02/04/10

Rather than pound readers in the head with more blue man dollar talk, ScreenTime has decided to take a week to look forward at the year ahead. Hundreds of notable films are released worldwide each year, most of which are quickly forgotten. There are the big dollar blockbusters, the sequels, the foreign films, the indies and so on. While we do typically favor indie, foreign and experimental films, we also enjoy well made studio films very much. Below you’ll find just a few of the countless films set to be released over the next few months. 

February: Dear John, based on the Nicolas Sparks book and directed by Lasse Hallstrom (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat, ect.), should make some decent bread due to its proximity to Valentine’s Day. Stars that gal with the gigantic eyes and the dude with the gigantic muscles. John hits screens February 5, as does John Travolta’s latest stinker, From Paris With Love. The following week will see three big dollar flicks his the big screens: Valentine, an ensemble film that surely takes from Love, Actually and He’s Just Not That Into You; The Wolfman, starring Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, looks promising; and director Christopher Columbus (Home Alone and the first two Potter films) attempts to make a comeback with his latest children’s film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians. February 19 will finally see the release of Martin Scorsese’s long delayed Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, as well as two smaller films, The Ghost Writer and The Good Guy. Ghost, starring the man, Tom Wilkinson, looks promising. Finishing out February on the 26th will be the promising Yellow Handkerchief, overdone horror remake The Crazies and possibly hilarious buddy/cop flick Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.

March: March 5 will finally see the release of Tim Burton’s much talked about Alice In Wonderland film, starring Johnny Depp and Crispin Glover. Looks a bit lame, but the set pieces are sure to blow mind. The following Friday, March 12, will see a great number of promising films hit screens, starting with slacker comedy Greenberg, directed by ScreenTime favorite Noah Baumbach (Squid and the Whale). Easily one of our Top 10 most anticipated films of 2010 (watch the trailer online, it’s fantastic). Paul Greengrass’ new action romp, Green Zone, starring Matt Damon, will also hit screens and likely bring some springtime buck. The editing and cinematography will be amazing and the acting will be amazing, let’s just hope the film doesn’t feel like a two-hour techno-scored video game. (It will.) Our Family Wedding, Remember Me, She’s Out of My League and The Exploding Girl will all also hit screens that week. City Island, Hubble 3D, Season of the Witch, The Bounty Hunter and The Runaways will all be released on March 19. ScreenTime has no interest in any of these films but will likely see The Runaways because … well, just because. March 26 is another big release day, the big titles being Clash of the Titans, Hot Tub Time Machine, How to Train Your Dragon and I Love You Phillip Morris. Titans will surely see interest from a number of crowds will Hot Tub will attempt to be a new bizzarro cult classic and I Love You should bring out the usual Jim Carrey crowd. Meh. Kind of a lame month.

April: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the popular children’s book series will hit screens on April 2, as will the could-be-great Repo Men, starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. From the looks of it, Men has nothing to do with Alex Cox’ mind-blowing classic, Repo Man. Probably a good thing. Oh, and two more awful-looking films, The Last Song (starring Miley Cyrus) and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Ger Married Too also hit screens that week. April 9 will see the release of two promising films, After. Life and Date Night, and The Losers, based on the graphic novel and starring Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker). Kick-Ass and The Joneses, both promising looking, will hit theaters on April 16 while Boogie Woogie, Knucklehead, MacGruber, the U.S. remake of Death at a Funeral, Please Give and Wall Street 2 will all be released on April 23. Word is that Oliver Stone’s second Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf, is pretty great while MacGruber, based on the “Saturday Night Light” skit, looks to bring back the SNL film franchise. Furry Vengeance, The Good Heart and the reboot of the A Nightmare On Elm Street series all hit the Cineplex on April 30. The Good Heart, starring Paul Dano, Brian Cox and Stephanie Szostack, looks, well, good. Possibly even great.

May: Not all of May’s release dates have been locked down yet, but all the “big” films look ready to go. And when we say “big,” we mean big. Check it: Iron Man 2 (May 7); Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood film (May 14); Shrek Forever After (May 21); and Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia (May 28). Some promising indies and small budget films hit screens in May as well:  Mother and Child and Solitary Man (May 7); Letters to Juliet and Takers (May 14); and a few others.

Our Top 10 Most Promising Springtime Films: 1. Greenberg; 2. Shutter Island; 3. The Good Heart; 4. Iron Man 2; 5. The Wolfman; 6. The Joneses; 7. Green Zone; 8. Robin Hood; 9. Hot Tub Time Machine; 10. The Greatest. Now get over to IMDB.com and watch some trailers and read some speculation!

Written by G. William Locke