Issue 20  |  June 2010

10 movies to see in 2010

You’ve renewed your gym membership, vowed never to drink again, promised to quit smoking and plan to actually put money into your savings account. Sounds like a good start to your 2010 New Year’s resolutions, but you might want to include our list of films to see this year somewhere between spending more time with family and friends and enjoying life.

The Book of Eli (pictured above)

Eli (Denzel Washington) is a lone warrior carrying a sacred book in his backpack to an unknown destination. For 30 years he has walked across a post war wasteland where humankind is now uncivilised and basic necessities are invaluable. Eli encounters adversaries at every turn, his biggest challenger being Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a self appointed despot of a town of rogue characters, who covet this book and Eli will protect it at all costs. | Expected Release Date:  15 January

Armored
A heist film about Ty Hackett, a rookie guard (Columbus Short) working for an armoured truck security service, who gets roped into a seemingly foolproof plan to help his co-workers (Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne) steal $42 million dollars. Things take a turn for the worse when a police officer (Milo Ventimiglia) is shot and Ty aborts the mission. | Expected Release Date: 22 January

Invictus
It has long been thought that sports can unify people of all backgrounds despite the many things that divide them, Invictus affirms this idea.  Following his election as South African President, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) must find a way to “balance black aspirations with white fears” post apartheid. With the help of Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) captain of the Springboks, the national rugby team,  President Mandela is sure that winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup is the  catalyst needed to unify his countrymen. | Expected Release: 5 February

The Princess and the Frog
Disney presents Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose), their first African American princess. The New Orleans French Quarter serves as a backdrop for this jazzy fairy tale. Tiana works tirelessly to fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant, until a kiss from an unusual frog sends her on an unexpected adventure. Along the way she learns that what she needs is more important than what she wants. Although Tiana is the ninth Disney princess, many critics say her character is long overdue. Watch history unfold on the silver screen as characters voiced by Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, Jenifer Lewis and others bring this frog tale to UK audiences near and far.|Expected Release Date: 5 February

Valentine’s Day
What do you get when you add a Hollywood A-list team of actors, a heavyweight director, good writers and a public (read heavily commercialised) holiday together? A slam dunk at the box office. The romantic-comedy, by the director of Pretty Woman, takes the audience through the lives of couples and singletons living in Los Angeles on V-Day. See the ups, downs and downright disasters unfold, because it’s all about love…right? Performances by Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Anne Hathaway and many others. | Expected Release Date: 12 February

Takers
A group of criminal masterminds known to execute bank heists with precision  are poised to go after their biggest job yet, until a big shot police detective (Matt Dillon) determined to bring them down, interrupts their plans. Starring Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana, Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Michael Ealy, rapper T.I. and r&b singer Chris Brown. | Expected Release Date: 12 March

The Losers
Based on the Vertigo comic book series, The Losers are members of a CIA black-ops team who each served time in the military.  They are betrayed and left for dead by their handler and want revenge. Cast includes Zoe Saldana as Aisha, the femme fatale skilled for combat; Idris Elba as Roque, second-in-command fuelled by his love of money; and  Columbus Short as Pooch, a man with the ability to pilot any vehicle or aircraft. | Expected Release Date: 9 April

Death at a Funeral
A remake of a British comedy directed by Frank Oz. Aaron (Chris Rock) has to deal with the responsibility of planning his late father’s funeral and paying for it, while his brother Ryan (Martin Lawrence) a successful  writer  shows up just before the funeral begins. Aaron’s cousin (Zoe Saldana) mistakenly gives her husband a hallucinogenic concocted by her brother (Columbus Short). The downward spiral quickly ensues as Aaron is blackmailed by his father’s gay lover who was left out of the will, Uncle Russell (Danny Glover) is a handful and to make matters worse, there is an accidental death followed by a cover-up. Judging by the trailer the storyline seems to follow the original script with Peter Dinklage reprising the same role from the original film. | Expected Release Date: 4 June

The Karate Kid
A remake of the 1984 classic, Jaden Smith leads the film as Dre Parker  a young boy leaving the inner city for a new life in Beijing. He is ridiculed by bullies and narrowly escapes a beating when a mystery man (Jackie Chan) defends him. This man explains to Dre that he must face his bullies and he will help him do this by teaching him karate. This movie is clearly intended for preteens or anyone who hasn’t seen the original. The remake tries to breathe new life into the classic by  recreating moments that made the first film great, like when Jackie Chan’s character commands Dre to  “Take off your jacket. Take it down. Put it on.” This could never compete with Mr Miyagi’s  “Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.” Need I say more? | Expected Release Date: 16 July

Salt
Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is an undercover CIA covert operative on a mission to clear her name as an accused Russian sleeper  spy while eluding capture by CIA agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Branded  a defector working with the enemy to kill the president, Salt must use her skills and wit to outsmart the CIA before they kill her. Winter (Liev Schreiber), Salt’s mentor, is increasingly suspicious and unsure of her innocence. | Expected Release Date: 20 August

Films on Our Radar
There are a few films I am excited about which are currently in development or in production and might be released between this year and 2012… or not!

The eagerly-awaited biopic Fela, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Steve McQueen, with Chiwetel Ejiofor in the title role.

BAFTA winner Noel Clarke has written and directed 4,3,2,1 a heist thriller about four girls whose lives intertwine over the course of three days in two cities (London and New York) connected by one robbery. Clarke plays Tee. He also has a lead role in Huge, a comedy, with Thandie Newton.

Don Cheadle is supposed to portray Miles Davis in an upcoming biopic.

Rumour has it Terrence Howard’s production company are filming Macbett  (The Caribbean Macbeth) in Puerto Rico with Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Danny Glover and Blair Underwood.

6 February marks the 65th birthday of the late Bob Marley, I’ve found sparse information about an alleged documentary, but nothing concrete. Ditto for Rita Marley’s biopic based on her 2004 book “No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley” where Lauryn Hill would play her.

Moozlum, a film about Tariq Mahdi a young Muslim man and his family post 9/11. Cast members include Evan Ross, Nia Long and Danny Glover.

Also, independent films such as Pumzi a post World War III sci-fi film set in South Africa; Night Catches Us a story about a man who revisits a race-torn Philadelphia where he grew up during the Black Power movement,  starring Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington.Mother and Child,  a drama centred around a 50 year old woman who gave her child up for adoption and an African American woman who wants to adopt. Cast members include Samuel Jackson, Kerry Washington, S. Epatha Merkerson,  Lisa Gay Hamilton and Tatyana Ali.

Pumzi, Night Catches Us and Mother and Child are playing at the Sundance Film Festival and will hopefully open  in the UK.

Check out our What’s On – Film section regularly for more movie releases

3 Responses to “10 movies to see in 2010”

• There are many fascinating precedents for the proposed Caribbean Macbeth starring Terrence Howard, as demonstrated by a new collection of scholarly essays, called “Weyward Macbeth”:

  http://us.macmillan.com/weywardmacbeth

  Weyward Macbeth says
  January 19, 2010 at 6:12 am

• Thank you UrbanCineaste for pointing out that Precious will be released in the UK on January 29th. I wasn’t aware of the release date for this year, as I saw it October, last year.

  I’ll keep an eye open for Freestyle.

  Christina says
  January 17, 2010 at 4:43 pm

• Why no Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire???
  Come on this is almost certainly gonna get a Best Picture Nomination at the up & coming Oscars. With possible nods to lead Gabourey Sidibe for Best Actress, Director Lee Daniels & Mo’Nique for Best Supporting Actress.
  Opens in the UK on January 29th
  http://www.weareallprecious.com
  Or British Director Kolton Lee’s film Freestyle set in the world of Street Basketball. Look out for newcomer Lucy Stanhope as Ondene.
  No release date as yet but due in March.
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1381406
  Caribbean Film Season at V&A in July

  UrbanCineaste says
  January 6, 2010 at 2:58 pm