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It's 2014, so time to look at the year's slate of films. As I do every year, I've made a massive list of films to look out for. While it sways to the arthouse crowd, I also pasted a list of all scheduled films coming out. So check out the list below (included the top 10), and share your most-anticipated.
Our 80 Most-Anticipated Films of 2014
Top 10
10. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho; TBD)
Knowing The Weinstein Company's mischievous ways, there's a chance we won't even get Snowpiercer this year, but we're holding out hope. Following initial word that signaled a bow last summer, it came and went, along with no appearances at the major fall festivals, but as Bong Joon-ho and Harvey Weinstein hash out a new cut, one thing's for certain: you'll be able to import a French Blu-ray by spring. Featuring the unharmed theatrical international cut (aka approved by our director), we can't wait to see this post-apocalyptic tale of class struggle set on a barreling train, even if it's from the comfort of our own home.
9. Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas; TBD)
After revisiting the hyper-personal Cold Water as a means of crafting Something in the Air, there’s some chronological logic in Olivier Assayas, as a follow-up, going back to the meta-cinematic territory of Irma Vep for Sils Maria. From Maggie Cheung to Juliette Binoche, our next look at the strange life of an international star is coming from an artist who, in this writer’s opinion, has only grown more controlled and assured in the many years since. On this one, it’s hard to maintain any reasonable expectations.
8. Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier; March/April)
Lars von Trier's name, alone, is enough to garner curiosity, but when his latest project is easily shaping up to be his most ambitious outing yet, it's among our most-anticipated of the year. Unveiled in Denmark late last year, the four-hour, eight-chapter, two-part Nymphomaniac looks to go above and beyond our expectations, judging from early reviews. While we wish we could see the 5.5-hour director's cut of the thing, this should hold us over until later in 2014.
7. Queen of the Desert (Werner Herzog; TBD)
Following years of irritating stop-start development, Werner Herzog is finally shooting his first feature since 2009’s Bad Lieutenant and My Son, My Son. Shifts on the casting front are only natural with such long progressions acting as a factor, and now the central spot of legendary cartographer Gertrude Bell has been filled by Nicole Kidman -- buoyed by the likes of Robert Pattinson, James Franco, and Damian Lewis -- and the subject’s staggering impact on history gives the sort of thread this writer-director has proven himself deeply invested in for decades. (Fitzcarraldo being but one obvious reference point.) It might prove a perfect fit, and we can’t wait to see how Queen shapes up to his true classics.
6 The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson; March 7th)
Moonrise Kingdom was a wonderful return to quirky form for Wes Anderson -- but let’s face it: the man hasn’t ever strayed far from the idiosyncratic picture-book worlds he began creating with Bottle Rocket. You already know how you feel about the director, and everything we've seen from The Grand Budapest Hotel isn’t likely to change anyone’s mind. Those anxious for their next fix are thus pleased at the mere thought of Ralph Fiennes and the usual menagerie of Anderson regulars running about a European hotel in the 1920s. Executed properly, it could be pure bliss.
5. Two Days, One Night (Dardennes; TBD)
There are few certainties in life: the sun will rise, temperatures will dip well below zero during a Canadian winter, and, every three years, a new Dardenne brothers film will premiere in competition at Cannes. It's with equal certainty that we say it can be great -- but as if to shake up the usual equation, their newest is the first with an international A-list star (Marion Cotillard). Still judging by their consistency, however, it should be no cause for concern.
4. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg; TBD)
David Cronenberg is working in a different register these days -- more removed (quite literally, in terms of something as essential as camera distance), more clinical, more alien -- so those hoping for Scanners and not Cosmopolis might need to rearrange most expectations. The wicked sense of humor, however, is as cutting as ever, and in coming off a perfectly tuned, pitch-black social satire, his take on the corrosive nature of Hollywood -- which required his first shooting endeavor in the United States -- should be a sight; consider the lineup -- Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, as well as a returning Robert Pattinson & Sarah Gadon -- and it’s hard to imagine many films will incite more of a visceral thrill this year.
3. Knight of Cups and Untitled Project (Terrence Malick; TBD)
As with any looking-ahead list that includes a title from this director, what's here is as much a signal of anticipation as it is, in all honesty, just a big question mark. We don’t know what story Terrence Malick has elected to tell in Knight of Cups -- something about “celebrities and excess”; that’s all we’re going to get for the time being -- and although details on the untitled project (including some insane set photos) point toward a film at least partially concerned with the music festival scene, placing bets is a fool's gambit. Are strictly-defined plot mechanics ever known to concern the man, either? What matters is that he’s completely off, doing his own thing in a more-productive-than-ever state -- and for that, alone, cinema itself does some good in 2014.
2. Boyhood (Richard Linklater; TBD)
After delivering my favorite film of last year, Richard Linklater returns in 2014 with a project arguably even more ambitious than his Before trilogy. Shooting in segments for the past twelve years, Boyhood is a coming-of-age tale the likes of which we've never seen. Reteaming with Ethan Hawke, the story tracks newcomer Ellar Coltrane and his upbringing (thanks to parents, played by Patricia Arquette and Hawke), during the (real-time) ages of 7 to 18. As completion was recently announced, we're betting this one pops up on the film festival circuit in the coming months.
1. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson; TBD)
With a little over one year having passed since his last feature was released, it's unorthodox for Paul Thomas Anderson to have his follow-up in the can, but that, happily, is just the case. Inherent Vice, an adaptation of the off-kilter Thomas Pynchon novel, marks a return for PTA to sprawling, varied ensembles, as he makes a Master reteam with Joaquin Phoenix in the role of Doc Sportello, a pot-loving detective who gets entangled in a case when it comes to his missing ex-girlfriend. Without a blemish to Anderson's record yet, Inherent Vice, which we’d peg for fall release, is easily our most-anticipated film of 2014.
All scheduled films.
What films are you most looking forward to?
Our 80 Most-Anticipated Films of 2014
Top 10
10. Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho; TBD)
Knowing The Weinstein Company's mischievous ways, there's a chance we won't even get Snowpiercer this year, but we're holding out hope. Following initial word that signaled a bow last summer, it came and went, along with no appearances at the major fall festivals, but as Bong Joon-ho and Harvey Weinstein hash out a new cut, one thing's for certain: you'll be able to import a French Blu-ray by spring. Featuring the unharmed theatrical international cut (aka approved by our director), we can't wait to see this post-apocalyptic tale of class struggle set on a barreling train, even if it's from the comfort of our own home.
9. Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas; TBD)
After revisiting the hyper-personal Cold Water as a means of crafting Something in the Air, there’s some chronological logic in Olivier Assayas, as a follow-up, going back to the meta-cinematic territory of Irma Vep for Sils Maria. From Maggie Cheung to Juliette Binoche, our next look at the strange life of an international star is coming from an artist who, in this writer’s opinion, has only grown more controlled and assured in the many years since. On this one, it’s hard to maintain any reasonable expectations.
8. Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier; March/April)
Lars von Trier's name, alone, is enough to garner curiosity, but when his latest project is easily shaping up to be his most ambitious outing yet, it's among our most-anticipated of the year. Unveiled in Denmark late last year, the four-hour, eight-chapter, two-part Nymphomaniac looks to go above and beyond our expectations, judging from early reviews. While we wish we could see the 5.5-hour director's cut of the thing, this should hold us over until later in 2014.
7. Queen of the Desert (Werner Herzog; TBD)
Following years of irritating stop-start development, Werner Herzog is finally shooting his first feature since 2009’s Bad Lieutenant and My Son, My Son. Shifts on the casting front are only natural with such long progressions acting as a factor, and now the central spot of legendary cartographer Gertrude Bell has been filled by Nicole Kidman -- buoyed by the likes of Robert Pattinson, James Franco, and Damian Lewis -- and the subject’s staggering impact on history gives the sort of thread this writer-director has proven himself deeply invested in for decades. (Fitzcarraldo being but one obvious reference point.) It might prove a perfect fit, and we can’t wait to see how Queen shapes up to his true classics.
6 The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson; March 7th)
Moonrise Kingdom was a wonderful return to quirky form for Wes Anderson -- but let’s face it: the man hasn’t ever strayed far from the idiosyncratic picture-book worlds he began creating with Bottle Rocket. You already know how you feel about the director, and everything we've seen from The Grand Budapest Hotel isn’t likely to change anyone’s mind. Those anxious for their next fix are thus pleased at the mere thought of Ralph Fiennes and the usual menagerie of Anderson regulars running about a European hotel in the 1920s. Executed properly, it could be pure bliss.
5. Two Days, One Night (Dardennes; TBD)
There are few certainties in life: the sun will rise, temperatures will dip well below zero during a Canadian winter, and, every three years, a new Dardenne brothers film will premiere in competition at Cannes. It's with equal certainty that we say it can be great -- but as if to shake up the usual equation, their newest is the first with an international A-list star (Marion Cotillard). Still judging by their consistency, however, it should be no cause for concern.
4. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg; TBD)
David Cronenberg is working in a different register these days -- more removed (quite literally, in terms of something as essential as camera distance), more clinical, more alien -- so those hoping for Scanners and not Cosmopolis might need to rearrange most expectations. The wicked sense of humor, however, is as cutting as ever, and in coming off a perfectly tuned, pitch-black social satire, his take on the corrosive nature of Hollywood -- which required his first shooting endeavor in the United States -- should be a sight; consider the lineup -- Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, as well as a returning Robert Pattinson & Sarah Gadon -- and it’s hard to imagine many films will incite more of a visceral thrill this year.
3. Knight of Cups and Untitled Project (Terrence Malick; TBD)
As with any looking-ahead list that includes a title from this director, what's here is as much a signal of anticipation as it is, in all honesty, just a big question mark. We don’t know what story Terrence Malick has elected to tell in Knight of Cups -- something about “celebrities and excess”; that’s all we’re going to get for the time being -- and although details on the untitled project (including some insane set photos) point toward a film at least partially concerned with the music festival scene, placing bets is a fool's gambit. Are strictly-defined plot mechanics ever known to concern the man, either? What matters is that he’s completely off, doing his own thing in a more-productive-than-ever state -- and for that, alone, cinema itself does some good in 2014.
2. Boyhood (Richard Linklater; TBD)
After delivering my favorite film of last year, Richard Linklater returns in 2014 with a project arguably even more ambitious than his Before trilogy. Shooting in segments for the past twelve years, Boyhood is a coming-of-age tale the likes of which we've never seen. Reteaming with Ethan Hawke, the story tracks newcomer Ellar Coltrane and his upbringing (thanks to parents, played by Patricia Arquette and Hawke), during the (real-time) ages of 7 to 18. As completion was recently announced, we're betting this one pops up on the film festival circuit in the coming months.
1. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson; TBD)
With a little over one year having passed since his last feature was released, it's unorthodox for Paul Thomas Anderson to have his follow-up in the can, but that, happily, is just the case. Inherent Vice, an adaptation of the off-kilter Thomas Pynchon novel, marks a return for PTA to sprawling, varied ensembles, as he makes a Master reteam with Joaquin Phoenix in the role of Doc Sportello, a pot-loving detective who gets entangled in a case when it comes to his missing ex-girlfriend. Without a blemish to Anderson's record yet, Inherent Vice, which we’d peg for fall release, is easily our most-anticipated film of 2014.
All scheduled films.
What films are you most looking forward to?
