17. The Adjustment Bureau dir. George Nolfi [Sept. 17 - Wide]
Why: Strong cast led by Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and John Slattery- Why: Philip K. Dick is always a good go-to author for compelling, modern sci-fi
- Why Not: Delays and rumors/early buzz that it's nothing more than O.K.
16. The Town dir. Ben Affleck [Sept. 10]
Why: Affleck's directing debut, Gone Baby Gone, was an excellent start to a new career path- Why: Wonderful cast, including Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper, and the lovely Rebecca Hall
- Why Not: No promotional material or buzz. Anywhere.
15. Machete dir. Robert Rodriguez [Sept. 3 - Wide]
Why: Crazy, off-the-walls trailer featuring a bizarro cast of everyone from Robert DeNiro to Lindsay Lohan- Why Not: Could just be over-stylized junk
14. Easy A dir. Will Gluck [Sept. 17 - Wide]
Why: A return to high school in the vein of Mean Girls or Clueless- Why: Great cast led by Emma Stone, who finally gets to lead a comedic feature
- Why Not: All of the best parts/jokes might be in the trailer; could be too routine
13. Get Low dir. Aaron Schneider [July 30 - Limited]
Why: Strong, older cast led by Robert "I want my second Oscar" Duvall and Sissy Spacek- Why: Looks like a mature, wryly funny look at death (sort of)
- Why Not: Reviews make it seem like this year's Crazy Heart: a performance surrounded by a movie
12. Predators dir. Nimrod Antal [July 9 - Wide]
Why: Executive-produced by Robert Rodriguez- Why: Interesting cast including Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, and Walter Goggins, who did wonderful work on the first season of FX's new show Justified
- Why Not: Is it just another lame reboot with better visual effects?
11. Salt dir. Phillip Noyce [July 23 - Wide]
Why: Angelina Jolie firmly in her comfort zone: bad-ass action heroine- Why: Good supporting cast including Liev Schreiber and Chiwetal Ejiofor
- Why: Apparently it went over well at a recent SAG screening
- Why Not: SAG screening audiences tend to like a lot of films they're shown if they have stars...
10. Centurion dir. Neil Marshall [July 30 - Video On Demand]
Why: Despite the troubles securing a US release date, early reviews have been strong- Why: Another chance for burgeoning talents Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurlyenko to prove themselves
- Why Not: Well...if you don't have VOD, good luck finding it...
09. Legend of the Guardians dir. Zack Snyder [Sept. 24 - Wide]
Why: Thrilling trailer and gorgeous animation that gives Pixar a run for its money in terms of detail- Why: Stellar voice cast, with everyone from Abbie Cornish to Helen Mirren to Geoffrey Rush
- Why Not: Let's hope Zack Snyder keeps the slow-down-speed-up action technique to a minimum this time
08. The Expendables dir. Sylvester Stallone [Aug. 13 - Wide]
Why: Practically every action star from the 80s up through the present is in here- Why: Should provide a much needed dose of relatively VFX-free, hardcore action
- Why Not: Rumors of a watered-down, PG-13 cut to appeal to "more sensitive audiences"
- Why Not: I don't think Sylvester Stallone has been intelligible since the early 90s (Judge Dredd, anyone?)
07. Buried dir. Rodrigo Cortes [Sept. 24 - Limited]
Why: Buzz from Sundance has been strong. Ryan Reynolds is tasked with carrying the entire film, and apparently he pulls it off.- Why: Great concept
- Why Not: Limited perspective/location films are often hit-or-miss
06. Mao's Last Dancer dir. Bruce Beresford [Aug. 20 - Limited]
Why: Interesting, relatively recent true story- Why: Beautiful looking dance sequences
- Why Not: Chi Cao seems a little wooden in the trailers
- Why Not: Romance angle could drag it down to pedestrian levels
05. Never Let Me Go dir. Mark Romanek [Sept. 15 - Limited]
Why: Stellar cast including Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Sally Hawkins, and Charlotte Rampling- Why: Chilling trailer and (allegedly) great source material (novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, who wrote Remains of the Day)
- Why Not: Is moving the film to an earlier release date a good sign, a bad sign, or something else entirely?
- Why Not: The issues at stake seem compelling as hell, but what if the actual narrative isn't?
04. The Kids Are All Right dir. Lisa Cholodenko [July 9 - Limited]
Why: Strong early word, especially for the performances from Annette Bening and Julianne Moore- Why: A film that takes on a real issue regarding gay couples, but with a lighter touch
- Why Not: It could be more of a performance piece
03. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World dir. Edgar Wright [Aug. 13 - Wide]
Why: Edgar Wright, who has proven himself adept at making films that both satirize genre conventions while also creating legitimate tension/intensity when needed (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)- Why: Bright, engaging special effects work that looks like it enhances, rather than detracts from, the action
- Why: Trailer showcases the beautiful, lightning-fast edits that work so well in his films
- Why Not: The most VFX-heavy film Wright has ever made; will he get bogged down?
- Why Not: Michael Cera still seems stuck playing...Michael Cera
02. The American dir. Anton Corbijn [Sept. 1 - Wide]
Why: Corbijn's follow-up to his excellent Control- Why: Compelling trailer featuring nice, understated visuals, without giving away the entire plot
- Why: Thekla Reutan, who worked magic with a thankless role in In Bruges, gets a major role this time around
- Why Not: No early buzz or reviews
- Why Not: Though the assassin cover may be relatively new, we've seen Clooney play the guy-disillusioned-with-his-job role quite a lot
01. Inception dir. Christopher Nolan [July 16 - Wide]
Why: Dazzling trailers that barely give a shred of plot information away- Why: Reportedly a mix of the mind-bending narrative style of Memento with the possibilities/gloss of The Dark Knight's budget
- Why: Fantastic ensemble cast
- Why Not: Is it too much of a mind-warp for its own good (Nolan does, however, claim otherwise in a recent NYTimes article)?
- Why Not: With such a big ensemble, will everyone be given enough material to work with, or will there be too many one-note characters?
