January's Most Anticipated Films
by Brian Eggert
Januarys in the theater are usually about catching up on what you didn’t see from the year prior—the multitude of award-worthy titles that studios released seemingly all at once to make the December 31 deadline for award consideration. Those titles—everything from The Lovely Bones to The Road to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus—will slowly earn wider distribution as the Oscar buzz begins. There are, however, new January releases coming. It’s the time of year when studios dump movies they don’t know what to do with. Curiously, the best of the month’s releases contain rather grim themes, each undoubtedly trying to counter-program against the highbrow Oscar contenders dominating theaters right now. But only time will tell if January’s (very commercial) releases are dwarfed at the box-office by the lasting power of Avatar.
For a complete list of upcoming releases, visit the Calendar.
January 8:
Daybreakers
Directed by the Spierig Brothers (the Aussie duo behind the low-budget horror-comedy Undead), Daybreakers has an intriguing approach to the vampire subgenre. The setup involves a world dominated by vampires, where humans are farmed for blood to sustain the bloodsucker population. But blood is running out, and the human underground uses this weak point to launch an attack. The vamp leader is Sam Neill, the human rebels are led by Willem Dafoe, and the vamp-scientist who helps Dafoe’s group is Ethan Hawke. Early reviews are comparing it to something resembling the work of John Carpenter, which is a bold claim. Though one can’t deny how exciting and different the trailers look—it’s a vampire story unlike anything we’ve seen before. My only hope is that the Spierigs have matured since their last film... Click here for the trailer.
January 15:
The Book of Eli
Based on the trailers, there are some immediate problems with The Book of Eli, the new post-apocalyptic flick from the Hughes Brothers (directors of Dead Presidents and From Hell). Based on the graphic novel of the same name, which I have not read, the story concerns Denzel Washington’s character roaming a harsh wasteland with a certain book in his possession. Whatever this book is (though it’s pretty clear it’s a copy of the Christian Bible), bad guy Gary Oldman wants it to gain its power—its ability to turn people into followers. Why Oldman’s character hasn’t found a Bible, the most common of all books, somewhere else remains a baffling question (you can’t tell me that only one Bible survived the apocalypse). Perhaps there’s something else inside the book that Oldman’s character seeks, an unexpected and clever MacGuffin-within-a-MacGuffin to propel the film’s actionized story. But chances are it’s just the Bible, in which case the movie will probably disappoint. Click here for the trailer.
44 Inch Chest
This British import may not be playing in a theater near you, but you should do everything in your power to seek it out. From the writers of Sexy Beast, the film concerns a husband devastated to learn that his wife has been cheating on him. He resolves, in a testament to preserve his own overblown manhood, to get revenge on the man for whom she’s leaving him. The ever-cool Ray Winstone plays the emotionally wrecked husband, and he’s joined by Tom Wilkinson, John Hurt, and Deadwood’s Ian McShane, who play his likewise testosterone-injected friends that kidnap and help execute the revenge plot. And if it’s anything like Sexy Beast, chances are the masculinity of the above-listed boys will get them into trouble. Regardless of plot, with a cast of brilliant Brits like this, why wouldn’t you see it? Click here for the trailer.
January 22:
Legion
Christian groups will either flock to theaters or get up in arms over Legion, yet another film about an apocalypse scenario with religion at its center. In this one, Yahweh decides humanity has squandered its second chances and resolves to exterminate us using his army of angels. Paul Bettany plays the Archangel Michael, who falls from Heaven to help a ragtag group of nobodies fight off the angel horde because, you guessed it, one of them is giving birth to the Second Coming of Christ. Filled with monster rejects from I Am Legend and plenty of snappy one-liners, the trailer looks corny, if sorta fun. Bettany and costar Dennis Quaid are affable actors, though, so it might be worth enduring some extremist End of Days jargon for the action. Then again, this could be another disappointment like Constantine. Click here for the trailer.
January 29:
Edge of Darkness
In a way, there are Christian themes all through the trailer for Edge of Darkness, just as there are in those for The Book of Eli and Legion. The very presence of Mel Gibson brings some religious thoughts to mind, as The Passion of the Christ director hasn’t starred in a movie since 2002’s Signs. Since then, he’s had a few (scandalous) discussions about his religious convictions. Is it any wonder, then, that the film’s marketing department decided to include the line “You had better decide whether you’re hanging on the cross, or banging in the nails” in the trailer? Based on the 1985 BBC miniseries of the same name, the film also stars Ray Winstone in a mystery-drama about a father investigating the murder of his daughter. And given that it’s directed by Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell, the result should prove stimulating. Click here for the review.
One Film You Shouldn't See
January 22:
The Tooth Fairy
Instead of becoming the action star he had the potential to be, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has resolved to entertain the world through kids movies—and not smart kids movies like Fantastic Mr. Fox or those by Pixar, but mindless ones like The Game Plan and Race to Witch Mountain. Strangely enough, that’s about the same plane of intelligence as he previous work in professional wrestling. And so, I’ve reached my wit’s end with movies like The Tooth Fairy, where Johnson plays a tough guy placed into a silly situation. Even if it does show the actor’s comedic side, he’s wasting our time on dribble that doesn’t earn him an iota of respect. Here he’s a roughneck hockey player who becomes the next tooth fairy, so he applies his hockey skills to his tooth fairying. Watch out children, because The Rock will check your baby teeth out of your face and pay you in hockey pucks… Click here for the trailer.