Looking Forward To... WINTER/SPRING

January is usually a wasteland when it comes to new releases which is why a lot of film fans, such as me, use it to catch up on those Oscar-y movies they didn't have time to see at the tail-end of 2010. So if you haven't yet, check out True Grit, Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole, The Fighter, The King's Speech, Black Swan, Somewhere, Another Year. Of course, there are actual 2011 releases I may check out such as The Way Back starring Saoirse Ronan, Jim Sturgess, and Colin Farrell or No Strings Attached with future Oscar-winner Natalie Portman slumming it with the likes of Ashton Kutcher. There's also The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster if I'm looking for some action. Finally there are also Biutiful with Javier Bardem and Kaboom with pretty Thomas Dekker playing bisexual premiering in limited screens.

February paints a bleaker picture at the box office, so again if you haven't done so catch up on those films that were just nominated for an Academy Award. James Cameron's Sanctum looks intriguing as is Natalie Portman's second film of the year, The Other Woman, with Lisa Kudrow. I'd be much more excited for period action film The Eagle starring Jamie Bell if it weren't for the fact that Channing Tatum plays the lead role. There's also the animated Gnomeo and Juliet with voice work from James McAvoy and Emily Blunt. Or if you're really looking for the ultimate movie experience, there's always that Justin Bieber movie.

March shows some potential. Emily Blunt and Matt Damon team up for sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau and even though I have no idea what the movie is about, I like the ensemble in Take Me Home Tonight. Also looking forward to the epic (good or bad, who knows?) Battle: Los Angeles and a new Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, and Jamie Bell. One of my favorite British bromances, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, team up again, this time on sci-fi alien comedy Paul while Neil Patrick Harris star in Beastly which re-imagines the Beauty and the Beast story. His How I Met Your Mother co-star Josh Radnor also releases his Sundance-favorite film Happythankyoumoreplease this month. There's also the cool looking Sucker Punch.

Finally, April doesn't look too bad. Moon's Duncan Jones offers up his latest in Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal while Natalie Portman stars in Your Highness, her third film of the year. James Franco is also in that film. One of my most anticipated films of the year, Hanna also comes out this month. Directed by the impeccable Joe Wright and starring Saorsie Ronan, Cate Blanchette, and Eric Bana, it's bound to be awesome. There's also the comedy remake Arthur with Helen Mirren, the book-to-film adaptation Water for Elephants with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, and the critically-loved Meek's Cutoff with Michelle Williams. A couple of old-school franchises are also in store with Scream 4 and Fast Five milking both of their franchises to the bone.

In summary, there's a few films I'm interested in seeing the first four months of the year and I might even see them. But USUALLY I recover from the mad dash of holiday movie watching by not venturing out into theaters until late March or if I do, it'll be to catch up on late-release 2010 films. Of course, who knows? Maybe in four months time I would've already seen a dozen or so of these films. Hell with three films, I should at least be able to see one of Natalie Portman's films, right?