Ross Bonaime

Staff Writer

This year has already been a good one for movies. We’ve already seen some Watchmen, another great Pixar film and some basterds who were pretty inglourious. With the year coming to a close, here are 10 of the best films still to come.

10. A Serious Man

With A Serious Man, the Coen brothers return to the dark comedy style that made them famous with movies like Fargo and The Big Lebowski. The film, whose cast is made of relative unknowns, is about a Jewish professor who has every aspect of his life fall apart.

The Coens should once again show their understanding of small town living and the intricacies that make life interesting.

9. Precious
Sundance Film Festival and last week’s Toronto International Film Festival were buzzing about Precious. The film’s namesake is an overweight and illiterate teenager who has been sexually abused and is now pregnant with her second child. She tries to better herself by getting a higher education while trying to avoid her mother’s hurtful remarks. The portrayal of the mother, played by comedian Mo’Nique, is already garnering Oscar buzz. Precious could be one of the big Oscar contenders this year.
8. Capitalism: A Love Story
After tackling the right to bear arms, healthcare and President George W. Bush, Michael Moore takes on America’s love of capitalism. His unique mix of comedy and documentary should make this one of the most insightful and hilarious films of the year.
7. Zombieland
In the wake of Shaun of the Dead it seemed like there should have been more comedies set in the world of the undead. With Zombieland, the zom-com genre will hopefully start budding again.
The film follows two men: one a big wuss (Jesse Eisenberg of Adventureland) and one who is fearless (Natural Born Killers’ Woody Harrelson) as they take on their new zombie-infested world. If that isn’t enough reason to see it, Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin killing zombies should be.
6. The Invention of Lying
In a world where everyone tells the truth, Mark, played by Ghost Town’s Ricky Gervais, decides to tell a fib and becomes the first person to be dishonest. Ghost Town was one of the best comedies of last year and this unique concept should give Gervais another great film.
5. New York, I Love You
In the vein of anthology films like Paris Je’taime and Tokyo! comes New York, I Love You, featuring ten short films about the Big Apple. The film features a host of directors, including Natalie Portman, The Namesake’s Mira Nair and Brett Ratner of Rush Hour. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Andy Garcia and Chris Cooper, creating an interesting compilation.
4. Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. has played a myriad of iconic roles over the years, from Iron Man to Charlie Chaplin to “the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude” Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. But Sherlock Holmes is arguably one of his biggest challenges. From Guy Ritchie, director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, this take on the Arthur Conan Doyle character will be one performance not to miss.
3. The Lovely Bones
It is not hard to argue that Peter Jackson has been this decade’s most ambitious director. In the last several years, Jackson has adapted the gigantic “Lord of the Rings” books and recreated the classic monster movie King Kong. Now, he attempts to recreate Heaven and adapt the beloved Alice Sebold novel about a young girl who watches from the pearly gates as her family is torn apart trying to solve her murder.
2. The Road
No author can do bleakness the way that Cormac McCarthy can – just look at No Country For Old Men. But even bleaker is the film adaptation of his book The Road, about a father and son duo simply named The Man (Viggo Mortensen) and The Boy, who try to survive in a mostly-destroyed world filled with cannibals. The story is a tale of love and determination and looks to be as beautiful as it is depressing.
1. Where the Wild Things Are
Spike Jonze could be one of the strangest choices ever to make a film adaptation of a children’s book. The Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. director has been working for almost half a decade to get his vision of the Maurice Sendak book onto the screen. Newcomer Max Records plays Max, the boy who goes into his imaginary world of wild things when he is sent to bed after supper. The trailer is one of the best in years and with music by Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, Where the Wild Things Are seems to be the most complete and exciting film to look forward to at the end of the year.