January's Most Anticipated Films
by Brian Eggert
The below list of films includes this site’s most anticipated releases of January. The choices—based on the quality of actors, director, story, and trailers—are pure guesswork and have no bearing on the inevitable review. For a complete list of upcoming releases and their respective movie trailers, visit the Calendar.
January 7:
Season of the Witch
January typically features a garbage heap on which studios dump the fodder that couldn’t find a home anywhere else on their release schedule. Oddball genre movies and formula rom-coms usually make up typical January titles. Take Season of the Witch, a movie that’s been delayed again and again by Relativity Media. But who can blame them? Is there really a month where a movie starring Nic Cage fighting witches and demons in medieval times belongs? Not really. Nevertheless, January has little else to offer, so advertisements for the flick are everywhere, whether it looks like a Syfy Channel Original or not. The movie also stars Ron Pearlman and Christopher Lee, and reunites Cage with his Gone in Sixty Seconds director Dominic Sena. Don’t consider the movie a genuine recommendation; but it might be worth seeing for the camp value alone. Click here for the trailer.
January 14:
The Green Hornet
It was either an incredibly smart move by Sony to move The Green Hornet into its January slot, or a lazy one. Either Sony knows that few quality new releases will be hitting theaters this month, and so they’ve opted to take advantage of the slow market by releasing a blockbuster action-comedy in the middle of this lull, or their movie stinks and they’re dumping it in January, a week after a Nic Cage movie and a week before a Jason Statham movie. Here’s hoping the near-$100 million production lives up to those hilarious trailers, and that the chubby slacker stylings of Seth Rogen can metamorphose into an action hero. With the supporting cast of Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, and Jay Chou, the result can’t be a total disaster, can it? Click here for the trailer.
January 21:
The Way Back
Originally slated to just make a 2010 release for awards consideration, Newmarket Films delayed the picture, perhaps believing it would be white noise in a December that was packed with Oscar contenders. Director Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show) leads an all-star cast in an adaptation of Slavomir Rawicz’s novel The Long Walk, about a group of soldiers who escape a gulag and attempt to reach India from Soviet-occupied Poland during WWII. An impressive cast, including Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Mark Strong, and Saoirse Ronan is lead by Jim Sturgess. Sturgess seems miscast as a rugged soldier, but Weir’s eye for scope and narrative depth makes this title the single January release that’s being recommended without a hint of sarcasm. Click here for the trailer.
January 28:
The Mechanic
The Mechanic looks entertaining in that mindless shoot-em-up way that the first Transporter was, complete with Jason Statham playing the ultimate badass, and an interesting supporting cast to help along Statham’s onscreen monotony. Ben Foster trains alongside Statham’s hitman character, learning how to take down baddies with a vengeance in this remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson original. Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn also star. Ten years ago, director Simon West, fresh off his turns on Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, could have boasted that he was a credible action director. But watch those titles today, and you’ll be crossing your fingers that West has learned a trick or two since. Another guilty pleasure recommendation in a month that’s little else but guilty pleasures. Click here for the trailer.
The Rite
Yet another exorcism story, The Rite benefits from a credible cast and the presence of Mikael Håfström (1408) behind the camera. Anthony Hopkins, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, and Rutger Hauer star, each undermining their integrity by appearing in this thing. Hopefully they received a good payday. The trailer boasts all sorts of phony facts about exorcisms and the Vatacan, playing on religious folk and their wacky beliefs—because if the Vatacan believes in it, it must be true. Still, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism failed to achieve anywhere near the dramatic weight or sheer horror of The Exorcist, but at least this movie might provide some occasional jumps and maybe even a moment or two of insight. Click here for the review.
One Film You Shouldn't See
January 21:
No Strings Attached
There are a few friends-with-benefits romantic comedies coming in 2011, and though No Strings Attached has the benefit of being the first, it also features Ashton Kutcher, which is enough to suck my interest out of any movie. Kutcher stars alongside Natalie Portman, who risks overexposure this coming year with upwards of four releases due (this, The Other Woman, Thor, and Your Highness). The two are best friends who decide to have a “just sex” partnership. The former title F_kbuddies should give you some indication as to the level of raunch in the movie. But even though the presence of Kevin Kline and indie darling Greta Gerwig in the cast suggest optimism, potential moviegoers must be reminded that the last movie from its director, Ivan Reitman, was My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Need I say more? Click here for the trailer.