The 20 Movies to Look Out For in 2006
By Patrick
Rijnders
Now that 2005 is over and everybody has revealed their
top ten list (or at least a preliminary version of it), the time has
come to start looking forward to what we will be seeing in cinemas this
year. There's plenty of movies coming, and to help you on your way,
here is my yearly (only the second time, but still) Top 20 list of
coolest upcoming movies!
20. X-Men 3
The second X-Men movie is still one of the best superhero movies of all
time, but that one had an ingredient that this one is lacking: Bryan
Singer. What I have heard so far about Brett Ratner's ideas for the
franchise have not really made me enthusiastic, but the first teaser
trailer was pretty cool. Let's keep our fingers crossed, hoping that
Ratner will surprise us after all.
19. Click
Adam Sandler's movies are a bit hit and miss, but this one has a few
things going for it. First: Kate Beckinsale is in it. Second: And so is
Christopher Walken. And third: The story is pretty cool, as it is about
a guy who finds a remote control that lets him zoom back and forth to
moments in his life. Which is great, until the remote control starts
showing a mind of it's own. Adam Sandler and high concept normally
works pretty well, so this could be real fun.
18. The Return of Zoom
Last year saw the successful teen superhero movie Sky High, and this
year sees another teen superhero movie. Tim Allen plays a worn out
superhero who is called back into action, to train a group of kid
superheroes at a private academy. Yeah, sounds very familiar, but Sky
High was a lot of fun so maybe we will be in luck again with this one.
17. Mission Impossible 3
The most irritating man of 2005 (as voted by movie lovers all over the
world) is back in his high profile action franchise. But will it be a
hattrick for Tom Cruise? The first one was pretty good, the second one
dissapointing, this one, being directed by Lost's JJ Abrams, could be a
return to form.
16. Marie Antoinette
The director of my favorite movie of 2004, Lost in Translation, returns
to the big screen with this stylized account of the life of Marie
Antoinette, a simple girl from Vienna who became the Queen of France in
1774. A rags to riches story? Yes, although it is unfortunate that she
became queen only a few years before all the French royals were
beheaded... Sophie Coppola directs Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman
in this.
15. Benchwarmers
This movie, starring Jon Heder and Jon Lovitz, tells the story of a
trio of friends, who try to make up for missed opportunities in their
childhood when they form their own baseball team and start playing
against Little League teams. Could be this years Dodgeball.
14. Happy Feet
There's a swarm of cool CGI animated movies coming up this year, but
this seems to be one of the most fun ones. How can it not be fun: it's
about penguins! About a group of singing penguins to be precise. Our
hero is a penguin cannot sing, which is a problem, because this is the
way male penguins woo the females. Luckily though, he may not be able
to sing, but he can tapdance better than anybody else!
13. Miami Vice
Just reading those words will make the tune to this classic tv-show
stick in your head for the rest of the day (you don't have to thank
me). This might actually be a better TV-remake than most though, since
Michael Mann is directing (him also being director of numerous episodes
of the original series).
12. Eragon
In case you are worried that there won't be a big fantasy spectacle
this year (Lord of the Rings having ended, and the next Narnia only
coming out this year): rest assured. The next big thing is coming in
the shape of Eragon, another movie based on a book, in which a kid
hooks up with a dragon and ends up in the middle of an age old battle
between dragons.
Dragons. Cool!
11. Cars
Normally Pixar is a guarantee for quality, but this time I am a little
bit more careful than usual. The teaser trailer wasn't that hot, and
the fact that Pixar has delayed the movie to this year also does not
bode well. Although, knowing Pixar, that extra time will have been well
spent. I won't be surprised if this one ends up in 5 star land after
all.
10. My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Luke Wilson must be one of the unluckiest guys in the world. His
girlfriend is a super heroine (cool!) but he doesn't know (booo!) until
they break up and she starts using her super powers to get back at him.
Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes either. Uma Thurman stars as
the girlfriend.
9. Black Dahlia
Brian DePalma returns with this slick thriller which stars Scarlett
Johansson. Oh, you want to know more? Well, it's all about two cops who
try to hunt the killer of a young actress. Next to Johansson, we will
also see Hilary Swank, Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart. This one looks
like a lot of fun.
8. The Da Vinci Code
Were you sick and tired of all the Da Vinci hype when the book came out
two years ago? Get ready to be sick all over again when the hype for
the movie version starts! If you, like me, did like the book though, I
think you will be in for a thrillride, as Ron Howard directs Tom Hanks
and Audrey 'Amelie' Tatou.
7. Casino Royale
The return of James Bond, but not as you know him! The new Bond goes
back to the early days of Bond and will be stripped of many of the
elements that made the Bond movies so successful in the first place.
Let's hope they won't strip away too much, unless the stripping
involves the new Bond girl!
6. Pirates of the Caribbean 2
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was brilliant, and everything
points towards this second part being just as much fun. Everybody
returns, plus there are some cool new characters to add to the mix. And
if you cannot get enough of Captain Jack Sparrow and his friends: this
was shot back to back with the third movie, which will be released next
year.
5. A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater returns to his passion for animation with this movie
that is a combination of real life acting and animation. Not in the
regular sense though, because in Linklater's movie all the actors are
traced by animators, giving the whole movie a very interesting visual
effect.
4. Nacho Libre
The director of Napoleon Dynamite returns with this movie about a
Mexican priest (Jack Black) who at night dons the outfit of a lucha
libre wrestler to raise money for the local orphanage. I don't know
why, but this movie just sounds like it could be the funniest thing
since... Well... Napoleon Dynamite!
3. Lady in the Water
M. Night Shyamalan will give us some more of his own brand of movie
making with Lady in the Water, starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas
Howard. Giamatti is a landlord who one day finds a mysterious woman in
the pool of his building. We don't know much more about the movie yet,
but with a Shyamalan picture you don't want to know too much in advance
anyway. Sounds very intriguing!
2. Superman Returns
Bryan Singer did great things with the X-Men franchise, and when you
have the greatest superhero of them all at your disposal, what can go
wrong? (Let's hope those words won't come back to haunt me...)
1. The Fountain
Darren Aranofsky will this year hopefully unleash his latest work,
which involves romance and time travel and stars Hugh Jackman and
Rachel Weisz. A man finds out the love of his life is dying, and he
starts a journey to the fountain of life in order to be able to save
her life...
Originally published at www.scribbleking.com
Patrick Rijnders is a Dutch movie journalist with many
years of experience. His weblog (http://www.scribbleking.com)
is read by thousands of people from all over the world, next to which
he still writes reviews for several Dutch magazines.
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