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10 Most Anticipated Films for 2007.

I think lists of the most anticipated films of the year are so
interesting, is in finding out how many of them wind up living up to
those expectations, and how many films come out of no where to become
my favorites.

I believe I was aware of all of the major releases in my top 10
this year at the start of the year, but I know I didn't expect Little
Miss Sunshine, Thank You For Smoking or Over The Hedge to be as great
as they were.

Given this, I'd like to mention 3 films I saw in 2006 that are
getting wide release in 2007.

1) The Host.

This giant monster movie from South Korea plays like Little Miss
Sunshine meets Godzilla, as an inempt, hopeless family fights a giant
monster living in the sewers. Directed by Bong Joon-Ho, who directed
2003's excellent Memories
of Murder. The Host will be released on March 9th through Magnolia
Pictures.

2) Wristcutters: A Love
Story

Wristcutters opens as
Zia
(Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous) puts Tom Waits on his stereo, and
cleans his room to immaculate perfection before he slits his wrists.
Zia wakes up not in heaven or hell, but an alternate Earth populated
only with other suicides. Everything just barely works, and is a pale
color; its sort of like the hospital waiting room version of Earth. Zia
quickly meets Eugene, whose whole family committed suicide, and Mikal,
who insists she did not commit suicide. Together, they go on a road
trip to find the "people in charge". What results is fantastic and
sweet, sure to appeal to anyone that likes the works of Charlie
Kaufman. Wristcutters is scheduled for a September release through
Freestyle Releasing.

3) Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory
Lenders

When
Hurricane Katrina ravaged America's Gulf Coast, it laid bare an
uncomfortable reality—America is not only far from the world's
wealthiest nation; it is crumbling beneath a staggering burden of
individual and government debt. Maxed Out takes us on a
journey deep inside the
American debt-style, where everything seems okay as long as the minimum
monthly payment arrives on time. Sure, most of us may have that sinking
feeling that something isn't quite right, but we're told not to worry.
After all, there's always more credit!

I expected Maxed Out to be a fairly dry, Super Size Me
wannabe, but I was stunned at the level of personality and emotion I
found in this film. Maxed Out is scheduled for release on March 9th
through Magnolia.

Runner Up:

David Fincher's
Zodiac

It's hard to believe that I couldn't find room on a top 10 list for
a film by a near-flawless director, but horrible reviews (which led to
be pushed out of a 2006 Oscar release), and a bland looking trailer
pushes it just out of the top 10.

Sunshine / 28 Weeks Later

March 16 / May
11

Danny Boyle hit
twin bullseyes in 1996 and 2002 with Trainspotting and 28 Days Later.
Now he returns with writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach) to
bring us Sunshine, a film about a group of astronauts sent to the sun
to try to revive it. Also in 2006 is the sequel to 28 Days Later, 28
Weeks Later, which Boyle was involved with, but did not direct.
Director Juan Carlos Fresnadilo directs Lost's Harrold Perrineau and
Trainspotting's Robert Carlyle star in a story about Americans coming
into Britain to repopulate it after 6 months.

Angel-A

March 23rd

Luc Besson is definitely one of my favorite filmmakers.
Unfortunately, he hasn't directed a movie since 1999 (instead sticking
to writing and producing). Besson claims that with the release of
Angel-A, a French language black and white drama, and Arthur and the
Invisibles (a live-action/animated children's film coming in the
beginning of the year), that he has completed 10 films, and will
retire from directing. Besson has hit all genres, including
Documentary (Atlantis), Sci-fi (The Fifth Element) and War (The
Messenger) and with the exception of La Femme Nikita and The
Professional, has never repeated himself. I definitely hope that this,
which would be his final film released in the U.S. is a worthy
sendoff.

The TV Set
April 6

Jake Kasdan's (son of Lawrence Kasdan (director of The Big Chill, Grand Canyon and Body Heat)) first film, Zero Effect is a personal favorite. His follow-up, Orange County was a very solid comedy.

Hot Fuzz
April 13

Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg created 2004's excellent Shaun of the Dead. This time it appears they send up cop movies instead of zombie movies. Along for the ride is Black Book's Bill Bailey, Steve Coogan, The Office's Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy and even a James Bond, Timothy Dalton. I also saw Stephen Merchant in the trailer.

Spider-man 3
May 4

'Nuff Said.

The Simpsons
July 27

18 Seasons is reason enough.

Bourne Ultimatum
August 3

Just cause I liked the last two.

Martian Child
October 12

I'm taking a bit of a chance here, and I probably should have picked up the book and read it first. I'm basing this ranking solely on the strength of John Cusack, and his previous collaborator, Menno Meyjes who directed 2002's excellent Max.

Cell / The Mist
October 21 / November 21

Two Stephen King adaptations that I'm actually looking forward to. Cell was a fantastic read, and while I'm not a fan of Eli Roth style violence, he's probably perfectly suited for it. The Mist is being written and directed by Frank Darabont, who wrote and directed Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

His Dark Materials
November 16

I listened to this BBC Radio Drama, and found it very entertaining. I look forward to seeing the adaptation visually for the screen, and seeing Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) try his hand at something new.

And that's 10!

I should note I dropped Sin City 2 and some other things off the list, since I believe they won't be done in time. This took me forever, sorry I didn't write more. I look forward to hearing your comments.

Top 13 albums of 2006.

Why 13?

Because I said so.

13) Dub Trio - New Heavy

Punk & Metal Dub Reggae.





12) Loose Fur - Born Again In The USA

- 3/5th's of Wilco comes back for the followup to my favorite album of 2003.





11) Citizen Cope - Every Waking Moment

- Another person who's last album was top 10, but just missed it this year.




10) Black Keys - Magic Potion

9) Nomo - New Tones

- Fantastic Afro-pop with massive horns.





8) Calexico - Garden Ruin

- Calexico seem to only get better with each album. Their versality never seems to amaze me.





7) Matisyahu - Youth

-Matisyahu finally gets it perfect when he gets my favorite producer (Bill Laswell) to produce his 2nd studio album.




6) Black Keys - Chulahoma

An EP of songs writen by Junior Kimbrough.





5) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

- I can't remember the last time a band from the U.K. made my top 10. This album deserves the hype.





4) Mates Of State - Bring It Back

- This didn't start out as an album that I loved, but every song is completely infectious, and grows on you





3) Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere

Certainly, I don't need to say any more about Gnarls Barkley.







2) Peeping Tom - Peeping Tom

1) Spearhead - Yell Fire

- After almost two decades of writing amazingly personal and tragic political protest songs, it was no surprise, in 2004, when Michael Franti decided to visit the Middle East. Not the safe, remote areas that the embedded reporters report from, instead going to the red zones of Baghdad and the war torn areas of the West Bank and the Gaza strip to uncover the human cost of war, protected only by his guitar and video cameras. What he returned with is not only one of the years best documentaries, "I Know I'm Not Alone", but possibly his strongest album to date, "Yell Fire!". Certainly the most danceable statement about the war in Iraq, Franti puts bubbling funk, reggae, R&B and rock into a melting pot, and consistantly pulls out upbeat and uplifting tunes, at once weighted down by the wrongs in the world, yet always celebratory in the knowledge that things can get better.