Now that Avatar and Sherlock Holmes have been released, the 2009 movie season has officially come to an end. Though it’s ok to still revel in December’s bounty – enjoy the two aforementioned blockbusters and Up In the Air - it is time to look ahead to 2010 and, in particular, the flicks due out in the next eight weeks. For theatergoers, the first two months of every year typically offer few highs and many lows. So, as a winter preview, here are the bros and cons for January and February, the movies that will make you either flex or flaccid.

Bros: Michael Cera has a mustache in Youth in Revolt.
Cons: Cera’s painfully awkward shtick works best when he’s alongside a confident, cocky foil. Here, he costars with himself.

Bros: Dwayne Johnson headlines a movie that was originally written for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Cons: It’s about a hockey player that becomes the tooth fairy.

Bros: Two actors with the potential to be the next big action star, Matthew Goode (Watchmen) and Josh Duhammel (Transformers), each have a new movie coming out.
Cons: They’re the romantic comedies Leap Year and When In Rome.

Bros: District B13, the fantastic French film that featured several Parkour chase scenes, has a sequel due out in February.
Cons: You can already order it On Demand for $6.99. Ouch.

Bros: Leo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese team up again for Shutter Island, a psychological thriller from the author of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.
Cons: It’s been delayed twice and several different versions of the trailer have been released. These two things that suggest that the test screens haven’t gone very well

Bros: Benicio Del Toro finally gets a chance to headline a big budget, special effects-riddled tent pole.
Cons: The Wolfman is just the latest submission to the lame Vampire / Werewolf genre.

Bros: Harrison Ford steps out of his comfort zone to star in a movie where he’s not trying to save his family (Extraordinary Measure).
Cons: He’s trying to save Brendan Fraser’s.

Bros: Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan play policemen in Kevin Smith’s Cop Out. The ‘By the Books Officer Forced to Work with the Wacky Up-and-Comer’ formula tends to work - see Starsky and Hutch and 48 Hours.
Cons: The trailer was painfully unfunny and Stifler is the third lead.

Bros: Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Julia Roberts, and Jessica Biel are all in the same movie.
Cons: Unfortunately, it’s in this year’s He’s Just Not that Into You - Valentine’s Day.

Bros: Denzel wields a machete and is ‘mankind’s only hope’ in The Book Of Eli. Also, he’s rocking some sick shades and a killer beard.
Cons: I just don’t trust the release date. The first week of January is ground zero for crap. I’m pulling for Washington though. 

Bros: Jackie Chan gets back to his slapstick, kung-fu roots with The Spy Next Door, a family-friendly flick about a superspy that must go undercover to protect a family.  
Cons: I’ve already seen The Pacifier.

Bros: Daybreakers proves that vampires will be hot in 2010, too.
Cons: Daybreakers proves that vampires will be hot in 2010, too.

Bros: The end of February brings us Takers, a heist film with Paul Walker.
Cons: Chris Brown and T.I. are also in it. Side Note: this movie was originally called Bone Deep. How furious must Walker have been when he found out that they were changing the name?

Bros: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, due out in over seven weeks, is already advertising heavily and, with a President’s Day release date, may be the money-maker of January and February. (I guess the ‘bro’ here would be that Pierce Brosnan is in it).
Cons: I’ve seen Avatar twice and this trailer ran both times. I still can’t remember a thing about it.

Bros: Travolta and stylized violence is a potent mix (see Face Off, Pulp Fiction, and Broken Arrow) and From Paris With Love looks like it features a handful of slow motion gunfights. (Also, the director’s last two movies were Taken and District B13).
Cons: The whole baldhead, goatee, wisecracking badass thing didn’t really do it for me in Taking of Pelham 123. Why will it work here?

Bros: Mel Gibson is back in Edge of Darkness!
Cons: None. Didn’t you hear? Mel Fucking Gibson is back.

Comments (1)

Write comment

Name

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment