Top 5: Films to look out for in 2011

1) Thor – (May) – British, Shakespearean actor and director Kenneth Branagh brings his prowess to comic book territory, with an interesting cast including Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and Idris Elba (aka Stringer Bell from The Wire).

2) The Tree of Life – (May) – Up and coming director Terrence Malik pushes his second film in six years. Brad Pitt and Sean Penn star in this story of an eldest son of a 1950s mid-west family and his relationship with his father as he comes of age.

3) 127 Hours – (Jan) – Danny Boyle’s follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire is said to be a real life story of a mountain climber trapped under a boulder and forced to take extreme measures to survive. It stars James Franco and has been garnering plaudits and admiration on the film festival circuit. Watch out, Touching the Void.

4) Hugo Cabret – (Dec) – Scorsese’s first 3D kid’s flick is about an orphan who lives in the walls of a 1930s Paris train station and is involved in a mystery concerning his father and a robot. Or something like that. Newcomer Asa Butterfield stars with Chloe Moretz, Sasha Baron-Cohen, Jude Law and Christopher Lee. Another interesting cast.

5) The Fighter – (Feb) – True life story of boxer Mickie Ward (Mark Wahlberg) helped by his drug imprisoned brother Dickie (Christian Bale in ultra-thin mode) to become world champion. Directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings) this film promises to be as explosive on set as off.

Aman Somal