14. The Rover (David Michôd; Summer TBD)
After debuting the family crime drama Animal Kingdom back in 2010, it’s been a longer-than-expected wait for David Michôd‘s follow-up, but 2014 will finally bring it with The Rover. A likely bet for Cannes following its summer release, the existential western teams Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Scoot McNairy and more, following a loner who tracks down the men responsible for stealing his car. If Michôd continues to display his knack for unbridled tension, this could prove to be one of Pattinson’s best performances. – Jordan R.
9. Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas; TBD)
After revisiting the hyper-personal Cold Water as a means of crafting Something in the Air, there’s some chronological logic in Olivier Assayas, as a follow-up, going back to the meta-cinematic territory of Irma Vep for Sils Maria. From Maggie Cheung to Juliette Binoche, our next look at the strange life of an international star is coming from an artist who, in this writer’s opinion, has only grown more controlled and assured in the many years since. On this one, it’s hard to maintain any reasonable expectations. – Nick N.
7. Queen of the Desert (Werner Herzog; TBD)
Following years of irritating stop-start development, Werner Herzog is finally shooting his first feature since 2009’s Bad Lieutenant and My Son, My Son. Shifts on the casting front are only natural with such long progressions acting as a factor, but in the central spot of legendary cartographer Gertrude Bell has Naomi Watts remained — she now buoyed by the likes ofRobert Pattinson, James Franco, and Damian Lewis — and the subject’s staggering impact on history gives the sort of thread this writer-director has proven himself deeply invested in for decades. (Fitzcarraldo being but one obvious reference point.) It might prove a perfect fit, and we can’t wait to see how Queen shapes up to his true classics. – Nick N.
4. Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg; TBD)
David Cronenberg is working in a different register these days — more removed (quite literally, in terms of something as essential as camera distance), more clinical, more alien — so those hoping for Scanners and not Cosmopolis might need to rearrange most expectations. The wicked sense of humor, however, is as cutting as ever, and in coming off a perfectly tuned, pitch-black social satire, his take on the corrosive nature of Hollywood — which required his first shooting endeavor in the United States — should be a sight; consider the lineup — Julianne Moore, John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, as well as a returning Robert Pattinson & Sarah Gadon — and it’s hard to imagine many films will incite more of a visceral thrill this year. – Nick N.
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