at the audience too much, playing itself as a comical jaunt of action cliches rather than actually telling a story.
So there you have it folks. I promise to keep you guys updated on my little musings and how the films turned out.
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