The Most Anticipated Films of 2015 Pt. 3

60 More Films for Those w/ Brains and Taste

5 Last-Minute Films to Definitely See (If They Will Come Out in 2015 or Beyond)

That’s What I’m Talking About

Written and directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Blake Jenner, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Wyatt Russell, and Zoey Deutch.

The past two years has been great for Richard Linklater in not just closing the Before trilogy in 2013 but also release the long-awaited Boyhood a year later as the film was released to great acclaim. In continuing this hot streak he’s in, Linklater will release what he describes as a spiritual sequel 1993’s 70s film Dazed and Confused as it will revolve around college freshmen baseball players coping with their new surroundings as the film is set in the 1980s. Though shooting has finished and is currently in post-production, it’s likely that it will arrive in the festival circuit.

Silencio

Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar.

2013’s I’m So Excited! was a break for the famed Spanish auteur who had been making more dramatic-based features for more than a decade as his last film was a return to comedies of the past. His twentieth film will be a return to the female-led dramas of the past though there hasn’t been any details nor cast information available as shooting plans to take place during the summer. Yet, Almodovar is a name that often brings in audiences as he is one of cinema’s great filmmakers.

Sunset Song

Written for the screen and directed by Terence Davies. Based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibson.

Terence Davies is one of British cinema’s finest filmmakers though he doesn’t work very frequently due to financial difficulties as his last film The Deep Blue Sea in 2011 garnered rave reviews. His seventh feature film is an adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibson’s novel though cast information hasn’t been revealed while it’s unclear whether the film will ever come out as it has been mired in financial difficulties and various delays. Still, Davies is a name that gets audiences excited for as he often makes the kind of films that plays into dramas that are geared towards adults with stories that are compelling.

The Lost City of Z

Written for the screen and directed by James Gray. Based on the novel by David Grann. Starring Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller.

2013’s The Immigrant is considered one of James Gray’s best works despite the poor distribution it would get from Harvey Weinstein over its release. Yet, the film did give Grey some of his best reviews as he is once again making another period film in an adaptation of David Grann’s novel about an explorer and his son searching for a legendary ancient city. The concept definitely seems like the kind of project that will be big for Gray as it’s an indication that he is willing to take some risks.

Blackbird

Written and directed by David Mamet.

David Mamet is a name that is often synonymous with great writing as he is also known for making small films that manage to defy expectations and bend all sorts of genres no matter what they may seem. While there hasn’t been any detail into what his next feature is about nor who will be in it. Mamet definitely is someone that will get some people to watch no matter what kind of film it is.

Indies & Newbies Coming to a Theater or Festival Near or Not-Near You

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez. Written by P.W. Hopsidor, Christopher McQuarrie, and Tim Talbott. Starring Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Olivia Thirlby, Logan Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Michael Angarano, Tye Sheridan, Jack Kilmer, Nicholas Braun, and Ki Hong Lee.

Stockholm, Pennsylvania

Written and directed by Nikole Beckwith. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Cynthia Nixon, Jason Isaacs, and David Warshofsky.

Z for Zachariah

Directed by Craig Zobel. Written by Nissar Modi. Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, and Margot Robbie.

Unexpected

Directed by Kris Swanberg. Written by Kris Swanberg and Megan Mercier. Starring Cobie Smulders, Anders Holm, Gail Bean, and Elizabeth McGovern.

Wait

Written and directed by Alex Withrow. Starring Micah Parker, Nathan Stayton, Catherine Warner, Murelle Zuker, and Andrew Bongorno.

Green Room

Written and directed by Jeremy Slaunier. Starring Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Joe Cole, and Patrick Stewart.

Get a Job

Directed by Dylan Kidd. Written by Kyle Pennekamp and Scott Turpel. Starring Anna Kendrick, Alison Brie, Miles Teller, John Cho, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Marcia Gaye Harden, and Bryan Cranston.

Desierto

Directed by Jonas Cuaron. Written by Jonas Cuaron and Mateo Garcia. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Cantano, Marco Perez, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Digging for Fire

Directed by Joe Swanberg. Written by Jake Johnson and Joe Swanberg. Starring Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, and Anna Kendrick.

Into the Forest

Written for the screen and directed by Patricia Rozema. Based on the book by Jean Hegland. Starring Evan Rachel Wood, Ellen Page, Max Minghella, Michael Eklund, Sandy Sidhu, and Callum Keith Rennie.

The End of the Tour

Directed by James Ponsoldt. Written by Donald Marguiles. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel, Anna Chlumsky, Mamie Gummer, Mickey Sumner, and Joan Cusack.

A Tale of Love and Darkness

Directed by Natalie Portman. Based on the autobiography by Amos Oz. Starring Natalie Portman and Makram Khoury.

Brooklyn

Directed by John Crowley. Screenplay by Nick Hornby. Based on the novel by Colm Toibin. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters, and Jim Broadbent.

Queen of Earth

Written and directed by Alex Ross Perry. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterson, and Patrick Fugit.

Ten Thousand Saints

Written and directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman. Starring Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Emile Hirsch.

Mississippi Grind

Written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn, Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Robin Weigert, and Alfre Woodard.

Captain Fantastic

Written and directed by Matt Ross. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Missi Pyle, Steve Zahn, and Kathryn Hahn.

Last Days in the Desert

Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia. Starring Ewan McGregor, Tye Sheridan, Ayelet Zurer, and Ciaran Hinds.

Room

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Written by Emma Donoghue from her novel. Starring Brie Larson, Joan Allen, Jacob Tremblay, and William H. Macy.

45 Years

Directed by Andrew Haigh. Written by Andrew Haigh and David Constantine. Starring Charlotte Rampling, Dolly Wells, Tom Courtenay, and Geraldine James.

Day Out of Days

Written and directed by Zoe Cassavetes. Starring Alexia Landeau, Melanie Griffith, Bellamy Young, Vincent Kartheiser, Cheyenne Jackson, Alessandro Nivola, and Eddie Izzard.

Freeheld

Directed by Peter Sollett. Written by Ron Nyswaner. Starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carrel, and Luke Grimes.

Experimenter

Written and directed by Michael Almereyda. Starring Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder, Jim Gaffigan, Kellan Lutz, Taryn Manning, and John Leguizamo.

Lovesong

Written and directed by So-Yong Kim. Starring Jena Malone and Riley Keough.

True Story


 
Directed by Rupert Goold. Written by Rupert Goold and David Kajganich. Starring Jonah Hill, James Franco, Gretchen Mol, and Felicity Jones.

There’s a lot of films by newcomers and other filmmakers that are definitely coming into the film festival circuit with films that definitely aim for something simpler or to create something new. Among these newcomers include the very talented Alex Withrow of And So It Begins... who will unleash his debut film in Wait. Others who are making their debut will be Nicole Beckwith with Stockholm, Pennsylvania, Jonas Cuaron with his feature-film debut in Dieserto, and Natalie Portman in her own feature-film directorial debut in an adaptation of Amos Oz’s A Tale of Love and Darkness. Other noted indie filmmakers such as the Swanberg brothers, Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Jeremy Slaunier, Craig Zobel, Matt Ross, Alex Ross Perry, James Ponsoldt, Patricia Rozema, Peter Sollett, So-Yong Kim, Michael Almereyeda, and Zoe Cassavetes will bring in new films that definitely will be completely different from the mainstream.

Husband and wife teams in Ryan Boden/Anna Fleck and Robert Pulcini/Shari Springer Berman will also capitalize on their indie cred to release new feature films while Dylan Kidd makes a long-awaited return in the comedy Get a Job. British filmmakers such as Lenny Abrahamson, John Crowley, and Andrew Haigh will each display their own new features while longtime playwright Rupert Goold directs a drama starring James Franco and Jonah Hill about a man accused of murder. Finally, there’s Rodrigo Garcia who returns with a strange drama that has Ewan McrGregor lost in the middle of a desert as these are the kind of films that refuse to play by the rules as they dare to challenge anything that’s out there.

Arthouse, Auteurs, & Other Strange Films by the Elite

A Bigger Splash

Directed by Luca Guadagnino. Screenplay by David Kajganich. Story by Alain Page. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Mathias Schoenaerts.

Holland, Michigan

Directed by Errol Morris. Written by Andrew Sodroski. Starring Naomi Watts, Bryan Cranston, and Edgar Ramirez.

Nobody Wants the Night

Directed by Isabel Coixet. Written by Miguel Barros. Starring Juliette Binoche, Rinko Kikuchi, and Gabriel Byrne.

The Early Years

Written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Starring Michael Caine, Paul Dano, Rachel Weisz, Harvey Keitel, and Jane Fonda.

Every Thing Will Be Fine

Directed by Wim Wenders. Written by Bjorn Olaf Johannessen. Starring James Franco, Rachel McAdams, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marie-Josee Croze, and Robert Naylor.

The Lobster

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, Ashley Jensen, Olivia Colman, and John C. Reilly.

The Last Face

Directed by Sean Penn. Written by Erin Dignam. Starring Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, and Adele Exarchopoulos.

Sicario

Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Jon Bernthal, and Josh Brolin.

Louder Than Bombs

Directed by Joachim Trier. Written by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Amy Ryan, Rachel Brosnahan, and David Strathairn.

Black Mass

Written for the screen and directed by Scott Cooper. Based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of the Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob. Starring Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Joel Edgerton, Sienna Miller, Juno Temple, Dakota Johnson, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson, and Peter Sarsgaard.

Life

Directed by Anton Corbijn. Written by Luke Davies. Starring Robert Pattinson, Dane DeHaan, Joel Edgerton, and Ben Kingsley.

Regression

Written and directed by Alejandro Amenabar. Starring Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Dencik, Devon Bostick, Dale Dickey, Aaron Ashmore, and David Thewlis.

Spotlight

Directed by Thomas McCarthy. Written by Thomas McCarthy and Josh Singer. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, Liev Schreiber, Jamey Sheridan, and Michael Keaton.

A Hologram for the King

Written for the screen and directed by Tom Tykwer. Based on the novel by Dave Eggers. Starring Tom Hanks, Sarita Choudhury, and Tom Skerritt.

Demolition

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee. Written by Bryan Sipe. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, and Chris Cooper.

Untitled Lance Armstrong Film

Directed by Stephen Frears. Written by John Hodges. Starring Ben Foster, Lee Pace, Jesse Plemons, Guillaume Canet, Chris O’Dowd, and Dustin Hoffman.

The Tale of Tales

Directed by Matteo Garrone. Screenplay by Matteo Garrone, Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, and Massimo Gaudiso. Based on the novel by Giambattista Basile. Starring Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassell, John C. Riley, Shirley Henderson, Stacy Martin, and Toby Jones.

The Secret Scripture

Directed by Jim Sheridan. Based on the novel by Sebastian Barry. Starring Rooney Mara and Vanessa Redgrave.

High-Rise

Directed by Ben Wheatley. Screenplay by Amy Jump. Based on the novel by J.G. Ballard. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Elisabeth Moss, James Purefoy, Stacy Martin, Sienna Guillory, and Luke Evans.

Seances

Directed by Guy Maddin. Written by Guy Maddin, Kim Morgan, and John Ashbery. Starring Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Rampling, Udo Kier, Geraldine Chaplin, Elina Lowensohn, Kim Morgan, and Maria de Medeiros.

Zama

Directed by Lucrecia Martel. Based on a novel by Antonio di Benedetto. Starring Daniel Giminez Cacho.

Elle

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Screenplay by David Birke. Based on the novel by Philippe Dijan. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Anne Consigny, Virginie Efira, and Charles Berling.

Umimachi Diary

Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. Based on the magna by Akimi Yoshida. Starring Haruka Ayase.

Our Brand is Crisis

Directed by David Gordon Green. Screenplay by Peter Straughan. Based on the documentary by Rachel Boynton. Starring Sandra Bullock, Scoot McNairy, Ann Dowd, Anthony Mackie, Zoe Kazan, and Billy Bob Thornton.

Beasts of No Nation

Written for the screen and directed by Cary Fukunaga. Based on the novel Uzodinma Iweala. Starring Idris Elba, Ama K. Abebrese, Grace Nortey, David Dontoh, and Opeyemi Fagbohungbe.

Triple Nine

Directed by John Hillcoat. Written by Matt Cook. Starring Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gal Gadot, Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, Teresa Palmer, and Michael Pena.

Idol’s Eye

Directed by Olivier Assayas. Starring Robert de Niro and Robert Pattinson.

Hands of Stone

Written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz. Starring Edgar Ramirez, Usher Raymond, Ellen Barkin, Ruben Blades, John Turturro, and Robert de Niro.

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Starring Elmer Back, Stelio Savante, Maya Zapata, and Lisa Owen.

Sing Street

Written and directed by John Carney. Starring Adrien Gillen, Jack Reynor, and Maria Doyle Kennedy.

There’s a lot of new films coming from some of the world’s best filmmakers as such top-tier women filmmakers like Isabel Coixet is set to premiere an adventure film with Juliette Binoche while Lucrecia Martel is adapting Antonio di Benedetto’s existential novel. From Italy, Matteo Garrone, Luca Guadagnino, and Paolo Sorrentino will each unveil new films while Canadians such as Jean-Marc Vallee and Denis Villeneuve are also going to come out with new films having been given recent mainstream exposure with their previous films. Then there’s Guy Maddin who might finally unleash his long-awaited Seances project that’s been in the works for year. Yorgos Lanthimos will unveil his first English-language film as does Joachim Trier as it’s hopeful that both men won’t be compromising their vision despite having it presented in other languages.

Several of Britain’s top directors like Peter Greenaway and Stephen Frears will both have new features as does Ben Wheatley who has been a major name that’s becoming prominent in British cinema. In Ireland, John Carney will return with another musical project while Jim Sheridan hopes to redeem himself after the disastrous production of 2011’s Dream House which he refused to promote. Wim Wenders continues to experiment with 3D for a new drama starring James Franco and Rachel McAdams while fellow German Tom Tykwer re-teams with his Cloud Atlas star Tom Hanks for an adaptation of Dave Eggers’ book. Paul Verhoeven will be making his return after spending most of the past decade producing and doing smaller projects while Anton Corbijn explores the friendship between James Dean and photographer James Stock in Life. Hirokazu Koreeda will make a different film based on a popular magma while Cary Fukunaga explores the horrors of war in Beasts of No Nation.

Several American filmmakers will unleash films that won’t play to conventional dramas as Sean Penn, Scott Cooper, David Gordon Green, and Thomas McCarthy are planning to release new films while famed documentary filmmaker will make a rare narrative-based feature film based on a love triangle between Bryan Cranston, Naomi Watts, and Edgar Ramirez. Jonathan Jakubowicz will create a film about the legendary Roberto Duran-Sugar Ray Leonard fight while Olivier Assayas will return with another new film that will also star Robert de Niro. Finally, there’s Alejandro Amenabar who will make his return after a six-year hiatus about detective investigating a rape case in Regression.

(End of Part 3) Pt. 1 - Pt. 2 - Pt. 4

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