January 2008: Top 10 Film, TV, and DVD Preview
by Brian Tallerico

3. Juno

Why You Should Be Excited: Every year, a film or two comes out of the Toronto Film Festival with a head of steam, ready to take on the rest of the world. Jason Reitman's follow-up to his hit Thank You For Smoking, Juno, came out of Toronto on fire. Getting some of the best buzz of the year, Juno looks primed to be 2007's Little Miss Sunshine, an indie comedy that spreads from the arthouse to the multiplex and picks up a few awards along the way. Starring the great Ellen Page (Hard Candy), in a highly buzzed performance, Juno tells a story of teenage pregnancy with a twist. It also features a reunion of Arrested Development stars Michael Cera and Jason Bateman (although they, sadly, share no scenes). With a screenplay Oscar nod practically guaranteed already, some Oscar pundits are going further and suggesting that Page and maybe even the producers of Juno should save some space on their mantle. In fact, the idea that it's this year's Little Miss Sunshine is already being denied by a few people who have seen it. They claim Juno is better.

2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Why You Should Be Excited: Various people have tried to get Sweeney Todd off the Broadway stage and on to the big screen for years. It feels like some sort of cinematic karma that killed those earlier incarnations of the demon barber of Fleet Street because there couldn't possibly be a better fit than Tim Burton and Johnny Depp with this material. The dark musical tale of the infamous Benjamin Barker, a man who gets revenge on the people who've wronged him by turning them into meat pies and feeding them to the locals, seems like something that Depp and Burton have been working towards since they started their great partnership years ago. Think of the dark brilliance of films like Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, or even The Corpse Bride, and then think of it set to music. Keep your Christmas cheer. We'll take Burton at his possible best.

1. There Will Be Blood

Why You Should Be Excited: Anderson finally produces his follow-up to the brilliant Punch-Drunk Love and it's supposedly the least "P.T." of his films. Anderson has already been compared to 'talky' writer/directors like Robert Altman, mostly because of the large ensembles he used in films like Boogie Nights and Magnolia, but supposedly There Will Be Blood is largely silent, using the visual language of film instead of the spoken one. Watching Anderson stretch himself creatively should be great. Speaking of creativity, you won't find many actors more so than the amazing Daniel Day-Lewis, getting Oscar buzz again as a Texas prospector in the early days of his business. Based on the novel by Upton Sinclair, Blood features family, greed, religion, and oil at the turn of the century and feels like it has the potential to be an instant classic. At least, that's what a few critics have said after early screenings. There Will Be Blood and we will be there to watch.