I did not get to write a typical holiday column last week giving thanks to all of the great movies out in theaters. With class canceled on Wednesday, I was more concerned with recovering from the traffic I encountered on my way back to New Jersey than putting together 600 words for The Daily. I had almost forgotten how awful it is to drive in and out of Massachusetts. New Jersey drivers are not perfect, but drivers from Massachusetts are by far the worst I've come up against, and criticizing them in a public forum is pleasantly cathartic.
Despite the awfulness that is the Massachusetts Turnpike, I am almost relieved I didn't have to write a column last week. Fandango is full of show times for remarkable crap. Adam Sandler in drag? Team Edward or Team Jacob? I am one Nicolas Cage sighting away from choosing Team Prozac. We have officially hit the pre−Christmas lull. Luckily for you, there is a light at the end of the "Twilight" tunnel.
Listed below are five upcoming releases to look forward to in December in order of importance:
5. "Shame" comes out in a limited release this Friday, equipped with an NC−17 rating and the alluring Michael Fassbender in the lead role. Fassbender is the new Christian Bale: mysteriously handsome, edgy and very skilled. To further the comparison, GQ recently selected Fassbender for their "Men of the Year" issue and described his performance as "Patrick Bateman in a minor key." The film is about a young and successful New Yorker who struggles to contain his extreme sexual urges. "Shame" has received critical acclaim since the Venice Film Festival. Oh, yeah, and watch out for Fassbender'sfassbender, because there's supposed to be plenty of full−frontal in this one.
4. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is the film adaptation of Jonathan SafranFoer's literary hit from 2005. The cast includes Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, John Goodman and James Gandolfini. Director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth have seven Oscar nominations and one win between them — Roth won Best Adapted Screenplay for "Forrest Gump" (1994). The film comes out Christmas Day, but it has the potential to flop with a Sept. 11 coming−of−age story about a young boy who tries to cope with the death of his father.
3. "War Horse" also premieres Dec. 25. Steven Spielberg's return to live−action movies is an epic about a horse's journey during World War I. This film will attract viewers of all ages and might as well be nominated for a half−dozen Oscars already. I would be shocked if this one doesn't destroy all box−office competition.
2. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" hits theaters four days before "War Horse" and has the luxury of appealing to the zillions of people worldwide who read the book. Director David Fincher comes back a year after being robbed of his Oscar statue for "The Social Network" (2010), and this time, he gets to team up with Daniel Craig. Check out the almost−four−minute trailer on YouTube; it is magnificently dark and almost as long as a typical "Entourage" (2004−2011) episode. Fincher probably won't win his Oscar, but don't be surprised if "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the best movie of the year.
1. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" will probably be worse than its predecessor. The trailer makes this film look like a 19th−century version of the "Die Hard" franchise, which is not a good thing. But "A Game of Shadows" is number one on my list, because the extended trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" is attached to this movie — and even though it is the most anti−indie movie ever, it will be the gravitational center of the movie business in 2012. Can't wait.
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Jordan Teicher is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Jordan.Teicher@tufts.edu.
