January Preview

With my main 2008 preview to come, here's a little preview of some potential highlights (and lowlights?) in January...

First up, I've gone for the new one from the Coen Brothers' 'No Country For Old Men', featuring a rumoured-to-be-stunning performance from a Matt all-time top 25 performer, Javier Bardem. Also starring Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, the story focuses on Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) who finds a stash of money and heroin and the bloody events that follow. Bardem seems to have been given huge creative licence and, possibly, the role of a lifetime in the form of a sadistic killer who flips coins for human lives. This could be stunning. Released Friday 18/01/07

Next up comes the Tom Hanks vehicle, Charlie Wilson's War. Hanks plays the titular character who helps to arm Afghan rebels against the Russians, at the heart of the cold-war era, with obvious and deep consequences. This sounds weighty and I'm sure it will be, although I hear that early reviews (unlike No Country For Old Men) have not been favourable, despite it once being an early frontrunner in the Oscar race. Still, an all-star cast of Hanks, the returning Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and the always excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman promises much, not least in dollars, as my colleague's excellent post a month or so back highlighted. Should be worth a watch at least. Released this Friday (11/01/08).

A lowlight for me, but surely a highlight for others, is Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. I was distinctly unimpressed with the initial trailer and now that I've found out it's a musical, am less impressed still. However, Burton, and his long-time collaborator, the ludicrously handsome Johnny Depp, have massive followings and this is sure to have a wide appeal, even if it is not one I'll be queuing up for. Or even dusting off the Blockbuster shelves in three years for that matter. Still, for those who are going to check it out, expect a colourful interpretation, a solid performance from Depp and plenty of (not Al) gore. I hope you enjoy! Also starring the excellent, and always always watchable, Alan Rickman. And Ali G and Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen. Released 25/01/08.

On MyFilmVault we always like the personal touch, none of this withdrawn ivory-tower film journalism nonsense on here, so here are two films I'll certainly be checking out in January after belated arrivals to a screen near me in Leicester. The first is Ang Lee's new espionage thriller Lust, Caution, starring one of my favorite actors of all time, Tony Leung. I cannot wait. I can wait even less for a film that I've been salivating over for at least a year, the impressive-looking The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It seems I'm destined not to see this film, so the projector will probably break or the cinema burn down or my bike will get a flat on the way, or something, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope I finally make it! Will post reviews if I do manage to see them both.

And finally...January sees the reissue of a Hitchcock classic and a film Adam and I both adore, The Lady Vanishes (1938), starring Margaret Lockwood, May Whitty and Michael Redgrave. Despite its age, this remains a true edge-of-your-seat thriller about a woman who mysteriously disappears on a train journey, that stands comparison with anything the directors of today can offer. In fact, it surpasses them. Who touches the master after all? If you've not seen it, you've got to check this out, I can promise you that you won't regret it! In fact, even if you have seen it, what an excuse to catch it again with Hitchcock on the big screen!

And that takes us up to 01/02/2008 and the release of my first 'can't wait to see' film of 2008 - Cloverfield, the stunning trailer for which I've pasted below...



HAPPY NEW YEAR MYFILMVAULT READERS!!! Let's hope 2008 is a great year for moviegoing!