Top 10 movies on the 2011 waiting list

Vampires, werewolves, superheroes, pirates, aliens, the final chapter in the saga of everyone’s favorite boy wizard… and, oh, so much more! The 2011 box office forecast is booming with potential blockbusters.


Let's start from the back shall we:

#10 – “Super 8”
Starring: Elle Fanning, Kyle ChandlerDirected by: J.J. AbramsRelease date: Summer 2011

Why such excitement: A new sci-fi thriller from J.J. Abrams! Need we really say more i don't think so? OK, i’ll give you just a little bit. Written and directed by Abrams, the film follows a group of teens in the 1970s who capture footage of aliens in Area 51 while shooting on their – wait for it – Super 8 camera. And here you thought the film was about those low budget motels of the same name. The Air Force, the government and other various ominous suit-wearing types begin pursuit. Drama, explosions, suspense – and maybe even aliens – follow. Yes, please definitely on the list.

#9 – “Captain America”
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo WeavingDirected by: Joe JohnstonRelease date: July 22, 2011

Why such excitement: For what will be Marvel’s final superhero installment leading up to 2012’s “The Avengers,” Chris Evans will don the stars and stripes as Steve Rogers/aka Captain America as he suits up for battle against the forces of evil in the WWII era-timed piece. Hugo Weaving (who, by the way, is it just my opinion, or was this guy born to play a movie villain?!?although a slight contradiction here; he played a positive role in LOTR) steps in as Nazi baddie Johann Schmidt/aka Red Skull, commander of HYDRA. While Evans previously joked to Access he’d be “the worst thing that ever happened to Marvel,” we have a feeling the man who once played the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch will do the red, white and blue proud.

                                                                  #8 – “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey RushDirected by: Rob MarshallRelease date: May 20, 2011

Why such excitement: Captain Jack is back (what more do you need?)– this time, with some new faces. Out are Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. In are Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane. There’s an argument to be made that if you’ve seen one “Pirates” film, you’ve seen them all. But with a combined gross of more than $2.6 billion at the worldwide box office, the Bruckheimer/Disney team is doing something right. 

#7 – The Fourth “Mission: Impossible”
Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Josh HollowayDirected by: Brad BirdRelease date: December 16, 2011

Why such excitement: There’s an argument to be made that if you’ve seen one “Mission: Impossible” film… Wait, that’s already been used. Cruise is back as super-spy Ethan Hunt, and while many of the same faces return, joining the fray are newbies Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway and Paula Patton, and according to some recent information Anil Kapoor of Slumdog Millionaire fame all of whom should inject some exciting new blood into the latest chapter. Brad Bird makes his directorial debut, which means J.J. Abrams is out as director, but sticks around as a producer/writer. Truth be told, if J.J. wasn’t still involved, the clock may have run out on this box office “Mission.” But when it comes down to it, say what you will about Cruise, the man makes one heck of a movie.

#6 – “Green Lantern”
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter SarsgaardDirected by: Martin CampbellRelease date: June 17, 2011

Why such excitement: Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Blake Lively. Ryan Reynolds isn’t so bad either. Throw in a fanboy classic superhero tale and with these two beyond good lookin’ folks as the leads, look for the box office to definitely go “Green” in Summer 2011. Plus, who doesn’t love to say “Saaaaaaaaarsgaaaaaaard”?! Exactly.

#5 – “Thor”

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman

Directed by: Kenneth BranaghRelease date: May 6, 2011

Why such excitement: Yet another prequel cog in Marvel’s mighty “The Avengers” machine, easy-on-the-eyes Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth steps into the iconic Norse mythological title character comic book role. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the film will follow Thor as he is cast down to earth for being an arrogant fighter, only to find himself battling the dark forces of Asgard and becoming a hero to the humans. Throw in the lovely Natalie Portman as Thor’s lady love Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as daddy Odin — oh, and did we mention Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir? What can we say, we’re a sucker for a good power tool!

#4 – “The Hangover 2”
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin BarthaDirected by: Todd PhillipsRelease Date: May 26, 2011

Why such excitement: Details are being kept under wraps for the sequel to the side-splitting original — which has forever put to shame every groom-to-be’s bachelor party past, present and future – but as long as those four funny guys are sticking around, so are we! And hey, if they want to bring back Mike Tyson too for another musical interlude, we’re not complaining. Call it comedic masochism if you will, but we’re ready to feel the burn of another “Hangover”!

#3 – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Crag, Christopher PlummerDirected by: David FincherRelease date: December 21, 2011

Why such excitement: Call it faith i saw the novel of this movie yesterday at a bookshop while browsing though the fiction section for a good novel for a college assignment. Well rising star Rooney Mara has scored one of the most talked-about roles in recent memory, nabbing the part of edgy hacker Lisbeth Salander in the U.S. big screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary set, The Millennium Trilogy. There has already been a Swedish film version of the trilogy. And, watch out soon for the announcement of a fourth book in the series. In the story, Mara and Daniel Craig (who will bring Mikael Blomkvist to life for American audiences) cross paths as they search for the missing niece of an ailing industrial tycoon. As the first installment in the series, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” sets the table for the drama and suspense to come throughout the much-buzzed about trilogy, the latter two parts of which will be rolled out in 2012.

#2 – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I”

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor LautnerDirected by: Bill CondonRelease date: November 18, 2011

Why such excitement: Why aren’t we excited is the better question. What better way to kick off the beginning of the end of “The Twilight Saga” then with a little vampire-human wedding & honeymoon action! Plus, we all know what happens on the honeymoon, right???… Room service! No? Hmm. OK, how ‘bout this — “There will be sex scenes – multiple sex scenes,” screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg previously told Access Hollywood of the romance we’ll see between Edward and Bella. Hey now! Summit has yet to announce exactly where the “Breaking Dawn” storyline will be split, but Part I will begin to put the bow on this pop culture-transcending saga, which has turned vampires and werewolves from cheap Halloween decorations to every kid’s favorite supernatural bestie. Whether you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob or even Team Whatever Happened To That Nice Rachelle LeFevere, grab your lawn chairs and get in line – there’s only 14 months until opening night – knowing the “Twi-Hards,” the good seats are probably already taken!

#1 – “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part II”

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Bill NighyDirected by: David YatesRelease date: July 15, 2011

Why such excitement: It takes quite a monumental occasion to bump anything “Twilight” from the top of any of our lists, but the final film in the saga of boy wizard Harry Potter is exactly that. With a $5.4 billion haul in its run at the box office (the highest grossing film series of all-time), the Harry Potter films have spanned an entire decade, capturing the imagination of pre-teen boys who can now legally buy booze and little girls who are already old enough to vote in the next election. Even the films’ stars themselves have gone from teenyboppers to twenty-somethings. A pretty impressive run to say the least. Once again, a story which has been cut into two parts – allowing for more excitement and, of course, more cash at the box office, the final chapter of “Deathly Hallows” sees our spellbinding wand-slingers engage in one last battle with the evil Lord Voldemort before Hogwarts’ prized pupils say goodbye to their beloved boarding school as students one last time – at least, those of them that make it through the “Deathly Hallows” alive.

Top 10 movies on the 2011 waiting list

NEVER WAKE UP: THE MEANING AND SECRET OF INCEPTION

Found This article while surfing the web.This entire article is a major spoiler for Inception. Please do not read it if there are still some of you unfortunate enough not to have seen it yet.

Every single moment of Inception is a dream. I think that in a couple of years this will become the accepted reading of the film, and differing interpretations will have to be skillfully argued to be even remotely considered. The film makes this clear, and it never holds back the truth from audiences. Some find this idea to be narratively repugnant, since they think that a movie where everything is a dream is a movie without stakes, a movie where the audience is wasting their time.

Except that this is exactly what Nolan is arguing against. The film is a metaphor for the way that Nolan as a director works, and what he's ultimately saying is that the catharsis found in a dream is as real as the catharsis found in a movie is as real as the catharsis found in life. Inception is about making movies, and cinema is the shared dream that truly interests the director.

I believe that Inception is a dream to the point where even the dream-sharing stuff is a dream. Dom Cobb isn't an extractor. He can't go into other people's dreams. He isn't on the run from the Cobol Corporation. At one point he tells himself this, through the voice of Mal, who is a projection of his own subconscious. She asks him how real he thinks his world is, where he's being chased across the globe by faceless corporate goons. 

She asks him that in a scene that we all know is a dream, but Inception lets us in on this elsewhere. Michael Caine's character implores Cobb to return to reality, to wake up. During the chase in Mombasa, Cobb tries to escape down an alleyway, and the two buildings between which he's running begin closing in on him - a classic anxiety dream moment. When he finally pulls himself free he finds Ken Watanabe's character waiting for him, against all logic. Except dream logic. 

Much is made in the film about totems, items unique to dreamers that can be used to tell when someone is actually awake or asleep. Cobb's totem is a top, which spins endlessly when he's asleep, and the fact that the top stops spinning at many points in the film is claimed by some to be evidence that Cobb is awake during those scenes. The problem here is that the top wasn't always Cobb's totem - he got it from his wife, who killed herself because she believed that they were still living in a dream. There's more than a slim chance that she's right - note that when Cobb remembers her suicide she is, bizarrely, sitting on a ledge opposite the room they rented. You could do the logical gymnastics required to claim that Mal simply rented another room across the alleyway, but the more realistic notion here is that it's a dream, with the gap between the two lovers being a metaphorical one made literal. When Mal jumps she leaves behind the top, and if she was right about the world being a dream, the fact that it spins or doesn't spin is meaningless. It's a dream construct anyway. There's no way to use the top as a proof of reality.

Watching the film with this eye you can see the dream logic unfolding. As is said in the movie, dreams seem real in the moment and it's only when you've woken up that things seem strange. The film's 'reality' sequences are filled with moments that, on retrospect, seem strange or unlikely or unexplained. Even the basics of the dream sharing technology is unbelievably vague, and I don't think that's just because Nolan wants to keep things streamlined. It's because Cobb's unconscious mind is filling it in as he goes along.

There's more, but I would have to watch the film again with a notebook to get all the evidence (all of it in plain sight). The end seems without a doubt to be a dream - from the dreamy way the film is shot and edited once Cobb wakes up on the plane all the way through to him coming home to find his two kids in the exact position and in the exact same clothes that he kept remembering them, it doesn't matter if the top falls, Cobb is dreaming.

That Cobb is dreaming and still finds his catharsis (that he can now look at the face of his kids) is the point. It's important to realize that Inception is a not very thinly-veiled autobiographical look at how Nolan works. In a recent red carpet interview, Leonardo DiCaprio - who was important in helping Nolan get the script to the final stages - compares the movie not to The Matrix or some other mindfuck movie but Fellini's 8 1/2. This is probably the second most telling thing DiCaprio said during the publicity tour for the film, with the first being that he based Cobb on Nolan. 8 1/2 is totally autobiographical for Fellini, and it's all about an Italian director trying to overcome his block and make a movie (a science fiction movie, even). It's a film about filmmaking, and so is Inception.

The heist team quite neatly maps to major players in a film production. Cobb is the director while Arthur, the guy who does the research and who sets up the places to sleep, is the producer. Ariadne, the dream architect, is the screenwriter - she creates the world that will be entered. Eames is the actor (this is so obvious that the character sits at an old fashioned mirrored vanity, the type which stage actors would use). Yusuf is the technical guy; remember, the Oscar come from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and it requires a good number of technically minded people to get a movie off the ground. Nolan himself more or less explains this in the latest issue of Film Comment, saying 'There are a lot of striking similarities [between what the team does and the putting on of a major Hollywood movie]. When for instance the team is out on the street they've created, surveying it, that's really identical with what we do on tech scouts before we shoot.'

That leaves two key figures. Saito is the money guy, the big corporate suit who fancies himself a part of the game. And Fischer, the mark, is the audience. Cobb, as a director, takes Fischer through an engaging, stimulating and exciting journey, one that leads him to an understanding about himself. Cobb is the big time movie director (or rather the best version of that - certainly not a Michael Bay) who brings the action, who brings the spectacle, but who also brings the meaning and the humanity and the emotion.

The movies-as-dreams aspect is part of why Inception keeps the dreams so grounded. In the film it's explained that playing with the dream too much alerts the dreamer to the falseness around him; this is just another version of the suspension of disbelief upon which all films hinge. As soon as the audience is pulled out of the movie by some element - an implausible scene, a ludicrous line, a poor performance - it's possible that the cinematic dream spell is broken completely, and they're lost. 

As a great director, Cobb is also a great artist, which means that even when he's creating a dream about snowmobile chases, he's bringing something of himself into it. That's Mal. It's the auterist impulse, the need to bring your own interests, obsessions and issues into a movie. It's what the best directors do. It's very telling that Nolan sees this as kind of a problem; I suspect another filmmaker might have cast Mal as the special element that makes Cobb so successful.

Inception is such a big deal because it's what great movies strive to do. You walk out of a great film changed, with new ideas planted in your head, with your neural networks subtly rewired by what you've just seen. On a meta level Inception itself does this, with audiences leaving the theater buzzing about the way it made them feel and perceive. New ideas, new thoughts, new points of view are more lasting a souvenir of a great movie than a ticket stub. 

It's possible to view Fischer, the mark, as not the audience but just as the character that is being put through the movie that is the dream. To be honest, I haven't quite solidified my thought on Fischer's place in the allegorical web, but what's important is that the breakthrough that Fischer has in the ski fortress is real. Despite the fact that his father is not there, despite the fact that the pinwheel was never by his father's bedside, the emotions that Fischer experiences are 100 percent genuine. It doesn't matter that the movie you're watching isn't a real story, that it's just highly paid people putting on a show - when a movie moves you, it truly moves you. The tears you cry during Up are totally real, even if absolutely nothing that you see on screen has ever existed in the physical world.

For Cobb there's a deeper meaning to it all. While Cobb doesn't have daddy issues (that we know of), he, like Fischer, is dealing with a loss. He's trying to come to grips with the death of his wife*; Fischer's journey reflects Cobb's while not being a complete point for point reflection. That's important for Nolan, who is making films that have personal components - that talk about things that obviously interest or concern him - but that aren't actually about him. Other filmmakers (Fellini) may make movies that are thinly veiled autobiography, but that's not what Nolan or Cobb are doing. The movies (or dreams) they're putting together reflect what they're going through but aren't easily mapped on to them. Talking to Film Comment, Nolan says he has never been to psychoanalysis. 'I think I use filmmaking for that purpose. I have a passionate relationship to what I do.'

In a lot of ways Inception is a bookend to last summer's Inglorious Basterds. In that film Quentin Tarantino celebrated the ways that cinema could change the world, while in Inception Nolan is examining the ways that cinema, the ultimate shared dream, can change an individual. The entire film is a dream, within the confines of the movie itself, but in a more meta sense it's Nolan's dream. He's dreaming Cobb, and finding his own moments of revelation and resolution, just as Cobb is dreaming Fischer and finding his own catharsis and change.

The whole film being a dream isn't a cop out or a waste of time, but an ultimate expression of the film's themes and meaning. It's all fake. But it's all very, very real. And that's something every single movie lover understands implicitly and completely.

* it's really worth noting that if you accept that the whole movie is a dream that Mal may not be dead. She could have just left Cobb. The mourning that he is experiencing deep inside his mind is no less real if she's alive or dead - he has still lost her.

NEVER WAKE UP: THE MEANING AND SECRET OF INCEPTION

Has Robert Pattinson Lost His Touch!!!!

Twilight star Robert Pattinson has already risen to stardom and has stolen the heart of women around the world but there is a new vampire on the block named Ian Somerhalder. Somerhalder stars in the new TV series Vampire Diaries and is stealing some of the vampire stardom from Pattinson!

Has Robert Pattinson really lost his edge??? 

Former “Lost” star Ian Somerhalder’s vampire character in “The Vampire Diaries” has beaten “Twilight” ‘s Edward Cullen to be crowned America’s Sexiest Beast.

The actor’s Damon Salvatore finished just ahead of Robert Pattinson’s movie bloodsucker in Entertainment Weekly magazine’s new poll for the sexiest beast.

Bite me, Edward Cullen. Damon Salvatore of “Vampire Diaries”–played to smirking perfection by Ian Somerhalder–has officially been declared the ultimate Sexiest Beast, beating out not only the ‘Twilight’ boys but the “True Blood” vamps, as well, in an extensive online tournament held byEntertainment Weekly following several internet campaigns and nearly 2 million total votes.

Somerhalder had previously tweeted his expectations that Pattinson would win out, saying, “That Pattinson guy will end up kicking my butt, however thanks for taking the time, that’s really cool : )” Following his victory, however, he reported from the “Vampire Diaries” set that all of his co-stars had taken to calling him by his rightful title.

Who is the better or should i say hotter of the two?

Damon, as the winner, is featured on the cover of this week’s Entertainment Weekly (along with several of the runner-ups, Edward included), and has his hotness further validated in a few steamy just-released “Vampire Diaries” Season 2 promotional pics.

Some of the promotional picture for season 2 of THE VAMPIRE DAIRIES  starting this september 9th!

Well I for one have been counting the days (3 more days left)!!!

Has Robert Pattinson Lost His Touch!!!!