2008 Preview: Top 20 Movies to See This Spring
by Brian Tallerico

MARCH

10,000 BC
Release Date: March 7th
Studio: Warner Brothers
Starring: Camilla Bella, Steven Strait, Cliff Curtis, and Omar Sharif
Written by: Roland Emmerich & Harold Kloser
Directed by: Roland Emmerich (Independence Day)
Official Site: www.10000bcmovie.com

Plot: A clear offspring of the success of 300 last season, 10,000 B.C. goes after the same movie audience that likes watching visually stunning shots of bare-chested men fighting both majestic creatures and each other. (Insert your own homoeroticism joke here.) The arena changes to the mythical age when men fought next to mammoths to tell the story of D'Leh (Steven Strait), a young hunter in a remote mountain tribe. When our hero's true love Evolet (Camilla Belle) gets kidnapped by mysterious warlords, D'Leh rallies the troops and heads out to kick some slo-mo, green-screened ass.

Why We're Excited: To be honest, we're still burning over Emmerich's Godzilla, so reteaming him with larger-than-life creatures has us a little wary. But this Apocalypto/Ice Age hybrid is likely to be the biggest movie of the season, if you can use the incredible gross for 300 as a gauge.

Snow Angels
Release Date: March 7th
Studio: Warner Independent Pictures
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Griffin Dunne, Nicky Katt, Sam Rockwell, Amy Sedaris, and Olivia Thirlby
Written and Directed by: David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls)
Official Site: www.snow-angels.com

Plot: Working from a novel by Stewart O'Nan, Snow Angels presents two intertwining stories of the dark edges of love and loss. The first concerns a recently separated couple that has to cope with a horrible tragedy, and the second is about a young man who has to deal with the separation of his parents just as he's finding true love himself. We’re pretty sure there’s no shirtless mammoth-wrestling in this one.

Why We're Excited: David Gordon Green has yet to make a movie that wasn't great or near-great. His use of light and tension turned George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Undertow into completely riveting cinema, and the preview for Snow Angels looks to us like he's hit a home run for an amazing fourth time. Good reviews from the festival circuit and our love for the underrated Sam Rockwell only adds to the excitement.

Doomsday
Release Date: March 14th
Studio: Universal
Starring: Rhona Mitra, Malcolm McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Alexander Siddig, and David O'Hara
Written and Directed by: Neil Marshall (The Descent)
Official Site: www.doomsdayiscoming.com

Plot: The Descent director Neil Marshall moves from underground horror to futuristic action with Doomsday, the story of a country in chaos when a vicious virus puts the entire nation under quarantine. After the country is literally walled-off for thirty years, the Reaper virus resurfaces in a major city, and the brilliantly named Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) has to head into the hot zone in search of a cure. With her paramilitary unit, Eden travels Marshall's land of the dead in a plot that sounds part-Romero, part-Carpenter, and part-something completely new. It could be the most exciting movie of its kind in years.

Why We're Excited: The Descent was one of the most promising horror films of the last decade, and we're all hoping that Doomsday is where that promise pays off. Based on the early word of mouth, there's no reason to think it won't be. With just Diary of the Dead, The Signal, The Ruins, and Doomsday alone, this "Spring" could be an epic season for genre fans. It almost makes up for the fact that there's another Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey movie. Almost.

Funny Games
Release Date: March 14th
Studio: Warner Independent Pictures
Starring: Naomi Watts, Brady Corbet, Siobhan Fallon, Michael Pitt, and Tim Roth
Written and Directed by: Michael Haneke (Cache)
Official Site: www.funnygames-themovie.com

Plot: Michael Haneke makes the unusual move of remaking his own film a decade later and, if you've seen the original Funny Games, you know there's not a lot to improve on. Starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, Funny Games follows the sad story of a family held hostage by a very demented pair of young men who play horrible and vicious games with their captives. If Funny Games is as brutal as the original - and, with Haneke behind the helm, there's no reason to think it won't be - this could be one of the most shocking American movies of the year.

Why We're Excited: We've seen the original. The possibility that the always-great Naomi Watts could help introduce the world to the insanity of Michael Haneke is a highlight of the season. Haneke's been one of the most interesting filmmakers of the last decade (if you haven't seen Cache, go rent it now) and, while not a lot of directors have made the jump across the pond successfully, we have faith that Michael has the skill to make it work without losing his edge.

Drillbit Taylor
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: March 21st
Starring: Owen Wilson, Alex Frost, Josh Peck, and Leslie Mann
Written by: Kristofer Brown & Seth Rogen
Directed by: Steven Brill (Mr. Deeds)
Official Site: www.drillbittaylor.com

Plot: A kid gets tired of being bullied by the nasty kid at school, so he hires himself a soldier of fortune (Owen Wilson) to protect him. Of course, the bodyguard has a plan of his own that only a Wilson brother could pull off.

Why We're Excited: Owen Wilson used to be funny. We weren't big fans of The Darjeeling Limited or The Wendell Baker Story and don't get us started on the nightmares we still have about You, Me, and Dupree, but Wilson has given some great comedic performances in his career (Bottle Rocket, Wedding Crashers), so we always hold out hope that he can do it again. The involvement of Steven Brill, who directed the horrible Little Nicky and Without a Paddle, makes our skin crawl, but Seth Rogen getting a co-writing credit almost balances it out. To be honest, Drillbit Taylor could be absolutely horrible, but we still have faith that Wilson can turn his comedic career around.

Run, Fatboy, Run
Studio: Picturehouse
Release Date: March 28th
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, and Dylan Moran
Written by: Michael Ian Black & Simon Pegg
Directed by: David Schwimmer

Plot: Dennis (Simon Pegg) was at the altar, ready to marry his pregnant fiancee Libby (Thandie Newton), but he got cold feet and headed for the hills. After five years of regret, Dennis returns to find Libby with a new man (Hank Azaria) and decides to enter a marathon to prove that he's not really a quitter. Can Dennis run 26 miles and win back his love?

Why We're Excited: We love Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Fatboy only features one third of the great team that made those movies, but it's the lead actor Simon Pegg, who we have faith in when it comes to script-selection. And, even though the last time Thandie Newton dealt with the world of overweight comedy, it produced Norbit, we blame Eddie Murphy for that one.

2008 Preview: Top 20 Movies to See This Spring Page 3