Cold comforts

Looking for quality in the weird
winter movie season

CONTESTED COMIC: The Watchmen

by MARK SLUTSKY

The new year has arrived, and you all know what that means for movies. Actually, do you? And if you do, could you please tell me? Because I can never really make sense of the winter movie season—it’s a perennial grab bag of prestige pictures finally making it into wide release, B-movies getting dumped by studios when nobody’s looking, and the occasional gem. In other words, a whole bunch of random movies strung together with no rhyme or reason. There’s sure to be something worthwhile in there, so let’s shake the bag and see what falls out.

Huddling around the Oscars for warmth are a few genuinely interesting-looking films that could be real highlights of the coming months. We’ll finally get to see Steven Soderbergh’s much-talked-about, much-recut Che, divided into two long parts, The Argentine and The Guerilla, starring Benicio del Toro as the South American revolutionary (Feb.). Matteo Garrone’s Oscar hopeful Gomorra is a grim, fascinating look at the lives of people living in the belly of the beast that is the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra (Feb.).

James Gray, best known for crime dramas The Yards and We Own the Night, returns in a lower key with Two Lovers, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a Brooklyn guy who falls for a troubled neighbour, played by Gwyneth Paltrow (Feb.). Later in the season, we’ll see The Soloist, which stars Jamie Foxx as a homeless musician and Robert Downey, Jr. as the reporter who befriends him; it’s based on a true story (April 24).

Every comic book fan on the planet has been vibrating at a high frequency as the release date of Watchmen approaches. Based on Alan Moore’s 12-issue masterpiece, the film is directed by Zack Snyder (300) and will be out soon… probably. You see, legal wrangling over the rights for the superheroes-for-grown-ass-men-and-women pic might mean the film ends up in limbo (March 6, hopefully). Genre fans will either be stoked or dismayed by the latest horror remakes. My Bloody Valentine 3D is exactly what it sounds like (unless you’re expecting a concert by the British shoegaze band), and opens not on Valentine’s Day, but on Jan. 23. They got the release date right for the Friday the 13th, remake, though, which slashes its way into theatres on, that’s right, Friday, Feb. 13.

RAGGED REVOLUTIONARY: Che

Monsters, mountains and street fighters

The new film from Alex Proyas (Dark City), is Knowing, a Nic Cage starrer about a teacher who unearths a time capsule with some unsettling revelations about the future (March 20). Coraline is the latest from animation wiz Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas). Based on a book by Neil Gaiman, it tells the story of a little girl who enters an alternate-reality version of her life (Feb. 6). Animated flick Monsters vs. Aliens features the voices of Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Hugh Laurie and Kiefer Sutherland and will hopefully deliver on the title’s promise (March 27).

Another remake comes in the form of Race to Witch Mountain, based on the super-creepy ’70s Disney flick Escape From Witch Mountain. Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, let’s hope it retains some of the original’s weirdness (March 13). Books are the subject of fantasy kid flick Inkheart, which stars Brendan Fraser as a guy who can pull characters out of them and into the real world—only somebody’s got to take their place back in the pages. Sounds a bit like The Neverending Story… (Jan. 23)

If you like video games, and you like movies, and—crucially—if you like movies based on videogames, you will probably be at least a little happy about Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, which stars Kristin Kreuk as the leggy brawler (Feb. 27). Dragonball Evolution is based on the immensely popular videogame/cartoon empire of the same name, and features Chow Yun-Fat (April 10).

This could be good. Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) is at the helm of The International, a thriller with Naomi Watts and Clive Owen uncovering a web of evil surrounding powerful international banks (Feb. 13). Duplicity also comes with Owen, a pedigreed director (Tony Gilroy of Michael Clayton fame), and a corporate thriller theme; Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti co-star (March 20). Gilroy also had a hand in the writing of State of Play, which stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels and Rachel McAdams in a whodunit about a Congressman’s murdered mistress (April 17).

Funny stuff

Comedy all-star Paul Rudd stars in the bromantic comedy I Love You, Man, about a dude looking for a best friend, who arrives in the form of Jason Segel; Rashida Jones co-stars (March 30). Fellow Judd Apatow alum Seth Rogen stars in Observe and Report, a comedy about a security guard reluctantly forced to team up with a tough cop, Ray Liotta. Anna Faris is in there too (April 10). Liotta also shows up in Youth in Revolt, which stars Michael Cera as a kid looking to lose his virginity, and also features the talents of Zach Galifianakis, Fred Willard and Steve Buscemi (Feb. 13). Cera’s Superbad director Greg Mottola is behind the camera for Adventureland, a coming-of-age story set in a theme park in the late ’80s (March 27).

Those are the comedies that actually look good, but there’s also The Pink Panther 2 (Feb. 6), He’s Just Not That Into You (Feb. 6), Confessions of a Shopaholic (Feb. 13), The Ugly Truth (April 3) and the like; who knows, maybe there’ll be something in there.

Finally, for a taste of the local, don’t forget about the Les Rendez-vous du Cinéma Québécois, which runs in mid-February and showcases some of the province’s standout talents.

CREATURE FEATURE: Monsters vs. Aliens