Winter 2011 Preview
Here's what's going to be keeping us out of the high streets and in the cinemas this winter.
It’s been a slow couple of weeks on the cinema releases front for geek-kind, but with the festive season fast approaching we have helpfully compiled a viewing guide, to warn you which films will be keeping you away from your Christmas shopping this year.
The Thing
We’ve seen The Thing, and we can happily confirm that it’s a pleasant surprise. Our full review will follow, but for now we can safely say we’re pleased as punch with this prequel to one of our favourite films of all time, John Carpenter’s 1982 version. Mary Elizabeth Winstead steps into the lead role, as palaeontologist Kate Lloyd, dispatched to assist with an earth-shattering discovery made by a familiar-sounding team of Norwegian scientists. Perhaps the most pleasing news of all is that that theme tune is intact. Check out the trailer here.
Another Earth
An intriguing science fiction effort, director Mike Cahill’s Another Earth explores the effect on various characters’ lives when a duplicate of our planet suddenly appears in the solar system. Picking up good buzz from the festival circuit this year, we look forward to finally catching the reportedly excellent central performance from newcomer Brit Marling.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Sure, it’s another Americanized remake of a seminal Scandinavian film, but this one is headed up by David Fincher, and was heralded by the superb teaser trailer earlier this year. The promo (above) alone was one of the best things we’ve seen in ages, and it’s exciting to see how Rooney Mara fits into the shoes of Noomi Rapace as gloomy hacker Lisbeth Salander. With Stellen Skarsgard and Daniel Craig providing able support, we’re sure this will be worthy of the source material.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
The Tom Cruise- starring action fest fourquel is coming our way this yuletide, and we were excited enough when we saw the trailer. However, when we were among a lucky few who caught a 20 minute preview of the film at IMAX recently, this kicked into overdrive - see our man on the inside's debriefing here. Director Brad Bird has a great cast at his disposal, with Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and others all on hand to assist the Cruiser with his building-scaling tasks. Looking heavy on excitement and set-pieces, this could be exactly what we want for Christmas this year. For the trailer, you know what to do by now - click here.
The Darkest Hour
OK, so it’s not actually released until January, but this sci-fi survival flick has a wonderful hook – the villainous aliens are invisible during daylight. This total reversal of standard visual tropes should make for some tense, exciting sequences shot in the starkness of daylight, as Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby do their best to avoid the marauding aliens that invade Moscow just as their holiday is getting into full swing. The trailer (here) looked like great fun, and a lot of the early publicity had us swept up good and proper, so we’ve got this marked down firmly as one to watch.
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