some movies to look forward to. so this french documentary that will never be nominated for a foreign film oscar won the palme d'or at cannes yesterday. it seems like a lot has been happening at the movies this week. the first two major movies of the year, prince caspian and the kingdom of the crystal skull, opened in theaters. i managed to see the former last weekend and it was awesome. hopefully i'll get to see the new indiana jones in the next couple days if i can drag john along after work some night. anyways, with cannes this week and those two movies and a lot of trailers for fall films starting to pop up on awards daily and other oscar blogs, it really seems that this past week or so has been the beginning of the 2008 film year. actually, prince caspian was my first time at the movies since the oscar showcase in february, so it looks like i am going to have to get out of hibernation and start seeing some new movies, rather than continuing to ruminate over dvds from last year's awards season. there are a lot of movies i am really looking forward to seeing this year.

first of all, awards daily posted the trailer for the remake of brideshead revisted that is coming out in july. it stars emma thompson (where has she been lately?) and definitely looks like an early frontrunner to be my favorite movie of the year. you can see the trailer here. if it has competition from anything though it is probably going to be the new julianne moore movie, savage grace. both movies are apparently about twisted families and weird sexual relationships. right up my alley. savage grace comes out in limited release next weekend and the trailer is here.

if you haven't seen the trailer for mamma mia! yet, go here, it looks like it could be incredible. i am so glad that camp musicals seem to be so popular all of a sudden. i have always wanted to see the musical, and i can't wait til it comes out in july. another movie that i am really looking forward to (don't laugh) is that crazy goth musical that darren lynn bousman made that was getting a lot of press when the trailer debuted last fall, repo! the genetic opera. i know it sounds potentially terrible, but it has sarah brightman and anthony head, both of whom i love, and it is a sort of rock opera, and it is by the guy who made saw, so it sounds like a good time whether or not it sucks. it is supposed to come out in early august, but it seems to get pushed back a lot, so who knows. i am keeping my fingers crossed.

and while, we're on the subject of musicals, i am not afraid to say it: hsm3. in theaters. october 24. who is going to go see it with me, so i don't look like totally creepy?

quite a few big movies that are going to be competing for awards this winter opened at cannes this weekend. the one i am looking forward to most is blindness. it stars (incredible, right?) julianne moore AND gael garcia bernal, my favorite actor and one of my favorite actresses. even though it's been sort of getting mixed reviews, the trailer looks great and i am sure i will like it regardless. then there is steven soderbergh's four hour che guevara biopic guerrilla/the argentine. granted, four hours of commentary on socialism doesn't necessarily seem like a party, but it is about latin america, so i am willing to give it a chance. also opening at cannes, the latest eastwood movie either called the changeling or the exchange, depending on who you ask and also charlie kaufman's synechdote, new york, undoubtedly the worst titled movie of the year. i haven't seen trailers yet, but i tend to like eastwood's and kaufman's work, so they sound promising.

well, i take that back. . . even though synechdote may be the worst movie title of the year, it has potential competition from quantum of solace, the bizarre moniker for the new james bond. it opens november 7, but according to imdb it is opening in bahrain on the fifth, so if you happen to be in that area, you can see it a couple days early. i am going to go out on a limb and say that this will be the first james bond movie to get a best picture oscar nomination. i think if it is any good at all, it will at the very least get some awards attention. critics seemed to like casino royale, and the academy has obviously been fond of macho shoot-em-up thrillers lately, so i don't know why none of the oscar blogs are making this prediction.

another prediction, but this time one that just about everyone is making, is that heath ledger will most likely be a posthumous best supporting actor for his turn as the joker in the dark knight. i think i may have seen like three superhero movies in my entire life, but they have all been batman, and i sort of liked batman begins, so this should be decent. it's opening in july, and you can see the trailer here.

but there is probably one movie that is going to plow through awards season this year, a la return of the king or, more fittingly, titanic. kate and leo are starring in sam mendes' revolutionary road, a period piece about 1950s suburbia. even though there isn't a trailer yet, everyone is saying it is going to be just about perfect. think best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actress.

other movies looking for award attention include the curious case of benjamin button, a sort of time travelling fantasy movie or something (i really don't get it exactly) starring brad pitt and cate blanchett, australia, a gorgeous looking wwii drama starring nicole kidman (see the amazing trailer here), doubt, meryl streep and amy adams starring in the movie version of the pulitzer winning play, and milk, sean penn's harvey milk biopic (which is already getting on my nerves for people speculating on what a brave acting choice it was for penn and others to play a bunch of gays. . . GET OVER IT).

what else. . .

body of lies looks like it could be super entertaining. it's written by the same guy who wrote the departed and stars russell crowe and leonardo dicaprio as cia operatives searching for members of al qaeda in the middle east. the reader also looks to have potential. it is this wwii romance thing starring kate winslet and ralph fiennes, and it sounds a lot like the end of the affair, one of my all time favorites. and then there is the new coen brothers movie burn after reading. it is a sort of comedy starring all the cool kids (clooney and pitt and their friends) and is looking a lot like the big lebowski part 2, especially with the pictures of brad pitt in a bowling shirt on the imdb page.

there are also gonna be quite a few victorian-era movies this year, and i am a sucker for that crap. keira knightley is starring in the duchess. the teaser trailer looks really beautiful. emily blunt finally gets a starring role in young victoria, a movie about the romance between queen victoria and prince albert. the film version of plath's the bell jar could star nobody other than julia stiles. and there is also a movie called bronte about the lives of the bronte sisters that may or may not be out this year depending on who you ask.

last but not least, maybe the best cast of any movie coming out this year, meg ryan, candace bergen, bette midler, annette bening and just about every other actress in hollywood are appearing in the women, a remake of some old play coming out in september.

so that's it more or less. lots of brad and angelina, cate blanchett, kate and leo, ralph fiennes, meryl streep and julianne moore. at least a little bit of zac efron. yet more coen brothers. and just enough organ harvesting, child theft and mother-son romance. a lot to look forward to.  ¶ 5/25/2008 07:05:00 PM