What's in the can for 2014

After a year of ‘so-so’ films (with a couple of notable exceptions such as the sci-fi film Gravity and award-winner Argo), we all need something to look forward to and the list of up-coming films for 2014 seems – on paper – to promise much.

We start the year with the long-awaited The Monuments Men, listed for a February screen date, directed by George Clooney and starring Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and George, collecting a double pay packet. It’s the mainly true story of an unlikely platoon of soldiers, whose job it was to recover works of art stolen by the Nazis and return them to the rightful owners. It seems to be tagged as a comedy at present, which will be interesting, given the subject matter.
March is tipped for the screening of the fascinating tale of British climber George Mallory, the man who may have reached the summit of Everest in 1924, but whose body was found 75 years later, with no proof that he achieved his goal. Everest, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Doug Liman, should be a cracker of a tale.
Next in the line for the big opening is a Biblical epic, Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Russell Crowe as the man with a floating zoo, accompanied by lithesome Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson.
Presumably the script for this movie doesn’t contain the memorable lines from a now-famous monologue by the US comedian Bill Cosby where Noah, busy with his ark, is confronted by his neighbour:
Neighbour: “What is this?” Noah: “It’s an ark”. Neighbour: “Would you like to get it off my driveway?”
Whatever the script, it’s all due to kick off in April. (To take another line from Cosby’s ark tale weatherwise ‘It’s not a shower’).
Two great mysteries complete our quick list of picks for the year.
Gone Girl, based on a successful book about a girl who goes missing on her wedding day, has the more than capable David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) at the helm. That should be worth seeing when it comes out, hopefully in October.
Last – but not least – is Child 44, again based on a successful mystery novel. It’s the story of a disgraced KGB man investigating murders in the desolate outback of Siberia. It doesn’t have a firm release date yet but it stars Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman.
However, if you don’t fancy any of my picks of the year, then be consoled, there is a huge list of more standard fare heading your way for the year ahead.
These include more editions of the Expendables, X-men, Spider-Man, Transformers, Resident Evil, Hunger Games, Fast and Furious and Captain America franchises.
So, plenty there to keep you going to the pictures. Happy viewing!