Looking Ahead to '09

Another part of Dark Horizon's list of notable 2009 releases are up, with a few I will be looking forward to:

The Fighter, opening some time in 2009 was being developed for a while, but it looks like Darren Aronofsky's follow up to The Wrestler will make it to the big screen. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt, the movie tells the story of Dicky Eklund, a talented fighter that turned to crime and landed in prison. Eventually he turns his life around and helps train his under performing half brother. With Aronofsky's success with The Wrestler, another sports themed movie might serve him well. Wahlberg has trained for a year getting into shape, so hopefully the combination of all this talent will make the film a contender come awards season. And Darren Aronofsky went to my high school, and he is the man.

Green Zone, starring Matt Damon and directed by Paul Greengrass, this film hopes to break the streak and be a successful drama about the Iraq war. The film is based on the book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", and follows CIA agents as they search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. If you're a fan of the Bourne franchise and Paul Greengrass' handheld, documentary style film making, this picture should be right up your alley. Has a lot of potential with Greengrass, Damon and the very talented Amy Ryan (see Gone Baby Gone, and The Office).

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, obviously the interest in this movie depends on if you can stand Harry Potter or despise him. I can stand him, and I will be looking forward to the releaseof this film, which was delayed from this past winter season to July 17th. The film should be one of the best in the series, with director David Yates returning as director, and Prince being one of the best books in the series. Either way, it will make a shitload of money this summer.

Howl, opening sometime in 2009 is a movie I hadn't heard much about, but looks interesting stars James Franco, and concerns the obscenity trial launched to censor Allen Ginsberg's controversial 'Howl'. The movie has animated segments mixed in from the book/poem and will deal with issues of morality and censorship. I haven't seen Milk, but from what I have heard Franco was excellent, and he should bring the same quality of work to this film. The stellar supporting cast includes David Strathairn, Alan Alda, Mary Louise Parker, Jeff Daniels and Paul Rudd.

The Human Factor, after seeing Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, I will definitely be interested in seeing what he will do with this film. Eastwood directs this film, which covers the campaign by rugby star Francois Pienaar and President Nelson Mandela to secure the 1995 Rugby World Cup to give the whites and blacks in South Africa a common cause to rally around as the country was trying to heal from the wounds of apartheid. If that's not enough, the movie stars Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman. If that isn't enough to garner some Oscar buzz, I'm not sure how else to go about it.