The 10 Most Anticipated Movies of Early 2009

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Monsters vs. Aliens, from DreamWorks Pictures, opens on March 27th, 2009.
Photo credit: DreamWorks Pictures

6. “Monsters vs. Aliens 3D”
Release Date: March 27th
Voice Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Paul Rudd, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Will Arnett, and Stephen Colbert
Writer: Credits TBD
Director: Rob Letterman & Conrad Vernon

Plot: It’s all there in the title. It turns out the government has been keeping a secret prison, where they lock up all the world’s straight-out-of-a-B-movie monsters. When aliens attack the planet Earth, the monsters, including the newest member of the team, a woman recently turned into a giant, are the only ones who can save the day - Dirty Dozen-style, only, you know… for kids! And it’s all in 3D!

Reason To Get Excited: This one is a little unfair because we’ve seen part of it and, well, it looked pretty good. Some of the humor in the twenty minutes or so that Jeffrey Katzenberg showed HollywoodChicago at the end of 2008 (read more here) fell a little flat, but trust us when we tell you that this could be a real visual marvel, a massive step forward in the technology of 3D movies. And even if the dialogue isn’t perfect, the voice cast delivering it includes the brilliantly cast Rogen, Witherspoon, Laurie, Sutherland, and Arnett. Oh, and did we mention that Stephen Colbert plays the President? Genius.

Duplicity, from Universal Pictures, opens on March 20th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

5. “Duplicity”
Release Date: March 20th
Cast: Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Wilkinson
Writer/Director: Tony Gilroy

Plot: Roberts and Owens play corporate spies with a steamy past. The two spooks hook up to pull the greatest con ever on their respective bosses.

Reason To Get Excited: The last time Tony Gilroy and Tom Wilkinson’s name were on a movie together it spawned “Michael Clayton”. Roberts has left us cold lately, but the idea of Owen, Giamatti, and Wilkinson spitting out Gilroy’s barbs of dialogue is more than enough to have us intrigued by “Duplicity”.

Coraline, from Focus Features, opens on February 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Focus Features

4. “Coraline”
Release Date: February 6th
Voice Cast: Dakota Fanning, Ian McShane, Teri Hatcher, Keith David, Jennifer Saunders, and Dawn French
Writer/Director: Henry Selick

Plot: Based on Neil Gaiman’s Hugo Award-winning novel, “Coraline” tells the story of a girl who finds a door in her family’s new home which leads her to a fascinating alternate reality. Everything on the other side of the door is similar to Coraline’s “real life” but with a magical, fantastical edge. And, of course, there’s a bit of darkness and danger too. Coraline learns the hard way that there really is no place like home.

Reason To Get Excited: “A Nightmare Before Christmas” is one of the best animated movies ever made (if you count stop-motion as “animation”). And most people still think Tim Burton directed it. He didn’t. It was a talented man named Henry Selick who brought Tim’s childhood drawings to life, and it’s his general refusal to bow down to the traditional stereotypes of the kids movie has us totally pumped for “Coraline”. We don’t know about you but our favorite authors growing up - Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, even some Dr. Seuss - came with a twisted edge that you don’t see that often in children’s entertainment any more. This could be an early frontrunner for best animated film of 2009.