Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jon Hamm, Jenna Malone, Carla Gugino, Jamie Chung
My Thoughts: A band of girls trying to escape their psychiatric institution by venturing into a fantasy world of dragons, armies, big guns and musical numbers is the backdrop for Snyder's latest visual wonder. We'll see if this substance holds up better than the thin "300" narrative and the overly-stuffed "Watchmen".
9. WAR HORSE
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson
My Thoughts: I'm a sucker for certain directors and this is only the first of two examples on this list. Spielberg returns to the Oscar game in this WWI set epic about a boy trying to save his horse from the frontline. Though this isn't coming out until the end of 2011 I am anxious to see what Spielberg has up his sleeve, moreso with this than his other directorial effort this year, "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn".
8. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
In theaters: June 3, 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt
My Thoughts: Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass) takes over the mutant universe with a 60's inspired take on the origin of Charles Xavier's X-Men and his relationship with Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto. I loved the Bryan Singer installments of the "X-Men" series and lets not forget they began this whole comic book craze and the casting for this seems interesting. I hold out great hope for this.
7. YOUR HIGHNESS
Director: David Gordon Green
Cast: Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, James Franco, Danny McBride, Damian Lewis, Justin Theroux, Toby Jones
My Thoughts: This may be the breakout lead Danny McBride has deserved for quite some time now. Teaming up again with "Pineapple Express" director David Gordon Green and co-star James Franco isn't a bad way to go.
6. SOURCE CODE
Director: Duncan Jones
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright
My Thoughts: Jones' follow-up to his impressive debut "Moon" looks to be a sci-fi nerds dream as it follows Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier who’s sent into the body of a civilian aboard a train in the last eight minutes of his life and forced to relive the incident over and over again until he can find out who is responsible for its bombing and how to prevent the next terrorist attack from occurring. Sounds amazing to me.
5. THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
My Thoughts: I am basically lumping these two together because they together form the stepping stones to 2012's "The Avengers". I am equally excited to see both though maybe Captain America a little more. I have seen enough footage and have enough trust in Branagh to know that Thor will turn out well enough. Johnston on the other hand makes me nervous. He has plenty of good credits to his name but his last effort (The Wolfman) was pretty horrible. The casting of Chris Evans is somewhat nerve-wracking as well. Here's hoping for the best in both of them.
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg
Director: Joe Johnston
Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell
4. HUGO CABRET
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley
My Thoughts: My second film on the list that I know very little about but am anxious to see it simply because of its director. "Hugo Cabret" is about a young orphan who attempts to solve a mystery his father has left for him throughout the City of Lights. This is Scorsese's first 3-D film and it is based on the works of Georges Méliès. I'm not sure what all this will add up to but I am certainly intrigued.
3. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer
My Thoughts: I haven't read any of the books, but I have seen the Swedish films and absolutely loved this first film in the Millennium trilogy. Though it will be hard for this film to replace the special place in my heart I hold for the original, if anyone can do it it would be Mr. David Fincher. Hot off the trails of "The Social Network" and with a great cast lined up I am very excited to see what he brings to this grand murder mystery tale.
2. THE HANGOVER 2
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Zach Galifinakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha
My Thoughts: For me, there is a ton of pressure riding on this film. I absolutely love the first one and consider it to be a comedy classic for my generation. It will be the one comedy every guy in my age group will cite as their favorite when we are our fathers age. Let's hope they don't go and mess it up with this sequel.
1. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II
In theaters: July 15, 2011
Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
My Thoughts: There is no bigger film this year. Simple as that. The final chapter in what has been the series that defined mine and countless others adolescent phase comes to an end. I don't usually cry at movies, but I just might make an exception.
MORE I'M ANXIOUS FOR: Super 8 (6-10), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (5-20), The Tree of Life (5-27), Water for Elephants (4-22), Transformers: The Dark of the Moon (7-1), Rango (3-4), Sherlock Holmes 2 (12-16), Cowboys & Aliens (7-29), Moneyball (9-23), Wanderlust (10-7), The Green Lantern (6-17), Hall Pass (2-25), Battle Los Angeles (3-11), Larry Crowe (7-1), Horrible Bosses (TBD).
"A band of girls trying to escape their psychiatric institution by venturing into a fantasy world of dragons, armies, big guns and musical numbers".
ReplyDeleteI'm sold.