2011 Movie Preview: Part 1

Over the next few days we'll be glancing into 2011's future to preview some of the films arriving over the next 12 months. First up is January through to April, which sees plenty of Oscar contenders arriving on UK shores, a Glee star making a bid for movie stardom and Justin Bieber continuing his quest for world domination.

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January
Danny Boyle follows up Slumdog Millionaire with intense survival drama 127 Hours. James Franco plays climber Aron Ralston as he struggles to free himself from under a trapped boulder. With only a blunt knife for company, expect blood! "There is an extraordinary, very profound and deep sense of euphoria in getting out of there. Life being given back again," Boyle says. Michel Gondry teams up with Seth Rogen for superhero film The Green Hornet, so expect more laughs and quirkiness than your average vigilante blockbuster. Ballet thriller Black Swan arrives promising a lesbian sex scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, but with Darren Aronofsky at the helm it's safe to say there'll be a lot more to it than that!

> Trailer: 127 Hours

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February
Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale land a knockout blow in The Fighter, the long-awaited biopic of boxer Mickey 'Irish' Ward. Counter to this gritty drama is blockbuster I Am Number Four, starring Alex Pettyfer and Glee's Dianna Agron. "There's action and there's romance and there's all these things that people can grasp onto. Hopefully people enjoy it," Agron tells DS of the film. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost get back together for a road trip across America, only to find themselves lumbered with a talking alien in Paul. Seth Rogen lends his voice to the titular extraterrestrial.

> Trailer: I Am Number Four

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March
Johnny Depp kicks off March by providing vocals for a chameleon in his Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski's animated movie Rango. Another comedy quickly follows in the form of the Farrelly brothers' Hall Pass, which sees Owen Wilson granted a week's freedom from his wife. Brit comic Stephen Merchant told us of his experience working with the laid-back Wilson: "He has an amazing confidence to do nothing... He just speaks at his level, very quiet, and knows that his natural charisma and talent is sufficient. It's kind of amazing to watch." Closing the month is sci-fi Battle: Los Angeles, which finds the West Coast decimated by an alien invasion. Let's hope it's better than Skyline!

> Trailer: Battle: Los Angeles

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April
Before he sends Superman soaring again, Zack Snyder releases the "Alice In Wonderland with machine-guns" blockbuster Sucker Punch. Slipping into the fantasy realm might seem like the perfect excuse to use 3D, but producer Deborah Snyder says that isn't the case. "We didn't think it would live up to our expectations... Too many films are jumping on the 3D bandwagon and we can't be one of them," she said. Firmly on that bandwagon, though, is Justin Bieber. Will his 3D concert film Never Say Never bring Bieber fever to the silver screen? We'll have to wait until April to find out. Finally, it's worth keeping an eye out for Attack The Block. This low-budget Brit flick is directed by Joe Cornish of Adam & Joe fame and could well prove to be one of the surprises of 2011.

> Trailer: Never Say Never

What do you think of the movies the first part of 2011 has to offer? Leave your comments in the space below!