March's Most Anticipated Films
by Brian Eggert
The below list of theatrical releases includes this site’s top recommendations for March 2011. 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.
March 4:
The Adjustment Bureau
Based on The Adjustment Team, a lesser-known short story by author Philip K. Dick (A Scanner Darkly), The Adjustment Bureau comes from first-time director George Nolfi, writer of Ocean’s Twelve and The Bourne Ultimatum. This loose adaptation follows a politician (Matt Damon) and a ballerina (Emily Blunt) who fall in love but find that, according to their life’s “plan”, they should have never met. A classic tale of Free Will’s ongoing battle with Determinism, a common Dick theme, the question remains whether Nolfi has the chops to handle the material. Having worked with star Damon before, Nolfi has clearly earned the respect of his leading man, but the trailer seems more concerned with explaining the film’s high-concept setup than hinting at any cinematic bravado therein. Dick’s best adaptations (Blade Runner, Minority Report, etc.) each come with enough visual bluster to match their monumental sci-fi ideas. Here’s hoping that Nolfi reaches those heights, and that we don’t have Damon’s very own Paycheck here. Click here for the trailer.
Rango
Director Gore Verbinski reteams with his Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp for a motion-capture animation feature about talking animals. The lovely looking animation gives Looney Tune stylization to photorealistic creatures, creating characters that almost seem to come from the Uncanny Valley. Almost. Instead, the characters seem to inhabit Monument Valley, as this adventure contains a typical Western genre plot: Weirdo gecko-tramp Rango (Depp) drifts into Dirt, an unruly town of meek rodent folk domineered by local reptile villains, leading to a final showdown between the unlikely hero and the bad guys. Western antics appear enhanced by the limitless scope of animation, but the mediocre plot isn’t the star here; it’s Verbinski's motion-capture animation approach that lends realistic movements to the cast—which includes Isla Fischer, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin, Bill Nighy, and Alfred Molina. Click here for the trailer.
March 11:
Battle: Los Angeles
November of 2010 brought the dreadful movie Skyline, a small-scale sci-fi adventure about survivors holed-up in a condominium complex as an alien invasion unfolds in the surrounding L.A. area. It was one of the worst movies of 2010. Now, Battle: Los Angeles offers roughly the same plot, except the characters aren’t confined to a single building. Aliens invade, the army fights back, and actionized sci-fi entertainment ensues. Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, and Bridget Moynahan star in the film by director Jonathan Liebsman (Darkness Falls and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning). Despite his chequered resume, Warner Bros. seems rather confident in Liebsman’s abilities—they’ve recently put him in charge of the (unfortunate) Clash of the Titans sequel, called Wrath of the Titans—so the result can’t be awful, right? Click here for the trailer.
Jane Eyre
Arriving with a gothic edge that will no doubt attract audiences otherwise uninterested by another adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s adored novel, Jane Eyre comes from Sin Nombre director Cary Fukunaga. This moody tale of class divisions and spooky secrets follows the eponymous heroine (Mia Wasikowska, from Alice in Wonderland) as she softens the heart of the brooding Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender, from Inglourious Basterds). Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, and Sally Hawkins also star. Whether or not this cast can hold a candle to the 1943 version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine remains to be seen. But if the new film convinces even one Twihard to put down their Stephanie Meyers books for some classic literature (or even convinces them to not see Red Riding Hood, for that matter), then it’s done all of us a great service. Click here for the trailer.
March 18:
Paul
Not much about Paul suggests a good movie will come of it, but fans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (stars of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) can’t help but feel overjoyed to see them back together onscreen, even if it’s without director Edgar Wright behind the camera. Alas, Superbad helmer Greg Mottola directs Frost and Pegg’s screenplay about two British geeks who travel across the U.S. to visit America’s top fanboy hotspots—but on the way, they find an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) recently liberated from Area 51. Aside from the alien, the setup sounds suspiciously similar to Fanboys, although that movie is best left forgotten. A plethora of comedy-folk make up the supporting cast, including Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and David Koechner. Expect plenty of geeky in-jokes, movie references, and silent theaters if audiences aren’t familiar with worlds of science fiction and comic books. Click here for the trailer.
March 25:
Sucker Punch
Please understand, this critic holds little confidence in the quality of Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. And yet, Snyder’s films, though as disappointing as they often are, nevertheless prove to be visual feasts. A part of me remains optimistic, whereas the realist part acknowledges how silly the film looks. The manic trailer boasts some incredible looking special FX and CGI, but also contains trite dialogue that’s nothing short of laughable. That said, a movie about “hotties” escaping the literal barriers of a mental institution by freeing their minds holds all kinds of questionable undertones, not the least of which is Snyder’s ongoing trend of undermining his female characters by turning them into sex objects. This will be Snyder’s last movie before his Superman reboot, Man of Steel, and it's doubtful he’ll restore any confidence to that project with this must-see, yet almost certain piece of disappointing visual masturbation. Click here for the trailer.
One Film You Shouldn't See
March 4:
Take Me Home Tonight
For those of you not finished with Topher Grace’s confused, future-uncertain character type from That 70s Show and In Good Company, here’s a movie for you. Take Me Home Tonight follows today’s obsession with exploiting 1980s pop-culture for laughs and blockbuster franchises, placing your typical Topher into yet another retro setting. In the can since 2007, this much refitted comedy has been cut down, reedited, and audience tested so many times in the last few years that the leftover result is no doubt an unwatchable mess. And it stars Anna Faris. So there’s that. Though it would have been clever timing to release the movie closer to the end of That 70s Show in 2006, now it just feels long past its prime, and frankly sort of pathetic on Grace’s part. Click here for the trailer.