click to enlarge SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (October 24th - limited)   written and directed by Charlie Kaufman rated 'R'/runtime—124 min 2008 trailer

If you were to ask me to name, without thinking, one person in Hollywood who I can count on to deliver a superb film, it would be Charlie Kaufman.  From his very start, he has constantly challenged the boundaries of film and storytelling, spinning tales that I'm surprised got past a Hollywood exec's assistant.  They're far too surreal…far too challenging…far too cerebral.  Yet, he's managed to punch through, and I, for one, am very thankful for it.  I'm still waiting on a Kaufman masterpiece, but he's trended close with both Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Now, however, he's behind the camera for the first time, directing his own material.   He's had two very capable directors adapting his work before this, and not only did they bring a high level of talent to the table, one might argue they also brought a filter.  With Synecdoche, we're getting unfiltered Kaufman for the very first time. Will it be too much—à la Malkovich entering his own portal—or just right, like the new beginning for Joel and Clementine?

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Being John Malkovich
2nd—Barton Fink
3rd—Adaptation

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (October 24th—limited) click to enlarge   based on the novel by Aivide Lindqvist written by Aivide Lindqvist directed by Tomas Alfredson rated 'R'/runtime—114 min 2008   trailer

I've included this title for two reasons: 1. As any regular reader will know, I'm constantly searching for the next great horror flick, and I've yet to come anywhere close to finding it, and 2. Anything associated with the new film Twilight makes me physically nauseous whenever I see or hear it.  Twilight is the type of film that takes scenarios that someone like Joss Whedon elevated to pop-brilliance and reduces them to trashy teen-pulp complete with a pop soundtrack to sucker in the High School Musical crowd.  It's a shame that horror has become the fodder of this nonsense and is also being used as gristle for music video directors to remake classic flicks (new versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Birds, and…horror of horrors…Rosemary's Baby are due in the next few years).  As always, those who bear the responsibility of resurrecting a lost cause may dwell overseas, and you need only take one look at the trailer for Let the Right One In to see that it will have more ideas in its first 5 minutes than anything in Twilight's entire running time.  Despite its stellar reputation among overseas audiences and domestic critics, it may fall victim to the Twilight juggernaut, so see it while you can.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Vampyr
2nd—The Virgin Spring
3rd—Kwaidan

I've deliberately been keeping away from this film and any descriptions of it.  Not because of any negative publicity or critical rumblings, but because I keep hearing how great it is, and I fear that a trailer, a review, or even just a few keywords may spoil something that has been gathering remarkable steam since it made the festival rounds earlier this year.  I know it's directed by the talented, but uneven, Danny Boyle.  I know it takes place in India.  I know it involves a couple of young characters.  And I know that it's supposed to be quite incredible.  I'd like to keep my knowledge limited, as going into a film cold, with little information beforehand, is a rarity these days.  Though I've included the trailer link above, don't hesitate to follow me in going in completely unaware…because sometimes that's the best recipe for a great film-going experience.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Pather Panchali
2nd—A Taste of Honey
3rd—Umberto D.

MILK (November 26th—limited) click to enlarge   written by Dustin Lance Black directed by Gus Van Sant rated 'R'/runtime—128 min 2008 trailer

I'm both anticipating and dreading this film.  My anticipation comes from the incredible trailer, which excites, moves, and teases in all the right ways without giving away too much.  My dread comes from wondering which Gus Van Sant has shown up to direct.  When Van Sant is left to his creative meanderings in indie-film, he usually comes up with something pretty arresting, if not quasi-brilliant (see: Elephant).  But there's also the man who directed the tear-fests of Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester, and inexplicably decided it would be a great idea to remake Psycho shot-for-shot (something for which I will NEVER forgive him).  But I do not bring my prejudices in with me…this is a great story, and it's all the more relevant with the recent defeat of Proposition 8 in California and the world-wide protests that have accompanied it.  Rarely do we have a social movement that aligns with the themes of a spectacular film, but this may be one of those few times.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—The Times of Harvey Milk
2nd—Malcolm X
3rd—Boys Don't Cry

click to enlarge DOUBT (December 12th - limited)   written and directed by John Patrick Shanley based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play rated 'PG-13'/runtime—104 min 2008 trailer

I sometimes dwell on the fact that I'm halfway across the country from Broadway, and seemingly just as far from the stages in Chicago…I've always loved theatre, and Los Angeles is just not the place for a theatre lover.  When I hear about some of the experimental things being done, of the incredible performances that show up night after night, I wish that I had all those small, off-Broadway theaters and Chicago troupes just around the corner.  But alas, if one hopes to pursue the 'dream', one has to be where the work is.  It seems that most often, I'll never see some of these great stories, as the only ones ever considered for the big screen tend to be musicals like Wicked and Dreamgirls.  But every once in awhile one sneaks through, and Doubt looks like it has all of the promise of the original stage version and more.  Not only is this Pulitzer-winning play being adapted and directed by the original playwright, John Patrick Shanley, it has attracted some absolutely stunning talent—Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.  I'm of the opinion that stagey-works laden with heavy dialogue can still make compelling films, if done appropriately…and with this level of talent on the line, I have no…well…doubts…that this one will fit the bill.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Oleanna
2nd—Closer
3rd—Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead

THE WRESTLER (December 17th - limited) click to enlarge   written by Robert D. Siegel directed by Darren Aronofsky not yet rated/runtime—109 min 2008

Fight Club was one of the major reasons I transitioned to wanting to work in film (Rushmore being the other). I saw that film when I was a sophomore in college, and it showed me, for the first time in my young life, that modern Hollywood could make a truly engaging, layered, and symbolic story, and sell it to the masses. Now, granted, it wasn't a massive success when it was released. But most people have at least heard of Fight Club now, if not seen it multiple times. The surprising thing? Despite all the incredible talent involved (Fincher, Pitt, Norton, Carter, etc.), the film is very close to the book by Chuck Palahniuk. Usually, egos and visions get involved with people of that caliber…but, with this story, a virtually unknown author captivated some of the biggest and brightest in Hollywood, and they barely altered the source material. Since then, however, we've heard little from Palahniuk (in the cinema world, at least; he's been actively writing plenty of novels).  I think this is mainly because his stories are too strange, too dark, too abnormal. When he writes something, you can't just go, "I could totally see that as the next  xxxxx vehicle." So, it's taken nearly a decade, but we have an indie-film that did pretty well at Sundance, and it's our second Palahniuk adaptation. I haven't read Choke, but I'm already seeing, in the trailer, that same type of midnight-black tome shaping up to give us an altogether bleak and hilarious view of the world we all know but rarely like to admit to ourselves.

Recommended Viewing:

1st –Pi
2nd—Ali
3rd—Night and the City

I've been surprised by the lack of quality foreign films in the past couple of years; though it's completely possible that with the always growing so-called 'indie' scene here in the U.S., that fewer are being distributed stateside to make room for more domestic product.  It's a shame, because for one reason or the other, the voices of foreign filmmakers often have more versatility and energy behind them in the early stages of their careers.  One of the few foreign films attracting attention is Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli film using a wealth of animation techniques to tell the true story of a man who has no memory of the period in his life that happens to coincide with the First Lebanon War of the early 1980's.  Thought the style of animation has yet to grow on me (Richard Linklater's use of similar techniques in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly left me unimpressed), Israeli cinema has been producing some of the more superior product of the past few years, and many are weighing it as a potential Oscar favorite, if it can overcome some of the procedural hurdles that its distributor, Sony Pictures Classics, appears to have faced.  Either way, this could be one of the best and brightest come the end of December.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Apocalypse Now
2nd—The Bridge on the River Kwai
3rd—Downfall

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (December 25th) click to enlarge   based on the short story by F. Scottt Fitzgerald screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord written by Eric Roth directed by David Fincher rated 'PG-13'/runtime –TBD 2008 trailer

Finally…we come to the film that I have the highest hopes for.  David Fincher, like the Coen Brothers, like Paul Thomas Anderson, like Wes Anderson, like Charlie Kaufman…seems to be on the cusp of a masterpiece—the type of film that leaves you breathless at its conclusion, that moves you, that makes you think, and that will stay ingrained in your mind for the rest of your life.  He, and all of those others listed, have come close.  They've all made some spectacular films, some that continue to resonate with me every time I watch them.  But I'm still waiting on 'perfection'.  And this, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, may be the epic story that provides Fincher his opportunity.  As you can tell from the trailer, it has enormous scope—from the poetic story, to the settings, to the incredible special effects.  This is where cinema can either reach the divine…or tread on dangerously sentimental ground.  But I trust Fincher, and I truly hope that this may be his masterpiece—a film that touches on all moments of life, and treats them with the exploration and soul that few modern American directors have.

Recommended Viewing:

1st—Se7en
2nd—The Insider
3rd—Fight Club