10 Most Anticipated Upcoming Films of 2008

Now that Summer Blockbuster season is coming to an end, its time to look ahead to a promising slew of films that will be realeased between September and the New Year.

Here are my Top 10 Most Anticiapted Upcoming Films of 2008:

10.) THE SOLOIST

A schizophrenic, homeless musician from Skid Row, Los Angeles dreams of playing at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Joe Wright (ATONEMENT, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) film has all the elements of a greatness including an inspirational story, excellent actors, and a proven director.

9.) REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Leonardo Decaprio and Kate Winslet, who were last seen together in TITANIC (1997), star in the upcoming Sam Mendes film. They play a young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s who struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Mendes has proven himself to be a director to watch (AMERICAN BEAUTY, ROAD TO PERDITION), and with the re-teaming of Winslet and Decaprio, this could have Oscar written all over it.

8.) APPALOOSA

Two friends (Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris) who are hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher (Jeremy Irons) find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow (RENEE ZELLWEGER). With an alstar cast, and a seasoned Ed Harris at the helm, this could be yet another success story in Hollywood's recent return to the Western.

7.) QUANTUM OF SOLACE

What more can I say, it's Bond, and he is back again! Daniel Craig returns in his second outing as the greatest spy every dreamed up, and Marc Forster (FINDING NEVERLAND, STRANGER THAN FICTION, THE KITE RUNNER) directs. I am excited to see what Forster brings to the table in his first action film. His dedication to intimate storytelling is what makes me the most excited about this project.

6.) FROST/NIXON

Directed by Ron Howard, FROST/NIXON is a dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon. If Howard is on his A-game (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, APOLLO 13, CINDERELLA MAN) than this could be the film of the year.

5.) THE ROAD

Directed by John Hillcoat (THE PREPOSITION), starring Viggo Mortensen (LORD OF THE RINGS, HISTORY OF VIOLENCE), and based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (No Country For Old Men), THE ROAD is a post-appocalyptic tale about a man trying to get his son to safety. We have seen many a post-apocalyptic films in recent years, but hopefully this one will do what all the others have failed to do, tell a good story. The fact that it is a simple father/son tale only makes me more enthusiastic, and the fact that they used all real locations to shoot.

4.) MIRACLE AT ST. ANA

Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII. Directed by Spike Lee (DO THE RIGHT THING, MALCOLM X, INSIDE MAN), this could be one of this years most inspirational films. Spike Lee has not had the most success in recent years, but he is still dedicated to telling stories that have yet to find a voice.

3.) AUSTRALIA

Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand. Director Baz Luhrman (MOULIN ROUGE) is sure to bring his lucious sense of style and beauty to the epic vistas of the Australian landscape. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman star in this sure to be epic romance.

2.) DEFIANCE

Three Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jaime Bell) escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger. Directed by Ed Zwick (GLORY, LAST SAMARI, BLOOD DIAMON) this is has the star power, the story, and the potential to be one of the top films of the year.

1.) THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Scott F. Fitzgerald's short story about a man that born is born old, and then begins to age backwards and the imbending consequences he and those around him are faced with. Directed by David Fincher (Zodiac, Seven, Alien 3) and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, this looks to be a cross between FOREST GUMP and BIG FISH with that touch of visual wonder that has been lacking in films for some time.

Some other films to watch for...

• THE CHANGLING


• GRAN TORINO


• BODY OF LIES


• MILK


• DOUBT


• DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL