Hard to believe but the first part of 2008 is almost over, and for movie lovers like myself it's been a fairly disappointing year, while I cried my way through Into The Wild, was on the edge of my seat for Cloverfield and The Mist, pleased by the return of Indiana Jones and wowed by the action factor of Rambo, you need to stop and think when it comes to assessing quality movies for 2008's first half. It seems all the big companies have been biding there time for late summer early autumn and beyond, certainly all the biggest movies have been scheduled for the back half of the year. So I feel it's a good time to look at what's coming up, some of the movies you'll be eagerly anticipating while others you might never have heard of, how many will become favourites however?
So let's start with the movies we all know are coming:
Blending seamlessly from Batman Begins, although Rachael Dawes appears to have had plastic surgery changing from actress Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal; The Dark Knight welcomes the return of Batman's most popular villain The Joker. Sadly the movie will have its own dark cloud in the knowledge that this was the last completed movie of Heath Ledger, who was reportedly disturbed by making the movie. But this cloud is surely only going to solidify the movie at the box office with fans coming to see Ledger at what could be his finest. Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne AKA Batman, and fellow actors Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman also return. This could be the biggest movie of the year; it's certainly been one of the longest promoted.
Hard to believe but it's been nearly 10 years since Fox Mulder and Dana Scully finally closed the X-files, but as we learned with Indiana Jones, Rocky, and Rambo it's never too late to return. Shrouded in secrecy X-Files: I Want To Believe reunites Mulder and Scully when Mulder uncovers something sinister, will getting Scully to leave her hospital job be a big struggle? We'll see soon enough. Billy Connelly is apparently the movies villain, with the terror starting in the snow covered wilderness.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, although an animated movie is said to have the essence of the original three movies. In this tale we follow the adventures of Mace Windu and Annakin Skywalker in a story that takes place between Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith. Samuel L. Jackson, and Anthony Daniels are aboard adding vocals to the animated characters.
Although they have been in the same movies, getting Roabert De Niro and Al Pacino to be in the same scene has been a stumbling block. Director Jon Avnet has managed it though and delivers a sharp and compelling cop thriller entitled Righteous Kill. Police officers Turk and Rooster are near the end of their serving days and have grown more and more discontent with the crime in the country and their work, but when a serial killer strikes it causes them to question what is right and wrong.
The Love Guru sees the return of Mike Myers to physical acting rather than just adding vocals, as Pitka he returns to the US after being bought up by Guru's. On returning he sets himself a mission to restore love to the world starting by focusing on a professional Ice Hockey player who's life and romance is on the downturn. Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Alba and Kanye West also star.
November brings The Quantum Of Solace to our screens, the 22nd James Bond movie with Daniel Craig reprising his role as 007. Unlike previous Bond stories this one picks up literally where Casino Royale left of as a direct sequel. Bond finds that wealthy businessman Dominic Green is organising a deal where he will gain control of all the world's most precious resources turning the Earth into a prison planet.
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince sees now not so young Harry begin his sixth year at Hogwarts, following on from the previous movie Harry is about to uncover something that will change the world for he and his friends forever.
Now here are some of the movies you might not know about:-
Set in 1976 Bottle Shock is the true story about a world wine contest with a surprising entrant a Californian winery, believing it to be a joke Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) a wine aficionado is sent to California to investigate but his findings shock the world. Bottle Shock is a serious intelligent movie that has been given a comedic tint, apparently. This could well be the Sideways style runaway hit of 2008, also stars Bill Pullman and Elizu Dushku.
