As I was saying this time last year, Autumn and Winter are traditionally the times of year when all the best movies emerge from the studio vaults to compete for your money as well as awards. Last year brought us the likes of No Country for Old Men, Juno and Beowulf. This year looks like it may have some equally interesting titles. Aside from that Autumn is also my favorite time of year with the leaves falling, the nights getting darker and the air feeling crisper, but this is not a blog about how pretentious I am so on with it….

10. The Road - Directed by John Hillcoat - Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall. Released: 16th January 2009 (UK)/ 26 November (US).

                                            

John Hillcoat directed the bizarre and brutal Australian western The Proposition back in 2005. Cormac McCarthy wrote the novel on which Oscar winner No Country for Old Men was based. McCarthy also wrote The Road and Hillcoat is directing the film adaptation. The results should be interesting to say the least. The story of The Road takes place after same unnamed apocalypse and a father and son walk south to avoid the cold winter. On their journey they must avoid savage cannibals and militias made up of fellow survivors. This could well be a huge cult movie that is slow to find an audience or could well be another award winner. As yet there has been no trailer and nobody has seen the movie. It will also have another haunting score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

9. The Spirit - Directed by Frank Miller - Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L.Jackson, Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson. Released: January 2nd (UK) / December 25th (US).

                                                 

After co-directing Sin City with Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller steps up to the plate to direct a film based on Will Eisner's classic strip The Spirit. The story follows a cop named Denny Colt who returns from beyond the grave to fight crime as The Spirit, a masked and suit clad vigilante. The Spirit was a huge influence on Miller and he has shot the film green screen a la Sin City and 300, hey why break with formula? There is a bad buzz about this though. The first trailer made it look more like a period romance than a comic book movie and Miller seems to have overloaded his movie with the femme fatale's that he loves so much. The green screen employed also looks kind of obvious and isn't as seamless as previous films. So why is this on my list you ask? Because I am curious. I love the look of the era and really enjoyed Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer and Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow. I hope to God that Miller proves us all wrong and has made a great movie so he gets a crack at Sin City 2 and 3 and maybe just maybe Robocop.

8. Blindness - Directed by Fernando Meirelles - Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal. Released: 28th November (UK)/ October 3rd (US).

                                                

Blindness has had some great reviews coming out of the film festivals where it has been shown. The story is pretty bizarre and revolves around a city where suddenly people are struck blind. As the affected are quarantined and society starts to crumble, a doctors wife leads some out of the city to safety as secretly she has regained her sight. Director Fernando Meirelles has a blinding track record with City of God and The Constant Gardener. Hopefully this will appeal to the arthouse crowd as well as being a solid thriller. Should be this years Children of Men.

7. City of Ember - Directed by Gil Kenan - Starring: Harry Treadaway, Saorise Ryan, Tim Robbins and Bill Murray. Released: 10th October (US and UK).

                                                       

Back in 2006 Gil Kenan's film Monster House was released to relatively little noise. Those of us who are older kids and saw it recognized that Kenan knew what made a good children's film. He had clearly watched the Spielberg/Zemeckis films of the 1980's and saw that the most important thing about films aimed at a younger audience is to not talk down to them. Its something that the makers of The Spiderwick Chronicles also understood but George Lucas seemingly does not. Anyway City of Ember is the next film from Kenan and is based on a novel by Jeanne Duprau. The story is set in the fictional underground city of Ember where the power is failing and the lights are beginning to flicker. Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet find themselves on an adventure trying to find a way out of the city, only a corrupt mayor and his goons stand in their way. I hope this lives up to the promise of Monster House and gives us another kids classic. More than anything I hope there are showings after 9pm at my local multiplex.

6. Choke - Directed by Clark Gregg - Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kelly McDonald, Brad William Henke and Anjelica Huston. Released: 21st November (UK)/ September 26th (US).

                                                    

Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite writers ever. Since Fight Club became one of my favorite films of all time back in 1999 I have sought out all of his novels and read them within a week of purchase. Choke I feel is one of his lesser works but the film version directed by Clark Gregg made a big splash at the Sundance film festival in January and lead Fox to buy it for millions of dollars so there must be something about this adaptation. Choke follows sex addict Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) who cons money out of people by pretending to choke in restaurants and then having someone save his life. He then uses the money to pay for his mothers bills at an insane asylum where he meets an attractive doctor (Kelly McDonald). Truth be told in the book there is not much of a plot and the film seems to hinge on Victor's journey to a redemption of sorts. The film has had almost universally good reviews and whilst it wont set the box office alight it should at least lead to more work for Rockwell who is one the most underrated actors out there. Now we need a film version of Survivor for gods sake!

5. Burn After Reading - Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen - Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich. Released: October 17th/ Already out in the US.

                                                    

After the relative failure of The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty, the Coens made a sensational comeback last year with No Country for Old Men,making a movie that was a bona fide classic and winning an Oscar in the process. Their latest Burn After Reading seems to be a mix of the harsh violence of Fargo and No Country mixed with the surreal comedy of Raising Arizona or the classic Big Lebowski. The plot concerns a disgruntled CIA employee (John Malkovich) who writes a stinging memoir of his time in the intelligence service which then gets mislaid and found by a meat head gym employee (Brad Pitt) who then tries to sell the secrets on the disc to the highest bidder. The CIA would obviously like to prevent this and throw a few of their own goons into the mix including a pervy operative played by George Clooney. Needless to say this leads to cross and double cross as everyone goes about trying to get what they feel they deserve. Its hard to see how this will fail at this point as even the Coens lesser movies mentioned above are more entertaining than most Hollywood studio product. Its unlikely to generate the Oscar Buzz of No Country for Old Men but it should be a great time at the movies and a film that like The Big Lebowski gets better with each subsequent viewing.

4. Quantum of Solace - Directed by Marc Forster - Starring: Daniel Craig, Jeffery Wright, Judi Dench, Olga Kurylenko and Mathieu Amalric. Released: October 31st (UK)/ November 14th (US)

In 2006 Bond, James Bond made one hell of a comeback. By taking things back to dirty harsh basics Casino Royale re-invigorated the stale formula and amazed critics and audiences alike. Judging by the trailer for Quantum of Solace they have wisely kept much of the same formula for a follow up which takes place a few minutes after the end of Royale with Bond on the rampage, fueled by a need for vengeance after losing the love of his life Vesper Lynd. On his journey he discovers the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and deadly than previously thought and he is lead to Dominic Greene a millionaire member of the organization who is hoping to control a vast untapped natural resource. This has been a troubled production with many accidents on set including a stunt driver who drove the Aston-Martin off a cliff into the sea. Hopefully all the hassle has been worthwhile and we will get more stunts on a par with the free running sequence in Casino Royale. If they introduce a laser in space plot though, I'm out.

3. Zack and Miri Make A Porno - Directed by Kevin Smith - Starring: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson. Released: TBA (UK) / October 31st (US).

                                           

If you spend a lot of your time on the net in the basement chances are you hate Kevin Smith and have been involved in heated debates with your fellow film fans about his talents or lack thereof. What you can't deny though is that the guy is funny and writes some of the best comedy dialogue in the business. Clerks 2 was a great return to form after the misfire of Jersey Girl and word on the street is that Zack and Miri make A Porno is even better. The plot concerns Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) two lifelong friends who feel the credit crunch and decide to make a little extra cash by getting into the adult film industry. Obviously this leads to much hilarity and potty mouth conversations and romantic complication between the two friends. Supposedly Smith has knocked this one out of the park and made the best film of his career with great turns by Rogen and Banks and the film is surprisingly sweet for all its filthiness. Can we please confirm a UK release date?

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Directed by David Fincher - Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. Released: January 29th (UK)/ December 25th (US).

                                        

Auteur David Fincher usually takes a long time to make a film. There is a 3 year gap between Fight Club and Panic Room and then a five year gap between Panic Room and Zodiac. We should be thankful therefore that its only a year and a half since Zodiac and his latest The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The plot comes from a short story by F.Scott Fitzgerald and concerns a man who is born elderly and then ages backwards, getting younger as he should be growing older. We follow his journey through love and war and other events. This story is weird there is no getting round that, but the script is by one Eric Roth who wrote Forrest Gump and from the stunning trailer it looks like it could be a similar sentimental piece albeit one that is remarkably well shot. What worries me is the fact that recently Paramount and David Fincher have been locked in battle over the final cut. This is nothing new, Fincher has had problems with studios before and we have still had some great films come out of that. This time things have gotten so bad that Paramount dumped Fincher's proposed animated Heavy Metal movie from their slate. I hope we won't get a compromised vision here and the film is a genuine masterpiece when it comes out this Christmas.

1. The Wrestler - Directed by Darren Aronofsky - Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Released: February TBC (UK)/ 19 December (US).

Darren Aronofsky only makes one kind of film, one that devastates you and stays with you for days. Requiem for A Dream is a film that can put you in a bad mood for a week and The Fountain, when seen in the right frame of mind makes you weep like a baby. When it was announced that his next movie would follow a washed up wrestler played by Mickey Rourke I was skeptical but then the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won a load of awards. Word is that Rourke's performance is Oscar worthy as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson a washed up wrestler who plays the local hardcore circuit and tries to build a relationship with his estranged daughter. Aronofsky has elected to forgo his usual hip hop editing style to tell a very human story of a very flawed person. If you saw the documentary Beyond The Mat from a few years back and liked it or just plain wonder why so many wrestler's die young then this is the film for you.

Also Looking Promising/Interesting:

Eagle Eye: Hit and miss director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) remakes Enemy of The State with Shia Lebouef and Michelle Monaghan on the run from an evil government. Released: October 17th/ September 29th.

Max Payne: This time last year I put Hitman on this list because the trailer looked good. I got burned that time. The trailer for Max Payne looks good. That is all I am saying. Released: 14 November/ 17 October.

Quarantine: A US remake of Spanish chiller REC, its difficult to mess up something this simple yet terrifying. Released: 14 November/ 10 October.

W: Oliver Stone's latest tells the story of some idiot cowboy who became president of a country. Supposedly its based on a true story. Yeah right. Released: 7 November/ 17 October.

Saw 5: Really do you give a shit? Released: 24 October.

Pride and Glory: Colin Farrell and Edward Norton star in this delayed corrupt cop drama. Released: 24 October.

Passengers: A creepy looking film with the almost same plot as Final Destination. Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson star. Released: 24 October.

Body of Lies: Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe star in Ridley Scott's latest film about a CIA agent who gets major shit from his boss. Released: 21 November/ October 10th.

Twilight: Already hyped to death by teens everywhere. This is to teenage girls what Harry Potter is to those who wear spectacles. Its got something to do with Vampires. Released: 19 December/ 21 November.

Transporter 3: You know you love it after six beers and a whole mess of pizza and nachos. Released: 5th December/ November 28th.

The Punisher - War Zone: Frank Castle is back but he is no longer Thomas Jane, he is Ray Stevenson! Who? Green Street director Lexi Alexander directs the mayhem and nu-metal soundtrack. Released: TBC / 5th December.

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Interesting looking remake of the 50's sci-fi classic starring Keanu Reeves as an alien and Jennifer Connelly as a scientist. Released: 12th December.

The Brothers Bloom: Rian Johnson's follow up to Brick is a playful con movie with Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz. Released: November TBC/ 19th December.

Yes Man: Jim Carrey returns in a comedy based on Danny Wallace's excellent book Yes Man. Hopefully a triumphant comeback for comedy Carrey rather than the serious version. Released: TBC/ 19th December.

Valkyrie: Long delayed film about the real life attempt to assassinate Hitler. Starring Tom Cruise and directed by Bryan Singer. Released: TBC/ 26th December.

Push: A bunch of Psychics wage war on each other, Scanners stylee. Paul Mcguigan directs. Released: February 6th.

Friday the 13th: The latest in a long line of pointless remakes that make me die a little inside. Released: Duh………