10. The Invention of Lying
Two things make me really really excited about this movie. First, the cast. Ricky Gervais, Rob Lowe, Jennifer Garner. Jonah Hill, Jason Bateman, Patrick Stewart, Tina Fey. Second, it's Ricky Gervais! This is the guy that brought us The Office (the UK version that inspired the Steve Carell version) and Ghost Town. If you haven't seen Ghost Town, drop what you're doing and rent it, cause it's hilarious. The Invention of Lying is basically about an alternate universe where humans have never lied before. They have no idea that it's even possible to lie until Mr. Gervais somehow discovers it. Just look at how much fun this is going to be.
For the men out there, the only reason you need to see this movie is that you get see Megan Fox in schoolgirl outfit. For the girls, it's a harder sell. Jennifer's Body is about a high school band that tries to sacrifice Megan Fox to the devil so that they can become rich and famous. When it turns out Megan Fox isn't a virgin (that's not gonna be a hard sell to audiences), the satanic ritual goes wrong and she becomes possessed by a demon. The demon must survive by feasting on flesh, and she starts to seduce the boys in her school. The screenplay was done by Diablo Cody, who usually has some pretty funny dialogue.
8. Up In the Air
This is director Jason Reitman, the guy that gave us Juno and Thank You For Smoking. Plus it has Clooney in it. Enough said.
Another movie with a fantastic cast, this time about four couples who go to a topical island to get marital counseling from some experts. With Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis and Kristen Bell, it'll likely end up being the funniest movie of the year.
6. 2012
From the man that brought us great movies like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow comes Roland Emmerich's next disaster epic, 2012. And what an epic it looks like. Whether you believe in the conspiracy theory or not, you have to appreciate how huge and destructive this movie is. Throw in John Cusack for his typical great acting, and you have yourself a midnight premiere worthy movie.
5. The Men Who Stare At Goats
Clooney's second appearance on this list, this time in a comedic role. Teaming up with him are Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey; as far as acting talent goes, this is the best cast of any movie all year. Check it out
4. The Fourth Kind
One of the creepiest trailers I've ever seen. There's almost nothing scarier than aliens. This isn't your typical SyFy friday night movie. If I go to the midnight premiere of this, I won't be going to bed until after dawn. UFO and alien classifications go like this: The first kind is a UFO sighting. The second kind is some type of hard evidence of a landing or of an alien. The third kind is contact, and the fourth is abduction. Even creepier is that these are based on true events.
3. Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law. Rachel McAdams. Three pretty freakin' big names in Hollywood right now are trying to bring Sherlock Holmes and Watson to the minds of this generation. Taking charge of all this talent is Mr. Guy Ritchie. Some of you may know him as Madonna's ex husband, but I'll always remember him for bringing me four of my top twenty movies. I'm sure most expected a thriller/drama considering Holmes is an investigator of the highest degree, but if you've seen any of Ritchie's previous smash hits, you know that he brings a lot of comedy to a serious story. This is one of the few movies this year that I have absolutely zero doubt will be a fantastic movie.
2. Antichrist
Here's the description: The story is of therapist Willem Dafoe and his wife Charlotte Gainsbourg, a couple who have recently lost their son. She is utterly inconsolable, so he suggests that they retreat to a cabin in the woods to expose her to her fears so that she might overcome them. She had previously been at the cabin with her son, working on a thesis on gynocide. Nature turns against them, and they against one another, as the woods—named ‘Eden’ in the film—become a living hell. Sounds interesting enough, but why am I so interested in this? Because a movie as shocking as this, a movie that makes people squirm and scream, a movie that is "totally fucked up", a movie that leaves you completely dazed and thinking for hours, always means that I'm going to love it. I haven't even seen one second of footage, but I just know that I'm going to LOVE this movie. I loves me some contoversy.
1. Avatar
Titanic. The Abyss. Terminator 1&2. True Lies. Each and every movie James Cameron has done has been amazing. Every. Single. One. Titanic is the highest grossing movie OF ALL TIME. Terminator 2 and The Abyss helped push special effects to another level. There's just not enough words to describe how great Cameron is at making movies. Sadly, the last picture he made was Titanic 12 years ago, and since then he has filmed underwater documentaries and prepared himself for Avatar, which may turn out to be his Magnum Opus. He wrote the script around 15 years ago, but the technology wasn't advanced enough for it, so he put it in a drawer and decided to sit on it. He spent nine years developing a new camera that would capture 3D in a way that wasn't though possible. He designed a new approach to bring special effects onto the shooting set, which is blurring the line between shooting and post-production. And now in December we get to see a movie that might wind up being as well remembered as Star Wars was to our parents.
Let's focus on the 3D aspect of the movie. Right now, 3D is a gimmick. Horror movies are using it to make people duck and dive in their seats, which is great for a laugh or two, but it really doesn't help you connect to the story or the characters. Many director's feel that because of this, 3D is simply a fad that will go away after another five or ten years. However, the director's that have seen finished footage of Avatar disagree. They know that Cameron has used 3D not as a gimmick, but as another advancement to cinema in the same way that sound and color were decades ago. They also say that the special effects are without a doubt the best that's ever been done. Almost photorealistic. One journalist said that it was almost as if 10ft tall blue aliens were on the set each day. The director's pretty much agree that Avatar will help push cinema along in a way that hasn't been done in a long time.
With the techno babble out of the way, I can tell you the story. "Avatar is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called Pandora, which orbits a gas giant, and is inhabited by the tribal Na'vi, ten foot blue humanoids that are peaceful unless attacked. Humans cannot breathe Pandoran air, so they genetically engineer human/Na'vi hybrids known as Avatars that can be controlled via a mental link. A paralyzed Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) volunteers to exist as an Avatar on Pandora, falling in love with a Na'vi princess and becoming caught up in the conflict between her people and the human military that is consuming their world."
The trailer (watch it in HD or else don't watch it) doesn't do the movie justice, but you have to believe how good this movie looks in IMAX 3D, which is the way you HAVE to see it. 2D will not do, nor will 3D at a regular sized screen. I've seen 15 minutes of footage, and I can back up everything I've said. So please please please see this movie on December 18th.
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