Will 2013 be as good a year for movies as 2013 was? I hope so. There might be the usual bunch of sequels, reboots, and redundant superhero origins stories, but there are also lots of goodies that await. Here, in no particular order, are Cinemablographer's most anticipated films of 2013. The list started at ten, although it kept expanding. Keep it growing by sharing your 'must-sees' of 2013!
The most anticipated films of 2013:
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| The Legend of Sarila, an Alliance Films release. |
The Legend of Sarila
Dir. Nancy Florence Savard
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Rachelle
Lefevre, Geneviève Bujold, Natar Ungalaaq.
The Legend of Sarila
promises to be a landmark Canadian film for 2013. Animated features are rare in
this country (aside from the Genie-winner The
Triplets of Belleville), so it’s a major feat that The Legend of Sarila is a completely Canadian 3D animated film. In
addition to the beautiful animation, which looks quite striking from the film’s
trailer, Sarila offers a notable look
into Canada’s Inuit culture. Take the whole family and enjoy action, adventure,
drama, mystery, and magic Canadian style. And it's in 3D! (Feb. 22)
An Enemy
Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon,
Isabella Rossellini
An Enemy is my
most anticipated film of 2013. The fanboy in me can hardly contain his
excitement for this film. An Enemy is
the first film by director Denis Villeneuve since his Oscar nomination for Incendies and it’s an adaptation of an a
novel by my favourite author, José Saramago. The Double doesn’t rank as one of the author’s strongest books, but
it might be his most filmable one. This story about a man who turns a video
store upside-down after seeing his doppelganger in an old movie might translate
Saramago’s parenthetical prose more easily than, say, Blindness. Star Jake Gyllenhaal also appears in Villeneuve’s
upcoming film Prisoners, which is
also slated for 2013 release, so we can probably expect to see some good
chemistry between the star and the director if they chose to work together
again. I just hope that I can simply enjoy a new Villeneuve adaptation after
spending the better part of a year analyzing Incendies to death. (TBA)
August: Osage County
Dir. John Wells
Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Chris
Cooper
The “Streep for Oscar!” banner shall emerge yet again. The
cinematic equivalent to God has another juicy role coming to the screen and August: Osage Country has Mr. Oscar
himself, aka Harvey Weinstein, as distributor. Meryl Streep stars as Violet
Weston, a woman who is fighting cancer while struggling with mood swings, an
addiction to prescription drugs, and an alcoholic husband. Even more reasons to
be excited for August: Osage County
are the presence of Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor, and Juliette,
plus a Pulitzer Prize and a handful of Tony awards for the play on which this
film is based. The play is by Tracey Letts, whose Killer Joe made for a great stage-to-screen outing this year. Cue
the Oscar campaign. (TBA)
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| A Long Way Down |
A Long Way Down
Dir. Pascal Chaumeil
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Aaron
Paul, Rosamund Pike.
I am equally excited and nervous for A Long Way Down. One of my favourite novels, A Long Way Down is one of those mesmerizing books that can change
your life. It’s a tricky tale about four people who plan to commit suicide on
New Year’s Eve (Brosnan, Collette, Poots, Paul), but their plans go awry when
their suicide attempts converge. They form the unlikeliest of support groups,
but Nick Hornby’s fun breezy writing style prevents A Long Way Down from being a sappy, contrived mess. Here’s hoping
it works as well on the screen as it does in print! (Fall 2013)
Devil’s Knot
Dir. Atom Egoyan
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Amy Ryan, Kevin
Durand, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas.
Atom Egoyan might be working completely outside of Canada
for his latest film, but that’s no reason to mute the anticipation for Devil’s Knot. Egoyan reunites with his Where the Truth Lies star Colin Firth
and directs a stacked cast in this based-on-a-true-story thriller about the West
Memphis Three. It’s a bizarre case that spiralled into a stranger trial that
brought accusations of the occult against a group of teenagers. Interested
viewers can brush up on the facts by seeking out the documentary West of Memphis, which premiered at TIFF
last September. Act quickly, though, because the film is reportedly complete,
so it could be ready for Cannes! (TBA)
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| Oprah with Terrence Howard in The Butler |
The Butler
Dir. Lee Daniels
Starring: Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard,
Jane Fonda, Melissa Leo, Mariah Carey, Robin Williams, Vanessa Redgrave.
It was inevitable that Oprah and Lee Daniels would make a
movie together. After being the official mover-and-shaker for Precious in 2009, Lady O co-stars in
Daniels’ film about a White House butler (Forrest Whitaker) who served eight
American Presidents over the course of three decades. Folks at the TIFF
screening of The Paperboy could have
made a drinking game out of the number of times that Daniels plugged the film,
so could this Weinstein Co. film be a big player at #TIFF13? (TBA)
Maps to the Stars
Dir. David Cronenberg
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Viggo Mortensen, Robert Pattinson
The bromance between David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen
continues with Robert Pattinson emerging as a third wheel. In true
Cronenbergian evasive/bullshit fashion, the director has described this
long-gestating film as “satirical” after he previously described it as “not a
satire.” Most interesting, though, is that this will be Cronenberg’s first film
to be shot in America. (Los Angeles) Apparently, Mr. Cronenberg has given fake
America (Toronto) the boot. Maps is
reportedly gearing up for a summer shoot, so it might not make it to theatres
this year. (TBA, probably winter)
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| Blanchett receives direction from the Woodman |
Untitled Woody Allen Film.
Dir. Woody Allen
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins, Peter
Sarsgaard, Louis C.K.
Plot details are yet to be revealed, but the Woodman is back
from his Eurotrip. Once again making a film in the US of A, shooting in New
York and California, Woody is probably set to deliver another clever ensemble
film about love and death. The great Cate appears as Allen's newest leading lady, and people are already buzzing that Blanchett sports eclectic threads in the film. The summer fashion is already drawing comparision to Diane Keaton in Annie Hall. (TBA)
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| Pinto and Bale in Knight of Cups |
Knight of Cups
Dir. Terrence Malick
Starring: Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett,
Holly Hunter, Antonio Banderas, and –weak link—Freida Pinto. (Hopefully her
scenes will be cut.)
Terrence Malick is cranking them out! It took twenty years
for Malick to make The Thin Red Line
after 1978’s Days of Heaven, but he
seems to be making up for lost time by churning out films at Woody Allen speed.
Some moviegoers (including me) found themselves disappointed by Malick’s To the Wonder when it hit the festival
circuit last year and wondered if, like Allen, Malick tends to stumble when he
has too many projects on the go. I’m optimistic, though, since To the Wonder was still something
wondrous even if it didn’t really work. (TBA)
Nebraska
Dir. Alexander Payne
Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte
Hooray for another road trip film from Alexander Payne, the
director of the great road trip movies Sideways
and About Schmidt! Nebraska stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte
as a father-son duo en route to Nebraska to claim a million dollar prize from
Publisher’s Clearing House. Expect America’s greatest sweepstakes to provide
another poignant slice-of-life tale from one of America’s greatest independent
filmmakers. Additional note: IMDb credits Nebraska
as being shot in black-and-white. Is this Payne’s Frances Ha? (TBA)
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| Lowlife |
Lowlife
Dir. James Gray
Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix
2013 sees a double-whammy of La Marion as the French
superstar makes two films with director James Gray. (The other is Blood Ties.) Cotillard plays a woman who
is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a magician (Phoenix) tries
to save her. Five minutes of the film were screened during a tribute to
Cotillard at this year’s Telluride Film Festival and the footage was apparently
so impressive that it made The Playlist’s list of the top festival moments of
2012. Marion Cotillard rocked the flapper gear in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, so maybe Lowlife will appear on my list of
highlights for 2013. (TBA)
The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire
Dir. Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone,
Philip Seymour Hoffman.
It’s weird not to be rolling my eyes at an upcoming teen
movie, but the first Hunger Games
proved that a movie does not need to be vacant if it’s geared towards a younger
audience. The second adaptation of the popular series has very high
expectations to live up to, and it might be a bit worrisome that Gary Ross, the
director who piloted the first film to success, isn’t at the helm. Instead, Francis
Lawrence, who turned Water for Elephants into
a clunky mess, directs Catching Fire.
I was really excited when David
Cronenberg’s name was tossed about as a possible director, but he’d have had
Katniss and Peeta doing all sorts of things that aren’t PG-13. (Nov. 22)
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| Kelsey Scott, Quvenzhané Wallis and Chiwetel Eljiofor in Twelve Years a Slave |
Twelve Years a Slave
Dir. Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict
Cumberbatch, Quvenzhané Wallis, Chiwetel Eljiofor, Michael K. Williams, Paul
Giamatti, Sarah Paulson.
Michael Fassbender reunites with Shame and Hunger director
Steve McQueen for this saga of slavery set in the 1800s. Twelve Years a Slave cites one of the most impressive casts this
year, with Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Chiwetel Eljiofor, and Beasts of the Southern Wild break-out
Quvenzhané Wallis listed in its credits; however, I doubt that more star power
and a bigger budget will prevent McQueen from making a film as daring and provocative
as Shame or Hunger. Something tells me this will be a much different take on
the slave trade than Django Unchained.
(Fall 2013)
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| Nicole Kidman in Stoker |
Stoker
Dir. Chan-wook Park
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode,
Jacki Weaver.
Stoker is the
first English-language feature by South Korean director Chan-wook Park (Oldboy). That bit of trivia offers an
intriguing reason to see the film, as does the screenwriting credit for Prison Break co-star Wentworth Miller.
Miller’s The Human Stain co-star
Nicole Kidman is the reason that I want to see the film, since Stoker hints at another great turn in
Kidman’s string of dark, challenging roles. No word has leaked if Nicole pees
on Mia. (March 1)
Gravity
Dir. Alfonso Cuarón
Starring: George Clooney, Sandra Bullock
Yet another exciting director credit for 2013 is Alfonso
Cuarón’s first film since 2006’s Children
of Men. Like Children of Men, Gravity sounds like an entry in the science-fiction
genre, as George Clooney and Sandra Bullock star as astronauts drifting alone
in space. This doesn’t mean that I have forgiven Sandra Bullock’s Oscar win,
but I’m always willing to keep an open mind. (TBA)
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| Rooney Mara stars in Side Effects. Courtesy of eOne Films / Photo: Barry Wetcher |
Side Effects
Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones,
Jude Law.
Is Steven Soderbergh ever retiring? I hope not, because. The
Oscar-winning director has been quite prolific lately, and Side Effects (potentially his last as a director) looks pretty
great. The film reteams Soderbergh with Contagion
writer Scott Z. Burns and Traffic star
Catherine Zeta-Jones, along with Magic
Mike star Channing Tatum and Contagion’s
Jude Law. Headlining the film is The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo’s Rooney Mara, who looks like she’s here to stay as
a Hollywood star. Will Side Effects
be the first great film of 2013? (Feb. 8)
