Ten for 2009 (part one)

So a new year begins, and as all new years do, we start with the horror that is January. It's dark, it's cold, we are faced with a long walk ahead and we are tired. Oh, and also fat and depressed. Yadda Yadda gloominess. So let's forget about all of that right now, and attempt to cheer ourselves up with TEN THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2009!

Over the next few days I will preview the things I am squealing silently about inside. In absolutely no logical order...



1. Fables
Now, I guess I should be well informed about this and be excited from wanting to see the comics portrayed on the screen in a well realised, accurate way. But this is more of a hunch really. I haven't read any of the comics, and to be honest, I don't plan to. I know how far graphic novels have come, and how sophisticated (and perhaps underrated) they are, but they just don't appeal to me - there's something very teenage boy about them that I just can't shake. Plus, I'm not a big fan of having pictures to accompany what I read - I don't want to be told how someone or something looks, I want to piece it together myself in my head. Anyhow, I read that ABC is planning on developing this into a TV pilot - hopefully series - and it was the premise alone which got me hooked: characters from fairytales living in modern day New York city. That is brilliant; an idea I only wish I had come up with myself to write! I love fairytales, anything from the original dark and gory stuff to the technicoloured schmaltz that is a Disney film. So, this has the potential to be fantastic - if they choose the right actors, and get the tone right and most importantly - have a good script, then I think this could be a real treat for the Autumn. The people working on it are from Six Degrees, which I never actually watched (mainly because ITV put it on at such a stupid time), but has generally received good reviews. So that's a good start. News as we get it!


2. New York, I Love You
Gloriously exciting for so many reasons. As soon as I got wind of this in the works, I was already panting like an over exuberant dog, purely because Paris Je T'aime is one of my favourite films, and with the New York sequel happening, it just opens the door for so many more films, which is what pleases me the most. I travelled all the way to Sheffield to see Paris, such was my desire to see Natalie Portman, but the film captured me like no other. It's so simple, but because every story has its own cast, direction and ideas it means that every single one has had the effort put in to make it spectacular. Of course there were a few duds (Wes Craven? Love? Really?), but the charm of the whole film more than makes up for it. And then of course, we have this: not a remake, but completely different stories set in a different capital city. It's clearly going to be more adventurous and grand than Paris (just look at the stellar cast!) and won't be as quirky and quaint, but it'll be nice to have those differences. It's like watching a book, and everyone has a favourite chapter.
My excitement grew of course when Natalie Portman got involved. I also called that this would be her first directing job and I was right! So if nothing else, I'll get to enjoy this film because Nat will be both on screen and behind. And her directing piece, Eve, has been getting all kinds of praise throughout the short film circuit, so that's really promising. There are just so many of my favourite people here as well: Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Rachel Bilson, Shia LeBoeuf, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Christina Ricci, Olivia Thirlby... I'm just hoping it's as good as it should be, and then I'll be happy (and off to see it about ten times, probably).