Reel Politique: Links of Interest, films of 2008
If 2007 goes down in the books as a great movie year, 2008 (from this vantage) looks less promising. How do we know this? Look at the log of Sundance movies announced on November 28th. The Sundance Festival goes from January 17th to 27th, and among its 121+ films slated for 2008 premieres (thus dictating the flavor of “independent” films for the next two seasons) are films featuring Marines on short leave, dysfunctional families on journeys, troubled people fleeing to small towns or into relationships with video clerks or illegal immigrants, brothers at odds with each other, troubled gangsters and depressed hit men, and neurotic siblings. More details can be found in two Variety stories.
Look also at the sequels and remakes that 2008 has in store: Among the intriguing and no doubt profitable sequels are Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sin City 2, J. J. Abrams’s take on Star Trek , and the next James Bond film. Those that create an aching inner sense of boredom and emptiness are Ace Ventura 3, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Incredible Hulk, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Dark Knight, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Rambo, Saw V, Madagascar 2: The Crate Escape, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The big hits of the year will no doubt be Horton Hears a Who!, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, Sex and the City: The Movie, Get Smart, Step Brothers, Where the Wild Things Are, and Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Of more modest interest in the next calendar year are Cloverfield , Be Kind Rewind, Funny Games , Baby Mama , Valkyrie , The Pineapple Express , Trailer Trash , The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , and two sci-fi remakes which could either be vast improvements or disasters, The Day the Earth Stood Still , and When Worlds Collide .