Reel Facts & Opinions: What to Look Forward to in 2012

Movie fans should know by now that 2012 is shaping up to be a monster of a year. Long awaited sequels, big franchises and significant names are all over the calendar. Friends of Reel Speak should also know that this Blogger is looking forward to three major films; Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth with THE HOBBIT, Steven Spielberg turning Daniel Day-Lewis into Abraham Lincoln in LINCOLN, and Christopher Nolan’s grand finale to his Batman vision in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Other monsters include the long-awaited super-hero teamup film THE AVENGERS, Pixar’s BRAVE, SKYFALL (Bond, James Bond), and Ridley Scott’s long-awaited return to the ALIEN-verse he created in PROMETHEUS.

But what else may be lurking in the shadows behind the big-nuts studio productions? Let’s take a peek:

THE MASTER
THE MASTER is the first film from Paul Thomas Anderson since his THERE WILL BE BLOOD made history in 2007. Anderson has assembled a great cast in the form of Phillip Seymour-Hoffman and Amy Adams, and the film also marks the return of Joaquin Phoenix to real acting. MASTER is about a WWI veteran (Hoffman) who returns home from the war and begins a religious cult. And here is your movie-geekout trivia thing for the year: Anderson is filming THE MASTER with the same 65mm cameras Stanley Kubrick used to film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

MOONRISE KINGDOM
Wes Anderson (no relation to Paul Thomas) makes his return to live-action filmmaking in MOONRISE KINGDOM; a charming tale of two kids in love. Along with his trademark quirkiness and unique style, Anderson assembles a fascinating cast; Ed Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel, and his usual suspects Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman.

COGAN’S TRADE
The last time director Andrew Dominik and Brad Pitt got together, we got the thoughtful and sweeping Old West character-driven epic in the form of THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD. This time around, Pitt stars as a big bad mob enforcer tracking down cash. This is an adaptation of a George V. Higgins crime novel, and also stars James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, and Richard Jenkins.

GRAVITY
Alfonso Cuaron is an extremely talented director who has brought us CHILDREN OF MEN and the third film in the HARRY POTTER series, which many consider to be the best in the franchise. In GRAVITY, Cuaron tackles science fiction for the first time, telling the story of a lone survivor of a failed space mission trying to get back to her daughter. GRAVITY stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock.

Other curiosities worth mentioning are Timur Bekmambetov’s ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (self-explanatory), Rob Zombie’s LORDS OF SALEM (Salem witch hunts/trials), and Kathryn Bigelow’s untitled film concerning the hunt and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Bringing up the rear in the curious but completely un-original, we have Tim Burton’s continuing career as a half-ass cover band with his DARK SHADOWS adaptation, and Quentin Tarantino’s spaghetti-western homage DJANGO UNCHAINED.

2012 should be a fun year. What say you?