Sparkle’s Preview of the Hottest New Movies in the first half of 2010
Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by Jack in Movie and DVD Reviews, TV & Movies
The bad news for movie fans is that the first part of 2010 is depressingly bereft of original ideas with a whole swathe of sequels, remakes and TV series adaptations coming to a cinema near you soon.
The good news is that a lot of them should be quite good fun and there are even a couple of intriguing-sounding films heading our way which might just spring a few surprises.
Here’s Sparkle’s guide to the films to look out for over the next few months.
The Wolfman
Benicio del Toro discovers he’s gone a bit hirsute when he returns to his ancestral home to find a big bad beast munching on the villagers. With Anthony Hopkins as the dad who discovers that his son and pet dog are one and the same, this should be better than the usual run of the mill werewolf fare. (February)
Shutter Island
Two U.S. Marshals arrive on Shutter Island on the trail of a killer who’s escaped from the local mental institution. Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring his favourite actor, Leo DiCaprio it’s almost guaranteed to be one of the movies of the year. (February)
Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton directs and Johnny Depp stars. Need I say more? This should be weird and wonderful fun. (March)
Clash of the Titans
The 1981 original was creaky even for its time, leaving a lot of scope to improve on the mythical tale of Perseus and his battle against Gods and monsters. Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson add kudos to the cast whilst 2010 hotshot Sam Worthington looks suitably mean even wearing a leather skirt. (March)
I Love You Phillip Morris
This could be the surprise cult hit of 2010. A conman breaks out of prison to win the affections of another ex-con. Okay, I can tell you’re thinking ‘so what’, but with Jim Carrey as the con artist and Ewan McGregor as the object of his affections, it has such a bizarre pairing that it just might work brilliantly. (March)
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Oliver Stone revisits the murky world of Wall Street trading. Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko, the man who coined the 80s motto ‘Greed is Good’. The problem might be that as we gingerly emerge from a worldwide recession, do we really want to watch a film about financial meltdown? (April)
Robin Hood
‘Robin’ the rich to give to the poor has been done so many times that it’s difficult to see how they can breathe new life into the Lincoln-green-clad-one. But it is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Russell Crowe so it should be epic and exciting, if unoriginal. (May)
Sex and the City 2
It’s as shallow as a puddle, but who cares? The NY dames are back so expect another dose of shopping, men trouble, shopping, cocktails, shopping, fashion shows, dating and shopping. If you’re a SATC fan you should love it, if not it’s a bit too late to join this particular party. (May)
Iron Man 2
Both moviegoers and critics enjoyed Robert Downey Jr’s foray into the world of superheroes in 2008, therefore it’s no surprise that he pulls on his clunky designer gear for a second entertaining outing as the heavy metal billionaire. (May)
Shrek – Forever After
Shrek tries to find that old ogre fire which made him so loveably grumpy in the first place and ends up in a parallel Far, Far Away where the love of his life, Fiona, doesn’t even know who he is. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas all return for another bout of enjoyable silliness. (May)
Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time
Computer game crossovers are mediocre at best and dire at worst. Who’s to say that this sword and slash tale of a rogue prince, mystical dagger and drop dead gorgeous princess will be any different? Well, maybe because it stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Jake doesn’t usually star in any old tosh and nonsense. (May)
The A-Team
The TV series was enjoyable… up to a point. There’s limited entertainment value in watching four men make nuclear bombs out of a squeezee bottle and three paper clips every week. Liam Neeson takes the role of cigar chewing Hannibal Smith, but with a couple of the original A-Team turning up at some point, this could be a damp cigar. (June)
Toy Story 3
The toys are back in town. Buzz and Woody and the rest of the crazy gang are dumped in a care centre after Andy grows out of toys and leaves home for college. The trailer suggests that it’s going to be a hat trick of successes for the Toy Story team. (June)
Twilight – Eclipse
The Twilight series has turned out to be more enjoyable and original than I expected, so I’m looking forward to the next instalment when Bella’s heart is torn between choosing the pale, moody vampire or the love-struck werewolf. (July)
Inception
At last, something truly original, even if we don’t quite know what yet, except that it’s going to mess with your mind. This could be the Matrix of the new decade. All you really need to know is that it’s directed by Dark Knight’s Christopher Nolan and stars Leo DiCaprio. Put your trust in these two and you can’t go far wrong. This could be the cinematic talking point of the year. (July)
And finally three to avoid like swine flu: A Nightmare on Elm Street (April), Footloose (June) and The Karate Kid (June).
And the reason? Because….really, what is the point of any of them?
Jack Montgomery
Author for the online friendship and dating site Sparkle; co-author of two travel guidebooks, blogger and seriously bad poet.
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