Our movie guy, John Lyons, takes a look at seven movies which should be making waves come awards season next year…
Next week I’ll be reviewing David Fincher’s latest film, ‘Gone Girl’. I’ve been counting down the days until the first showing of ‘Gone Girl’, not just because I’m a avid David Fincher fan, but because ‘Gone Girl’ symbolises the start of ‘Oscar Season’.
In the months to come we will have some of the world’s most talented filmmakers releasing their latest efforts prior to the Oscars. It’s the time of year when typically the best films are released.
This week I decided to give a quick rundown of my most highly anticipated films to be released in the coming months…
‘GONE GIRL’ – October 3
In 2012 author Gillian Flynn published her murder-mystery thriller ‘Gone Girl’. In that year alone, the novel sold over 2 million copies and received universal praise. Flynn was approached to write a script for the film adaptation, and director David Fincher signed on, based on the strength of Flynn’s script.
In ‘Gone Girl’, Nick Dunne (played by Ben Affleck) is drifting apart from his wife, Amy (played by Rosamund Pike). What was once a happy relationship is now a tailspin. But on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick arrives home to find his living room destroyed, and Amy missing.
Nick and the local community set out to find Amy, but all the signs and clues regarding Amy’s disappearance point to Nick as the key suspect…
‘INTERSTELLAR’ – November 7
Christopher Nolan has been on everyone’s radar since 2008 when he released ‘The Dark Knight’, a film which re-defined the modern Hollywood blockbuster. He followed up on the success of ‘The Dark Knight’ by releasing his ‘dream project’ (if so to speak), ‘Inception’. Now he’s returning with another original science fiction film: ‘Interstellar’.
Interestingly, ‘Interstellar’ was written by world-renowned physicist, Kip Thorne, with Steven Spielberg originally attached to direct. The premise of the script was that it would be a scientifically accurate film about what would happen if a group of astronauts entered a wormhole.
After Spielberg left the project, Nolan took the directing helm and re-wrote the script with his brother, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, in an attempt to make the film more in keeping with classic science fiction films – namely ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.
Surprisingly little is known about the film, yet there’s still a great deal of hype around ‘Interstellar’, almost entirely due to Nolan’s reputation.
‘UNBROKEN’ – December 25
English actor Jack O’Connell (whose dad hailed from Kerry) made a huge splash this year with his incredible performance in the prison drama ‘Starred Up’. He has two more films scheduled for release before the year ends, ‘71’ and ‘Unbroken’.
‘Unbroken’, directed by Angelina Jolie, tells the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, based on the biography ‘Unbroken’ by Lauren Hillenbrand. Zamperini was an Olympic athlete who was enlisted in the air force during World War II.
Zamperini’s plane crash-landed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where he and two others drifted aimlessly for 47 days. The three men had to brave shark-infested waters, storms, and extreme malnourishment.
Even after those several near death experiences, the men were captured by the Japanese Navy, and transferred to a POW camp where they were held and tortured for a year.
Even though some might be sceptical about Jolie directing, there’s talent all around in this film.
The script was co-written by the Coen Brothers, co-stars Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, and was shot by arguably the world’s greatest cinematographer, Roger Deakins.
‘BIRDMAN’ – January 2
Here’s a film that I never would have imagined to be a frontrunner for awards season.
‘Birdman’ stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, an actor who is best known for his performance as ‘Birdman’ in a string of cheesy superhero films that had been a smash hit decades ago.
Now Riggan is an old, washed-up, out-of-work actor who’s mentally unstable. He’s plagued by vivid hallucinations and schizophrenia. Riggan decides to attempt a huge career comeback on stage, starring in a play that he wrote and directed.
However, Riggan’s mental instability is caused by the character of Birdman, who has manifested himself as a voice in Riggan’s head.
Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu seems to have taken a Walter Mitty-esque concept and twisted it in such a way that it could be used as the foundation for a story about a man on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Strangely, early reviews of the film are claiming that the film is a massive creative triumph.
But apart from the insane premise of ‘Birdman’, perhaps the most interesting thing about the film is that cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki has said that the camera work and editing of Birdman was manipulated in order to give the appearance that ‘Birdman’ was shot entirely in one continuous long take.
I’m completely sold on this one.
‘FOXCATCHER’ – January 9
There’s been a huge buzz around Foxcatcher since it premiered in Cannes last May. Out of all the films on this list, this one certainly seems to be the bleakest of the bunch.
Based on true events, Channing Tatum stars as Mark Schultz, an olympic gold medal winning wrestler, who’s living in the shadow of his glorified old brother, Dave (played by Mark Ruffalo).
After Mark falls on some hard times, wealthy heir and athletic sponsor John Du Pont (played by Steve Carrell) invites Mark onto his estate in an attempt to coach a wrestling team towards the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul olympics, which leads to a tragic conclusion.
‘INHERENT VICE’ – January 30
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the world’s most exciting filmmakers. He’s directed one of my favourite films, Boogie Nights, and his 2007 film ‘There Will Be Blood’ is arguably the most iconic film of the 2000’s.
Anderson’s latest film, ‘Inherent Vice’, is the first adaptation of a novel by infamously elusive author Thomas Pynchon.
‘Inherent Vice’ is set in the early 70s and stars Joaquin Pheonix as bumbling private detective Doc Sportello. Doc is hired by his ex-girlfriend, Shasta, to find sufficient evidence to prove that her lover’s fortune is about to be stolen. But before Doc can begin investigating, Shasta goes missing.
Doc sets out to solve the mystery of his ex-girlfriend’s disappearance, and to prove that he’s an innocent man.
Although ‘Inherent Vice’ hasn’t officially premiered at any film festivals yet, word of mouth from early test screenings of the film have described it as a ‘Big Lebowski Detective Movie’.
‘NIGHTCRAWLER’ – Released date TBC.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom in this modern neo-noir that’s been interestingly described as a cross between ‘Network’ and ‘Taxi Driver’.
Lou is an unemployed man actively in pursuit of the American Dream. After a number of failed job interviews, he happens across a car accident on the highway, and sees a group of filmmakers filming the wreckage in order to sell the footage to local news stations.
He finds his calling. Lou buys a camera and hires an assistant, roaming the streets of Los Angeles late at night waiting for crime to unfold so that he can film it and make a profit.
It seems like a half-decent plan, that is until Lou arrives at a crime scene before the police, and captures some incriminating footage that could be viewed as evidence of a gruesome murder.
• Follow John Lyons on Twitter: @Fireinthelyons
