Sunday, January 10, 2010

10 Movies I have to see in 2010

The whole of 2010 looms ahead filled with exciting possibilities and sureshot have-to-sees. Somehow most of these lists include movies from the summer and that come out in the first half of the year. This year will be the first time that i get to see a Sly Stallone, a Marty Scorsese and a Shyamalan flick on the Big screen. Let the good times roll...

1) Get him to the Greek

The only movie from the Judd Apatow camp this year, and which is being touted as a pseudo sequel to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with Russel Brand returning to his role as British Rocker Aldous Snow with Jonah Hill starring as a young music exec who must get him to the Greek theater in LA. There are lots of cameos and it is directed by FSMs Nick Stoller.

2) Clash of the Titans

If you have seen the trailers you know why this is on the list. The insane amount of awesomeness oozing from the 2 min trailer completely sold me on this film. This remake of the partial stop motion animated flick from the 80s (??) boasts of an impressive star cast and stars Jake Sully himself in his next action hero role battling medusa, The Kraken and Hades himself. Its directed by Louis Leterrier who's last film was the entertaining "The Incredible Hulk".

3) Iron Man 2

I am not a big fan of Iron man however the first film was enjoyable and this one too looks like hell of a fun time. Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell star as the antagonists to the charming Rob Downey jr, essentially playing himself as Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. Also Don Cheadle joins the cast as War Machine/ Jim Rhodes and Scarlett Johanssen as the Black Widow/ Natasha Romonov.

4) The Expendables


I have always bemoaned the fact that Sly and Arnie never teamed up in a film during the height of their Action hero careers. Well , Sly fresh off the success of Rambo 4 and Rocky Balboa has set out on a rejuvenated career path with The Expendables among the first of his projects. It stars almost the entire action hero line up from the 80s-90s as a ragtag team of special op guys sent to a South American country to overthrow the dictator. It stars among others Sly himself , Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Stone Cold Steve Austin and has cameos from two other big stars which is a secret that everyone knows.

5) Predators


The original Predator scared the living sh*t out of me as a kid. To the 12 year old me , the entire set up of being stranded on an island with an invisible hunter out to get you was a pretty effed up scenario. The Predator is not after some helpless teenagers but an entire team of special op badasses and still proceeds to hand them their respective asses. It was fun, scary and it taught me one thing "if it bleeds , we can kill it" a tenet I live by to this day. The second part with Danny Glover was also entertaining (loved the whole subway scene and the climax with the chase through the city and also the AVP reference) however the AVP films left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I had heard of a Predators 3 script existing out there, with Arnie's character Dutch hunting/getting hunted by a predator in a snowed out NYC. That would have been awesome to watch but I guess that is not happening. However I have got this flick to wait for which stars Adrian Brody, Topher Grace and Mr.Machete himself.

6) Shutter Island


Well this movie was on my list last year but sadly it got pushed to this year from a late nov release date last year. Leo D reteams with Marty Scorsese, Mark Ruffalo and the lovely Emily Mortimer. Watching the trailer has made me a bit jaded but you know its going to be a good movie. Its Marty friggin Scorsese fer God's sake. If I were walking down the road one day and someone comes up to me and asks me "When was the first time you saw a Scorsese film in the theater?" , I will actually have an answer rather than wondering why this random guy is asking me this question.


7) Inception


Who doesn't want to see the next film from the director of "The Dark Knight". A crime thriller set in the architecture of your mind, or so they say.Who's in. Me!! Leo DiCaprio , Joseph Gordan Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Ellen page , that has to be the best cast this year rt after The Expendables. From the trailer it appears Leo D and Ellen Page are out to steal ideas from inside people's heads . Cillian Murphy is his boss of some sort and Joseph Gordan Levitt is the person who guards the idea. I cant wait for it. My most anticipated movie of the year.

8) Green Zone


Matt Damon reunites with his Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum director for this war flick set in Iraq about a conspiracy to seek out non existent WMDs. Matt Damon is a military officer who is sent to look for WMDs and realizes there aren't any. It was all a ploy for some military contractor to make money. Based on a book by an Indian American journo. Desis rule!!!

9) The Last Airbender

You know who gets flak all the time? Manoj Night Shyamalan. I have liked or loved all his films save for "The Happening" which, while I did understand what he was trying to convey (one fine day an invisible force unleashes itself on you , how do you defeat something you cannot see or touch) , and if that had properly gotten through , the finished product would have made one heck of a film. Unbreakable is one of my all time favorite films and I hold him among my favorite director. And hey he is Half Mallu and that always gets points in my book ;) . I have seen the cartoon on Nick on which this movie is based and though it feels like it is a powerful story with a rich mythology I have never seen a complete episode. So come Summer 2010, not only am i going to enter the Mythology of Avatar: The Last Airbender , but I am also going to see my first MNS flick on the big screen.

10) Paul


The director of Superbad joins up with the stars of "Shaun of the dead" and "Hot Fuzz" in this flick about two Brit geeks who run into a stranded alien named Paul. Sound exciting?? No? This film has so much comedic talent riding on it , it is a definite must watch on my list.

11) The Other guys

Will Ferrel teams up with the only director he should ever work with Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Anchorman) in this flick about two overlooked NYC cops (Ferrel and Mark "y Mark" Wahlberg ) who get a chance to step up to the limelight and be like their idols (Dwayne Johnson & Sam Jackon)



Also must watch : Robin Hood (Russel Crowe + Ridley Scott tackle medieval militia. After The Kingdom of heaven and Gladiator , it is my religious duty to see it on the big screen), Fighter, Red , Black Swan ( Coming off from The Wrestler, Mr. Aranofsky tackles a thriller starring Natalie Portman) , Piranha 3D (Alexandra Aja has a good track record of solid thrillers/ horror movies plus this is the franchise which gave James Cameron his first big break), The Cabin in the Woods, Your Highness, The Town, Kick Ass, Cemetry Junction, Agent Vinod


PS: on a related note , 2009 for me was a year when several proven directors failed to deliver as I noted in my previous post. However I forgot to mention the one movie that would have to top the list. Rakeysh Om Prakash mehra coming off from RDB had the world of expectation riding on his shoulder's and his ode to the Delhi of his childhood , Delhi 6 failed to deliver what I or the gen public desired. Its an Okay flick I guess but I did not enjoy it on the level I expected to. The whole Monkey Man bringing out our inner insecurities and failings might have made for some excellent drama but it failed to live upto my expectations. The picturization of "Dil gira dafatan" and the Ram Lila were for me the most memorable parts.

4 comments:

Srini Iyer said...

no prince of persia??

TextStar said...

Iron Man 2 will be my most awaited. Probably the Leonardo flick second. I still have to look at the whole lineup first. Will get back to you soon.

anangrawat said...

Dude some guy is asking u to invest money man. Do it. Hahahahahha

Angelus said...

well i have two posts that have been taken over by spammers. I don't even bother deleting the comments now.