This action/thriller starring Sean Penn is about an ex-soldier dealing with consequences of his previous life. Jarvier Bardem, Idris Elba and Ray Winstone co-star.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are sisters who decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their house. The plot isn't what draws me, it is the pairing of these two women. Of course, I was pretty disappointed in their previous film Baby Mama. I have hope that this will be better.
Chappie comes from the creator of District 9 and takes place in a world in which robots exist. Some rebels get ahold of one of the robots and reprogram him to have free will and emotion. Chappie, as he is called, is intended to help the rebels against the evil powers that be.
I really only remember seeing the first Mad Max (which was relatively recent) so I'm not really sure of the direction the series goes in the next couple of films. This reboot will hopefully bring the post-apocalyptic world of Oakland Raider fans back to relevance. Tom Hardy in the title role sounds good to me.
If you would have told me a few years ago when Hot Tub Time Machine came out that there would be a sequel, I would have laughed harder than I did during the movie. To be fair, I didn't laugh as much as I thought I would during the movie, but still. The sequel returns three out of four main characters, with John Cusack being replaced by Adam Scott. I do like the premise in which they will be travelling around time (past and present) in a silly series of adventures. I just hope it's not too silly and has a bit of substance.
Kingsman is a British spy/action film starring Colin Firth, Michael Caine and Samuel L Jackson and written/directed by the people behind the recent X-Men films and the first Kick Ass. In a film like this, the story is probably secondary to the action and thrills. I have confidence that the entertainment will be there.
I'm always interested in Guillermo del Toro, and his latest looks like an homage to the European horror films of the 70's!
I keep changing my mind about this one. At first I thought about how irrelevant Ant-Man would be as a stand-alone film, then I thought that I like Paul Rudd and Marvel so I should give it a chance, then I watched the trailer and still felt uneasy about it. It might be amazing, or it might flop. Chances are it'll be tied in to the Avengers in order to give it a boost.
The Revenant stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a frontiersman in the 1800's who is left for dead by his companions. He survives and eventually recovers to a point in which he attempts revenge on the men who left him. This should be a gritty DiCaprio performance and is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who has recently received a lot of positive attention for Birdman.
Let's see...a horror movie from the creators of Paranormal Activity and Insidious about a group of people who have figured out how to resurrect life from the dead and stars Olivia Wilde (House M.D.), Mark Duplass (The League), Evan Peters (American Horror Story) and Donald Glover (Community)...sign me up!
I haven't watched the last Bond film yet (Skyfall), so it's not exactly like I'm frothing at the mouth for the next one. I have however recently been watching the old Bond films and experiencing a lot of Spectre, an evil corporation focused on taking over the world. So the reboot of this Spectre, as well as the addition of the awesome Christoph Waltz, brings this film higher on my radar.
I must admit up front that I am a sucker for disaster films. I know they can be a bit cheesy and over exaggerated, but something about them interests me. I like thinking about what I would do in that situation, plus the effects generally are pretty awesome (at least in the good ones). Could the San Andreas Fault trigger a super-earthquake in California? Why not? Would I feel comfortable with Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) saving the day? Of course!
I haven't seen much from Ron Howard in a while, except for his appearances in the recent season of Arrested Development. His new film, In the Heart of the Sea, is a thriller based on a non-fiction book regarding the sinking of a whaleship. The crew is shipwrecked at sea for 90 days far from any land and must do whatever it takes to survive. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.
Masterminds is a comedy film based on a robbery that took place in 1997 and has nothing to do with the 90's film of the same name starring Patrick Stewart. The film stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis. That's about all the info there is at the moment.
A New Zealand vampire comedy written/directed by and starring Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords...I know this would not interest most people, but I am definitely interested.
Everest is based on true events of a 1996 Mount Everest disaster and the non-fiction book Into Thin Air. This action/adventure/thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright and Sam Worthington, among others.
You can't really go wrong when Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks team up (Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can). This upcoming yet-to-be-titled film takes place during the Cold War and is about an American lawyer who is recruited by the CIA to help rescue a prisoner from the Soviet Union.
After the second Mission: Impossible film at the turn of the century, I had lost touch with the M:I franchise. I never saw the third film and never really wanted to. Then when the fourth film was released a few years ago I went with my family to see it on IMAX and I was quite impressed. The pseudo-reboot included the same star (Tom Cruise) but a new supporting cast including a couple of actors I really like (Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner). M:I 5 will include the same main characters, so that's good enough for me.
The simple fact that this is a space movie directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Prometheus) is enough for me to be excited. The film stars Matt Damon as an astronaut who is stranded on Mars and must figure out how to survive. Plenty of notable actors co-star (Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor), but it will be interesting to see how much they appear since the film seems to focus on a single, isolated character.
In recent years I have found myself becoming more and more a fan of the western genre. A big reason is because of my several years living in the West/Southwest now and falling in love with the region. I mostly have enjoyed older westerns, but there are still new westerns released now and again. This year's entry is Jane Got A Gun, is a drama starring two favorites of mine, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor. Portman's character is a wife who must defend her family against a gang (led by Ewan McGregor) after her husband had a confrontation with them.
All I really know about Jurassic World, the fourth film in the Jurassic Park series, is that the park has finally opened for business, bad things are going to happen and Chris Pratt will save the day. Well, I assume bad things will occur since that's people are playing God by bringing back dinosaurs while also apparently creating a hybrid of two of the most dangerous dinosaurs. What could really go wrong?
Back in the 80's, NASA sent a communication into space in search of peaceful life. The capsule contained items representing Earth, including video games. It turned out there was life somewhere in space and they discovered the communication. Unfortunately they mistook it as non-peaceful and decided to attach Earth. It is now present day and aliens have used what they found in the capsule, mainly video games, and are using them as inspiration to destroy the people Earth. Now a group of former video game champions (including Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad) must work together to defeat the game-inspired aliens. This should be a fun comedy/sci-fi.
This should be a good year for western fans with two exciting looking westerns being released. Of course one is directed by Quentin Tarantino so if you're not a fan of his films you probably won't like this one. The Hateful Eight stars Kurt Russell, Channing Tatum and Tarantino regulars Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen and Tim Roth (among others). The film will focus on eight characters who are stranded in the mountains during a blizzard. Chances are these people won't like each other very much and crazy things will happen.
The sequel to my #1 most anticipated film of 2012 has finally arrived, though it doesn't quite rank as high as its predecessor. If you know me at all, it won't come as a surprise to see which one film is higher. I had high expectations for the first Avengers film and was worried those expectations would not be met. I was pleased with the film and though it isn't one of my favorites, it was very enjoyable. Joss did a great job and I expect nothing less from the sequel.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...and cue the opening Star Wars theme! I remember getting chills when I first experienced that moment in the movie theater in the 90's for the original trilogy re-release. Then again for the prequels which admittedly were not great but I still enjoyed them. Now I get another chance, this time with J.J. Abrams at the helm and a cast of new, young characters (plus some old favorites). Did you expect any other film to be my #1 this year?
- American Sniper
- Black Mass
- Entourage
- Get Hard
- Goosebumps
- Jupiter Ascending
- Kitchen Sink
- Midnight Special
- Pitch Perfect 2
- Rock the Kasbah
- Seventh Son
- Ted 2
- Terminator Genisys
- The Coup
- The Fantastic Four
- The Intern
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
- The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- The Walk
- Tomorrowland
- Unfinished Business
- Untitled Christmas Eve Project
- Vacation
- Victor Frankenstein