What does 2008 have in store from the storytellers? Kate Roger says American Gangster and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are worth a go. All good stories involve blood. If you can throw a musical into a bloodbath and get away with it, then it's worth a go. Paul Thomas Anderson shows that the Western ain't dead with There Will Be Blood. It's about oil.
Roger Donaldson returns with The Bank Job, an anti-authority movie harking back to Sleeping Dogs:
"In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London's Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth over three million pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared - the result of a 'D' Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden for the first time. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved."
2008 is brought to you by the number 2. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. All hell breaks loose. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Hopefully, Doogie doesn't. Of course, one can't ignore the return of The Dark Knight. Some particularly bad timing for Helen Clark. Lots of cartoon mileage to be made here:
Versus:
Yes, it's going to get very dirty. But that is another post.
Fernando Meirelles' follow-up to City of God, City of Men, is the most anticipated of the number 2s. While we're in the ethnic (non-Hollywood) section, best to keep an eye out for Mongol. In the kids' section, there's the classic Where The Wild Things Are. Directed by Spike Jonze with fantastic casting.
Back in the Hollywood category, the studios have doubled 2 and discovered Indy 4, Indiana Jones and the
Enough dreck. The most anticipated movie of 2008 is a draw between Burn After Reading and Synecdoche, New York. Burn After Reading is a Coen Brothers spy comedy, while Synecdoche, New York is Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut.
