There are a lot of honorable mentions I could go through, but why bother? This year is jam packed with cinematic goodness, or at least, the promise of it. Oh, and by the way, picks 10 - 6 don't have a particular order, but 5 - 1 are truly my most anticipated movies of the year. Thanks in advance for checkin' 'em out.
10. The Martian (November 25, 2015)
Based on the book by Andy Weir, The Martian will follow Mark Watney, a NASA astronaut stranded on Mars. With Matt Damon in the title role and Ridley Scott at the helm, this flick sounds like a winner. This would probably rank higher if I'd read the book. Speaking of, here's an unofficial (?) trailer of sorts for the novel:
9. Spectre (November 6, 2015)
I don't know about you, but Skyfall was my favorite Bond film since Goldeneye. So the fact that Skyfall director Sam Mendes is returning to the director's chair for Bond's next adventure (keep in mind no one has directed consecutive Bond films since John Glen's run in the '80s) is amazing. Monica Bellucci as the Bond girl! Christoph Waltz as the villain! Sign me up!
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| 007 |
A lot of things are screaming at me about having this on my list. It's a remake. It's supposedly more of a kid's film. But dammit, Poltergeist is one of my favorite movies of all time and Sam Rockwell - the dad in this Gil Kenan directed Sam Raimi produced installment - is never not good. And check out this trailer:
Doesn't look half bad, right?
7. The Fantastic Four (August 7, 2015)
To be completely honest, this movie probably wouldn't have cracked my top 10 until the trailer finally (finally!) came out. There were those rumors that it would be found footage and there was no shortage of oddities about the story and production (Von Doom is now a blogger or something? Director Josh Trank was destroying sets?) Let's hope this is better than the Tim Story flicks and WAY better than the Roger Corman movie.
6. Mad Max: Fury Road (May 15, 2015)
Look at this goddamn trailer!!!
5. Tomorrowland (May 22, 2015)
Ah, the mysterious Tomorrowland. Directed by Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) and Starring George Clooney, the film has been described as "Harry Potter but with science". We haven't seen much besides the excellent trailer below, but maybe that's a good thing.
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (December 18, 2015)
I'm more of a Trek guy, but there's a lot to be excited for about The Force Awakens. The return of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher is fantastic, the film boasts an impressive group of new actors including Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac, and speaking of Trek, J.J. Abrams - director of that franchise's reboots - traded in the Enterprise for the Millennium Falcon and The Force Awakens' directors chair. So we'll see. And this trailer? Oh, this trailer.
3. Jurassic World (June 12, 2015)
I absolutely love Jurassic Park, so this flick is a no-brainer for my #3 spot. We aren't getting human/dinosaur hybrids, but there is some genetic manipulation at play here, a logical step for the series. A fully realized park was also a brilliant idea for a sequel, and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas-Howard are fine additions to the series' cast. Speaking of, hopefully Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm and/or Sam Neill's Alan Grant show up?
2. Ant-Man (July 17, 2015)
I was beyond upset when director Edgar Wright abandoned this flick, but I'm still excited. Why? I'm glad you asked...
- Oscar winner Russell Carpenter serves as the film's cinematographer.
- Word is there are some flashbacks to Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) tenure as Ant-Man, which could show us the likes of Peggy Carter, Howard Stark and Pym working together.
- Adam McKay and Paul Rudd worked on the script. Sure, this is infinitely worse than Edgar Wright, but it could be worse.
- Paul Rudd! He wasn't my first choice for Ant-Man, but I think he'll be awesome as Scott Lang.
- Marvel! Let's not forget, this is Marvel. Remember last year? Winter Soldier? Guardians? Big Hero 6 (now an Academy Award winner)?
And even if this film isn't great, he'll still show up in Avengers movies down the road.
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015)
Yep, the first movie was at the top of my favorites list for 2012, so of course I'm excited for this sequel. Watch out for our countdown series with The Nerd Lunch Podcast crew. I'm very interested in seeing what Whedon's done with these characters, both individually, and as a group. When they're not partying, they'll be fighting Ultron and I'm excited for both.
