Looking Forward: 25 Must-Sees for the Rest of 2010

January is long gone and February is half over. If you're a movie buff you haven't missed much, but here's a list of 25 movies you can't miss this year. If you haven't heard of one of these yet, take the time to check out it's trailer by clicking on the title.

February 19 - Shutter Island (Leonadro DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams; directed by Martin Scorsese)

February 26 - Cop Out (Bruce Willis, Tracey Morgan, Sean William Scott, Jason Lee, Rashida Jones; directed by Kevin Smith)

March 5 - Alice in Wonderland (Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter; directed by Tim Burton)

March 12 - She's Out of My League (Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve)

March 19 - Repo Men (Jude Law, Forest Witaker, Liev Schreiber)

April 2 - Clash of the Titans (Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton)

April 9 - Date Night (Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Walhberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis)

April 16 - Kick-Ass (Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Aaron Johnson)

April 23 - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Javier Bardem, Carey Mulligan; directed by Oliver Stone)

May 7 - Iron Man 2 (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell; directed by John Favreau)

May 14 - Robin Hood (Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt; directed by Ridley Scott)

May 28 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Gemma Arterton)

June 11 - Get Him to the Greek (Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne; produced by Judd Apatow)

June 11 - The A-Team (Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley)

June 18 - Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Will Arnett)

June 18 - Toy Story 3 (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Michael Keaton, Joan Cusack; directed by Lee Unkrich)

June 25 - Grown Ups (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider; directed by Dennis Dugan)

July 2 - The Last Airbender (Dev Patel, Noah Ringer Jackson Rathbone; directed by M. Night Shyamalan)

July 16 - Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy; directed by Christopher Nolan)

August 13 - The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Eric Roberts; directed by Sylvester Stallone)

October 8 - The Zookeeper (Kevin James, Rosario Dawson; the voices of Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Jon Favreau; directed by Frank Coraci)

November 5 - Due Date (Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Alan Arkin, Michelle Monaghan; directed by Todd Phillips)

November 19 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint; directed by David Yates)

December 17 - Tron Legacy (Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde)

December 22 - The Green Hornet (Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Christoph Waltz)

My Top 10 Movies of 2009

Ever since I posted “In Print: EW’s Best Films of the Year” two weeks ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about what my own Top 10 would look like. After a little while to think about it, I’ve chosen ten of my favorite. Before I dive into my Top 10, here are ten others that are worthy of honorable mention: (500) Days of Summer, Avatar, Away We Go, District 9, Duplicity, Notorious, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Up in the Air, Whip It, and Wolverine.

10. Funny People
(Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, Eric Bana; directed by Judd Apatow)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Sandler and Rogen were good; I always enjoy seeing comedy actors in serious roles; disagree with other critics that it was an off-film for Apatow





9. The Blind Side
(Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron; directed by John Lee Hancock)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Good enough to make a grown man tear up; lived up to my high expectations






8. Zombieland
(Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin; directed by Ruben Fleischer)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Much funnier than I expected; the foursome had good on-screen chemistry






7. I Love You, Man
(Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Rashida Jones; directed by John Hamburg)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Rudd and Segal were hilarious; the ultimate buddy comedy






6. Terminator Salvation
(Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin; directed by McG)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Solid performance all around; made me forget about T3






5. Star Trek
(Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Zaldana, Eric Bana; directed by J.J. Abrams)
Ballas’ Bottomline: J.J Abrams strikes again; made a Trekker out of someone with no prior Star Trek knowledge






4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
(Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint; directed by David Yates)
Ballas’ Bottomline: I never considered myself a big Harry Potter fan until I saw this film.






3. The Hangover
(Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong; directed by Todd Phillips)
Ballas’ Bottomline: I saw Hangover three times in theaters, and it was nearly as funny each time.






2. Slumdog Millionaire
(Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto; directed by Danny Boyle)
Ballas’ Bottomline: A real feel-good movie; easy to understand why it won so many Oscars






1. Gran Torino
(Clint Eastwood; directed by Clint Eastwood)
Ballas’ Bottomline: Clint Eastwood was great in his final acting role.

Say It Ain't So: Broderick Approves "Bueller" Remake

Matthew Broderick has given approval for a Ferris Bueller remake. Really? Has Hollywood really run out of fresh ideas? I'm up for a good remake every once in awhile - as long as the movie warrants a remake. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is not one of those movies. I could see a studio making a Ferris sequel - possibly where Ferris continues his rebellious antics at the college level or 40-year-old Ferris attempts to collect a paycheck without ever going to work - but to remake this classic just seems unnecessary. Fortunately, while Broderick has given the green light on the project, he won't be involved. Broderick told Cinematical, "[A remake] would be fine. I would be perfectly happy for somebody to do that. I probably wouldn't enjoy [having a role in the film]. I would rather leave what we did as our thing." Let's hope the rest of the 1986 original cast take the day off as well.

Reviewed: Youth in Revolt

Youth in Revolt (Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday; directed by Miguel Arteta)
Quick Synopsis: Teenager develops alternate ego in order to get his dream girl
Ballas' Bottomline: Good, funny story; don't expect Superbad 2
Ballasometer: 7.0

Youth in Revolt tells the story of Nick Twisp (Michael Cera), who falls instantly in love with Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday) while on vacation with his mother (Jean Smart) and her current loser boyfriend (Zach Galifianakis). When geography and family matters keep Nick and Sheeni apart, he decides to abandon his boring personality and develops a rebellious, mustached, cigarette-smoking, "supplementary persona" named Francois Dillinger. Nick's bad-bay alter ego leads him down a disruptive path in an attempt to be reunited with his dream girl.

"In movies it's usually the good guy who gets the girl. In real life, it's usually the prick." - Michael Cera as Nick Twisp

It was interesting to see Cera portray Francois. The character was enjoyably different than the awkward teenager he has been virtually typecast to play. However, those expecting to see Cera play the dorky teen he has made a career playing won't be disappointed. The film follows Nick/Francois as he puts himself in all kinds of awkward situations. Everything that appears to go right at first, usually ends up going humorously wrong. While some of Nick's antics were a little far-fetched, none can be completely disregarded as something a teenager would do with the right amount of motivation to lose his virginity.

If there's one major thing wrong with the screenplay (penned by Charlie Barlett's Gustin Nash), it is the introduction of the supporting cast. Miss Twisp's newest boyfriend and police officer, Lance Wescott (Ray Liotta), and Sheeni's older brother, Paul (Justin Long), seemed to be borderline unnecessary except to make certain plot points possible. Nick's father, George Twisp (Steve Buscemi), also could have been developed further.

One thing moviegoers might enjoy about this film is its use of animation (created by Peter Sluszka). Nick, his mother, and her boyfriend were recreated in clay for a stop-motion opening title sequence. Sluszka also directed Michael Cera in a pixelation sequence for a road trip scene, and his hand-drawn images where used in another in which Nick hallucinates. The animation was used well to transition scenes and added a little something extra to the feel of the movie - similar to the opening and chapter titles in Juno.

A critique of this movie in general was the way it was marketed. The previews suggest Youth is a pure comedy, which may lead viewers to expect to see Superbad 2. While the film had its share of laughs, it could be more accurately categorized as a teenage RomDramedy. Cera's character is more comparable to those he played in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist and Juno than in Superbad. While viewers probably won't mind watching Cera strive for his dream girl, it's likely not quite the movie they thought they were going to see. If nothing else, Youth in Revolt provides some solid laughs and reminds us how far we are willing to go for love.

Feeling Buzzed?: Youth in Revolt

If you haven't heard much about Youth in Revolt, I encourage you to check out the newest trailer (click on the title). I've known about this movie for awhile, but didn't start to get really excited about it until I saw Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) on Jimmy Fallon last night and remembered that he is hilarious. "With heavy emphasis on the need for Nick ... to "Be Bad' to lose his virginity, it's the closest to calling the film Superbad 2 without calling the film Superbad 2," says the blogger for HSX.com. I'm feeling the buzz and hope to make time to see this movie this weekend.