Episode 9: 2008 Preview

Hello and welcome to the first Reel Weekend of 2008. With the usual dearth of post Christmas releases, we've decided to take the opportunity to give you a brief look at the releases I'm most exited about in 2008.

The first of our 2008 picks arrives in UK cinemas in February and comes from acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson. There Will Be Blood is a dark, sprawling drama that focuses upon the birth of the oil industry at the start of the 20th century. It marks the return of Daniel Day Lewis, last seen acting Leo DiCaprio off the screen in Gangs Of New York as the ambitious oil baron who brings the black stuff to the west coast of America.

We’ve still got two months to go until the Oscars, but anyone who knows anything about the awards race is tipping Day Lewis to be polishing his shiny statue at the end of the night. And let's face it, this is the sort of movie Oscar voters love – intelligent, really long and with a blistering central performance from a reclusive acting heavyweight. Unlike Anderson's previous hits Boogie Nights and Magnolia, it's unlikely to feature much in the way of disco dancing or raining frogs, but this is still the year's first must-see movie.

Later that month we have a film that five years ago would've got you laughed out of most Hollywood pitch meetings if you'd dared to suggest it. But following the success of Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone has resurrected another much-loved 80s action hero – John Rambo. Nearly 20 years since Rambo 3, the rather confusingly titled Rambo sees the one-man war machine head into the jungles of Burma to kill some democracy-hating foreign scum.

If the theatrical trailer seems a little tame, then we suggest you search online for the more explicit TV spots made for European markets. They contain all the blood, gore and gratuitous violence that you could want from a Rambo movie, and it looks like once again Stallone is giving the fans exactly what they want. The question is, of course, where does Sly go from here? Can we expect Cobra II, More Tango And Cash and Stop Or My Grandson Will Shoot in 2009?

Summer 2008 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting blockbuster seasons in years. July sees the release of The Dark Knight, the second in the revitalised Batman saga. Christian Bale dons the black rubber once more, with Christopher Nolan returning as director. This time round our troubled hero takes on everyone's favourite clown-faced psychopath The Joker.

Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine all reprise their roles from Batman Begins, while Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces brainwashed woman-child Katie Holmes as the love interest. But it's Heath Ledger's portrayal as the Joker that has fans all excited. Unlike Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's Batman, Ledger looks genuinely bonkers as the cackling crazy, and if Nolan can pull off the action as well he does the dramatic stuff, The Dark Knight should be even better than its predecessor.

Following the success of Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo Del Toro has become of the world's number one horror and fantasy filmmaker. Hellboy II: The Golden Army is Del Toro's follow-up to his 2004 monster fest, with Ron Perlman back as the wisecracking horny red crime fighter of the title.

With a bigger budget than the first movie, Del Toro seems to have gone into monster overdrive here. Hellboy and his chums must try to stop a demonic revolution, with loads of CGI beasties attacking the human world. Del Toro is one of the few directors around who knows how to use computer effects well without overwhelming the drama, so expect a top-notch script alongside all the tentacled action. Also expect a return to the screen for 80s pop idol Luke Goss, last seen as the villain in Del Toro’s earlier smash Blade II. Hellboy II arrives in cinemas in August.

Fast-forward to October, and we have the World War II action thriller Valkyrie. Production on this film has been somewhat troubled, with the German authorities denying the filmmakers access to certain locations, extras getting injured on set, and parts of the film having to be reshot after the original negatives were damaged during development. Nevertheless, this looks like a rip-roaring wartime adventure, with the Cruiser as a high ranking Nazi officer who plots to assassinate Hitler.

The cast also includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Stephen Fry and Terence Stamp, and frankly it's difficult to imagine a more lovey British cast than that. This is also the first time writer Christopher McQuarrie has worked with director Bryan Singer since they collaborated on The Usual Suspects, so expectations are high. Let's just hope Cruise stays on topic while promoting the movie this time.

Finally, and while all the above look great, there's only one movie that film fans really want to see this year. And that is, of course, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, which hits cinemas in May. There are unfortunately no official clips so far to show you – not even a teaser trailer – but everything we've heard about the film to date bodes very well. Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are all back on board, with John Hurt, Ray Winstone and Shia LeBeouf among the newcomers to the series.

Spielberg has stressed how hard he's tried to make this one look and sound like the earlier Indy movies, even down to using the same camera lenses and refusing to go digital with the effects. Of course, we wouldn't put it past producer George Lucas to turn it into Spielberg's Phantom Menace, and at 65, Harrison Ford surely can't run quite as fast as he once did. Nevertheless, I'll be there on opening night, although I might leave the whip at home this time.

Well that's it for this week, I'm off to get excited about this year's coming attractions while the whiff of crushing disappointment is yet to materialise. We'll be back next week with our usual roundup of the week's cinema and DVD releases. Until then, enjoy the weekend.