Posters Trailers and Expectations – 9 Most Wanted Movies

Great director leads to great expectations,every time when a director finished his new film,his next film project starts to receive attentions.I’m not a guy who goes to cinema every week to check out the latest movies,but I do have some expectations for the news films from some of my favorite directors.There used to be 10 films on this list,but I watched Lou Ye’s Mystery last weekend,so 9 is left.Below are the trailers,posters and my expectations of 9 of my most anticipated  films.

Holy Motors (2012) dir. Leos Carax

Holy Motors Poster

 

Holy Motors Trailer

 

Release Date of Holy Motors : 4 July 2012(France)

My expectations for Holy Motors :

I have expressed my high expectations for Holy Motors in a early post in February.As one of the few outstanding French director after the New Wave,Leos Carax’s cinema fascinates me every time I saw his films.I can’t quite understand what took him so long to make another film after his 1999 feature film Pola-X,but the waiting seems worth it.From the reviews I’ve read from Bonjour Tristesse,this new picture from Leos Carax is his typical style,which features bold performances and gorgeous shots.Holy Motors is still not a film for everyone,but for those who is looking for a different cinema,it might be the right choice.

 

Amour (2012) dir. Michael Haneke

Amour Movie Poster

Amour Movie Trailer

 

Release Date of Amour : 20 September 2012(Germany)

My expectations for Amour :

I’m not a fan of Michael Haneke,his films are just too cold for me to identify on an emotional level.The fact that Amour won the Palme d’Or this year and a potential winner in next year’s Oscar changed this,because I’m an award believer.As I took a closer look at the story and the cast of Amour,it ain’t that untouchable after all.I have never seen a film that discuss the relations between an old couple in a profound way(Make Way for Tomorrow only has some similar touches),and any films that has Jean-Louis Trintignant makes me want to see it,this man’s performances never let me down and I know he only gets better and better now.

 

The Master (2012) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

The Master Poster

The Master Trailer

 

Release Date of The Master : 21 September 2012(USA)

My expectations for The Master :

It is such a pity that Chinese audiences probably won’t have the chances to be able to see PTA’s new film The Master,from what I have heard,this is the darkest PTA film to date so it is unlikely to pass the censorship in China. PTA is among the top 3 current American director for me,his early Altman-like style Boogies Nights and Magnolia are incredibly good films,and his mature work There Will Be Blood should win Oscar Best Picture that year,The Master might miss the highest award next year again,but I think it has the chops to be the best American film this year,my expectations are sky high.

 

Django Unchained (2012) dir. Quentin Tarantino

Django Unchained Poster

Django Unchained Trailer

 

Release Date of Django Unchained : 25 December 2012(USA)

My expectations for Django Unchained :

Quentin Tarantino makes the kind of films that you always expect to see,especially this time Django Unchained is said to be a homage to one of his favorite genres – Spaghetti Western.I think Tarantino is gonna nail this one,judging from the homages he made to the films of the master of Spaghetti Western Sergio Leone in his previous films,he knew this genre very well,and we can expect some classic Western stuff from Django Unchained plus some inventions with unique Quentin Tarantino flavor in it.The last Western recently made I thoroughly enjoyed is the remake of 3:10 to Yuma by James Mangold,could Tarantino do a better job? Very likely!

 

Room 237 (2012) dir. Rodney Ascher

Room 237 Poster

Room 237 Trailer

 

Release Date of Room 237: 26 Octorber 2012(Ireland)

My expectations for Room 237 :

For any die-hard fans of Stanley Kubrick,watch Room 237 is a no-brainer. This documentary created big fuzz in this year’s Sundance Film Festival after it’s screened for the first time,Kubrick fans all over the world find something new to discuss and study.As one of the biggest mysteries created by Kubrick,the number of secrets hidden in The Shining is only less than his greatest myth 2001: A Space Odyssey.From the stuff I read online,Kubrick enthusiasts apparently offered many interpretations that far beyond the horror theme,one of the astonishing theory is the moon-landing conspiracy.Some theories in Room 237 might sound ridiculous,but as long as it’s Kubrick film puzzle-solving,there will always be many fans.

 

Life of Pi (2012) dir. Ang Lee

Life of Pi Poster

Life of Pi Trailer

 

Release Date of Life of Pi : 21 November 2012(USA)

My expectations for Life of Pi :

Life of Pi is not something I would expect from Ang Lee,who is best known for tackling culture conflict in family dramas and subtle relations in forbidden love stories.It was forced to move its release date a month earlier to avoid another big fantasy film – Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.After its first screening in New York Film Festival,Life of Pi received positive reviews about its stunning visuals.For a fantasy adventure film,visuals are vital,if Ang Lee gets this right,it couldn’t be bad.I’m also curious to see how he deals with a new subject and makes breakthroughs in his career.

 

The Grandmasters (2012) dir. Wong Kar-wai

The Grandmasters Poster

The Grandmasters Trailer

 

Release Date of The Grandmasters : 18 December 2012(China)

My expectations for The Grandmasters :

2046 took Hongkong auteur Wong Kar-wai 4 years to finish,while The Grandmasters took longer times,after 5 years since the beginning of the shooting,this new film with a story of martial-arts master Ip Man who trained Bruce Lee finally is gonna meet the Chinese audiences in December.After the departure with his long collaborator cinematographer Christopher Doyle,Wong’s last film My Blueberry Nights received poor reactions from critics and his fans.The fight in the rain scene in the trailer of The Grandmasters looks marvelous with Tony Leuang’s brilliantly choreographed kick-ass actions.Let’s hope the master is back.

 

Drug War (2012) dir. Johnnie To

Drug War Poster

Drug War Trailer

 

Release Date of Drug War : December 2012(China)

My expectations for Drug War :

Though recently Johnnie To starts to train new promising directors with himself as producers,he still remains quite prolific.His last phenomenon film,Life without Principle was selected as the Hongkong submission to compete in the Best Foreign Language category in next’s Oscar,which raised high expectations to his new film Drug War,in which he re-unites his regular writer Ka-Fai Wai and actor Louis Koo from previous Milky Way Image films.It is shot in mainland China which is a trend for many Hongkong directors in recent years,if it is an average To thriller,that would be enjoyable.

 

The Assassin (2013) dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Release Date of The Assassin : April or May 2013(China)

My expectations for The Assassin :

Believe me,Hou’s new film The Assassin would be a sensation.He prepared seven years for it,and called back some of his regulars,like actors Chang Chen and Shu Qi,cinematographer Lee Pin Bing Lee and screen writer Zhu Tianwen.Fans have been waiting too long that some of them even thought he was retired,until recently,his new film The Assassin was announced to shoot in Mainland China.It is now shot in Wudang Mountain,one of the big four Buddhism mountains,and Hou said in an interview that his wuxia film will be more realistic and less special effects will be used,compared to Ang Lee’s famous wuxia film Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon.I will report the latest shooting process of The Assassin in my future posts.

Are these films also on your wishlist? What does your wishlist look like? What’s your expectations for them? Please share it in the comments below.