The Most Anticipated Films of 2006

Note: I am leaving out movies coming out relatively soon, like V for Vendetta, as everyone has seen about 30 commercials and knows about them and I've already talked about how I want to see them. I'll do an additional March/April preview very soon. Finally, I've left off the obvious summer blockbusters like Pirates 2, The Da Vinci Code, or Superman Returns as you'll be hearing enough about those soon enough and I doubt they'll be that great anyway.

1) Babel (10/06/06)

The third collaboration between writer Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amorres Perros, 21 Grams). Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal. If this is anything like their previous two movies, it is going to be excellent.

Plot: Another story of multiple plots that intersect each other in strange ways, as in the previous two films.

2) Goya's Ghosts (Unknown)

Directed by Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and starring Natalie Portman, Javier Bardem, and Stellan Skarsgard.

Plot Outline: Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.

3) For Your Consideration (09/22/06)

Directed by Christopher Guest. Starring Christopher Guest, Ricky Gervais, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge, Parker Posey

Plot Outline: Three actors learn their respective performances in the film "Home for Purim," a drama set in the mid-1940s American South, are generating award-season buzz.

A mockumentary on the Oscar campaign season. By the people who make these types of movies I love. How can I *not* be excited?

4) Zodiac (09/22/06)

Directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven). Starring Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Plot Outline: Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s

Fincher returns to the serial killer genre for a story about the unsolved San Francisco Zodiac killings. I think this will be a good one.

5) The Fountain (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream). Starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

Plot Outline: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

A new Aronofsky movie ought to be interesting. And Rachel Weisz is in it!

6) The Science of Sleep (08/04/06)

Written and Directed by Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans.

Plot Outline: A man held captive by the people in his dreams tries to wake himself up and take control of his own imaginings.

Gotta see the follow-up movie to the director of one of my favorite movies ever.

7) Inland Empire (Unknown)

Written and Directed by David Lynch. Starring Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton.

Plot Outline: Set in the inland valley outside of Los Angeles, David Lynch's new film is a mystery about a woman in trouble.

A David Lynch movie should always be interesting.

8) The Good German (Unknown)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Starring Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Tony Curran.

Plot Outline: In post-war Berlin to find his former mistress, an American journalist is lured into a murder mystery.

Whenever Soderbergh makes a non-experimental movie, it usually turns out to be quite good.

9) Marie-Antionette (10/13/06)

Written and Directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman.

Plot Outline: A stylized account of a naive Viennese girl who, in 1774, became the queen of France at age 19.

The follow-up to Lost in Translation for Sofia Coppola. I'm going to have to see it. Although I am slightly nervous about the cast in a serious movie. We'll see.

10) A Prarie Home Companion (06/09/06)

Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin.

Plot Outline: A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren (Streep), and a host of others hold court.

Another movie from the guy with a transplanted heart who just received an honorary Oscar. I've enjoyed I think every movie of his I've seen. I doubt this will be any different.

11) Volver (06/23/06)

Written and Directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her, All About My Mother). Starring Penelope Cruz.

Plot Outline: After her death, a mother (Maura) returns to her home town in order to fix the situations should couldn't resolve during her life. Of her family left in the town, her ghost slowly becomes a comfort to her daughters (Cruz, Dueñas), as well as her grandchild (Cobo).

I really like the director, he hasn't released a bad film yet.

12) Little Children (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Todd Field (In the Bedroom), starring Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly.

Plot Outline: Little Children centers on a group of young marrieds, whose lives intersect on the playgrounds, town pools and streets of their small community in surprising and potentially dangerous ways

I like both of these actresses and I liked In the Bedroom so I am intrigued by this one.

13) The Black Dahlia (10/13/06)

Directed by Brian de Palma. Starring Josh Hartnet, Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johannson, Mia Kirshner.

Plot Outline: An adaptation of James Ellroy's 1940s-set novel about two L.A. cops who head up the hunt for the killer of fledgling actress Elizabeth Short.

Could be some nice L.A. Confidential style new-noir.

14) Youth Without Youth (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Francis Ford Coppolla. Starring Bruno Ganz, Tim Roth.

Plot Outline: A pre-WWII drama where a life-changing incident turns a professor into a fugitive.

A new Francis Ford Coppola movie? Wow.

15) The Prestige (10/20/06)

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins). Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson.

Plot Outline: Based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel, Bale and Jackman play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. The rivalry is so intense that it turns them into murderers.

I really like the director and this has a very interesting cast.

16) The Children of Men (09/29/06)

Written and Directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien). Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine.

Plot Outline: In 2027, in a chaotic world in which man can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of mankind.

Can you tell I have a little bit of a science-fiction bent in my anticipation list? Anyway, the plot looks interesting, as well as the cast and director.

17) Scoop (Unknown)

Written and directed by Woody Allen. Starring Scarlett Johannson, Ian McShane, Hugh Jackman.

Plot Outline: An American student (Johansson) in London begins an affair with an aristocrat.

Will this one be better than Match Point ?

18) The Painted Veil (11/17/06)

Starring Naomi Watts and Edward Norton.

Plot Outline: A woman becomes dissatisfied with her marriage, as her husband favors of his research over time with her. An affair leads her on a journey of self-discovery, and her new dedication to fighting cholera brings her to the Far East.

I really like Naomi Watts, so I fully expect a great performance from her in this.

19) The Good Shepard (Unknown)

Written by Eric Roth The Insider, Directed by Robert De Niro. Starring Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Joe Pesci, Alec Baldwin.

Plot Outline: The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.

This could be your next Best Picture front-runner.

20) Running with Scissors (09/22/06)

Written and Directed by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck). Starring Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin, Gwynneth Paltrow.

Plot Outline: An adult man looks back on his childhood with his bipolar and self-centered mother.

21) Little Miss Sunshine (07/28/06)

Starring Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin

Plot Outline: A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

The biggest thing out of Sundance, could be interesting.

22) All the King's Men (Winter 2006)

Written and Directed by Steven Zaillian (Gangs of New York, The Interpreter), starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Anthony Hopkins

Plot Outline: Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.

Can you get a more ridiculous cast than this? For that alone I am intrigued.

23) Stranger than Fiction (10/10/06)

Directed by Mark Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster's Ball), starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson

Plot Outline: An IRS auditor suddenly finds himself the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire life, from his work, to his love-interest, to his death.

Interesting story for one, I'd like to see if it pans out.

24) Margaret (Unknown)

Written and Directed by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me), starring Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno.

Plot Outline: A young woman (Paquin) witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.

Can Anna Paquin play a serious adult role?

25) Flags of our Fathers (Unknown)

Written by Paul Haggis, Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Ryan Phillippe, Jamie Bell, Robert Patrick, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker.

Plot Outline: The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

I'm really interested to see if Clint can pull off a third success in a row, after his slump between Unforgiven and Mystic River

26) World Trade Center (08/11/06)

Directed by Oliver Stone. Starring Nicholas Cage, Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Plot Outline: Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.

I am really curious at what type of political angle Oliver Stone is going to take on this one. And he can be really hit or miss so this may be great, it may be awful.

27) The Departed (Unknown)

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson.

Plot Outline: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Boston State Police department and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

This is a remake of a foreign movie called Infernal Affairs. I know that I have posted previously that I do not like Americanizing good foreign movies, but it is sort of hard to ignore anything that Scorsese is going to do. I have a curiosity as to whether I will actually enjoy it or be offended that the original was not left alone.

28) A Scanner Darkly (07/07/06)

Written and Directed by Richard Linklater. Animation voiced by Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder

Plot Outline: "A Scanner Darkly" is set in suburban Orange County, California in the future. It imagines a paranoid world in which it seems two of every 10 Americans has been hired by the government to spy on the other 8 -- in the name of national security and drug enforcement.

I am always interested in movies based on Phillip K. Dick stores, plus I'd like to see if Linklater's animation follow-up to A Waking Life is any good.

29) Hotstuff (Unknown)

Directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American), starring Robert Hobbs, Derek Luke, Bonnie Mbuli, Tim Robbins

Plot Outline: A drama about terrorism in Apartheid-era South Africa, revolving around a policeman (Robbins) and a young man (Luke) who carries out solo attacks against the regime.

The story looks very interesting, I like the director, and it is being released by Focus, which I have an unusually high faith in for their previous track record.

30) Hollywoodland (Unknown)

Directed by Allen Coulter (Six Feet Under, The Sopranos), starring Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Diane Lane, Bob Hoskins

Plot outline: Plot Outline: A detective examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, TV's Superman

Another Focus title, so I have a little faith that it will be good. Plus I love the director's TV work.