A Quiet January at the Movies

It's time – okay, slightly past time – for the preview of what's happening in sci-fi / fantasy feature films this month, which turns out to be not much. The good news is that the three films that are worth mentioning, highlighted in my overview, are a small and quirky bunch, which contrasts nicely with the big-budget explosions of I Am Legend and the even bigger-budget CGI-fest of the (disappointing) Golden Compass.

The biggest film is J.J. Abrams's Cloverfield (1/18), which is an eyewitness-perspective monster-attack film following a small group of friends caught in the Manhattan mayhem. Also revolving around five friends, but less glossy and more personal, is Fanboys (1/14), directed by Kyle Newman. The group (what's the collective noun for "fanboy"?) is trying to steal a copy of Episode I (this is before it came out and we discovered it wasn't worth stealing) for a dying friend, and it bears the stamp of approval, we're told, of both George Lucas (who allowed the use of Star Wars sound effects) and the world's coolest fanboy, Kevin Smith.

The cast is an interesting collection of underappreciated actors: Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Heroes), Jay Baruchel (Undeclared), and Chris Marquette (The Girl Next Door). Oh, and they roped in Star Wars vet Billie Dee Williams for a cameo, which earns them extra points. Movie pundits are spinning this as a roll of the dice for the Weinstein Company and MGM, both currently struggling to find a place in the shifting Hollywood landscape; but frankly a small indie-ish film dumped in the wastelands of January won't be remembered much either way.

Also worth looking for, if you can find it, is the Hong Kong sci-fi comedy CJ7 (in limited release in the U.S. 1/31), written by, directed by, and starring Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle).

February will have much more to offer, including Jumper, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Imagination.