9. Untitled Terrence Malick Project
We now know that we might not have to wait as long as we used to for a new Malick picture thanks to rumors of various movies being filmed simultaneously and…um…’To The Wonder’, thank god. Shot over 2011 and 2012 in Austin, Texas at various music festivals including South By Southwest and Austin City Limits Festival, this remarkable and original feat seems to be Malick’s hippest project yet. Just look at the cast: Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Val Kilmer and Benicio Del Toro. Very exciting for film and music lovers alike.
8. The Immigrant (Watch Trailer)
Nominated for the Palme d’Or and was among one of the most anticipated and ultimately debated films to play at Cannes, ‘The Immigrant’ is almost here. It’s always a celebration when we get to witness the genius of Joaquin Phoenix on screen in a new role and the insanely gorgeous Marion Cotillard joins him too, we are in movie heaven.
7. Frank
After seeing mysterious promo shots of a film called ‘Frank’ where Michael Fassenber is wearing a really big fake head, surely one must think to themselves “I have to see this”. Described as “Like a mutated ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’”, this oddity looks like one of the strangest films to play at Sundance. Fassbender has proved himself as arguably the most prolific and talented actor of recent memory, which makes this film an irresistible addition.
6. Boyhood
Director of the astoundingly beautiful Before Trilogy brings us his 12 years in the making, often referred to as “Linklater’s 12 Year Project,” new film ‘Boyhood’. Just as Truffaut followed the fictional life of Antoine Doinel, Richard Linklater’s intimate portrait follows two children from childhood to college. Linklater is a master filmmaker and cinefiles all around will queue up to see the latest addition from this legend.
5. Maps To The Stars
Cronenberg’s last film ‘Cosmopolis’ was divisive to say the least and didn’t impress everyone though still garnered critical acclaim. Two years later we see another team up with David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson, this time alongside a great ensemble cast. Said to be a “vicious look at a twisted Hollywood dynasty”, ‘Maps To The Stars’ sounds like it should have been directed by David Lynch. Everything Cronenberg touches though turns to gold, sometimes a dark gold, but fans of his films will revel in this ‘R’ rated takedown of the industry.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Watch Trailer)
Wes Anderson is a Director working today whose idiosyncratic way of filmmaking is so unusual, so distinctive that we will soon have a new word describing quirkiness in films; that word will be Andersonian (or something like that). Anderson’s previous film ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ was a heartfelt and magnificently executed piece of cinema and looking back through his repertoire, we can only assume another masterpiece featuring his sublime regulars. Everybody loves Bill Murray.
3. Venus In Fur (Watch Trailer)
Roman Polanski just may be the greatest living director and we are honored every time he lets us in on a piece of his screen artistry. Working out of France he delivers us this adaption of the controversial 1870 novelette ‘Venus In Furs’. The Velvet Underground wrote a song about it and now Polanski has made a film. Nominated for the Palme d’Or and with only a French spoken trailer out, all we can tell so far is that it looks like a cross between Bunuel’s ‘Belle De Jour’ and Frank Zappa’s ‘Penguin In Bondage’. Very exciting.
2. Only Lovers Left Alive (Watch Trailer)
Fans of Jim Jarmusch have been waiting impatiently for another contribution to screen since his last film ‘Limits Of Control’ released in 2009. Jarmusch is the coolest Director on this list and has a back catalogue of remarkable cinema too his name. Fascinatingly Jarmusch has decided to make a film within the Romance Vampire genre that appears today to be well ruined. With Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska, who knows what a film partly shot in Burroughs’ territory Tangier and shrouded in so much mystery will look like. Hailed as “Jarmusch’s most poetic film since ‘Dead Man’”, let us go back and watch Jarmusch’s incendiary filmography again and get ready.
1. Inherent Vice (Tied First)
Troubadour/Maverick/Poet/Illustrious Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow up to ‘The Master’ also featuring Joaquin Phoenix. This film will be transcendental, no need to say more.
1. Nymphomaniac (Tied first) (Watch Trailer)
Lars Von Trier may be the most audacious and shocking Director working today, a contemporary John Waters if you will. What we do know though is that Von Trier is brave and gallant enough to still shock the world in a beautiful, melodic way. The world premiere in February for part 1 of ‘Nymphomaniac’ lasted a magnanimous 5-and-a-half-hours long. Described as a wild, poetic drama about a woman’s erotic journey from birth to the age of 50 as told by the main character, the self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Fellow Von Trier fans had been watching the teaser clips staggered release culminating in one of the most perverse and explicit trailers ever seen. Give us mayhem!
Author Bio: Liam Clark is a Film/Literature/Music student in Sydney, Australia. His debut book of poetry ‘Love and the Demonic Psyche’ was published in 2011 under his nom de plume William Bradbury. Liam is also the guitarist in a few up and coming Psychedelic Rock n Roll bands. Listen to Led Zeppelin.