My Most Anticipated Films of 2006: Honorable Mentions

Before the top 10 comes...

(listed alphabetically of course)

BABEL

(Paramount - Fall) Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Morrocan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. In the silent echoes of the desert, they decide to test the rifle... but the bullet goes farther than they thought it would. In an instant, the lives of four separate groups of strangers on three different continents collide. Caught up in the rising tide of an accident that escalates beyond anyone's control are a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a rebellious deaf Japanese teenager and her father, and a Mexican nanny who, without permission, takes two American children across the border. None of these strangers will ever meet; in spite of the sudden, unlikely connection between them, they will all remain isolated due to their own inability to communicate meaningfully with anyone around them. From Alejandro González Iñárritu comes a film that is at once intimate and epic, shot in four countries, cast with actors and non-actors, and concludes his trilogy that started with Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Babel costars Gael Garcia Bernal and Elle Fanning (Dakota's lil' sis.) WHY BABEL? 21 Grams made a very strong entry in my top 10 films of 2003 and I'm excited to see what this guy will do next.


CHILDREN OF MEN

(Universal - September 29) Children of Men envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, Children of Men follows disillusioned bureaucrat Theo (Clive Owen) as he becomes an unlikely champion of Earth's survival. When the planet's last remaining hope is threatened, this reluctant activist is forced to face his own demons and protect her from certain peril. Directed and co-written by acclaimed filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y tu mamá también), the film also stars Julianne Moore as the leader of an underground opposition group. Michael Caine, Charlie Hunnam and Chiwetel Ejiofor round out the supporting cast. WHY CHILDREN OF MEN? A cool, original premise with a hip director, and Owen and Moore making a very sexy team.


THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

(20th Century Fox - June 30) Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands her dreamjob: the assistant to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of the hip sophisticates that populate her world into a scared, whimpering child. Andrea is sorely tested each and every day--and often late into the night. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul. Based on the bestseller by Lauren Weisberger, this comedy features a hip supporting cast that includes Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Anderson, Tracie Thoms, Emily Blunt and Adrian Grenier. WHY THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA? Sounds like a blast. In-law movies are so out. Hathaway vs. Streep for the smack down of the summer. Admit it: you love Streep bitching it up.


FRIENDS WITH MONEY

(Sony Pictures Classics - April 7) This is the telling new comedy from the acclaimed writer/director Nicole Holofcener (Lovely and Amazing, Walking and Talking). Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack and Catherine Keener star as a quartet of west coast, life-long friends who have achieved a level of comfort in their lives and have now settled into a life of designer clothes, charity events, and caring for the men (and offspring) in their lives. But as they approach 'a certain age,' unsettling things are starting to throw their comfortable lives off balance. Friends with Money is a modern comedy drama about contemporary adults in search of love, friendship, and filthy lucre but finding everything in a state of constant flux. It costars Jason Isaacs, Scott Caan and Greg Germann. WHY FRIENDS WITH MONEY? I've loved both of Nicole's previous films both of which starred Keener. She makes great indie chick flicks and I can't wait to see what she does with that foursome.


THE HILLS HAVE EYES

(Fox Searchlight - March 10 - TRAILER) A new take on Wes Craven's 1977 film of the same name, The Hills Have Eyes is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carters soon realize the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey. The much anticipated remake stars Aaron Standord, Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin and Robert Joy and is from High Tension director Alexandre Aja. It is produced by Wes Craven and his longtime producing partner Marianne Maddalena. WHY THE HILLS HAVE EYES? I'd amire the intentions behind the original Craven film and Aja's debut, but combine the potential of those two and I think you could get one hell of a great gorefest. Plus, that trailer kicked all kinds of ass.


RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

(Columbia - September 22 - TRAILER) Based on the acclaimed memoirs by Augusten Burroughs, a boy with an alcoholic father and a bipolar poet mother is given up for adoption to her psychiatrist while she undergoes further treatment. The young man finds himself amidst a Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizare family - they like to engage in shock therapy as a recreational activity - and befriends a pedophile who resides in the backyard. Writer-Director Ryan Murphy (TV's Nip/Tuck) helms the much anticipated dark comedy which features this all-star cast: Annette Bening, Joseph Cross, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brian Cox, Evan Rachel Wood, Gabrielle Union, Joseph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave, Alec Baldwin, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick Wilson and Kristin Chenoweth. WHY RUNNING WITH SCISSORS? Actually, why not Running With Scissors: I read the book and actually found it kind of repititive. The film could easily go either way, but I can't help but admire how perfectly cast this baby is. Should make for a twisted time at the movies no matter what my problems with the book may have been.


SOUTHLAND TALES

(Universal - TBA 2006) Southland Tales is an ensemble piece set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros (The Rock) is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and David Clark (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy. Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) wrote and directed this futuristic film - a mosaic of comedy, sci-fi and musical - and has described it himself as a "strange hybrid of the sensibilities of Andy Warhol and Philip K. Dick." Lending their support are Miranda Richarson, Janeane Garafalo, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler, John Larraoquette, Jon Lovitz, Bai Ling and Wallace Shawn in small parts. WHY SOUTHLAND TALES? Sounds nifty, huh? Even though his last screenwriting effort Domino tanked, it was a very original work. And this film is said to make his now classic Donnie Darko look mainstream.