A Movie of the Month guide to 2011
By Josh Larsen For Sun-Times Media January 20, 2011 4:00PM
Jason Segel and friends in “The Muppets.” | Walt Disney Pictures
Also on deck
“The Adjustment Bureau” — Matt Damon and Emily Blunt star in this sci-fi thriller about a man who gets a glimpse of his future, and doesn’t like it. (March 4.)
“Red Riding Hood” — “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke hopes to send little goth hearts all aflutter with this tweeny take on the fairy tale. (March 11.)
“The Beaver” — Mel Gibson stars as depressed man who finds inspiration in an animal hand puppet. Insert your own joke here. (March 23.)
“Hop” — A comic, computer-animated take on the Easter Bunny. Perhaps he, too, will inspire Mel Gibson? (April 1.)
“Source Code” — A soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of another man. No, not Tom Hanks’. (April 1.)
“Rio” — A pet macaw explores his wild side in this computer-animated comedy from the “Ice Age” team. Sounds like it’s going to need a helping of Scrat. (April 8.)
“X-Men: First Class” — A new director and cast look at the early days of the comic-book mutants. Apparently Halle Berry and Rebecca Romijn weren’t aging gracefully enough. (June 3.)
“Green Lantern” — Ryan Reynolds plays an alien with a powerful ring. Is it just me or are these superheroes getting sillier and sillier? (June 17.)
“Cars 2” — Pixar refuels. (June 24.)
“Rise of the Apes” — Twentieth Century Fox sort of wants you to know this is a prequel in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise. Just don’t tell anyone. (June 24.)
“Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon” — Start popping the aspirin now. (July 1.)
“Larry Crowne” — Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts team up for this drama about a retail clerk who loses his job. Consider this a scientific experiment on the validity of star power. (July 1.)
“Captain America” — Chris Evans salutes the iconic comic-book figure. (July 22.)
“Cowboys & Aliens” — Sometimes you have to love the high concepts that come out of Hollywood’s idea labs. Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford star in this action flick that, yep, is about cowboys and aliens. (July 29.)
“The Smurfs” — I was embarrassed just to type that. (Aug. 3.)
“Puss in Boots” — Shrek lives! Or at least his cat sidekick does. (Nov. 4.)
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1” — Boy, this franchise really does think it’s “Harry Potter.” (Nov. 18.)
“Hugo Cabret” — I’m all for an adaptation of the Brian Selznick book about an orphan living in the walls of a Parisian train station. But one directed by Martin Scorsese? (Dec. 9.)
“Sherlock Holmes 2” — I see you shrugging. (Dec. 16.)
“The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn” — The first fully animated film to be directed by Steven Spielberg. (Dec. 28.)
“War Horse” — More Spielberg, this time a family drama about the relationship between a horse and a man circa World War I. (Dec. 28.)
Article Extras
Updated: June 9, 2011 5:23AM
What movies deserve to be on your calendar this year?
2011 is jam packed with sequels, famous book adaptations and just plain curiosities — so many that looking at the year’s release slate can be overwhelming.
To help you out, we’ve perused Hollywood’s calendar and plucked one must-see movie for each month. Some of these are high-profile releases, while others are unknown experiments. And if you’re wondering when “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” comes out, we can’t help you.
February
‘Hall Pass’
I can already see the morally pandering happy ending from here — this comedy follows a pair of husbands whose wives give them a week to do whatever they please — but the players sure are promising: Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis play the husbands; Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate play the wives; and director brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) are behind the camera. (Opens Feb. 25.)
March
‘Sucker Punch’
Graphic-novel specialist Zach Snyder (“Watchmen,” “300”) directs this original tale of an institutionalized girl who escapes to a fantasy world, where she leads a female gang against all sorts of fantastical enemies. Should be weird; could be weird good. (March 25.)
April
‘Water for Elephants’
Oddball casting is the intriguing element here, as Reese Witherspoon costars with “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson in this tale of a veterinarian who joins an old-time circus. Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Sara Gruen. (April 15.)
MAY
‘Thor’
Judging by its silly trailer, this comic-book extravaganza could be a laughable disaster. But believe it or not, this is the only “original” major release in a month that also includes “Hangover 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 2” and the fourth installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” (May 6.)
June
‘Super 8’
The last time producer J.J. Abrams had a secret project, he unveiled the monstrously entertaining “Cloverfield.” Here he’s on board as director, with a movie rumored to be an alien-invasion riff based on Nevada’s mysterious Area 51. (June 10.)
July
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part II’
Are you ready to say good-bye to Harry? This conclusive chapter — which fans have been clamoring for since the end of “Part I” last November — will be your last chance. (July 15.)
August
‘The Help’
One of those books everyone you know seems to have read, Kathryn Stockett’s novel about the relationships between white Southern women and their black housekeepers during the 1960s comes to the big screen. Emma Stone and Viola Davis headline the cast. (Aug. 12.)
September
‘Moneyball’
What makes this fall baseball drama any more intriguing than all of the other fall baseball dramas we’ve had? The cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman. (Sept. 23.)
October
‘Contagion’
You can have your artsy Steven Soderbergh (“Full Frontal”). I prefer it when he goes genre slumming, as he does with this thriller about the outbreak of a deadly disease. And having Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Jude Law in the cast can’t hurt. (Oct. 21.)
November
‘The Muppets’
I can hear the theme song now. After more than a decade away, everybody’s favorite musical puppets return to the big screen, courtesy of writer and star Jason Segel (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”). (Nov. 23.)
December
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’
The Swedish adaptations of the wildly popular novels by Stieg Larsson weren’t enough for director David Fincher (“The Social Network”). His version of the tale stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as the oddball couple investigating corporate intrigue in Scandinavia. (Dec. 21.)
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