Top 50 Most Anticipated Films of 2010: List 39-30

By our guest blogger, Tim Strain

Editor's Note:  Guest blogger Tim Strain has compiled his list of the 50 most anticipated movies of 2010.  WeekinRewind.com will offer 5-10 per day, starting from the bottom and ending at the number-one spot.  Tim wanted us to note this:  "By the time the final portion of the list has been published, 'Shutter Island' will already have been released.  I hope you appreciate cinema enough to have made it to Scorsese’s newest on opening night.  Please look for it later on this list as it progresses."  Thanks to Tim.  Below is his list.  You can read Part 1 here.  You can read Part 2 here.

30. The Company Men (John Wells)
Essentially, it's “Up in the Air” for those of you who didn’t like “Up in the Air.” Long-time TV producer John Wells (“The West Wing”) has a hell of a cast lined up for his directorial debut. Ben Affleck, Mario Bello, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Rosemary DeWitt star in a story about the men who were on the other side of the table (or Internet connection) from George Clooney in “Up in the Air,” and the families who must deal with the devastation that job loss causes today. Vulture says it’s the movie “Up in the Air” should have been.

31. The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
Payne, one of the best at capturing the little moments that matter, is back in the director’s chair for the first time since 2004’s “Sideways.” Unfortunately, he won’t be working with his own script as this was written by screenwriter rookie Nat Faxon as adapted from the book by Kaui Hart Hemmings. George Clooney plays a recently widowed father who decides to take his two daughters on a cross-country trip to discover themselves and the man who his wife was having an affair with. The older daughter is played by Shailene Woodley, star of ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager."

32. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance)
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, two of the young greats, are paired as a couple in a dying relationship. The story cuts back and forth between the painful present and happier past. Both actors already have proved that they can play characters totally torn up by pain and guilt. Reviews from Sundance have been stellar. Grizzly Bear provides the soundtrack.


33. Cyrus (Duplass Brothers)
As a cinematic moviement, I don’t know what mumblecore is, you might not know what mumblecore is, but it sounds enticing. The Duplass brothers are apparently the crème de la crème of this new and growing cinematic movement, and are trying to merge into the mainstream with their newest film. It revolves around a weird love triangle that develops among a depressed guy (John C. Reilly), the woman he falls for (Marisa Tomei), and her fully grown and very attached adult son (Jonah Hill). Neil Miller of Total Rejects said the film is a “one of the most awkward, yet thoroughly hilarious movies I’ve seen in a long while.”

34. Tron: Legacy (Joseph Kosinski)
Jeff Bridges reprises his role from the 1982 cult classic “Tron” in Disney’s very expensive and sharp-looking sequel. The budget reports have been all over the map, with some whispering the total package cost $300 million before Disney suits squashed the rumors. Whatever the number is, it is big for a first-time director, which Joseph Kosinski is. Based on the trailer, every dollar shows. It may all just be dots following straight lines, but it will look good.

35. Life During Wartime (Todd Solondz)
IFC just picked up the rights to Solondz’s quasi-sequel to the depression-inducing 1998 indie “Happiness.” If you happened to see that movie--or any of Solondz's work, especially "Welcome to the Dollhouse"--then you already know why this is a must.

36. Hesher (Spencer Susser)
Trashy Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the titular role, a greasy-haired, chain-smoking loner with a rocky past who lives in van until his fate becomes intertwined with 13-year-old T.J. (Devin Brochu) and grocery clerk Nicole (Natalie Portman). Rainn Wilson also stars.Gordon-Levitt  is one of the best actors alive, and Portman is coming off her career-best in “Brothers.” This Sundace Festival hit is helmed by freshman director Spencer Susser.

37. A Thorn in the Heart (Michael Gondry)
If anything, this surely will be one of the most personal films of the year. Gondry documents the life of his aunt, a school teacher in France. Seeing the whimsical, highly stylized director tackle a non-narrative documentary is intriguing.

38. All Good Things (Andrew Jarecki)
Jarecki made “Capturing the Friedmans” one of the best documentaries of the decade and a heartbreaker in general. This is his first live-action work, an esemble featuring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Frank Langella, Philip Baker Hall, John Doman and Kristen Wiig. It revolves around one of the most notorious unsolved murders in New York history, focusing on the detective trying to solve the case. This is a product of the artist formerly known as The Weinstein Company, though, so it’s anybody’s guess whether it will see the light of day this year.


39. London Boulevard (William Monahan)
William Monahan, the genius who wrote “The Departed,” makes his directorial debut. He’s got a great cast in Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone and Eddie Marsan, and with the aforementioned Oscar winner on his resume, he knows how to write ensembles. Farrell is a recently freed ex-con trying to keep clean who takes a job with a fading movie star (Knightley). Various shady types (the aforementioned talent) have other plans for him, though.