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(Entertainment Weekly) Fail The top ten movies to be excited for this holiday season. If this is all we have to be excited about, the theaters are going to be quite empty this Christmas   (ew.com) divider line 130
More: Fail, lovely bones, Sherlock Holmes, Susan Sarandon, Peter Jackson, Mark Wahlberg, avatars, Lord of the Rings, King Kong  
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9855 clicks; posted to Entertainment » on 07 Dec 2009 at 12:36 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



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2009-12-07 10:01:17 AM
Huh. I always thought Morgan Freeman WAS Nelson Mandela.
 
2009-12-07 10:09:10 AM
Um, a Daniel Day-Lewis movie is always something to be excited about.
 
2009-12-07 10:09:21 AM
Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?
 
2009-12-07 10:55:40 AM
gopher321: Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?

You don't know what he can do! You don't know what he can do, what he's gonna do, or what he's gonna be! He's good! He has good things and you don't know about! He's gonna be something! He is! And don't farking tell him he's not! He's a star. he's a star, he's a star, he's a star. He's a big, bright, shining star.....that's right.
 
2009-12-07 10:58:17 AM
Is it the advertising manager at EW.Com that keeps posting these annoying slideshows to fark?

All one-page-per-item-please-click-on-through lists should be banned forever, and all who post them should be forced to relive their entire lives, one second per page, please keep clicking.
 
2009-12-07 11:02:46 AM
FYI, listmitter, this is a proper list.
 
2009-12-07 12:17:39 PM
I cannot believe that they made a movie out of "The Lovely Bones". On the list of things I want to see in film, a 12 year old girl getting raped to death is pretty low on that list.
 
2009-12-07 12:22:41 PM
what_now: I cannot believe that they made a movie out of "The Lovely Bones". On the list of things I want to see in film, a 12 year old girl getting raped to death is pretty low on that list.

I would think the same - but Peter Jackson is directing. He made "Teen beats her mom to death with a rock" into a really great film.
 
2009-12-07 12:26:33 PM
TheGrayCat: what_now: I cannot believe that they made a movie out of "The Lovely Bones". On the list of things I want to see in film, a 12 year old girl getting raped to death is pretty low on that list.

I would think the same - but Peter Jackson is directing. He made "Teen beats her mom to death with a rock" into a really great film.


Yeah, but see the concept of heaven as something we see on the screen is really weird. Most of the book takes place inside heaven, and that's really something you should visualize for yourself.
 
2009-12-07 12:31:02 PM
gopher321: Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?

Well, because his stuff does really, really well. I think he's a terrible actor (and thankfully that plant movie of his bombed), but Entourage is a huge success, movies like The Italian Job are a huge success, etc. Hell, look at Departed (which is an AWESOME movie despite Marky Mark, not because of him).

You can't be surprised that he's offered more work.
 
2009-12-07 12:40:14 PM
The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11)

After the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, director Peter Jackson scales down his scope - not to mention his budget - to adapt Alice Sebold's 2002 best-seller about the murder of a 14-year-old girl (played by Atonement's Saoirse Ronan).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED The perfectly curated cast (including Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and Susan Sarandon) and atmospheric trailer have us dying to see the final product. Plus, Jackson knows a thing or two about bringing books to the big screen. -AM

Invictus (Dec. 11)

American audiences may be unfamiliar with the true story behind Clint Eastwood's latest film, about a white South African rugby star (Matt Damon) who partnered with the nation's first black president, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman). Damon, too, had been in the dark. ''I didn't understand how Mandela had used this team to bring the country together [after apartheid],'' says Damon. ''When you talk about that 1995 Rugby World Cup to anybody in South Africa, their eyes tear up.''
WHY WE'RE EXCITED Freeman seems born to play Mandela, and after a long streak of bleak dramas (Gran Torino, The Changeling, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River), it will definitely be nice to see an Eastwood film that's, you know, uplifting. -ABV

A Single Man (Dec. 11)

Fashion icon Tom Ford makes his feature debut with this festival favorite about a gay English professor (Colin Firth) reeling after the death of his partner.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED Ford's previous career proved he can weave a good yarn (ba dum ching!), and stylish performances from both Firth and Julianne Moore (who plays a booze-loving Brit) already have Oscar pundits buzzing. -AM

Avatar (Dec. 18)

For months now, we've talked about director James Cameron's 3-D, sci-fi, super-expensive, eco-conscious, the-future-of-movies-is-riding-on-it follow-up to Titanic.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED We actually get to see it. And then start talking about it all over again.

Nine (Dec. 18)

Adapted from the stage musical - itself an adaptation of Federico Fellini's classic 8 1/2 - the movie boasts Daniel Day-Lewis as a struggling director, a parade of Oscar luminaries (Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren and Kate Hudson) and a Black Eyed Pea (Stacy ''Fergie'' Ferguson) as the women in his life, and Chicago director Rob Marshall at the helm.
WHY WERE EXCITED Day-Lewis, Cotillard, Kidman, Cruz, Dench, Loren, Hudson, and Fergie, singing and dancing, all directed by Marshall. Even if it doesn't work, it's going to be something to see.

It's Complicated (Dec. 25)

Romantic comedy auteur Nancy Meyers (Something's Gotta Give) directs a grown-up romp that follows a divorcee (Meryl Streep), her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin), and her architect (Steve Martin).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED A Meryl, Alec, Steve, and Nancy package on Christmas Day is better than anything we requested from Santa.

Sherlock Holmes (Dec. 25)

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective.

Up In the Air (Dec. 25)

George Clooney plays a corporate downsizer obsessed with frequent-flyer miles, and Vera Farmiga (Orphan) the fellow traveler with the boarding pass to his heart, in director/co-writer Jason Reitman's encore to Juno.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED A topical adult drama headlined by a genuine movie star is a rare breed, indeed. And from the moment of its first festival screening at Telluride, it's enjoyed some of the loudest Oscar buzz of the year.

Youth in Revolt (Jan. 8)

Michael Cera, Hollywood's go-to guy for undersexed teen roles, is at it again in this adaptation of the 1995 cult-hit novel about an awkward high schooler who falls for a worldly girl (newcomer Portia Doubleday). But there's a twist: The Juno star also plays Francois, the protagonist's suave alter-ego. For help, the actor went straight to the source material. ''It was nice to turn to the book whenever I had a question about the characters,'' he says. ''They're so vivid. It was right on the page.''
WHY WE'RE EXCITED Since his days on Arrested Development, Cera has demonstrated a real knack for picking good material. And this coming-of-age story looks like the perfect vehicle to carry him from boyish comedies into grown-up fare.

The Book of Eli (Jan. 15)

In their first feature since 2001's From Hell, the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society) give us a postapocalyptic thriller about a nomadic fighter (Denzel Washington) who may hold the key to humankind's salvation.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED Not to judge this Book by its cover, but the trailer for this action pic has us thinking Mad Max meets Training Day. And that's not a bad thing.
 
2009-12-07 12:43:56 PM
The Lovely Bones has Rachel Weisz in it. I'd consider it just for that. Probably only for that, reading about it.

Avatar doesn't really interest me.

Sherlock Holmes looks like fun.

Book of Eli may be worth watching the trailer for.

Everything else isn't even worth mentioning. What a crappy Christmas season.
 
2009-12-07 12:44:38 PM
gopher321: Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?

Its farking Marky Mark...why not?
 
2009-12-07 12:46:44 PM
Only two I want to see are Avatar and Sherlock Holmes.

/Though I might also see Book of Eli.
 
2009-12-07 12:47:14 PM
Cant wait for Sherlock Holmes.

I'll catch Avatar in the ol home theater along with Book of Eli.
 
2009-12-07 12:49:22 PM
what_now: I cannot believe that they made a movie out of "The Lovely Bones". On the list of things I want to see in film, a 12 year old girl getting raped to death is pretty low on that list.

IIRC, in the book, while you are made to understand what happened to Susie, her rape and murder are not graphically expressed. Hopefully, Jackson has gone the same route in his interpretation of Lovely Bones.

Every character in the book would be a great role for an actor to play, or director to direct. That said, no, I don't want to see it either, even if the rape is not shown. Too dark.

/looking forward to Sherlock Holmes. Go ahead, flame away... I just want to see Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. be witty and action-y. And shirtless./
 
2009-12-07 12:49:59 PM
I can't believe Book Of Eli isn't being sued by Bethesda for basically being a copy of Fallout 3.
 
2009-12-07 12:50:24 PM
I was thinking about Avatar until it was noted that it does still cause dizziness and nausea. Unless I hear otherwise, I get migraines and don't need that kind of torture to see blue people. I have Farscape at my house.
 
2009-12-07 12:50:32 PM
mitchcumstein1: gopher321: Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?

You don't know what he can do! You don't know what he can do, what he's gonna do, or what he's gonna be! He's good! He has good things and you don't know about! He's gonna be something! He is! And don't farking tell him he's not! He's a star. he's a star, he's a star, he's a star. He's a big, bright, shining star.....that's right.


Awesome.
 
2009-12-07 12:52:30 PM
don't forget The Road
 
2009-12-07 12:52:57 PM
img231.imageshack.us
The Lovely Bones?
 
2009-12-07 12:53:11 PM
I'm usually the first to defend Hollywood, but this is the slimmest pickings of any year in recent memory.

On the strength of Heavenly Creatures I might check out Lovely Bones on DVD someday. "Up In The Air" is by all accounts this year's Little Miss Sunshine (in other words an enjoyable fluffy movie that everyone pisses their pants over how great it is, thus ruining it) so I'm gonna wait until the hype dies down before seeing it. I still want to see Avatar in a theater because of the "ground breaking 3-d" (in otherwords, stoned out of my gourd) but I don't expect it to be great.

Other than that - wow, you picked the wrong year to have a 10 film best picture category, guys.


Also I keep thinking Sherlock Holmes is a joke. I keep expecting an amped up announcer to say "You've never seen Holmes like this! It's Holmes to the extreeeeeeeeeeme!"

Maybe they'll give Miss Marple the extreeeeeeeeeeeme! treatment next.
 
2009-12-07 12:55:12 PM
Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM


Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be
 
2009-12-07 12:55:33 PM
i'm meh about Dances with Thundercats. The spectacle MIGHT be worth seeing on the big screen.

Totally stoked about Holmes.

Book of Eli looks silly but fun. i just hope it's Denzel's last attempt at being an action figure. He needs to move to Morgan Freeman status soon (wise old colored).
 
2009-12-07 12:56:30 PM
mitchcumstein1: very, very well done. golf clap.

now, where the fark is ringo?
 
2009-12-07 01:00:14 PM
gopher321: Why does Mark Wahlberg keep getting work?

Boogie Nights.
 
2009-12-07 01:01:20 PM
Nine should be fun. Daniel Day Lewis is always amazing when he's in scenery-chewing mode.
 
2009-12-07 01:02:10 PM
Yeaahhh .. the only one out of all of those that I'm even vaguely interested in is Sherlock Holmes. It looks like a lot of fun!

I also think I'm the only one on the planet who doesn't find George Clooney attractive.
 
2009-12-07 01:02:58 PM
HawgWild: Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM

Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be



Netflix is indeed a verb. And when you're in between shipments from Netflix and have nothing to watch you're in Netflux.
 
2009-12-07 01:03:13 PM
No adults in Hollywood?
 
2009-12-07 01:03:27 PM
Avatar, Holmes, Book of Eli all look watchable. I know a lot of people look down on Avatar, but it looks like a fairly solid Sci-Fi flick to me and hell I even like the look of the CGI. It also a film that looks like you must see it in the theaters or IMax to fully appreciate it.
 
2009-12-07 01:04:23 PM
I cannot wait for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Limited release on Christmas, looks like I will have to brave the Times Square AMC for that one.

matineeidle.files.wordpress.com

Gilliam rules.
 
2009-12-07 01:04:29 PM
HawgWild: Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM

Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be


Not just an action hero, but a mad scientist action hero.
 
2009-12-07 01:05:00 PM
apeiron242: i'm meh about Dances with Thundercats. The spectacle MIGHT be worth seeing on the big screen.


I can't wait for this scene

Tatanka.

Tatanka.

Tanka?

Tatanka.

Tan-tanka.

Tatanka.

Tatanka.

Tatanka.

Tatanka. Buffalo.

Buffalo.

Tatanka.

Buffalo.

Buff?

Buff--Buff--

Buff--

Buffalo.
Tatanka.
 
2009-12-07 01:05:38 PM
E_Henry_Thripshaws_Disease: don't forget The Road

This, and maybe Holmes are the only movies I even remotely want to see.
 
2009-12-07 01:07:08 PM
Eli and Youth in Revolt come out in January. They should not be on the list...
 
2009-12-07 01:09:42 PM
Slaves2Darkness: Avatar, Holmes, Book of Eli all look watchable. I know a lot of people look down on Avatar, but it looks like a fairly solid Sci-Fi flick to me and hell I even like the look of the CGI. It also a film that looks like you must see it in the theaters or IMax to fully appreciate it.

IMAX theater for me. There's one within a half-hour drive for me, and I could use some escapism right now....sorta like how moviegoers in the 1930's needed the same thing...
 
2009-12-07 01:12:08 PM
Mr. Slippyfist: I cannot wait for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Limited release on Christmas, looks like I will have to brave the Times Square AMC for that one.

Gilliam rules.


The trailer for this made me happy, so I am hoping it comes out in the Tulsa area sometime this winter.

I'm up for Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, and Up in the Air. The rest are kind of "meh." The Book of Eli does intrigue me, but then again, I really like Gary Oldman.
 
2009-12-07 01:14:48 PM
Nine looks interesting, and I'll probably see Up in the Air, but I think the best movies of this year have already come and gone. I have trouble imagining anything coming out will impress me more than The Hurt Locker or The Cove. I am planning to get drunk and see Dead Snow with some friends this weekend.
 
2009-12-07 01:17:21 PM
The Whore Of Mensa: what_now: I cannot believe that they made a movie out of "The Lovely Bones". On the list of things I want to see in film, a 12 year old girl getting raped to death is pretty low on that list.

IIRC, in the book, while you are made to understand what happened to Susie, her rape and murder are not graphically expressed. Hopefully, Jackson has gone the same route in his interpretation of Lovely Bones.

Every character in the book would be a great role for an actor to play, or director to direct. That said, no, I don't want to see it either, even if the rape is not shown. Too dark.


In the movie, that scene is cut very early. What happened only becomes clear later on in some exposition.

I couldn't find it dark because the emotional dynamic didn't work. In the book the whole self-destruction of the family takes place over years, but you get no sense of that long progression here - it comes out as a bunch of disconnected episodes stuck together with over-the-top cgi in between, and some of those episodes are way too campy (bad habit of Jackson's).

Marky Mark certainly didn't help either. He's impossible to take seriously.

Up in the Air though: definitely go see. Apart from pushing the sentimentality buttons slightly too hard sometimes it's really well done. Definite awards bait that one.
 
2009-12-07 01:21:33 PM
Keywork99: I can't believe Book Of Eli isn't being sued by Bethesda for basically being a copy of Fallout 3.

Thank you!... I am so glad Im not the only one that thought of this when I saw the trailer.

I half expected a number 13 on his back most of the time.
 
2009-12-07 01:34:30 PM
Slaves2Darkness: HawgWild: my blah blah blah

Not just an action hero, but a mad scientist action hero.


GIS for mad scientist action hero:

latimesblogs.latimes.com
 
2009-12-07 01:34:55 PM
HawgWild: Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM

Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be


You may want to read the original Sherlock stories then. He was a badass for his time. He could beat up about anyone he came across, even in the originals. That's why I always think that the people making this "oh, no, action movie?!" critique aren't actually that familiar with the character.
 
2009-12-07 01:38:12 PM
IdBeCrazyIf: Keywork99: I can't believe Book Of Eli isn't being sued by Bethesda for basically being a copy of Fallout 3.

Thank you!... I am so glad Im not the only one that thought of this when I saw the trailer.

I half expected a number 13 on his back most of the time.


Having not heard of "The Book of Eli" before, I thought you might be exaggerating.

Having just watched the trailer, I think they even stole the same font.
 
2009-12-07 01:41:03 PM
If they must insist on giving Sherlock Holmes "much needed sex appeal," and have Jude Law of all people co-star, shouldn't they be at least a little bit gay? I mean, come on!
 
2009-12-07 01:45:26 PM
Crudbucket: Having not heard of "The Book of Eli" before, I thought you might be exaggerating.

Having just watched the trailer, I think they even stole the same font.


Ohh it gets better
(new window)
 
2009-12-07 01:45:36 PM
Mr. Slippyfist: I cannot wait for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Limited release on Christmas, looks like I will have to brave the Times Square AMC for that one.



Gilliam rules.


Motherfarking this. Why wasn't this on the list?

Out of all the ones on the list in the article, only The Lovely Bones sounds like something I may be somewhat interested in seeing, and only because of Peter Jackson.
 
2009-12-07 01:49:50 PM
Flying Jester: HawgWild: Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM

Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be

You may want to read the original Sherlock stories then. He was a badass for his time. He could beat up about anyone he came across, even in the originals. That's why I always think that the people making this "oh, no, action movie?!" critique aren't actually that familiar with the character.


I know he killed Moriarty, was a boxer and blah blah blah.

But I always thought of Holmes as the guy who didn't sleep, feverishly reading a chaotic mound of papers and blah blah blah.

/am reading all the Holmes stories
//started with A Study in Scarlett in Volume 1
///on Volume 2, now
////nobody cares
 
2009-12-07 01:51:54 PM
IdBeCrazyIf: Crudbucket: Having not heard of "The Book of Eli" before, I thought you might be exaggerating.

Having just watched the trailer, I think they even stole the same font.

Ohh it gets better (new window)


I've heard that before Fallout there were no stories about a post-apocalyptic world and a quest to restore civilization.
 
2009-12-07 01:51:57 PM
HawgWild: Flying Jester: HawgWild: Ever since I heard they were making a new Sherlock Holmes flick, I've been interested in seeing it.

Then, I saw the trailers and read this:

Director Guy Ritchie and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. dust off the legendary super sleuth for a new adventure: Holmes takes on an evil occultist with the help of his trusty sidekick Watson (Jude Law) and a lovely grifter (Rachel McAdams).
WHY WE'RE EXCITED It's elementary: Downey Jr.'s buffed-up take on Holmes adds some much-needed sex appeal to the old-fashioned detective. -AM

Are they trying to make him a 19th century action hero type? Ugh ...

Sherlock Holmes: Stuff 'Splodes!

/I'll Netflix it
//is Netflix a verb?
///it should be

You may want to read the original Sherlock stories then. He was a badass for his time. He could beat up about anyone he came across, even in the originals. That's why I always think that the people making this "oh, no, action movie?!" critique aren't actually that familiar with the character.

I know he killed Moriarty, was a boxer and blah blah blah.

But I always thought of Holmes as the guy who didn't sleep, feverishly reading a chaotic mound of papers and blah blah blah.

/am reading all the Holmes stories
//started with A Study in Scarlett in Volume 1
///on Volume 2, now
////nobody cares


Agreed, I am mainly hoping that the action was all that is included in the trailer, as deductive reasoning and chemistry don't look that exciting in a commercial.
 
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