Most anticipated movies of 2010

Jonathan Simmons fills you in on the must-see films of the coming year

It’s hard to deny that 2009 was a great year for movies, and this decade is shaping up to be better than the ‘90s in a number of significant ways, which I will go into more detail about in a later column. Those of you excited about what 2010 will bring should look no further than what I’ve listed below.

Robin Hood

If you’ve seen the trailer for Ridley Scott’s version of Robin Hood you no doubt experienced a feeling of Déjà Vu (directed by Tony Scott), but despite its pairing of Russell Crowe and Scott for another epic, don’t go into this looking for Gladiator.

The Green Hornet

I’m not sure about this one, but it’s directed by Michel Gondry who is consistently interesting. I’m a little concerned about it devolving into a farce rather than taking the character seriously, but hopefully if that does happen it actually ends up being funny (unlike Land of the Lost for example)

Machete

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and starring Danny Trejo (his cousin), Machete marks Rodriguez’s return to the pseudo-1970s universe he helped create for Grindhouse. It promises to be ridiculous, which is just fine by me.

Kick Ass

Since I’m a fan of both the comic book series written by Mark Millar and the film’s director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), I have high hopes for this one. So far, it appears that the film is going to remain faithful to the original material. Some family groups are already upset about one of the trailers which features 12 year-old Chloe Moretz saying and doing some inappropriate things.

The Losers

This has managed to slip under most people’s radar, which is unfortunate because it’s based on a clever comic book series written by Andy Diggle that had a 32 issue run. Now, there are some problems with the movie adaption, the biggest being director Sylvain White, who previously helmed the classics Stomp the Yard and I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, but I’m cautiously optimistic because the original material is so good.

Inception

This is Christopher Nolan’s first directorial effort since he blew fanboy and fangirl minds with The Dark Knight, and based on the trailer it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but I’m confident that something happens and Leonardo DiCaprio is in it, so it has to be good, right?

The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson wrote the novel on which this is based when he was in his early ’20s, and Johnny Depp has been struggling to get it made for years. You may recall his portrayal of Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Looper

Rian Johnson is one of my favourite filmmakers, even though he’s only made two films (Brick and The Brothers Bloom). This being his third outing, my expectations are high. There isn’t much information about the movie yet, but Johnson has described it as dark and violent science fiction, comparing it to the work of Philip K Dick.

True Grit

I was curious about how the Coen Brothers planned to follow up the best film of their career (A Serious Man). I didn’t expect it to be a Western, or more importantly, a remake of a John Wayne Western, which incidentally earned Wayne his first and only Oscar, upon acceptance of which he quipped “If I’d known this, I’d have put that eyepatch on 40 years ago.” Personally, I always preferred the sequel Rooster Cogburn, which also starred Katharine Hepburn.

Iron Man 2

I think a lot of people were surprised by how good Iron Man was. It’s just too bad that it was overshadowed by The Dark Knight because it is a fantastic superhero film. There’s a good chance that 2010 will be Iron Man’s year. Jon Favreau is no doubt more confident as a director and if the trailer is any indication, Mickey Rourke is going to be one of the most entertaining and troubled villains we’ve seen in a long time.

I’m uncomfortably aware that most of the films on my list are major release adaptations, but it’s much easier to find information about these films than smaller productions which may not even get distributed, and as for why they’re adaptations, I’ll let you figure that one out. Hint: the answer is not that Hollywood is running out of ideas.

Jonathan Simmons is the movie critic for the Baron. He also appears on the pop-culture radio show “From Tucker Park Road” on CFMH 107.3 FM every Tuesday at 3:00 pm.