I feel like this film has been in pre-production forever. What started out looking like a quick sequel, it has now been nine years since the release of Sin City. I’m sure there were many complications throughout the years, plus director Robert Rodriguez and Sin City author Frank Miller each had other projects going on. I have long regarded Sin City as one of my favorite films and though the years have dampened my excitement for a sequel, I am still quite excited. I talked about this on last year’s Most Anticipated list, so there isn’t much more I need to say. There is a trailer out now (there wasn’t one a year ago), so that makes it easier to get pumped up.
Of my top 5 films, this is the only one that completely caught me off guard as one I wasn’t expecting yet really excited for. I lost interest in Family Guy several years ago (seriously, it’s been on that long!?) but I was pleasantly surprised by Seth MacFarlane’s first film Ted. It turns out he is also great at creating comedic feature films too! So that alone isn’t enough to get a MacFarlane film in my top 5, but the premise, cast and hilarious trailer are. Million Ways is a comedy taking place in the wild west, which aside from Blazing Saddles hasn’t been done much. Now I in no way am comparing this to Blazing Saddles, but I’m expecting a movie filled with laughs. MacFarlane stars in his first live action starring role (previously was the voice of Ted), and the film costars Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson (going outside his recent recurring action hero persona), Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman.
I think just like the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, my excitement for this trilogy has continued to grow as the films have been released. I was looking forward to An Unexpected Journey but it took me almost a year to see (just like Fellowship of the Ring), then I saw Desolation of Smaug at the theater (like I did Two Towers) and am now very much looking forward to There and Back Again (like I was Return of the King). I promise I did not plan that. The final installment of The Hobbit should be a compelling film. I do hope it doesn’t parallel Return of the King in its too-long length and multiple, frustrating almost endings.
Simply put, I love the Muppets. I always have and probably always will. And since Jason Segal helped resurrect the franchise they have been better than they have been in thirty years. While the previous film was a semi-serious biography type of film, this next installment will put the Muppets back into a silly adventure similar to some of their other films. I believe it is something to do with an evil Kermit twin wanting to rule the world, or something like that. Of course the Muppets star, but every Muppet film still requires real people in pivotal roles and cameos. I am purposely not trying to find out about the cameos as I prefer to be surprised, but the film does co-star Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell, as seen in the poster to the left. James Bobin returns in the director’s chair as well as songwriter and Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie who won an Oscar for best song ("Man or Muppet") in the previous film. So I expect more great laughs, quality writing and wonderful songs.
Usually when I make one of these lists, there are a couple films that are in contention for the title of my Most Anticipated Film of the Year. I can honestly say this year there was no contest. The X-Men are back in their biggest film yet! I know the whole Avengers franchise has really blown up with the general public the last few years, but I grew up a Marvel fan (comics, trading cards, TV shows, action figures) and the X-Men were always my favorite. In fact I didn’t have a whole lot of interest in the Avengers, but Marvel has done a great job handling that universe. This is not about the Avengers though, we can talk about that next year. Days of Future Past combines elements of a couple different comic book storylines. A dystopian future exists where Sentinels roam the Earth and evil has won. A mutant from that time, which in the film appears to be Wolverine, travels back to our present day to prevent future events from occurring. As you may recall, the X-Men movie franchise has included three films with one set of actors, followed by an origins story with younger actors (plus two Wolverine movies). Days of Future Past brings together those two casts for multiple time periods. And word on the street is this storyline will continue into a sequel that will include one of the more compelling villains from the X-Men comic book world, Apocalypse!
3 Days to Kill
Dark Places
Dracula Untold
Edge of Tomorrow
Enemy
Exodus
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Hercules
Into the Woods
Jupiter Ascending
Kitchen Sink
Lone Survivor
Maleficent
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
Noah
Search Party
Secret Service
The Giver
The Interview
The Maze Runner
The Zero Theorem
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Under the Skin