#5. Serena
Director: Susanne Bier (In a Better World aka Haevnen)
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper
Susanna Bier is a great director, I've liked all her films I've seen so far. This may well be her biggest project so far which makes it really interested to see what we'll get.
Plot copied from here: The film follows newlyweds George (Cooper) and Serena Pemberton (Lawrence) who travel from Boston to the mountains of North Carolina where they begin to build a timber empire in 1929. Serena soon shows herself to be the equal of any man: overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man's life in the wilderness. Together, this king and queen rule their dominion, killing or vanquishing all who stand in the way of their ambitions. But when Serena learns that she can never bear a child, she sets out to murder the woman who bore George a son before his marriage. And when she starts to suspect that George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage begins to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.
I think I'll rate this: 8
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas
My high anticipations on this one is mostly because of Ryan Gosling and the director Nicolas Winding Refn, who made Drive together, but the plot sounds promising too.
Plot from Wikipedia: The film follows Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, as he is forced by his mother Jenna to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death
Sounds like it's going to be quite violent.
I think I'll rate this: 8
#3. Gravity
Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men)
Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
I like space movies, especially if there are no aliens involved. It's fascinating to think of space and its infinity and how small you'd be out there. I really hope the movie focuses on something like this, something psychological rather than a lot of action sequences.
Plot copied from here: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
I think I'll rate this: 7
Director: Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine)
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes
Both Derek Cianfrance and Ryan Gosling did a great job in Blue Valentine. This movie sounds a little different than Blue Valentine, but nothing about it sounds bad. I like the plot and my anticipations are high.
Plot copied from here: Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a professional motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son, but when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper) their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud.
I think I'll rate this: 8
Director: Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame)
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbinder, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch
Steve McQueen is one of the most interesting directors of this century. His movies are not mainstream, they are challenging movies with real emotions. So if a director like him makes a film about slavery, it has to be great, though maybe a bit painful to watch.
Plot copied from here: Tells the true story of Solomon Northrup, a New York citizen who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841 and rescued from a cotton plantation in Louisiana in 1853.
I think I'll rate this: 9
Again, like last year, I will follow up this post at the beginning of next year. Hope you'll still be here then.
