Showing Out

2009 was the year of diversity at the movies, with standard-setting flicks like Avatar, popcorn fodder like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and 2012 and more serious, award-winning fare like Precious and Up in the Air winning over audiences across the world. But 2010 is poised to be an even bigger, better year than its predecessor. With 2009 wrapping up as the most financially successful year for film in Hollywood history, Showing Out is laying out a preview of what to expect in 2010 with a guide for new releases. Though we can’t predict who will actually strike box office gold, we’ve laid out a nice preview of what we suspect will rule at the theater this year. Here’s a look at Showing Out’s most anticipated films of 2010.

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Taraji P. Henson will once again grace the big screen in less than a month as the star of Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself, hitting theaters September 11th (watch the trailer, music video and view stills here, here and here). But for someone as acclaimed and well accomplished as she is, Henson has never actually been the main focus of any film in which she’s starred. Sure, she was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but that was for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. And yes, she’s played the leading lady of several films including Baby Boy and Not Easily Broken, but it’s always been as the supporting wife or girl, playing second to the movies’ male stars. So in preparation for Henson getting her first actual starring role, we’re taking a look back on all the films the films in which she had to ride shotgun before landing in the driver’s seat.

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Fame has seen a variety of incarnations since its inception. Created by Danny De Silva, Fame was first released as a film in 1980, telling the story of a handful of students by following them from their admittance to their graduation at a prestigious performing arts school (the script was inspired by the infamous Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the Bronx). The film went on to win a trio of Oscars and became heralded as an instant classic – but that wasn’t the end of the Fame enterprise. From there, Fame was transformed into a TV show that aired from ’82 to ’87, soon rewritten as a musical that’s had nearly two dozen productions and even a sequel musical that premiered two years ago in Scotland. But now, Fame is returning to the big screen with a remake hitting theaters on September 25, 2009. Here’s what you can expect in the next chapter of the Fame saga.

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While many of you are brave enough to stay up past midnight on a work night to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this evening (y’all are crazy), you might not be well-versed on midnight showing etiquette. Yes, there are some rules you must abide by in order to survive a midnight screening. Trust us, we’ve gone to see every midnight showing of Harry Potter and, of course, have made at least 3 children cry by grabbing the best seats and refusing to budge. So for all your first-timers and even seasoned vets that don’t know how to prepare for a midnight screening, here are some tips to get you through the two-and-a-half hour film you might be attending this evening.

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While the marquee stars of the upcoming Precious are enough to build an adequate buzz around the film (Mariah Carey acting in anything post-Glitter is an eyebrow-raiser), the screen adaptation of Sapphire’s 1996 novel Push looks like more than just a celebrity bid for more exposure. Originally titled Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, Precious has gotten a flurry of praise – and the hype that it supposedly deserves – ahead of its November 6, 2009 release date on the strength of its star Gabourey Sidibe’s spectacular portrayal of a morbidly obese Harlem teen. Here’s a little more info on the film to get you well-versed on Precious before the hype machine revs up in the next few months.

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