Winter movie season offers clash of the titans; Big releases include offerings from Scorsese and Burton. Feature.
Forget Bogie and Bacall, or Tracy and Hepburn. The new movie pairings are the artistic collaborations between directors and their favourite stars: Marty and Leo! Tim and Johnny! Paul and Matt!
They're all around for the winter movie season, a collection of promising dramas spiced up with a pinch of horror – including a return to Elm Street – and goofy comedy. Between the Oscar-season latecomers of January to the seat-of- your-pants thrill rides of the summer, here's what to watch for in the next three months.
Still to open in January:
Edge of Darkness: Mel Gibson plays a Boston cop whose daughter is kidnapped. Looks like they kidnapped the daughter of the wrong cop. (Jan. 29)
Grown Up Movie Star: In this Canadian drama, a teenage girl is left with her disgraced, ex-hockey-player father when her mother runs away (Jan. 29)
A Town Called Panic: A cowboy, an Indian and a horse have surreal adventures in this stop-motion animated film. (Jan. 29 in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, Feb. 7 in Saskatoon, Feb. 26 in Edmonton)
When In Rome: An American woman on holiday in Rome takes some coins from a fountain and magically becomes a love goddess. (Jan. 29)
Defendor: Woody Harrelson stars in this comic adventure about a man who thinks he's a superhero. (TBA)
La Donation: A doctor in a small Quebec village hands his practice to a newcomer from Montreal in Bernard Emond's subtle drama. (TBA)
February Best Bets:
The Wolfman: In this much-delayed horror film, Benicio Del Toro plays a man who returns to his ancestral home only to find that someone – or something – is killing the villagers. Then one night he is bitten by someone – or something – and everything gets hairy. Look for Anthony Hopkins as his father and Emily Blunt as the women he eats. I mean loves. (Feb. 12)
Shutter Island: This Martin Scorsese movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a U.S. agent investigating the disappearance of a murderess from a mental hospital in 1954. There's a spooky hospital staff, a storm that cuts off communications, and lots of scary mental patients. The Scorsese-DiCaprio history is mixed (The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York) but this one looks like a satisfying popcorn thrill ride. (Feb. 19)
Also opening in February:
Dear John: Channing Tatum is a soldier home on leave and Amanda Seyfried is the girl he falls for. (Feb. 5)
Frozen: Three skiers are trapped in a chairlift in this thriller. (Feb. 5 in Toronto)
I Love You Phillip Morris: In this offbeat love story, Jim Carrey plays a cop who goes to jail and falls for fellow inmate Ewan McGregor. (Feb. 5)
From Paris With Love: John Travolta is an American agent trying to stop a terrorist plot in Paris, with the help of unlikely partner Jonathan Rhys Meyers. (Feb. 5)
Love & Savagery: A Newfoundland geologist falls in love with an Irish woman in this Canadian-made drama. (Feb. 5 in Vancouver)
Saint John of Las Vegas: Steve Buscemi plays a reformed gambler-turned- insurance man who must descend into the temptations of Las Vegas on a fraud investigation. (Feb. 5 in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver)
The Maid: In this drama, set in Chile, a housekeeper who has no life outside her work faces the loss of her job. (Feb. 12)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: A fantasy adventure, based on a bestselling book, about the son of a Greek God who's suspected of stealing Zeus's thunder. (Feb. 12)
Valentine's Day: Love comes and goes among Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts and many, many more. (Feb. 12)
Fish Tank: Andrea Arnold's gritty drama concerns a teenage girl in England whose life changes when her single mom gets a hunky new boyfriend. (Feb. 19)
Reel Injun: This documentary looks at the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood film. (Feb. 19)
The Crazies: In this remake of the George Romero classic, the residents of a small town become bloodthirsty killers. (Feb. 26)
Takers: Matt Dillon and Hayden Christensen star in this caper film about a policeman who interrupts a $20-million heist. (Feb. 26)
Cop Out: In Kevin Smith's crime story, policeman Bruce Willis is on the trail of a stolen baseball card. (Feb. 26)
Last Train Home: A documentary about the annual voyage of Chinese peasant workers to reunite with their families. (Feb. 26 in Toronto, March 12 in Vancouver)
March Best Bets:
Clash of the Titans: The ultimate struggle for power – pending the next Transformer movie, anyway – pits men against kings and kings against gods. These include Perseus (Sam Worthington), who sets off save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes) before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. (March 26)
The Ghost Writer: The new film by Roman Polanski – now there's a name we haven't heard lately – is a political thriller. Ewan McGregor plays a writer hired by British prime minister Pierce Brosnan to complete his memoirs, and who finds evidence of war crimes in the politician's past. (TBA)
Alice In Wonderland: Tim Burton's 3-D version of the fantasy story stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, reuniting director and star in the most productive partnership since, well, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. Mia Wasikowska stars as a 19-year-old Alice returning to the magical world to end the Red Queen's reign of terror. Look for Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and that master of the odd, Crispin Glover, in supporting roles. (March 5)
Green Zone: Paul Greengrass and his muse, Matt Damon, who made two Bourne movies together, come back in this adventure about an American army officer looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Early indications are that it could be Bourne in Baghdad. (March 12)
Also opening in March:
Brooklyn's Finest: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke star in this drama about three Brooklyn cops whose lives intersect. (March 5)
A Prophet: Jacques Audiard's engaging drama concerns an Arab man who is jailed in France and becomes an underworld leader. (March 5)
Greenberg: In Noah Baumbach's offbeat romance, Ben Stiller plays a man house- sitting his brother's home in Los Angeles and befriending his young assistant. (March 12)
Our Family Wedding: Two overbearing dads must put aside their differences in time for the wedding of their children. (March 12)
Remember Me: Erstwhile vampire Robert Pattinson co-stars in this love story about a rebellious young man and the woman who may be able to heal him. (March 12)
She's Out of My League: Canadian actor Jay Baruchel stars in this romantic comedy about a guy who meets a woman who's too good for him. (Is there any other kind?) (March 12)
The Bounty Hunter: Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston star in this romantic adventure about a bounty hunter and his ex-wife, a newspaper reporter. (March 19)
Cooking With Stella: Dilip Mehta's film concerns the larcenous adventures of a cook in the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. (March 19)
Hot Tub Time Machine: Some guys get drunk and go into a hot tub that takes them back to their youths. The cast includes John Cusack and Chevy Chase. (March 19)
Hubble 3D: This Imax documentary goes to distant galaxies. (March 19)
Max Manus: This documentary looks at the life of a Norwegian underground fighter during the Second World War. (March 19)
Season of the Witch: In this supernatural thriller, Nicolas Cage is a medieval knight who must defeat a devious witch. (March 19)
Chloe: In Atom Egoyan's romantic mystery, Julianne Moore plays a suspicious wife who hires a young woman to try to seduce her husband (Liam Neeson), whom she suspects of cheating. (March 26)
How To Train Your Dragon: Jay Baruchel again, this time in a comedy set in the world of Vikings. (March 26)
Leslie, My Name Is Evil: A juror falls in love with a woman charged in a hippie death-cult murder trial in this story inspired by real-life Manson family killer Leslie Van Houten. (TBA)
Neil Young: Trunk Show: A concert film directed by Jonathan Demme. (TBA)
Nowhere Boy: The life of the young John Lennon. (TBA)
Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space: This documentary looks at the move toward space warfare. (TBA)
April Best Bets:
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps: Michael Douglas is back as Wall Street trader Gordon "Greed is good" Gekko, lately released from prison – where do they get these ideas? – who forms an alliance with his daughter's fiance Jacob (Shia LaBeouf). Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, and Frank Langella also star. (April 23)
A Nightmare on Elm Street: A disfigured killer stalks teenagers in their dreams. Yes, we've been down this street before, but this time, Freddy Kruger is played by Jackie Earle Haley. (April 30)
Also opening in April:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A nerd must survive middle school in this film version of a bestselling novel. (April 2)
Furry Vengeance: Brendan Fraser stars in this family comedy about a real- estate developer who faces off with woodland creatures who oppose his new subdivision. (April 2)
The Last Song: Miley Cyrus and Greg Kinnear star in this adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel about a father trying to reconnect with his daughter. (April 2)
Repo Men: In this sci-fi thriller, people who can't pay for their artificial organs have them repossessed. Jude Law stars. (April 2)
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too: This sequel to the 2007 film finds four couples on holiday, analyzing their marriages. (April 2)
Women Without Men: Five women try to cope in this drama set during the 1953 coup in Iran. (April 2)
Date Night: Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in this comedy about a married couple whose weekly "date night" turns into a wild adventure. (April 9)
The Losers: In this adventure based on a comic, an elite U.S. special-forces team goes into the jungles of Bolivia to save the world. (April 9)
Babies: This documentary follows four babies, from Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the U.S., from birth to first steps. Awwww. (April 16)
The Back-Up Plan: Jennifer Lopez stars in this comedy about a woman who meets her dream guy on the same day she's been artificially inseminated. (April 16)
Death at a Funeral: When the patriarch of a British family dies, chaos (and a funeral) ensue. (April 16)
Kick Ass: Nicolas Cage stars in this teen comedy about a high-school student who decides to become a superhero. (April 16)
Oceans: A documentary about the mysteries of the deep. (April 22)
Gunless: In this Canadian Western, Paul Gross plays a gunslinger who comes North, only to find there aren't any pistols hereabouts. (April 30)
Control, Alt, Delete: In this Canadian film, a young man who's bored with Internet porn begins having relations with the machines themselves. (TBA)
Harry Brown: Michael Caine stars in this revenge drama about a retired Marine who sets out to clean up the rundown housing development where he lives. (TBA)
A Shine of Rainbows: An orphan must win over the Irish couple (Connie Nielsen and Aidan Quinn) who adopted him. (TBA)
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel: The old womanizer is lionized for his life of sexual revolution. (TBA)
Splice: Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star in this sci-fi drama about a couple who uses human DNA to make a new kind of creature. (TBA)
Tehroun: In this drama from Iran, a man is implicated in the city's traffic in newborn babies. (TBA)
Year of the Carnivore: Sook Yin-Lee wrote and directed this romantic-comedy/ drama abut a girl with a crush on a boy who thinks she's bad in bed, so she goes out to get more "experience." (TBA)
And a peek into May
Iron Man 2: The summer movie season officially kicks off with this sequel to the 2008 hit, with Robert Downey Jr. returning as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and Mickey Rourke as the bad guy. (May 7)
(Dates subject to change by studios.)
They're all around for the winter movie season, a collection of promising dramas spiced up with a pinch of horror – including a return to Elm Street – and goofy comedy. Between the Oscar-season latecomers of January to the seat-of- your-pants thrill rides of the summer, here's what to watch for in the next three months.
Still to open in January:
Edge of Darkness: Mel Gibson plays a Boston cop whose daughter is kidnapped. Looks like they kidnapped the daughter of the wrong cop. (Jan. 29)
Grown Up Movie Star: In this Canadian drama, a teenage girl is left with her disgraced, ex-hockey-player father when her mother runs away (Jan. 29)
A Town Called Panic: A cowboy, an Indian and a horse have surreal adventures in this stop-motion animated film. (Jan. 29 in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, Feb. 7 in Saskatoon, Feb. 26 in Edmonton)
When In Rome: An American woman on holiday in Rome takes some coins from a fountain and magically becomes a love goddess. (Jan. 29)
Defendor: Woody Harrelson stars in this comic adventure about a man who thinks he's a superhero. (TBA)
La Donation: A doctor in a small Quebec village hands his practice to a newcomer from Montreal in Bernard Emond's subtle drama. (TBA)
February Best Bets:
The Wolfman: In this much-delayed horror film, Benicio Del Toro plays a man who returns to his ancestral home only to find that someone – or something – is killing the villagers. Then one night he is bitten by someone – or something – and everything gets hairy. Look for Anthony Hopkins as his father and Emily Blunt as the women he eats. I mean loves. (Feb. 12)
Shutter Island: This Martin Scorsese movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a U.S. agent investigating the disappearance of a murderess from a mental hospital in 1954. There's a spooky hospital staff, a storm that cuts off communications, and lots of scary mental patients. The Scorsese-DiCaprio history is mixed (The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York) but this one looks like a satisfying popcorn thrill ride. (Feb. 19)
Also opening in February:
Dear John: Channing Tatum is a soldier home on leave and Amanda Seyfried is the girl he falls for. (Feb. 5)
Frozen: Three skiers are trapped in a chairlift in this thriller. (Feb. 5 in Toronto)
I Love You Phillip Morris: In this offbeat love story, Jim Carrey plays a cop who goes to jail and falls for fellow inmate Ewan McGregor. (Feb. 5)
From Paris With Love: John Travolta is an American agent trying to stop a terrorist plot in Paris, with the help of unlikely partner Jonathan Rhys Meyers. (Feb. 5)
Love & Savagery: A Newfoundland geologist falls in love with an Irish woman in this Canadian-made drama. (Feb. 5 in Vancouver)
Saint John of Las Vegas: Steve Buscemi plays a reformed gambler-turned- insurance man who must descend into the temptations of Las Vegas on a fraud investigation. (Feb. 5 in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver)
The Maid: In this drama, set in Chile, a housekeeper who has no life outside her work faces the loss of her job. (Feb. 12)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: A fantasy adventure, based on a bestselling book, about the son of a Greek God who's suspected of stealing Zeus's thunder. (Feb. 12)
Valentine's Day: Love comes and goes among Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts and many, many more. (Feb. 12)
Fish Tank: Andrea Arnold's gritty drama concerns a teenage girl in England whose life changes when her single mom gets a hunky new boyfriend. (Feb. 19)
Reel Injun: This documentary looks at the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood film. (Feb. 19)
The Crazies: In this remake of the George Romero classic, the residents of a small town become bloodthirsty killers. (Feb. 26)
Takers: Matt Dillon and Hayden Christensen star in this caper film about a policeman who interrupts a $20-million heist. (Feb. 26)
Cop Out: In Kevin Smith's crime story, policeman Bruce Willis is on the trail of a stolen baseball card. (Feb. 26)
Last Train Home: A documentary about the annual voyage of Chinese peasant workers to reunite with their families. (Feb. 26 in Toronto, March 12 in Vancouver)
March Best Bets:
Clash of the Titans: The ultimate struggle for power – pending the next Transformer movie, anyway – pits men against kings and kings against gods. These include Perseus (Sam Worthington), who sets off save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes) before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. (March 26)
The Ghost Writer: The new film by Roman Polanski – now there's a name we haven't heard lately – is a political thriller. Ewan McGregor plays a writer hired by British prime minister Pierce Brosnan to complete his memoirs, and who finds evidence of war crimes in the politician's past. (TBA)
Alice In Wonderland: Tim Burton's 3-D version of the fantasy story stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, reuniting director and star in the most productive partnership since, well, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. Mia Wasikowska stars as a 19-year-old Alice returning to the magical world to end the Red Queen's reign of terror. Look for Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and that master of the odd, Crispin Glover, in supporting roles. (March 5)
Green Zone: Paul Greengrass and his muse, Matt Damon, who made two Bourne movies together, come back in this adventure about an American army officer looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Early indications are that it could be Bourne in Baghdad. (March 12)
Also opening in March:
Brooklyn's Finest: Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke star in this drama about three Brooklyn cops whose lives intersect. (March 5)
A Prophet: Jacques Audiard's engaging drama concerns an Arab man who is jailed in France and becomes an underworld leader. (March 5)
Greenberg: In Noah Baumbach's offbeat romance, Ben Stiller plays a man house- sitting his brother's home in Los Angeles and befriending his young assistant. (March 12)
Our Family Wedding: Two overbearing dads must put aside their differences in time for the wedding of their children. (March 12)
Remember Me: Erstwhile vampire Robert Pattinson co-stars in this love story about a rebellious young man and the woman who may be able to heal him. (March 12)
She's Out of My League: Canadian actor Jay Baruchel stars in this romantic comedy about a guy who meets a woman who's too good for him. (Is there any other kind?) (March 12)
The Bounty Hunter: Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston star in this romantic adventure about a bounty hunter and his ex-wife, a newspaper reporter. (March 19)
Cooking With Stella: Dilip Mehta's film concerns the larcenous adventures of a cook in the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. (March 19)
Hot Tub Time Machine: Some guys get drunk and go into a hot tub that takes them back to their youths. The cast includes John Cusack and Chevy Chase. (March 19)
Hubble 3D: This Imax documentary goes to distant galaxies. (March 19)
Max Manus: This documentary looks at the life of a Norwegian underground fighter during the Second World War. (March 19)
Season of the Witch: In this supernatural thriller, Nicolas Cage is a medieval knight who must defeat a devious witch. (March 19)
Chloe: In Atom Egoyan's romantic mystery, Julianne Moore plays a suspicious wife who hires a young woman to try to seduce her husband (Liam Neeson), whom she suspects of cheating. (March 26)
How To Train Your Dragon: Jay Baruchel again, this time in a comedy set in the world of Vikings. (March 26)
Leslie, My Name Is Evil: A juror falls in love with a woman charged in a hippie death-cult murder trial in this story inspired by real-life Manson family killer Leslie Van Houten. (TBA)
Neil Young: Trunk Show: A concert film directed by Jonathan Demme. (TBA)
Nowhere Boy: The life of the young John Lennon. (TBA)
Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space: This documentary looks at the move toward space warfare. (TBA)
April Best Bets:
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps: Michael Douglas is back as Wall Street trader Gordon "Greed is good" Gekko, lately released from prison – where do they get these ideas? – who forms an alliance with his daughter's fiance Jacob (Shia LaBeouf). Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Susan Sarandon, and Frank Langella also star. (April 23)
A Nightmare on Elm Street: A disfigured killer stalks teenagers in their dreams. Yes, we've been down this street before, but this time, Freddy Kruger is played by Jackie Earle Haley. (April 30)
Also opening in April:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A nerd must survive middle school in this film version of a bestselling novel. (April 2)
Furry Vengeance: Brendan Fraser stars in this family comedy about a real- estate developer who faces off with woodland creatures who oppose his new subdivision. (April 2)
The Last Song: Miley Cyrus and Greg Kinnear star in this adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel about a father trying to reconnect with his daughter. (April 2)
Repo Men: In this sci-fi thriller, people who can't pay for their artificial organs have them repossessed. Jude Law stars. (April 2)
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too: This sequel to the 2007 film finds four couples on holiday, analyzing their marriages. (April 2)
Women Without Men: Five women try to cope in this drama set during the 1953 coup in Iran. (April 2)
Date Night: Steve Carell and Tina Fey star in this comedy about a married couple whose weekly "date night" turns into a wild adventure. (April 9)
The Losers: In this adventure based on a comic, an elite U.S. special-forces team goes into the jungles of Bolivia to save the world. (April 9)
Babies: This documentary follows four babies, from Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the U.S., from birth to first steps. Awwww. (April 16)
The Back-Up Plan: Jennifer Lopez stars in this comedy about a woman who meets her dream guy on the same day she's been artificially inseminated. (April 16)
Death at a Funeral: When the patriarch of a British family dies, chaos (and a funeral) ensue. (April 16)
Kick Ass: Nicolas Cage stars in this teen comedy about a high-school student who decides to become a superhero. (April 16)
Oceans: A documentary about the mysteries of the deep. (April 22)
Gunless: In this Canadian Western, Paul Gross plays a gunslinger who comes North, only to find there aren't any pistols hereabouts. (April 30)
Control, Alt, Delete: In this Canadian film, a young man who's bored with Internet porn begins having relations with the machines themselves. (TBA)
Harry Brown: Michael Caine stars in this revenge drama about a retired Marine who sets out to clean up the rundown housing development where he lives. (TBA)
A Shine of Rainbows: An orphan must win over the Irish couple (Connie Nielsen and Aidan Quinn) who adopted him. (TBA)
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel: The old womanizer is lionized for his life of sexual revolution. (TBA)
Splice: Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star in this sci-fi drama about a couple who uses human DNA to make a new kind of creature. (TBA)
Tehroun: In this drama from Iran, a man is implicated in the city's traffic in newborn babies. (TBA)
Year of the Carnivore: Sook Yin-Lee wrote and directed this romantic-comedy/ drama abut a girl with a crush on a boy who thinks she's bad in bed, so she goes out to get more "experience." (TBA)
And a peek into May
Iron Man 2: The summer movie season officially kicks off with this sequel to the 2008 hit, with Robert Downey Jr. returning as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and Mickey Rourke as the bad guy. (May 7)
(Dates subject to change by studios.)
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Carrie
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