I'm Most Excited About...#6

These are a few films that have been on my radar for some time, and they're the films I'm probably most excited to see. Some of these films have been released, but I haven't seen them yet, so there. Here's the sixth film of this series...

Poster design stolen from Babel but whatever

Let me start off by telling you that this movie is directed by Peter Weir, who has been nominated for Oscars, six times, four of them for Best Director. If you're unclear on what that means, that's the same number as Martin Scorcese. Weir has directed greats like The Truman Show, Witness, Gallipoli, Master and Commander, and Dead Poets Society. The guy has directed five actors in huge Oscar-nominated roles, and been nominated by the Director's Guild of America four times as Best Director. This is the guy who not only got the world to take Ace Ventura, Pet Detective seriously, but got him an Oscar nod. Just think about that for a second.

Let me remind you who Ace Ventura is...

Now let's take a look at the actors he's got lined up. We've got Jim Sturgess a Brit who broke into the mainstream with Across the Universe in 2007; Colin Farrell, an Irish gent who is one of the best under-appreciated actors in Hollywood today (seriously, have you seen In Bruge, or even heard of it? It's brilliant); Ed Harris, who has been at the height of his career in recent years with such masterpieces Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and Gone Baby Gone also stars. Mark Strong, who has been playing bad guys like there's no tomorrow at the rate of three or four or five a year for the last ten years, is - you guessed it- a villain.

In addition to these fine actors, Saoirse Ronan costars. In case you haven't heard of this up and coming prodigy of an actress, let me fill you in. Ronan starred alongside James McAvoy and Keira Knightley in a flawless performance in Atonement in 2007; it was her first year acting on the big screen. She was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. Since then she's been nominated by one guild or another for Best Actress in every single subsequent film she's been in. Every single one. Oh, did I mention that she was one of the youngest actresses to ever be nominated for an Oscar- she was 13. In 2009 TIME Magazine listed her performance in The Lovely Bones as the third greatest female performance of 2009, ahead of Meryl Streep. Her next film, coming out in 2011 is called Hanna, in which she plays a teenage assassin trained by her father to be a killing machine. After that she's slated to work with Peter Jackson in the first Hobbit movie. Let me just sum up what I'm trying to say. This kid picks winners. Every time.

"I am coming for you Oscaaaaar!"

Pretty much that's why this movie is set to kick ass. Peter Weir + incredible actors + Ronan the actress + Ronan the good luck charm. The film is set in the 1940s and the main characters are escapees from a Soviet gulag who must walk 4,000 miles to freedom, Epic right? Yeah, I thought so too. Also, can I just mention that the IMDb cast and crew page lists two characters called Garbage Eater #1 and Garbage Eater #2, which means...

Aaaaaaaaaa!

...Yes, an actual Oscar may also star. Either that or some guys eat garbage. Poor guys don't even get names.

Anyway, check out the trailer, it's great

Director: Peter Weir
Release Date: played at film festivals this fall, but so far no wide theater release.
Rated: PG-13 for violent content, depiction of physical hardships, a nude image and brief strong language.
IMDb page