Godzilla 2014: The 31st attempt at filming the beast
For those who enjoy spending their time worshipping at the altar of cinema, and those who just want to get out of heat, a fresh batch of film treat is on its way.
Each year in film bursts with the potential for the best of the medium, for features that will engage, inform, disarm and delight, all from the pool of the new, unique, unseen and undetermined. The crop of movies bound for cinema screens in 2014 again presents all that, and maybe more. So what’s worth marking on your film-going calendar?
Could-be contenders
The first films likely to make a splash are those also likely to earn accolades for their efforts – or nominations, at the very least, for the plethora of major awards about to be handed out.
The pick of the list:
Her (January 16): It has been five years since Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are reached for our inner children, and now the inventive writer/director endeavours to speak to our lonely souls. Joaquin Phoenix spearheads a film immersed in the emotional detachment initiated by the heightened importance of technology in our daily interactions, his divorcee-to-be finding a connection not with the women in his midst, but in his AI-driven operating system. The filmmaker’s quirkiness – as essayed in Being John Malkovich and Adaptation – promises to remain, as does his inherent empathy.
Miss at your own peril:
Inside Llewyn Davis (January 16): The Coen brothers – co-directors, writers, editors and producers Joel and Ethan – turn intimate and introspective with the folk-scene-set Inside Llewyn Davis, but with their trademark dark wit and devious warmth, of course. The soulful Oscar Isaac and his sorrowful crooning centres an effort that cycles through the highs and lows of chasing a dream, his haunted look and heartbroken melodies lingering long after viewing.
Others to look out for:
Nebraska (February 20): The Descendants’ Alexander Payne again tells a tale of protagonists cast adrift, figuratively and emotionally, extracting excellent turns from veteran Bruce Dern and comedian Will Forte in the process.
12 Years A Slave (January 30): The third in Steve McQueen’s thematic trio about physical limitations after Hunger and Shame, and also the most restrained, the compelling Chiwetel Ejiofor’s lead performance as a free man sold into slavery included.
Dallas Buyers Club (February 13): Matthew McConaughey continues his career resurgence as a crusader in the quest for equitable access to AIDS treatment, as sympathetically helmed by Café de Flore’s Jean-Marc Vallee.
All is Lost (January 20): Robert Redford takes to the seas in a survivalist drama as concerned with the cinematic experience as it is with its lead character’s struggle with elements, in a change of pace from Margin Call director J.C. Chandor.
The Great Beauty (January 23): See the sumptuous glory of modern Rome, and its many contrasts, through the eyes of director Paolo Sorrentino and the on-screen life of Toni Servillo’s lamenting purveyor of largesse.
Serious might
Packing a punch on paper is assured for a spate of films blessed with powerful talent in front of and behind the lens, as is garnering significant pre-viewing interest.
The pick of the list:
The Wolf of Wall Street (January 23): The trailer that has been impossible to avoid begets the film that no one could ever want to avoid, Martin Scorsese’s vision of Jordan Belfort’s titular tome of excess. Again, the filmmaking legend assembles a stellar cast around his muse of this millennium, Leonardo DiCaprio, and again, the duo dare to dance through darker human desires in their fifth collaboration. There promises to be mayhem, Scorsese’s trademark pitch-perfect music cues, and another exhilarating addition to the annals of movie history.
Miss at your own peril:
Jupiter Ascending (July 24): Andy and Lana Wachowski’s career may careen between certain hits, obvious misses, and the few fine films closer to the former but sadly saddled with the baggage of the latter, but their latest science fiction foray seethes with potential. DNA and dominating the universe don’t make for easy bedfellows, that’s for sure; faith remains that these sibling filmmakers can guide leads Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis through a compelling futuristic tale.
Others to look out for:
The Monuments Men (March 13): George Clooney writes, directs, produces and stars in a tale of World War II treasure hunting, bundling many a similarly famous face – Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and Jean Dujardin – along for the ride.
Transcendence (April 24): Whether Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister’s first directing effort – a story steeped in the quest for sentient artificial intelligence – works or not, it will be warmly remembered for giving Johnny Depp a less idiosyncratic, more meaty role.
Foxcatcher (Release date TBC): Ripped from the headlines, rendering Steve Carell creepy against type, and relaying a story of sinister siblings and Olympic wrestlers, Bennett Miller’s follow-up to Moneyball stays with sports but offers something different.
Serena (Release date TBC): Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle co-stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper re-team in a Depression-era drama, not for David O. Russell but for Danish director – and Academy Award winner for In a Better World – Susanne Bier.
Jane Got a Gun (Release date TBC): It is pleasing to see westerns slowly return to prominence, especially one boasting a gun-toting female lead in Natalie Portman. Hopefully the behind-the-scenes troubles that saw director Gavin O’Connor take over from We Need to Talk About Kevin’s Lynne Ramsay remains unseen.
Local delicacies
Big things await Australian audiences in 2014, especially on the local front, and – with horror, western and apocalyptic efforts in store – in the realm of genre offerings.
The pick of the list:
Tracks (March 6): After screening at the 2013 Venice, Toronto and Adelaide film festivals to great acclaim, John Curran’s depiction of Robyn Davidson’s 1977 trek through the Western Australian desert with National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan properly ventures home. A series of stunning sights feature throughout as cinematographer Mandy Walker runs her astute eye over the sandy setting; however it is Mia Wasikowska’s central turn as Davidson, and Girls’ Adam Driver as Smolan in support, that soars beyond a striking true tale to become a classic of Australian tenacity.
Miss at your own peril:
Wolf Creek 2 (February 20): Mad Mick Taylor is back, as is his off-screen alter ego John Jarratt and his creator, writer/director Greg McLean, in the sequel to the 2005 surprise hit Wolf Creek. Wake in Fright aside, few films have as successfully shown the scares of the Australian outback as the now horror classic. Here’s hoping the second showing can remain as downright chilling.
Others to look out for:
Canopy (April 24): Another film with the weight of international festival success behind it, but one with much less local fanfare, Canopy cannily conveys the experience of two Singapore-stranded soldiers in World War II through aesthetics and emotions.
Predestination (Release date TBC): Brisbane’s Spierig brothers – Michael and Peter – again join forces with their Daybreakers star Ethan Hawke for an Australian-made sci-fi odyssey, this time swapping vampires for time travel.
The Rover (July 31): After his multi-award-winning debut Animal Kingdom, David Michôd’s second effort is again steeped in crime, and again features Guy Pearce – but moves the action from urban to outback, and adds heartthrob Robert Pattison.
Son of a Gun (Release date TBC): After success with short films – including directing Jerrycan and writing Yardbird – filmmaker Julius Avery compiles a cast that includes Ewan McGregor and A Royal Affair’s Alicia Vikander for a fast-paced heist thriller.
These Final Hours (June 20): The end of the world comes to Perth’s suburbs in Zak Hilditch’s look at life, love, recklessness, redemption and re-evaluating your choices as the inevitable comes that little bit sooner than expected.
Sequels, remakes and franchises
What’s old is new again – yes, yet again – in 2014, but the familiar also comes with in-built anticipation and the chance to prove that repetition isn’t always a bad thing.
The pick of the list:
Godzilla (May 15): Will Gareth Edwards’ take on the titular Japanese monster be just the tonic to erase Roland Emmerich’s awful 1998 effort from audiences’ minds? We can only hope – but thankfully Edwards’ pedigree sets expectations for bigger and better things. Fresh from low-key sci-fi gem Monsters, the filmmaker has demonstrated the skill and savvy the beloved kaiju property needs for its 31st film outing. A cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also raises hopes for something more than the average creature feature.
Miss at your own peril:
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (August 21): In 2005, director Robert Rodriguez teamed up with graphic novelist Frank Miller for the adaptation of the latter’s Sin City, energetically translating the brutal pulp noir beauty from the page to the screen. With the print series spanning seven editions, a sequel has long been mooted. Now, with returning cast members Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Mickey Rourke, and new additions Josh Brolin and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the second serving of booze, broads and bullets becomes a reality.
Others to look out for:
Muppets Most Wanted (April 10): Who doesn’t love a Muppet movie, especially after the heartwarming hit that was the loveable puppets’ last cinema outing – again with songs written by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie, and this time with Tina Fey amongst the cast.
The Raid 2: Berandal (Release date TBC): Picking up exactly where its high-octane predecessor left off, The Raid’s sequel steps back into the fast fists and frenetic fights of star Iko Uwais and its Jakarta crime scenario.
Dumb and Dumber To (October 2): It was happening, then it wasn’t, and now Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s 1994 comedy of stupidity finally reunites Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels for a second dose of dim-wittedness.
Guardians of the Galaxy (August 14): Marvel’s superhero efforts have been many in recent years; however Sliver and Super director James Gunn at the helm, this adaptation of the titular team’s antics promises champions of the more offbeat variety.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 22): In a franchise already overflowing with features, this is the offering that links the first three X-Men films, the Wolverine spin-offs and the First Class prequel – and their plentiful casts.
Auteurs ahoy
Chances are your favourite filmmaker has a new film in 2014. And chances are that if you’re not already excited about it, you soon will be.
The pick of the list:
Inherent Vice (Release date TBC): Spans of five years separated Paul Thomas Anderson’s last three films; that his latest comes just two years after The Master is in itself cause for celebration. Of course, there’s more to raise pulses of fans of the writer/director’s work: his re-teaming with actor Joaquin Phoenix and musician Johnny Greenwood, his casting of Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson and Reese Witherspoon, and his choice of Thomas Pynchon’s private detective novel as source material. And, there’s the helmer of Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood himself.
Miss at your own peril:
Nymphomaniac (March): Lars von Trier goes erotic and explicit – and controversial, obviously. Charting the sexual life of a woman from birth to the age of 50, the Danish director assembles a cast of his regulars (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, Stellan Skarsgard) alongside Shia LaBeouf, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman and more for a two-part epic that is likely to be unlike any other big screen experience.
Others to look out for:
The Wind Rises (February 27): If enjoying the emotive animation of Hayao Miyazaki wasn’t heart-wrenchingly bittersweet enough, the Japanese anime master has stated that this, his 11th feature, will be his last.
Noah (March 27): Director Darren Aronofsky and the biblical tale of a man and his matching couplets of animals might not seem a natural fit, but it certainly will be a treat to see the helmer of The Wrestler and Black Swan play on a bigger scale.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (April 10): After Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson brings back his stable of usual stars – as well as Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law and Saorise Ronan – for another quirky comedy-drama.
Interstellar (November 6): The last movie Christopher Nolan made that wasn’t Batman-related was Inception, so the filmmaker weaving more sci-fi magic –and contributing to Matthew McConaughey’s continued ascendance – was always going to be must-see viewing.
Gone Girl (Release date TBC): The book of 2012 might just become the film of 2014, as David Fincher follows up his page-to-screen adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with another literary leap of the mystery-thriller variety.
On the festival circuit
What the hardworking programmers at Australia’s film festivals will ultimately add to their 2014 schedules is still yet to be seen, but the below would make fine inclusions on any line-up.
The pick of the list:
The Double (Release date TBC): Comedian Richard Ayoade of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and The IT Crowd fame already proved his directorial nous with the sweet and sensitive Submarine; naturally, this time around he dances with none other than Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella about dalliances with doppelgangers. Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska lead a cast that also includes Chris O’Dowd and Paddy Considine, in an offbeat comedy with the promise of thrills and drama. Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming film Enemy, an adaptation of Jose Saramago’s novel also named The Double.
Miss at your own peril:
The Lobster (Release date TBC): Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth delved into sibling bonds of the too-close kind and was nominated for the best foreign-language film Academy Award; his Alps played not only with roles but with grief, and earned the Sydney Film Festival prize. The Lobster brings Jason Clarke, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw and Olivia Colman together for a futuristic romance – but with transforming into animals part of the equation, the filmmaker’s English-language debut won’t be ordinary.
Others to look out for:
What We Do in the Shadows (Release date TBC): Boy writer/director Taika Waititi and Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement reunite after Eagle vs Shark for a vampire comedy based on their 2006 short of the same name.
The Cut (Release date TBC): Turkish-German filmmaker Faith Akin joins forces with A Prophet’s Tahar Rahim for the final part of his Love, Death and the Devil thematic trilogy after 2004’s Head-On and 2007’s The Edge of Heaven.
Two Days, One Night (Release date TBC): After the moving The Kid with a Bike, Dardenne brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc direct Marion Cotillard in their latest Belgian drama.
Maps to the Stars (Release date TBC): David Cronenberg turns his incisive outlook on Hollywood – and makes his first film in the United States – in a satire on former child stars.
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? (Release date TBC): Michel Gondry and Noam Chomsky: not your usual pairing; however the former offers an animated conversation with the latter in his first documentary since 2009’s family self-portrait The Thorn in the Heart.
