The notoriously extravagant festival toned down the glitz for this year’s crisis-era bash and was lighter than usual in star power, but it still saw celebs like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sashay up the fabled red carpet.

Billed as a battle of auteur titans, it mostly lived up to expectations, with Britain’s Independent on Sunday calling it “a superior vintage” and France’s Journal du Dimanche declaring “the return of great cinema”.

And scandal came in the form of Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist”, which provoked fainting, gasps and walk-outs and received an “anti-prize” that the festival director angrily denounced as an attempt at censorship.

Four previous Palme d’Or winners — Tarantino, Campion, Von Trier and Ken Loach — squared up against the likes of Pedro Almodovar, Michael Haneke, Johnnie To and Park Chan-wook for Sunday’s award.

Penelope Cruz — a hot tip for best actress award for her role in Almodovar’s flick — was among the A-list celebrities at the 12-day annual French Riviera bash, who also included Martin Scorsese and Jim Carrey.

As the jury headed by French actress Isabelle Huppert deliberated on which of the 20 films will scoop the Palme at the gala awards ceremony later Sunday, a French prison drama was among critics’ favourites.

Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet,” about a prison stint for an illiterate French-Arab youth which turns into an education in crime, “instantly takes its place alongside the greats of the crime movie genre,” said The Times.

A win for Audiard would be a triumph for French cinema, a year after high-school drama “The Class” became the first homegrown movie in more than two decades to pick up the Palme.

Critics cited as another possible winner the Austrian director Haneke’s “The White Ribbon”, a chilling black-and-white study of malice in a German village on the eve of World War I.

New Zealander Campion’s “Bright Star” ode to the doomed poet John Keats was also being touted, as was “Broken Embraces” by Almodovar, which recounts a tragic love affair between a young actress and an ageing director.

Loach’s comedy “Looking for Eric” — starring soccer legend Eric Cantona — also impressed critics, while reviewers had high hopes for veteran director Alain Resnais for “Wild Grass” and Italy’s Marco Bellochio’s “Vincere”, a tale on Mussolini’s bastard son.

Tarantino’s march up the red carpet — flanked by Pitt and his wife Jolie — for the world premiere of his long-awaited “Inglourious Basterds” on Wednesday provided the biggest celebrity buzz of the 12-day festival.

But the director of “Pulp Fiction” divided critics with his war story of Jewish-American soldiers on a mission to murder Nazis.

The festival opened on May 13 with Disney-Pixar’s 3D cartoon caper “Up” — screening out of competition — but it quickly delivered movies not at all suitable for kids.

Blood and guts were aplenty in Tarantino’s work, while Von Trier’s gothic thriller also dished up the gore and blood flowed freely in a tale of a Korean vampire priest in Park Chan-wook’s “Thirst”.

French director Gaspar Noe’s “Enter The Void” also sparked a few walk-outs with its explicit sex and a close-up of an aborted foetus.

Palestinian director Elia Suleiman unveiled “The Time that Remains”, a bittersweet farce on his family history and the daily life of Israeli Arabs.

And Ang Lee brought sex and drugs and rock n’ roll to the festival with “Taking Woodstock”. The film on the iconic 1969 music festival was well received but judged a “low-wattage” offer from the Oscar-winning director.

The late Heath Ledger’s unfinished stint in Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was screened out of competition, while “Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi returned to horror with his new flick “Drag Me To Hell”.

Suspense grips Cannes as movie mega-battle ends

Cruz has been awarded three Goyas, two European Film Awards, the Golden Palm for Best Actress, and a BAFTA. In 2009, she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Goya, and a BAFTA for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Other Information

• Birth name: Penélope Cruz Sánchez
• Born : April 28, 1974
• Birth place: Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
• Occupation: Actress
• Years active: 1988-present
• Awards won: Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress: 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona BAFTA Awards Best Actress in a, Supporting Role, 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona Goya Awards Best Actress, 1998 La niña de tus ojos, 2006 Volver, Best Supporting Actress: 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona Other awards Best Actress Award – Cannes Film Festival – 2006 (with all the female cast) Volver, Independent Spirit Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, BSFC Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, KCFCC Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, LAFCA Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, NYFCC Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, NBR Award – 2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Links

• Penélope Cruz at the Internet Movie Database
• Penélope Cruz Cannes Interview
• Penelope Cruz News and Photoblog

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The film premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, then received a rolling worldwide general release that started in August 2008 in the USA, and continued in various countries each month until the June 2009 release in Japan.

Plot

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) visit Barcelona for the summer, staying with Vicky’s distant relative Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and her husband, Mark Nash (Kevin Dunn). A narrator (voice of Christopher Evan Welch), present throughout the film, describes the two friends: Vicky is practical and traditional in her approach to love and commitment, and is engaged to the reliable but unromantic Doug (Chris Messina). She is in Barcelona getting her masters in “Catalan identity”. Cristina, on the other hand, is a nonconformist, spontaneous but unsure of what she wants from life or love.

At an art exhibition, they notice the artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Cristina is impressed with him at first sight, and grows intrigued when Judy and Mark tell the girls that the artist has suffered a publicly violent relationship with his ex-wife. Later that night, the girls notice him across the room in a restaurant. He approaches their table and quickly invites them to join him to the city of Oviedo, in the small plane he flies himself, to spend a weekend sight-seeing, drinking wine, and, Juan Antonio hopes, making love. Cristina accepts the brazen offer almost at once, but Vicky refuses, strongly resenting his assumption that the two of them would agree to go to bed with him after less than five minutes’ acquaintance. She eventually decides to accompany her friend anyway, mainly as she says “to protect Cristina from making a big mistake”.

At the end of their first day, Juan Antonio asks both women to come to his room. Vicky refuses, but Cristina agrees, though she falls ill before any love making happens. For the remainder of the weekend, Vicky and Juan Antonio are forced together while Cristina recuperates. During their trip, he tells her about his ex-wife and his tumultuous relationship with her and takes her to visit his father an old poet, making Vicky change her negative first impression of him. After more wine over dinner and an intimate guitar concert, Vicky succumbs to his charms and the two make love.

The next day, Juan takes them back to Barcelona. Vicky, feeling guilty, does not mention the incident to Cristina, and the two begin to grow apart, Vicky throwing herself into her Catalan culture studies and Cristina taking up photography. Soon Juan Antonio is dating Cristina. Meanwhile, Doug unexpectedly telephones Vicky, suggesting that they get married in Spain. She agrees, with unspoken misgivings, and he flies to meet her. Cristina and Juan Antonio grow closer and move in together.

One night, Cristina and Juan Antonio are woken up by a call, learning that Juan’s ex-wife María Elena (Penélope Cruz) has attempted to kill herself. With nowhere else to go, Juan Antonio brings her home, and she moves into the guest room. Though initially María Elena distrusts Cristina, she soon develops a fondness for her and her photography.

Cristina soon realizes that the ex-spouses are still in love, and María Elena confides that their relationship was always loving but unstable because they were missing something, a mystery element neither of them figured out. María Elena now suggests that the missing link is in fact, Cristina, and the three become polyamorous. Cristina discloses the events of her life to Vicky, who appears secretly jealous of her friend’s relationship with Juan Antonio, and to Doug, who disapproves.

As the summer winds to a close, Vicky realizes that she is unsatisfied in her married life, and is still attracted to Juan Antonio. She learns that Judy is also unhappy in her marriage, and confides in the older woman. Judy, who sees Vicky as a younger version of herself, decides to bring Juan Antonio and Vicky together. Meanwhile, Cristina becomes restless and announces she is leaving Juan Antonio and María Elena. Maria does not take the news well and breaks down. Cristina spends the last weeks of the summer in France. With their “missing link” gone, Juan Antonio and María Elena break up again.

Attempting to pair up Juan Antonio and Vicky, Judy arranges for them both to be at a party. Juan Antonio begs Vicky to meet him the next day. After lying to Doug, Vicky, against her better judgment, goes to Juan’s home for lunch, after which Juan tries to seduce her again. She is on the point of consenting when María Elena bursts in with a gun and begins firing wildly. As Juan Antonio tries to take the gun from his sobbing wife, Vicky is accidentally shot in the hand, wounding her slightly. Vicky shouts at both of them, saying they are insane and she could never live like this, and leaves.

When Cristina returns from France, Vicky confesses the entire story to her. Cristina says she never knew that Vicky felt that way about Juan Antonio, and she (Cristina) wishes she could have helped her. Doug never learns the true version of events. As the three Americans return to the USA, Vicky goes back to her married life and Cristina remains where she started, not knowing what she wants, but knowing what she doesn’t. Since Vicky chooses to live her rigidly planned (a “perfect”) life, and Cristina chooses to live without making predetermined plans, they end where they began.

Production

In 2007, controversy arose in Catalonia because the film was partially funded with public money: Barcelona’s city hall provided one million euros and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) half a million, or ten percent of the film’s budget.

In August 2008, Allen wrote a humorous version of a production diary, with entries such as:

• Jan. 2 — Received offer to write and direct film in Barcelona. Must be cautious. Spain is sunny, and I freckle. Money not great either, but agent did manage to get me a 10th of 1 percent of anything the picture does over $400 million after break even.
• June 1 — Arrived Barcelona. Accommodations first class. Hotel has been promised half star next year provided they install running water.
• June 30 — Dailies are looking good, and while Javier’s idea to add a massive Martian invasion scene complete with a thousand costumed extras and elaborate flying saucers is not a very good one, I will shoot it to make him happy and cut it in the editing room.
• Aug. 25 — End production today. Wrap party as usual a little sad. Slow danced with Scarlett. Broke her toe. Not my fault. When she dipped me back, I stepped on it … Everyone in cast and crew chipped in and bought me a ballpoint pen.

This is the third time Johansson and Allen have worked together, following Match Point and Scoop. This film also mark the second time Johansson and Hall worked together, the first one being The Prestige.

Awards and nominations

The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Woody Allen won his first Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Penélope Cruz won numerous honors for her performance, including the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Cast & Credits

• Directed by: Woody Allen
• Produced by: Letty Aronson, Jaume Roures, Stephen Tenenbaum, Gareth Wiley
• Written by: Woody Allen
• Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
• Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Chris Messina, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn
• Cinematography: Javier Aguirresarobe
• Editing by: Alisa Lepselter

Other Information

• Studio: MediaPro, Wild Bunch
• Distributed by: The Weinstein Company, Optimum Releasing
• Release date: August 15, 2008
• Running time: 96 min.
• Country: United States, Spain
• Language: English, Spanish
• Budget: $15 million

Links

• Official website
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona at the Internet Movie Database

Cruz, 34, thanked both Allen and Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar for their roles in shaping her career and dedicated the gold statuette to the actors from her country.

“Thank you Woody for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank you for having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women,” she said.

With her Oscar win, Cruz, joins fellow actresses Dianne Wiest and Mira Sorvino in scoring best supporting-actress Oscars for their performances in Woody Allen films.

“I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream,” said Cruz.

Dressed in a 60-year-old ivory Pierre Balmain vintage gown and fighting back tears, Cruz asked anyone had ever fainted while accepting an Oscar. “I might be the first one.”

Born in Madrid to a hairdresser and an auto mechanic, Cruz got her big break in the Spanish film industry in 1992 with “Jamon Jamon.”

She captured the attention of the Oscar-winning Almodovar, who cast her in various movies including the 2006 film “Volver,” which earned her a best actress Oscar nomination for her turn as a woman who kills her abusive husband.

That nod made Cruz the first Spanish woman to be nominated for a best actress Academy Award for a non-English speaking role.

Cruz thanked Almodovar for “having made me part of so many of his adventures.”

Cruz’s Oscar win on Sunday follows a British BAFTA award and other U.S. critics awards this season for her performance in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” as the fiery ex-wife to a bohemian artist portrayed by Javier Bardem who has wooed a pair of young American women vacationing Spain.

Cruz struggled for years to convince English-speaking movie audiences to take her seriously after critics panned her earlier performances in films like “Woman on Top,” and was sometimes better-known for high-profile romances with stars like Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey.

‘CLIMBING MOUNTAINS’

Backstage on Sunday, Cruz said she is grateful that she was not discouraged by those earlier “invalidations.”

“You have to keep climbing mountains. It’s better not to listen or to engage in those debates,” she said, adding that she is encouraged by how more open the entertainment industry is to people with accents.

“It has been changing. We are all mixed together and that has to be reflected in cinema. I’m happy that finally that door seems to be more open and not just to me and three other people, but to a much bigger group,” she said.

Penelope Cruz wins first Oscar for Spanish actress

While the film’s triumphs at the 81st annual Academy Awards marked an amazing outcome for a movie filled with subtitles, scenes of torture and a Bollywood dance sequence, the wins also cemented the reputation of distributor Fox Searchlight, which has become Hollywood’s top advocate of the kind of daring works that movie studios have all but abandoned.

Director Danny Boyle’s fictional account of a Mumbai orphan’s surprising winning streak on India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” also won Oscars for direction, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing, original score, original song and sound mixing.

The wins for the film — produced by a British company, co-financed by a French distributor and made by a largely Indian cast and crew — dramatized the global compass reading of contemporary movie production, as other top Oscar winners showed.

The best supporting actress winner was Spain’s Penelope Cruz for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Australian actor Heath Ledger was posthumously named best supporting actor for “The Dark Knight”; and British star Kate Winslet won best actress for “The Reader.” The only acting winner with a U.S. birth certificate: Sean Penn, who played the title character in “Milk.”

Host Hugh Jackman opened the broadcast with a song and dance routine about the economic recession, and though he didn’t reference Hollywood cost-cutting specifically, belt-tightening was very much a part of the Oscar ceremony backdrop.

In a show business shakeup that has cost scores of film executives their jobs and left numerous movies in limbo, studios are scaling back not only on provocative dramas but also on the companies they established to produce and distribute them.

In the last year, Warner Bros. closed its two specialty film divisions, Warner Independent Pictures (the original distributor of “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Picturehouse, while Paramount closed the doors of its Paramount Vantage unit. ThinkFilm, a leading distributor of nonfiction films, has vanished, and the Weinstein Co. has scaled way back.

At the same time, the big movie studios are steering clear of highbrow literary dramas, aiming their resources at mass-appeal works including family-friendly animation, superhero stories and established franchises such as James Bond and Harry Potter.

As others have ditched movies that require patient marketing to build grass-roots audience interest — “Slumdog Millionaire” debuted in just 10 theaters last November and didn’t reach its widest national release until last weekend — Fox Searchlight has become Hollywood’s unequaled home for films made outside the normal studio channels.

A tiny cog in Rupert Murdoch’s global News Corp. media conglomerate, Fox Searchlight not only was able to steer “Slumdog Millionaire” to its multiple Oscar wins, but also turned it into a solid box-office hit, with domestic gross set to pass $100 million.

“It’s a triumph for this kind of film,” Boyle said backstage, minutes after he thanked Fox Searchlight from the lectern of the Kodak Theatre.

By far the most successful of the studio-owned specialty film divisions, Fox Searchlight had never before won the top Oscar, although it had best picture finalists three of the last four years with a varied slate of original, audience-pleasing works: 2007′s “Juno,” 2006′s “Little Miss Sunshine” and 2004′s “Sideways.”

While the best picture prize will make a nice ornament for Fox Searchlight’s lobby, the trophy also serves as a validation of the company’s patient, disciplined approach to making and distributing movies from outside the studio system — even as the company’s peers are folding their tents.

Some of these companies were done in by profligate spending and steep overhead, which Fox Searchlight has consistently avoided. The company refuses to pay its actors more than $500,000 — often a tiny fraction of their standard, multimillion-dollar salaries — and carries a staff of about 75.

Slumdog’ strikes it rich with 8 Oscar wins

Best Motion Picture – Drama

• Slumdog Millionaire
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Frost/Nixon
• The Reader
• Revolutionary Road

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Burn After Reading
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• In Bruges
• Mamma Mia!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
• Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
• Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
• Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Sean Penn – Milk

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
• Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie – Changeling
• Meryl Streep – Doubt
• Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t’aime)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Colin Farrell – In Bruges
• Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• James Franco – Pineapple Express
• Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
• Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
• Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
• Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
• Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (Posthumous)
• Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
• Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
• Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Kate Winslet – The Reader
• Amy Adams – Doubt
• Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Viola Davis – Doubt
• Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Director – Motion Picture

• Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
• Stephen Daldry – The Reader
• David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
• Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

• Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy
• Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth
• Doubt – John Patrick Shanley
• The Reader – David Hare

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

• The Wrestler (performed by Bruce Springsteen)” – The Wrestler
• “I Thought I Lost You” (Performed By Miley Cyrus & John Travolta)” – Bolt
• “Once in a Lifetime” (Performed by Beyoncé Knowles)” – Cadillac Records
• “Gran Torino” (Performed by Jamie Cullum)” – Gran Torino
• “Down to Earth” (Performed by Peter Gabriel)” – WALL-E

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

• Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman
• Changeling – Clint Eastwood
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
• Defiance – James Newton Howard
• Frost/Nixon – Hans Zimmer

Best Foreign Language Film

• Waltz with Bashir (Vals im Bashir) • Israel
• The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) • Germany
• Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick) • Sweden
• Gomorrah (Gomorra) • Italy
• I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t’aime) • France

Best Animated Feature Film

• WALL-E
• Bolt
• Kung Fu Panda

66th Golden Globe Awards – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Other Information

• Production Status:  In Production/Awaiting Release
• Genres:  Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation
• Release Date:  November 25th, 2009
• Distributors:  The Weinstein Company
• Production Co.:  Lucamar Productions
• Studios:  The Weinstein Company
• Financiers:  Relativity Media
• Filming Locations:  United Kingdom, Italy, Rome
• Produced in:  United States

Cast and Credits

• Starring:  Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench
• Directed by:  Rob Marshall
• Produced by:  Arthur Kopit, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca

Links

• Nine – Yahoo Movies
• Nine – IMDB

We’ve taken a look through the studio schedules and picked out the most promising prospects for the coming year. History tells us that when times are tough, box office takings boom. Here’s our selection of the best films Hollywood has to offer us in 2009.

50: The Pink Panther 2 (February 2009)

Moviegoers might well be tempted by the impressive cast lining up for this wholly unnecessary sequel to a completely superfluous continuation of the once mighty comedy franchise. Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese and Andy Garcia may be acting greats, but for signing up to this they should hang their heads in shame. Official site Trailer

49: Friday the 13th (February)

Back to Camp Crystal Lake again. The twelfth (couldn’t they have made it 13?) Friday the 13th movie is apparently a remake of the first film in the venerable teen slasher series, so long-time fans will have a fair idea what to expect. Probably not the ideal date movie for February 14. Trailer

48: Red Sonja (No release date announced)

Despite months of rumour about a new Conan movie, it’s his female counterpart Red Sonja who seems to be returning to the big screen first. There’s some confusion about a release date for this film although the generally reliable IMDB has it hitting screens in late 2009. Planet Terror and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez re-teams with Grindhouse alumna Rose McGowan, who seems a somewhat unlikely choice as the Xena-type who fights her way across a sword-and-sorcery Hyborian landscape wearing as little as the censors will allow. Teaser Poster The Times reviews the original movie

47: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian (May)

A repeat of 2006’s ‘museum comes to life’ cameo jamboree with more or less everyone except Robin Williams back at the end of May to ham it up for the entertainment of young and undemanding cinemagoers. The film will need something very special in terms of advance reviews to give it any commercial visibility in what promises to be a very busy month at the movies. Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson and Ricky Gervais are already crossing their fingers. Behind the scenes clips

46: Fast & Furious (June)

Fourth in the franchise but (and pay attention, there will be a test) occupying the number three slot in the series narrative, the movie will take the story back to its very beginnings. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel reunite in the franchise that inspired a million minor motoring offences. Official site Trailer The 20 Greatest car chases

45: Spy Hunter (no release date announced)

Video game adaptations are rarely beloved of the cinema cognoscenti and there’s little likelihood that Spy Hunter will break that honourable tradition. The game is a fairly routine ‘heavily armed spy and supercar’ adventure distinguished only by a voice and motion capture contribution from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who, one imagines, must be favourite to play the lead in what we can safely assume will be an undemanding popcorner. Englishman Paul WS Anderson, of Alien vs Predator and Resident Evil fame, is slated to direct. Effects test footage

44: Nine (December)

In a year packed with remakes, this is perhaps the bravest of all: taking on Fellini’s hugely influential 8½ but going just that little bit further, it’s the behind-the-scenes story of an Italian movie director featuring a stellar cast (Including Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz and Dame Judi Dench), some of whom will be singing. The purists will be furious, the rest of us merely sceptical. Mamma Mia it isn’t. IMDB entry Fellini’s 8½:Original Times review

43: Knowing (March)

A teacher (Nicolas Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son’s elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions — some of events that have already occurred and others that are about to — that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are due to unfold. Stills

42: Them (no release date announced)

Them, a recently announced feature to be directed by Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz’s Edgar Wright, is not, as far as we can tell, an update of the hoary old giant ant chiller but a fictionalised adaptation of Jon Ronson’s investigative book about the shadowy conspiracies that operate behind our notional governments. Unless it turns out that the Illuminati and the Bilderberg Group actually are all enormous ants. Announcement on Jon Ronson’s site

41: Ninja Assassin (no release date announced)

Few star names – unless you remember Korean pop star Rain from the Wachowskis hallucinogenic Speed Racer – feature in this standard ‘assassin rebels against his masters’ tale. The title alone though promises to give Ninja Assassin that internet-friendly Snakes on a Plane appeal that should ensure a decent performance at the box office. Stills

40: The Proposal (August)

A rom-com based on the morally rather questionable premise of a book editor (hence the title) forcing one of her subordinates to marry her so that she can gain US citizenship. Sandra Bullock is probably due another hit, and Malin Akerman still be surfing on the huge wave of excitement about Watchmen will but whether audiences will buy this rather dubious plot (remember Green Card?) remains to be seen. Teaser poster

39: Planet 51 (November)

A classic 1950s B-Movie plot – alien lands among the white picket fences of a fearful, simple small-town community. The twist is that the alien is an Earthly astronaut and the small town folk are little green men. A promising CG-animated caper for younger cinemagoers in the 2009 Christmas holiday. Fan site

38: The Box (March)

Set, apparently, in the Seventies, The Box is the story of a young married couple who are given a mysterious box that has uncanny, deadly powers. Somehow connecting time travel, the 1976 Viking Mars lander, teleportation and kipper ties. With former X-Man James Marsden, the always watchable Cameron Diaz and the sinister presence of Frank Langella it’s an intriguing prospect indeed. Stills

35: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (January)

Rhona Mitra takes over from Kate Beckinsale as the female lead in the third instalment of the Vampires versus Werewolves saga. A prequel, it’s set before the birth of Beckinsale’s character, neatly sidestepping complaints about the regrettable absence of her PVC clad form. Unlikely to attract quite as many cinemagoers as its predecessor, it might still fill a dull winter’s evening. Trailer

36: Creature from the Black Lagoon (2011)

Little is known so far of this planned remake of the classic 1954 creature feature which is to be helmed by Sahara director Breck Eisner. Bill Paxton is rumoured to be leading the team, which discovers a hitherto undocumented amphibious humanoid in the depths of the South American jungle. In keeping with the current remake mania, Eisners next project is expected to be a new version of Flash Gordon. Director interview The Times on the Fifties original (1981)

35: G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (August)

G.I Joe is a bigger name in the US: the toy line that we called Action Man gave rise to a popular 1980s cartoon series and long-running comics franchise. Without the solid bed of nostalgia that will give it a running start in its homeland, the movie’s appeal over here stands or falls on its star director – Stephen Sommers from the enjoyably silly Mummy films – and stellar cast, including Christopher Eccleston and Sienna Miller as well as Sommers’s old Mummy pals Brendan Fraser and Arnold Vosloo. If August 2009 is as much of a washout as 2008’s, summer legions of staycationers will be flocking to cinemas looking for some easygoing escapism, and this might just be it. Stills

34: Fanboys (February)

The long-delayed comedy which sees a group of rabid Star Wars fanatics attempting to steal an early print of The Phantom Menace for their dying pal finally gets a release early in 2009. A version of the movie with the cancer-stricken fan removed nearly made it to cinemas in 2008 but was met with a vast internet campaign that demonstrated the awesome power of the fanboy. We’re assured that the movie will finally be released in early 2009. TrailerFanboys on MySpace

33: Inkheart (January)

Brendan Fraser, fast becoming Hollywood’s go-to guy whenever kiddie-friendly action is required, joins with Andy Serkis, the man behind Gollum and King Kong, in this umpteenth attempt at the now-traditional ‘storybook miraculously comes to life’ plot. A little early for the half term crowd, but Fraser’s undeniable charm should bring in a few viewers. Trailer

32: The Surrogates (December)

A promisingly thoughtful sci-fi concept. Humanity is housebound and relies on remote-controlled drones to handle all the outdoors work. Bruce Willis stars as a futuristic detective investigating the apparent murder of these ‘surrogates’alongside former Bond Girl Rosamund Pike and charismatic bruiser Ving Rhames. Set photos

31: The International (February)

What could be more timely than a drama about the international banking system? Clearly, the producers didn’t appreciate the serendipity because it was delayed while additional, more action-packed, scenes were added. Will the world be tired of hearing about bankers by February? Naomi Watts and the thinking woman’s action man Clive Owen rather hope not. TrailerPoster

30: The Wolf Man (April)

We’ve had modern takes on Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and The Mummy, so it was only a matter of time before The Wolfman was disinterred for another howl around the moors. More important than star Benicio Del Toro will be the inclusion of everybody’s favourite wolfman, makeup supremo Rick Baker who provided the eye-popping transformations in American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Anthony Hopkins turns up as the unfortunate lycanthrope’s father. Art Malik and Hugo Weaving will also be along for what promises to be a dark and disturbing ride. Official site

29: The Spirit (January)

Will Eisner was one of the first comics writers to achieve personal fame and his best known creation, The Spirit, is considered by aficionados to be one of the great heroes of comics’ Golden Age. It’s surprising that we’ve had to wait this long to see the lighthearted Noir detective on the big screen. The director who has brought The Spirit to life is Frank Miller, himself a star comics writer (he wrote 300 and completely reinvigorated the industry in the 1980s with his Dark Knight Batman miniseries). Featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes the movie is shot in the same stylised hyper-realistic way that characterized Miller’s previous movie, Sin City. The Spirit is unlikely to break out of the fanboy demographic, but should provide undemanding comic book thrills in the long, cold weeks before Watchmen appears Trailer

28: A Perfect Getaway (March)

A complex twisty-turny chase thriller filmed in Puerto Rico but set in Hawaii and starring Milla Jovovich and, in a rare lead role, Hitman star Timothy Olyphant. Ideal for movie fans who like to be kept guessing until the final scene, it’s about a honeymooning couple pursued across the picturesque island by a pair of relentless killers. Expect the unexpected. IMDB entry

27: The Birds (2011)

Few details are available about this re-make of Hitchcock’s strangest movie. Naomi Watts is reputedly playing Melanie Daniels, the mischievous socialite portrayed byTippi Hedren in the 1963 film, and there’s talk of George Clooney for the role of Mitch Brenner, the smoothly irresistible lawyer who draws her to the doomed township of Bodega Bay. The original Times review

26: S. Darko (no release date announced)

An unexpected sequel to 2001’s hallucinatory time loop brain-teaser Donnie Darko, which already has fans of the original film near-apoplectic at its superfluity. Curiosity value alone guarantees S. Darko a strong opening weekend. Word of mouth will determine whether it can survive in theatres for more than a week, but it could equally become a cult smash. Poster sneak peek

25: Hannah Montana (May)

Dolly Parton, Tyra Banks, Heather Locklear and of course Billy Ray Cyrus help Destiny ‘Miley’ Cyrus bring the massively popular tween pop character comes to the big screen. In the wake of the vast box office for High School Musical 3, Hannah Montana looks like a safe bet for the big cinema smash of the Easter school break. Disney site

24: Dorian Gray (November)

The classic Oscar Wilde fable retold by an impressive collection of British thespian eye-candy including Colin Firth and Emilia Fox. Ben Barnes, little known outside the Narnia cognoscenti or the few remaining fans of doomed boyband Hyrise, plays the dissipated fop with the magical portrait. Read the book online The Times reviews the original stage play

23: Sherlock Holmes (November)

Some extraordinary casting distinguishes the umpteenth Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. as a tough, sword-flourishing Holmes and Jude Law as an even tougher, no-nonsense Watson in Guy Ritchie’s ‘reimagining’ of the ultimate sleuth. Based on Lionel Wigram’s comic book about the consulting detective rather than directly upon Conan Doyle’s books, the film also features Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, the captivating femme fatale introduced in an 1891 Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia. Read ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ online The Times reviews Holmes on stage in 1910

22: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (July)

Playing fast and loose with the accepted chronology of the age of the dinosaurs this third instalment of the CGI school holiday favourite has the primitive mammal heroes of the first two films somehow getting mixed up with a ‘lost world’ of surviving dinosaurs trapped beneath a glacier. John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, and Denis Leary provide voices for the computer created critters. Certain to both entertain undemanding under-fives and infuriate palaeontologists in equal measure, this has the air of being the last film in the series. Trailer

21: Nottingham (November)

Russell Crowe plays dual roles in this revision of the Robin Hood legend. If you can trust anyone, it’s a bona fide cinema genius like director Ridley Scott but Hood and Nottingham with the same face sounds like a recipe for chuckles rather than thrills. News item

20: Bride Wars (January)

Bride Wars is evidence that blockbuster movies aren’t always for the boys. With a near-unbeatable chick flick cast (Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen), it’s an implausible tale of best friends clashing over a wedding day scheduling conflict. With the release date close enough to Valentine’s Day to warrant inclusion on the schedule of a fair percentage of early February dinner dates, it stands a reasonable chance of a strong mid-table performance on the box-office charts for the year. Trailers

19: 2012 (July)

Master of disaster Roland Emmerich (The Day after Tomorrow, Godzilla, Independence Day) assembles an impressive cast including John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover for an apocalyptic epic based on a 7th Century Mayan prophecy. Never one to do things by halves, Emmerich will apparently open the film with the end of the world as we know it and let things escalate from there. Director interview

18: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (January)

Brad Pitt leads the cast of this fable taken from an F.Scott Fitzgerald story about a man who is born in his seventies and ages in reverse. Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton feature in a story that spans a lifetime. Read the original story online TV spot

17: The Lovely Bones (March)

Saoirse Ronan narrates from beyond the grave in this brave adaptation of Alice Sebold’s practically unfilmable novel. A fine cast (not only Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon but also Stanley Tucci, former Soprano and now Life on Mars star Michael Imperioli and winner of the ‘most unpredictable career choices’ award Mark Wahlberg) added to Lord of the Rings (and more importantly Heavenly Creatures) director Peter Jackson’s formidable talent promise a thoughtful, thought-provoking gem. News feature

16: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

A Terry Gilliam film is always something of a curiosity: ploughing his own off-kilter furrow away from the calcified strictures of Hollywood cliché, he has made films that, while differing wildly in subject matter (Brazil, The Fisher King, Baron Munchausen), share a distinctively baroque surrealism. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a curiosity even among Gilliam films, containing as it does the final performance of Heath Ledger. Because Ledger did not survive to complete the movie, Gilliam has enlisted Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to share the lead role with the departed star. Adding an extra surreal twist to the Faustian fantasy, this is sure to be one of the most talked-about films of 2009. Official site

15: Coraline (May)

Cult author Neil Gaiman’s dark fairytale gets a faithful adaptation which will entrance anyone who enjoyed Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas or, indeed, anyone who has ever escaped through a secret door in their bedroom that leads to a mysterious parallel version of their own home. Official site

14: They Came from Upstairs (July)

Ashley Tisdale, the delightfully pushy blonde Sharpay from High School Musical, leads a group of teens fighting an alien invasion in this light-hearted family adventure. Closer to Gremlins or Critters than War of the Worlds, They Came from Upstairs will be one of those guilty movie gems films you might take a young relative along to, but secretly quite enjoy. Trailer

13: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June)

The inevitable sequel to last year’s surprise hit features more action, more laughs, and more shape-shifting robots. Michael Bay and Shia LeBoef return as director and star respectively with the astoundingly attractive Megan Fox as Shia’s love interest, a more international battleground and the eagerly anticipated introduction of fan favourite Soundwave. Official site

12: The Taking of Pelham 123 (August)

If there’s a unifying trend to 2009 it’s the classic remake, and The Taking of Pelham 123 is nothing if not a classic. A major influence on new genre filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino (note the colour-coded names for the main characters) the 1970s original doesn’t seem in much need of an update. Nevertheless director Tony Scott, who’s been a little quiet for the last few years, has recruited old pal Denzel Washington as well as John Travolta and James Gandolfini to revisit the brilliantly improbable tube train hijack caper. Purists who are wincing at the thought should probably know now that Scott plans to start work on a retread of The Warriors next. StillsThe Times reviews the original 1974 movie

11: The Informant (September)

Matt Damon and Scott Bakula star in Steven Soderbergh’s promising black comedy based on a true story about the ostensibly dull world of agribusiness price fixing. If you enjoyed The Insider and would like to see much the same film again, but this time laced with some mordant humour and featuring a bipolar hero, this might be just the movie for you.

10: Inglourious Basterds (June)

Quentin Tarantino returns with an eclectic cast (Brad Pitt, Mike Myers and star of Hitcock’s The Birds Rod Taylor) and another one of his playful reinventions of 1970s genre cinema. This time he moves from the American underworld to World War 2, with a team of Jewish-American special forces operating behind German lines, terminating Nazi commanders with extreme prejudice. Anyone who likes Tarantino, war movies in the vein of The Dirty Dozen or Nazis getting their comeuppance will undoubtedly love this movie. Fans of correct spelling may be less thrilled. IGN podcast

9: Terminator Salvation (June)

The long-awaited ‘future war’ segment of the Terminator saga, previously only hinted at in the first three movies, dominates proceedings in Charlie’s Angels director McG’s bold reawakening of the killer robot franchise. Christian Bale, fresh from his spectacular triumph as one fanboy hero in Dark Knight essays another – John Connor, charismatic leader of the anti-Skynet forces who the Terminators have been trying to eliminate for the last three films. Roland Kickinger will be the principal Terminator this because Arnold Schwarzenegger is said to be too busy running California to appear as the iconic cyborg killing machine and Anton Yelchin, Sam Worthington and Helena Bonham-Carter are along for the ride. Official site Trailer

8: Monsters vs. Aliens (April)

A CGI mock-B-movie with a distinctly eclectic cast list – Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Colbert lend their voices., Monsters v Aliens will go some of the way towards sating the enormous demand for a second Incredibles movie. Reese Witherspoon provides the voice of a young Californian woman who grows to gigantic size, after a freak meteorite encounter, and is recruited into a secret agency of super-freaks who are sent to battle a gigantic alien robot. Trailer

7: Avatar (December)

James Cameron’s long-awaited high-technology blockbuster shares some basic ideas with The Surrogates (Humans use humanoid remote drones, in this case to explore an alien planet) and some with Planet 51 (we are the invaders). In terms of technological ambition and cinematic reach though, this movie should be without equal. Sigourney Weaver, who combined so well for Cameron in the past reunites with her Aliens director As long as Cameron doesn’t allow the story to become too cerebral for mainstream audiences Avatar stands a fair chance of being the biggest movie of the year. Teaser trailer

6: Angels & Demons (May)

In the wake of the Da Vinci Code, another recklessly improbable Dan Brown adventure gets the Tom Hanks treatment. Ewan McGregor comes on board this time for a breakneck chase around Vatican City in search of some antimatter, the Illuminati and a decent haircut. The critics will snigger, and Dan Brown fans (of whom there are many) will ignore them and make May one of the busiest months at the box office. Teaser trailer

5: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May)

Hugh Jackman’s back for an X-Men prequel set 17 years before the action of the first movie.The film traces the early career of Logan, the indestructible mutant who will one day be X-Man Wolverine. Cameos from future X-Men and the chance to see how Logan acquired his deadly claws and curious hairdo give the film a geek power that will set the internet buzzing ahead of the premiere. It will be interesting to see how this performs after the third X-Men movie was seen by many to be something of a mis-step in the X-franchise. Marvel Comics page Teaser trailer

4: Watchmen (March)

Alan Moore’s superlative comic book finally, against the author’s will, reaches the big screen. There’s little doubt for anyone who’s read the original comic that this movie will be a huge triumph. We know the ending has been amended but every scene that’s been seen so far is slavishly faithful to Dave Gibbons’s original drawings, with just a few costume tweaks to make Nite Owl look a little less ridiculous and Silk Spectre a little bit sexier. How Watchmen will play to audiences who haven’t already been seduced by Moore’s vision of a parallel universe Cold War showdown between the members of a disbanded hero team remains to be seen. You can be sure, however, that every comic geek in the western world will see this film, and either rave about it or rail against it on the internet for evermore. Blockbuster Buzz on Watchmen Official site Trailer Featurette

3: Star Trek (May)

J.J. Abrams attempts to reinvigorate the slightly tired Star Trek franchise with a story set immediately before the action of the first TV series. Winona Ryder looks set for a return to the big leagues as Amanda Grayson – Spock’s mum. British geek god Simon Pegg turns up as Scotty, and Zachary Quinto the dark presence at the heart of TV’s Heroes certainly looks the part as a young Spock. Expect tricksy time travel shenanigans, freak transporter accidents and a clever, ubiquitous and ultimately slightly annoying viral marketing campaign. Official site Alan Coren on Star Trek in 1976 TeaserTheatrical trailer

2: Public Enemies (July)

Creator of Miami Vice Michael Mann guides the apparently tireless Christian Bale (who appears to be in every movie of any note these days) and Johnny Depp in a period gangster romp about the FBI’s search for John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd that is perfectly timed to chime with the new Great Depression. Location video The Times on Dillinger’s shooting Official stills

1: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July)

Harry Potter fans will already have a fairly good idea of what happens in this, the sixth film in the hugely popular boy wizard film adapted from JK Rowling’s all-conquering books. It was an early script draft of this film that prompted Rowling to ‘out’ Dumbledore while promoting the final Potter book. Trailer Official site

The 50 Biggest Movies of 2009 | 2009 Movies Guide – Times Online

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best director
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant – Milk

Best actor
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best actress
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

Best supporting actress
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best supporting actor
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Best foreign language film
Revanche – Austria
The Class – France
The Baader Meinhof Complex – Germany
Departures – Japan
Waltz With Bashir – Israel

Best animated feature film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best original screenplay
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Wall-E
In Bruges
Frozen River

Best original score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Best original song
Down To Earth – Wall-E
Jai Ho – Slumdog Millionaire
O Saya – Slumdog Millionaire

Art direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Cinematography
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader

Costume design
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Australia
Milk
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Best documentary feature
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble The Water

Best documentary short subject
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306

Film editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Make-up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best live action short film
Auf der Strecke (On The Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best animated short film
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory – Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Sound editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Iron Man
Wanted
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Sound mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Wanted
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Visual effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

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