2013 Movie Preview

A year ago, I remember reading/listening to 2012 movie preview columns/shows and I was sure that 2012 was going to be the best movie year of my lifetime. After all, on the slate were films from almost every well regarded director working today (Spielberg, Nolan, Whedon, Tarantino, O’Russell, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, etc…) as well as films from up and coming directors who made waves with their first or most recent offerings (Hooper, Bigelow, Dominik, Apatow, Affleck, Rian Johnson, etc…). Whether or not these films hit or missed depends on the person. I tend to think most of those directors made very good films and this was a great year for movies. Here are a few reasons why I think 2013 could be even better:

Before Midnight once again reunites Before Sunrise and Before Sunset stars Ethan Hawke (Jesse) and Julie Delpy (Celine), this time in Greece. I don't want to say too much about the first two installments but taken as one piece of art, Richard Linklater's trilogy is as ambitous as they get. While there's not a lot to spoil, it is nice to experience the beginnings and endings on their own terms. The films are basically a chronicle of the serendipitous meeting between an American man and a French woman and their subsequent relationship. Each film takes place in less than a 24 hour period where these two humans do what humans do, interact. Yes, this is a very simple idea. In the wrong hands, there would have been no need for sequels but Linklater perfectly captures the birth of a relationship and the beautiful progression and fluidity of conversation. It doesn't hurt that Hawke and Delpy agreed to do each of these films over the course of two decades. These films couldn't have flourished without their chemistry and wouldn't have worked with anybody else picking up the parts.

While 2012 was the year that seemingly resurrected McConaughey from his rom-com grave, I predict 2013 will be the year where he earns his first major acting nomination. In 2012 he gave us silver-tongued male revue owner Dallas in Magic Mike, a cop doubling as a sociopathic hitman for hire in Killer Joe, and Danny Buck, the motivated district attorney looking to take down Jack Black’s title character in Bernie. Originally I intended to write about Mud, Jeff Nichols’ follow up to Take Shelter which was one of my favorite films from 2011. McConaughey plays an escaped prisoner who evades bounty hunters with the help of two teenage boys. The film also stars Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard, and Michael Shannon. IMDB lists 3 other 2013 films starring McConaughey in various stages from pre-production to post-production that look like great films on paper. Martin Scorsese’s next project The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club (the film where Matthew notoriously lost 30 pounds to play an AIDS patient), and Thunder Run which depicts the April 2003 assault on Baghdad.

Oscar Isaac is my new favorite actor… or one of them. About a month ago I watched 10 Years, which chronicles a group of former classmates at their 10 year reunion. Isaac plays Reeves, a singer-songwriter with a recent hit. A scene late in the movie requires him to karaoke his own song. Instead of karaoke, Reeves grabs a guitar from the bartender and puts on an actually moving live performance. During the run-up to this scene when it became apparent classmates would make him sing, I furiously googled his name to see if he actually had any singing experience. Turns out Isaac played lead guitar and sang vocals for a band prior to graduating from Juilliard School. Yes, THE Juilliard School. One thing 10 Years convinced me of is that I want to see Oscar Isaac and a guitar together again. Then a link to the trailer for Inside Llewyn Davis was sent to me:

Did I forget to mention that this is a Coen Brothers film? Oh yeah, it also reunites Isaac with Drive costar Carey Mulligan. Well now you know.

Shane Carruth wrote, directed, and stars in this film, the first since his 2004 debut, Primer. Primer is simply a masterpiece. It's the quintessential film about time travel, one that you must watch more than once to even begin to grasp what you just saw. The real beauty is that Carruth is a genius, but he respects his audience enough not to explain more than what needs to be explained. It's a very tight script that benefits greatly from a lack of exposition. Upstream Color is Carruth's follow up.  Here's the IMDB synopsis, "A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives." God yes.

My love for Joseph Gordon-Levitt began with his role in Rian Johnson's high school, murder mystery noir, Brick. Well, you might begin to trace it back to The 10 Things I Hate About You, but after Brick there was no denying that this kid had talent. He's been silently proving it ever since. I would go as far as to call him this generation's Tom Hanks. Don Jon's Addiction marks the beginning of his directorial career. Levitt also stars in this film alongside the likes of Julianne Moore, Scarlett Johansson, and Brie Larson. JGL even managed to dig up Tony Danza. Levitt plays the title character, a lothario with a debilitating porn addiction tries to gain more meaning from his life while navigating two relationships with very different people.  Steve McQueen's Shame delved into similar territory, perhaps there's light at the end of this tunnel.

Alexandre Moors directs his first feature length film in Blue Caprice, a depiction of the Beltway sniper killings from 2002. The principles, John Mohammad and Lee Boyd Malvo are played by Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond. Reviews from Sundance were very positive, here's a piece from the great Sundance column written yesterday by Grantland's Wesley Morris:

A movie about two black men on a killing spree could go all kinds of wrong. But this one operates with a moral chill that doesn't identify with these two or even gratuitously humanize them. The movie is actually timid about politics. I don't recall hearing Muhammad's last name, and there's no mention of his radicalist embrace and perversion of Islam. Instead, the film creates one of the most chillingly becalmed portraits of insanity I've seen. Washington doesn't rant or rave, but his keel is usually uncomfortably uneven, like a man who doesn't know that his fly is always down. Richmond might say a dozen words the entire movie, but the way he reroutes his steeliness from self-protective innocence to evil is a kind of silent-movie master class.

This is Moors's first feature, and he works with rich, terrifying, documentary-like meticulousness. A lot of the shots are saturated with color and hauntingly framed. Like Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and David Fincher's Zodiac, it finds the sort of dread that knots your stomach, often, mercifully, by showing you very little of the murders but enough to fear what you know is coming. The film's iconic images involve the car itself, a 12-year-old cobalt Chevy Caprice that Muhammad and Malvo rigged for their spree — the way it drifts along I-95, its taillights glowing a satanic red; the insinuating way it sits in parking lots and near gas stations, almost breathing, almost alive; the manner in which we see Malvo slither from the backseat into the dark trunk to aim his military rifle through the small hole they've bored. You see him do this in detail only once. But you watch him mount the gun and hear him coordinate with Muhammad when to shoot, and your blood goes cold knowing they performed this ritual at least 13 times. I saw this movie close to midnight two days ago and I've been uneasy ever since.

Other Films

The World's End - The new Edgar Wright film with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  Also, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike, and the always solid Paddy Considine (see Dead Man's Shoes).
OldBoy - Spike Lee remakes Chan-wook Park's brutal revenge thriller.  While skeptical, I'm intrigued to see what Lee can possibly add to this masterpiece.  Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sharlto Copley.
A Good Day to Die Hard - Die Hard is a classic, I'll see any John McClane vehicle no matter how much further each subsequent installment strays from reality.
Kick-Ass 2 - The first was a gritty take on superhero movies, I'm interested to see what the second one can add.  Also, Jim Carrey for Nic Cage seems like a fair trade.
Evil Dead - Another remake, just watch the red band trailer.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For - Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez direct.  Rourke, Owen, Alba, Willis, Dawson, and King return. 
Elysium - Neill Blomkamp's follow up to 2009's District 9, the film that came out of nowhere and put Blomkamp and Sharlto Copley on the map.  Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Copley costar.
Star Trek Into Darkness - The long teaser came out a few months ago but so far I've only been able to see it in theaters.  One thing the film is sure to be is visually stunning.  Check out the official trailer.
Man of Steel - Zack Snyder does Superman with Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane...
Only God Forgives - Drive star and director, Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn reunite for a film set in Thailand.
This is the End - Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen direct this apocalyptic comedy.  Just look at the cast and watch the trailer.
Pacific Rim - Giant robots protect Earth from aliens.  Directed by Guillermo del Toro, Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, and Idris Elba (The Wire's Stringer Bell) star.
Captain Phillips - Paul Greengrass directs Tom Hanks in this film about the 2009 hijacking of a US cargo ship by Somali pirates.
The Place Beyond the Pines - Ryan Gosling as a motorcycle stunt driver who also engages in the occasional criminal activity.  This sounds familiar, I'm in.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints - Editor David Lowery's feature length debut starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck.  Affleck as a prisoner who escapes and sets out on a journey to reunite with his wife.
World War Z - The book, a must read for fans of zombies and the apocalypse.  The initial trailer was wildly disappointing (fast zombies?????) but I'll likely still be there on opening night to see this Brad Pitt vehicle.
To the Wonder - Terrence Malick, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem...  Enough said.
After Earth - It has become increasingly hard to stay a M. Night Shayamalan apologist, which I am.  I'm holding out hope that his steady decline is more temporary insanity than full on descent into madness.  Centuries after Earth was abandoned, a father and son (Will and Jaden Smith) crash-land on Earth, the son must head out on his own to save himself and his dying father.
Trance - The new Danny Boyle film starring Rosario Dawson, James McAvoy, and Vincent Cassel.
Runner, Runner - Ben Affleck, JT, Gemma Arterton, and Anthony Mackie star in this gambling thriller.

Sequels in which my interest level ranges from slightly more than apathetic towards to fairly excited about: Iron Man, Anchorman, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, The Hangover, Fast and Furious, 300, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Also, Jurassic Park and Top Gun in IMAX 3D.

-PSon