Most Anticipated Films of the Second Half of 2011

It is time for me to make a new list of most anticipated films.  The Tree of Life was my most anticipated film for around three years, and now the spot on the top is vacant.  Who takes it?  Here is a rundown of the most exciting and interesting films to come out the rest of 2012 that have an official release date.  Just missing the list was David Cronenberg's new A Dangerous Method because its trailer failed to excite me.
 

20. The Sitter

David Gordon Green has received some hate over his last film, Your Highness.  I genuinely liked the movie and am anticipating his next.  The Sitter seems to be more in the form of Your Highness and Pineapple Express, instead of similar to the films that won him acclaim (George Washington, Undertow, and All the Real Girls)

19. Weekend 

This independent film has received rave reviews on the festival circuit.  We'll see how it is when it gets a release.

18. Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud

The plot of this film doesn't look too interesting, but Stephen Daldry has yet to fail to please.  I'll be looking forward to seeing if he can keep his streak of Best Director nominations intact.

17. J. Edgar

I chose Eastwood's film for the sole reason that DiCaprio will be playing J. Edgar Hoover.  While Eastwood has been rather hit (Letters from Iwo Jima), miss (Gran Torino, Invictus), and average (Flags of Our Fathers, Changeling, Hereafter) over the last few years, DiCaprio has been on fire and has been extremely picky in what films he has starred in.  He could very well give a great performance and pick up his first and overdue Oscar.

16. Mysteries of Lisbon

Raul Ruiz's newest film is an epic, to say the least, running at four hours and thirty minutes long. It will be released August 5th by Music Box films, meaning it will likely not get a big release.

15. Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene, starring Elizabeth Olson and John Hawkes, is a tightly written thriller that premiered at Sundance and continued to wow at Cannes.  Who would think I would have a film starring the little sister of the Olson twins on my most anticipated list?

14. Bernie

Richard Linklater's new film looks at the murder of a millionaire who's companion is the gay title character played by Jack Black.   Even more, the film will be a comedy and the character of Bernie.  It will draw comparisons to I Love You,  Phillip Morris.  The film opened with a good response at the Los Angeles Film Festival and comparisons have been made to Linklater's highly acclaimed Slacker.

13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tomas Alfredson, director of Let the Right One In, will be trying his hand at making an English language film.  The trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was released last week and it looks to be a tightly written spy thriller.  Let the Right One In is an amazing film and hopefully Alfredson can follow up. 

12. The Kid With a Bike

The Dardenne Brothers' (L'enfant), The Kid With a Bike, opened to critical praise at Cannes.  I've not yet seen any of their films even though they have all been loved by the critics.  The only negative responses to the film were that the Dardennes keep rehashing the same techniques, forms, and themes that they have in their previous films.

11. Hugo

Martin Scorsese's newest film gets a release late this year and may contend for Oscars.  The new film from Scorsese, need I say more?  I would have it up higher if we had a trailer or something that could increase my interest.  It recently had a name change from Hugo Cabret to just plain Hugo.

10. Contagion

Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, is on of the auteur's last films after he announced he would retire (he has around five left, let's see if he keeps his bluff).  Not much is known yet about the film which will be released in December besides the fact that the plot centers around an international pandemic.

9. The Descendants 

George Clooney looks to be in top form in the newest film from Alexander Payne.  Even though I wasn't a huge fan of Payne's earlier film, Sideways, I did enjoyed his first film, Election.  The Descendants looks to continue his directorial and writing style

8. Take Shelter

Michael Shannon stars in this critically acclaimed film that opened at Sundance and later stormed Cannes, no punned intended.  With all the recent tornado disasters that have devastated the Plains, this film couldn't come at a more fitting moment.   Shannon has been amazing in his recent films, especially My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done and he will likely be great in this too. 

7. Senna

I usually do not anticipate documentaries that much, but Senna is a different story.  It uses real racing footage to document the life and death of Formula One driver, Aryton Senna.  Early reviews of the film have praise coming from all corners, even those Brits and Europeans who hate F1 racing.

6. Moneyball

Bennett Miller's first feature, Capote, opened to rave reviews and an Oscar nomination for the director.  He looks to follow up with Moneyball which stars Brad Pitt who looks to turn around a struggling baseball team.  Usually I don't go for sports dramas, but this one looks really good.

5. Drive

Drive is the rare action film that gets great reviews at Cannes.  I have only heard great things about the film and that it was the favorite of many critics at Cannes and might have not won the top award (it did however win Best Director) because of its genre.

4. The Skin I Live In (El Piel Que Habito)

Pedro Almodovar is one of my favorite directors of all time and for that reason alone I am highly anticipating the film.  The Skin I Live In reunites Almodovar with one of his former muses Antonio Banderas (The Law of Desire, Matador) after twenty one years between working on films.  The film premiered at Cannes to decent and above average reviews and Almodovar calls it his attempt at making a horror film.

3. We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lynne Ramsay is a highly acclaimed yet little known director (Morvern Callar, Ratcatcher) who's latest film, We Need to Talk About Kevin received great reviews at Cannes.  The film centers around two parents, Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly who try to cope with their problematic son.

2. Melancholia

Lars Von Trier has always been known to be a provocative filmmaker.  I have only seen his film Antichrist which is a great film yet very difficult to sit through.  His newest film, Melancholia, was not nearly as contentious when it opened to positive reviews in Cannes and a best actress award for Kirsten Dunst.

1. The Artist

The Artist was let into the official competition category at Cannes at the last minute as rumors spread that the film was very good and deserved a spot in the main lineup.  When the black and white and silent film opened it received rave reviews and has been picked up by the Weinstein company for American distribution and likely Oscar contention.  More importantly, the film looks very good and will likely be a crowd pleaser.