Our predictions for the 50 Biggest Movies of 2009

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
(Dir Danny Boyle, 15, 120min)

An orphan from the slums of Mumbai triumphs on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Boyle’s exhilarating romance pieces together the life and the great love that leads to such a moment.
Released Jan 9

THE WRESTLER
(Darren Aronofsky, 15, 109min)

The professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was a star in the 1980s. Today he stoically hauls his creaking bulk around school halls and community centres for a shrinking audience of hardcore fans. Rourke is devastating in this superb drama.
Jan 16

FROST/NIXON
(Ron Howard, 15, 122min)

Peter Morgan’s award-winning play effortlessly makes the transition to the big screen, largely thanks to the original cast of Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, who reprise their roles as President Nixon and the chat show host David Frost respectively.
Jan 23

MILK
(Gus Van Sant, 15, 128min)

Sean Penn gives the warmest, most compassionate performance of his career in this biopic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California. A terrific supporting cast back him up; and Van Sant’s eye and ear for the look and feel of the era is spot on.
Jan 23

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
(Jonathan Demme, 15, 113min)

Demme pays homage to Altman with this talky family drama. Anne Hathaway plays Kym, a highly-strung former addict and the ghost at her sister’s wedding. It’s an awards-friendly performance, full of guilt and damaged self-obsession; a witty screenplay diffuses some of the family angst.
Jan 23

VALKYRIE
(Bryan Singer, tbc, 120min)

Based on a real events, Tom Cruise’s latest action movie tells of a plot within a group of high-ranking German officers to assassinate Hitler. Wonder how that turns out? Brit stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson provide support.
Jan 23

NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST
(Peter Sollett, 12A, 90min)

This New York tale is the emo kids’ Say Anything; a pop- powered romance between Michael Cera’s love-lorn musician and Kat Dennings’s cool chick with a crush. There’s a touch of gross-out humour and a gay-friendly subplot — something for everyone?
Jan 30

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
(Sam Mendes, 15, 119min)

Based on the bleak, brilliant novel by Richard Yates, this adaptation struggles to transform the savage prose into believable dialogue.

But the production design and costumes capture the suffocating, suburban 1950s perfectly, and the star power of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio should draw audiences.
Jan 30

BOLT
(Byron Howard, Chris Williams, tbc, 96min)

This Disney animation has Pixar’s fingerprints all over it — it’s sharp, funny and unexpectedly moving. Think a canine version of The Truman Show and you’ll get the idea. A dog from a TV show believes he has real super powers; a feline sidekick and a manic hamster provide the laughs.
Feb 6

VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
(Woody Allen, 12A, 96min)

Allen’s return to form finally makes it into the cinemas. It’s a must for fans of Allen at his irreverent best.

A steaming hot cast — Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall — is easy on the eye, but it is Penélope Cruz’s highly strung ex-wife (above) that steals the movie.
Feb 6

DOUBT
(John Patrick Shanley, tbc, 104min)

Adapted by Shanley from his own play, Doubt pits Meryl Streep’s fearsome nun against Philip Seymour Hoffman’s progressive priest. Set in a Brooklyn School during the 1960s, the dialogue-driven drama centres on the suspicion of an improper relationship between the priest and one of his students.
Feb 6

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
(David Fincher, tbc, 167min)

Brad Pitt stars as a man who ages backwards; Cate Blanchett is the woman who tries to love him in this ambitious adaptation of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. An off-beat fantasy that is unlike anything else you’ll see this year.
Feb 6

GRAN TORINO
(Clint Eastwood, tbc, 116min)

In what could well be his last outing as an actor, Clint Eastwood kicks serious butt. He plays an irascible, racist old codger who turns OAP vigilante to clean up the neighbourhood and to protect the vulnerable Asian family who live next door to him.
Feb 20

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
(Sacha Gervasi, tbc, 90min)

Possibly the greatest film about rock’n’roll yet made, Gervasi’s documentary follows the fortunes of the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. Rising stars in the 1980s, the band now play pubs while their contemporaries make platinum albums. Warm, affectionate and unbelievably funny.
Feb 20

THE YOUNG VICTORIA
(Jean-Marc Vallée, tbc, tbcmin)

The hotly tipped British star Emily Blunt gets her meatiest role to date as the young Queen Victoria. The film explores the early years of the monarch’s reign and her romance with Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).
Mar 6

WATCHMEN
(Zack Snyder, tbc, 163min)

The 300 director Snyder takes on another comic-book spectacular. The story is set in an alternative 1985 America where costumed superheroes are banned by a government crackdown. Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley and Matthew Goode star.
Mar 6

DUPLICITY
(Tony Gilroy, tbc, tbcmin)

The Bourne writer Gilroy steps behind the camera again (after his debut Michael Clayton) for a thriller that casts Julia Roberts and Clive Owen as a couple of corporate spies with a romantic history. The Roberts/Owen pairing has off-the-scale sexual chemistry.
Mar 20

PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA
(Hayao Miyazaki, tbc, 100min)

The latest film from the Japanese animation genius Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli is as cute as they come. The story of a six-year-old boy and his friendship with a goldfish princess who longs to be human, the film has an environmental message and a cast of thousands of adorable sea monsters.
Apr 3

IL DIVO
(Paolo Sorrentino, tbc, 110min)

This brilliant, ultra-stylish and visually playful political satire from Italy explores the chequered political career of the Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. Some knowledge of Italian politics is helpful but not essential.
Apr 3

DRAGONBALL
(James Wong, tbc, 100min)

A live action remake of a hugely popular Japanese anime film from the 1980s, this is one of the most hotly anticipated films on the fanboy circuit. Justin Chatwin and Emmy Rossum star in a fantasy adventure that sees a young warrior attempting to collect a set of magic orbs. Hmm . . .
Apr 10

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