The Big 2010 Preview All the films that matter in the next 12 months
Here it is: a comprehensive, exhaustive and exhausting look at all the big and small movies headed our way in 2010. From the biggest blockbuster and most Oscar-baiting dramas to the small films that just might blow us away, we've gathered them all here - and, for your convenience, assembled them in an easy-to-scan format broken down into categories that will give you some idea of next year's trends and stars. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 2010... WORDS HELEN O'HARA, ALASTAIR PLUMB, PHIL DE SEMLYEN
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Breakout Brit It's always a little difficult to predict in advance the big British hitters in a given year, because the best of them tend to break out of nowhere (Four Weddings and a What? A Fish Called Who?) and don't set release dates as early as their American cousins. But the British films we can see coming in 2010 are an interesting bunch.
Jimi Mistry, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nathalie Cox and Luke Mably in Exam
First up, on JANUARY 8, is Exam, Stuart Hazeldine's twisted take on The Apprentice. A group of high-achievers sit a competitive exam for a plum job at a mysterious company - but the exam isn't what they were expecting. The cast is largely unknown or character actors (Colin Salmon, Jimi Mistry), which will help to keep you guessing as the twists and turns mount up.
On JANUARY 22 that's followed by 44 Inch Chest, starring Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and Ian McShane. Like swearing? Like gangsters? Like a bit of Cock-er-nee in your life? Then you're going to love this. Oh, and word is that there's some great performances in there too, hidden underneath a thick layer of effing and blinding.
Rhys Ifans as Howard Marks in Mr. Nice
The next big Brit offering is Mr Nice on FEBRUARY 26, Rhys Ifans playing enormously successful marijuana smuggler Howard Marks. If you went to university any time from about 1996 on, you'll have read the book, and director Bernard Rose is the man behind Ivanxtc and The Kreutzer Sonata, so we can expect a pretty intelligent take on the material.
APRIL 7 sees the release of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's Cemetery Junction, the 1970s-set insurance salesman comedy. Gervais has described it as "a cross between The Office and Mad Men", which kinda sounds like the best thing ever. Our only worry is, given that a TV spin-off is already planned, will this be sufficiently cinematic to fill the big screen? Can Gervais and Merchant have as big an impact on film as they did on TV? Let's hope!
After that, on MAY 21 we'll see the very long-awaited Hippie Hippie Shake, a film that Working Title has had on its To Do list since 1998, and which was shot in 2007. Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy star as the couple who launched the radical magazine Oz in the UK in 1967, and were prosecuted for obscenity as a result. After The Boat That Rocked, another journey through the swingin' Sixties may not seem so appetising, and the fact that director Beebee Kidron walked away in post-production is worrying, but test screening reactions online have generally been very positive - and not just about Miller's on-screen nudity.
