2008 is in the history books, so here are the flicks and TV shows that have us looking forward to the year ahead.

9. The Tonight Show Starring Conan O’Brien (June)
It took sixteen years, but that red-headed goofball who pals around with a masturbating bear and an insult comic dog finally becomes NBC’s main man in late night.  Victory would be sweeter if former host Jay Leno had departed the airwaves for good instead of simply moving to the 10pm slot, but look for Conan to make the Tonight Show timely and relevant for the first time in more than a decade.

8. The Brothers Bloom (May 15)
Originally set to be released last October, Rian Johnson’s quirky con-man comedy—which features a career best performance by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz and an awesome supporting turn by Japanese starlet Rinko Kikuchi—reaches theaters at last.  Because a smallish distributor is releasing the flick you might have to look hard to find it, but you won’t feel ripped off after its over.

7. Shutter Island (October 2)
Martin Scorsese follows up his Oscar-winning crime drama The Departed with a ’50s-era action flick starring Leo DiCaprio (yes, again) as a U.S. marshal searching for an escaped mental patient on the titular secluded island.  Although it sounds closer to Cape Fear than Taxi Driver, every Scorsese picture is a must-see.



6. The Return of Geek TV
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to see ABC’s Lost return to the airwaves.  The two-hour premiere kicks off on January 21 and the advance word is that the show is better than ever.  And with only one more year to go before its final batch of episodes, you know we’re in store for some major, major revelations.  I have seen the first episode of Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated new show Dollhouse (debuting February 13 on Fox) and I’m happy to say the Buffy creator is off to a strong start with his latest venture.  Between these two shows and the return of Battlestar Galactica (see below), geeks will have three good reasons to say inside glued to the TV during the cold winter months.

5. Watchmen (March 6)
While I’m not completely on board with all of Zack Snyder’s choices for the big-screen version of Alan Moore’s brilliant, groundbreaking, swoon-inducing graphic novel (for the love of God, stop with the slow-mo Zack!), I already know that I’ll be seeing it at least three times in theaters.  Of course, thanks to recent legal issues, we might have to wait a little longer to see Watchmen brought to life, but don’t freak out too much fanboys: this movie will get released.  It’s just going to cost Warner Brothers a heck of a lot of money.

4. Mad Men Season Three (Summer)
Instead of bailing out Detroit, why doesn’t the Fed give $700 million to Matthew Weiner so he can produce weekly episodes of Mad Men for all of 2009?  Because this year long wait to see the continuing adventures of ad man Don Draper is just not cool.

3. Avatar (December 18)
It’s been more than 10 years since James “King of the World” Cameron directed a feature film.  In that time, he’s released multiple versions of Titanic on DVD, helped get buddy Arnold Schwarzenegger elected governor of California and played himself on Entourage.  Some might call this creative loafing, but Cameron insists he was just waiting until CGI-technology caught up with his grand ideas for his next movie, Avatar, a top-secret sci-fi epic about a futuristic female warrior (played by Zoe Saldana).  Will the final product be worth the long wait?  You got me—all I know is, I’m buying my advanced tickets now.

2. The End of Battlestar Galactica (March)
Okay, so Battlestar Galactica as a franchise won’t be signing off for good two months from now.  There’s still a direct-to-DVD movie due out later this year and a prequel series Caprica launches in the fall.  There’s also a comic-book series and endless amounts of fan fiction all over the web.  But the show that launched this cult phenomenon is going away in March and television will be the poorer for it.  Memo to creator Ronald Moore: If Adama turns out to be a Cylon, I’m tossing my TV out the window.

1. Inglorious Bastards (August 21)
Holy crap, Quentin Tarantino has finally done it!  He’s made the World War II movie he’s been talking about since Pulp Fiction came out.  And somehow he convinced Brad Pitt to star in the damn thing.  So Quentin, does this mean we’re going to be seeing The Brothers Vega in 2010?  Travolta and Madsen aren’t getting any younger…

For some, silence is golden. It’s certainly working for Rinko Kikuchi, who has so far stolen two high-profile Hollywood movies by barely saying a word. Already a star in her native Japan, the 27-year-old actress won a U.S. fan base when she appeared in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 2006 drama Babel. Kikuchi stood out, as an emotionally tortured deaf-mute teen desperately seeking intimacy, be it love or simply sex. Her raw, naked (literally) performance earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She didn’t nab the little gold man, she sparkled on the red carpet. “The ceremony seemed to go by in a second,” she says now.” I tired very hard to stay calm throughout it all.”

Kikuchi remains cool, calm and voiceless in her second U.S. film, The Brothers Bloom. In the con artist capper she plays Bang Bang, a gal Friday to the titular sibling grifters, Stephen and Bloom (Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody, respectively). If Stephen is the brains and Bloom is the heart, then Bang Bang is the muscle, ready to satisfy the brothers needs, even filling Barbie doll heads with nitroglycerin. “Bang Bang is such an enigmatic character,” Kikuchi says. “She knows more and has secrets than anyone else. That’s why she doesn’t speak.” Of course, the film eventually reveals that Bang Bang does know three crucial English words: “Campari” and “Fuck me.” And really, isn’t that all you need to get by n this life of sin?

Want more Rinko? Then check out the October/November issue of GIANT!