Movies: Ones To Watch - These are the films you need to catch this year

By Matthew Rodgers
Epoch Times Staff

Working on the assumption that the previous orbiting of the sun was a pretty good one for film, 2012 has much to live up to when it comes to the big screen. Forget any Mayan predictions of disaster, what follows is a rundown of the films we feel will define this as anything but an annus horribilis. Please don’t be too upset that The Phantom Menace 3-D re-release didn’t make the shortlist.

Martha Marcy May Marlene

This festival favourite should already be on your radar thanks to the buzz surrounding the central performance of “the other” Olsen sister, Elisabeth. A dreamlike and deeply unsettling film about the unbreakable and frankly unfathomable connection established between members of a cult, Sean Durkin’s debut feature is an extraordinary drama that bravely never panders towards a narrative desire for catharsis. The first real “must see” of the year. UK release Friday, February 3rd.

The Woman in Black

If the effective trailer is anything to go by then this latest adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel should hopefully achieve two notable milestones; firstly to scare the bejesus out of an audience that has grown weary of “found footage” horrors, but more importantly prove that Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t need a pocket full of chocolate frogs and a wand in his hand to carry a film. The former wizard plays a young lawyer who travels to a remote English village to attend a funeral, only to become embroiled in a ghost story that should make the dark February nights that little bit chillier. UK release Friday, February 10th.

The Hunger Games

Along with the current crop of sceptics, I was quick to lazily label this popular book franchise as “another Twilight”, but Suzanne Collins’s stories are much more than the Running Man meets The Crystal Maze mash-up they appear to be. Surprisingly inventive and emotionally accessible, Seabiscuit director Gary Ross will guide Winter’s Bone’s Jennifer Lawrence to tell the dystopian tale of Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl selected in a National Lottery style draw to fight for her survival in a brutal reality TV show. Sequels have already been pencilled in, so confidence is high that this sci-fi series will bust blocks. UK release Friday, March 23rd.

The Cabin in the Woods

Confined to the studio vaults for a couple of years because of contractual wrangles, this could well turn out to be one of the sleeper hits of the year. Five friends decide to holiday in a remote cabin in the woods (clever title eh?) and then bad things start to happen. Sounds like many a dust-gathering rental shelf filler doesn’t it? Re-assessment is necessary when you consider that it’s directed by one of Lost’s staff writers, Drew Goddard, co-written by geek god, Joss Whedon (who will also helm 2012’s Marvel mash-up The Avengers), stars last year’s God of Thunder, Chris Hemsworth, and has one of the most intriguing trailers around. UK release Friday, April 13th.

Prometheus

“In space no one can hear you scream” may well have been proved incorrect when it was announced that Ridley Scott was returning to a franchise that had crash landed since he launched it in 1979. I for one let out a shrill cheer of delight. Despite distancing this latest space epic (a word seemingly justified by the astonishing early glimpses) from the Alien franchise, it’s clear that this HR Giger infused opus shares the same DNA as his “haunted house in space” classic. On board are Michael Fassbender, Noomi Roopace, Charlize Theron, and with any luck a couple of acid drooling xenomorphs. UK release Friday, June 1st.

The Dark Knight Rises

Sensibly capping his Gotham City saga to three entries, proven genius Christopher Nolan unveils what will surely be the most prominent and eagerly anticipated movie of 2012. Hopefully shifting the focus back to the bat after Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning turn as the Joker, everything so far seems to be shrouded in an exciting sense of foreboding doom, and finality. Could this be the demise of Batman? Will we be able to decipher Bane’s dialogue? Can Anne Hathaway prove the doubters wrong as would-be Catwoman, Selina Kyle? Don’t expect anything less than epic. UK release Friday, July 20th.

Skyfall

“What on Earth is Skyfall?” I hear you ask. Well, hopefully it’s the defibrillator to the heart of the Bond franchise after Quantum of Solace revoked the series’s licence to thrill. This oft-delayed third mission for Daniel Craig has all the right ingredients to rival Casino Royale. Sam Mendes takes the helm to imprint his own uniquely impressive style onto the franchise, but it’s his attention to character that should define Skyfall as a superior spy outing. Javier Bardem is on pantomime duty as the villain, and the irrepressible Judy Dench resumes her role as the maternal M. All that’s to be decided is who sings the title song. Little Mix? UK release Friday, October 26th.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Despite the slightest tinge of regret that we won’t be guided through Middle Earth via the imagination of Guillermo Del Toro, and with Frodo’s sombre words echoing from Return of the King – “How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your own heart you begin to understand that there is no going back?” – Peter Jackson’s reluctant return to all things small and hairy is the journey we’re most looking forward to in 2012. A decade since we last departed the Shire, this prequel finds the perfectly cast Martin Freeman as Bilbo, leading a band of dwarves on an adventure to defeat the evil dragon Smaug (voiced by the omnipresent Benedict Cumberbatch). That the recently released trailer reportedly crashed Apple’s website tells you all you need to know about the feverish levels of anticipation. Time to go there and back again. UK release Friday, December 14th.