My Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2015
Next year is a big one, with several iconic franchises making their returns and exciting filmmakers making original movies. Check out my most anticipated movies of 2015 and then tell me yours.
No time for foreplay. Here we go:
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron (directed by Joss Whedon)
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, James Spader
Upon each rewatch, The Avengers becomes a little less enjoyable for me. But I have hopes that Joss Whedon’s follow-up to that 2012 monster hit will be a little bit more thematically interesting now that introductions have been made. Spader is going to make a boss out of Ultron.
9. Kingsman: The Secret Service (directed by Matthew Vaughn)
Cast: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong, Samuel L. Jackson
Harry Hart (Firth) tries to bring Eggsy Unwin (Egerton) into an ultra-secret spy program while a madman (Jackson) is ready for mayhem. This looks like the most wacked out spy movie in a long time and I always enjoy some sharp English wit. I really like the idea of bringing a delinquent into the world of suave Bond-like agents. I think this can be the comic book movie of the year.
8. Tomorrowland (directed by Brad Bird)
Cast: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie
A scientist and young girl explore a strange place out of familiar time and space. Tomorrowland looks like a return to utopian sci-fi. I don’t know if that is an inherently good or bad thing, but the movie will stand out this summer because of it. I’m just grateful for more original sci-fi from a talented director. And that teaser? Absolutely brilliant.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road (directed by George Miller)
Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Dem trailers. Miller, in a return to the franchise he started, has taken his time with this one and it looks stunning. If you’re going to make a pure action movie, go mad. The movie is said to be a giant chase.
6. The Martian (directed by Ridley Scott)
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristin Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Donald Glover
Scott has disappointed so many times in the last decade. It’s frustrating. He’s one of the few directors out there who is comfortable working on a truly epic canvas, but he seems to have lost his way a little bit. The Martian, like many of his recent projects, boasts an incredible cast. But it’s the material that has me excited; Andy Weir’s novel of the same name is a gripping (and witty), hard sci-fi story of a man stranded on Mars, and Drew Goddard is the guy adapting it for the big screen. Fingers crossed.
5. The Hateful Eight (directed by Quentin Tarantino)
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Demián Bichir, Walton Goggins, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum
Shortly after the Civil War, soldiers, bounty hunters, and scoundrels cross paths during a brutal Wyoming winter. I don't know too much else about it. We almost didn’t get this one after the script leaked earlier. Fortunately, Tarantino re-considered shelving the script and this Western is back on track. Every frame of Tarantino's last two movies feels so rich.
4. SPECTRE (directed by Sam Mendes)
Cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Belluci, Lea Seydoux, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw, Naomi Harris
Skyfall is one of the best Bond movies ever, having beautifully deconstructed and reassembled a character that has thrived in pop culture for decades (much like The Dark Knight Rises). I’m glad Mendes is back in the director’s chair for this installment and I’m excited to see Waltz as Blofe-, I mean Franz Oberhauser.
3. Midnight Special (directed by Jeff Nichols)
Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver
Michael Shannon (Nichols’ long-time collaborator) plays a father who is on the run with his son, who has special abilities. The government and religious extremists are after them. There is something incredibly real, yet magical about the way Nichols captures the world around him. This is the director's first studio film, with WB, and I'm excited to see what he will do with more resources. He has said this sci-fi chase movie is somehow more grounded than Mud.
2. The Revenant (directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domnhall Gleeson
González Iñárritu dials back the clock to 1823, when DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass seeks vengeance on those (Hardy, Poulter, Gleeson) that left him for dead after a bear mauling. Are you not in yet? It doesn’t hurt to have Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman, Gravity, The Tree of Life), who may be the most exciting cinematographer in the game right now.
1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (directed by J.J. Abrams)
Cast: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domnhall Gleeson, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong'o, Gwendoline Christie
Predictable, I know. The king daddy of movie franchises is back and J.J. Abrams looks like he’s taking it back to its roots with some familiar faces, practical effects and good ol' film. The next generation of Star Wars actors is simply stacked. I know little more than what was shown in the recent teaser, and I plan on keeping it that way until I can experience the full movie in all its IMAX glory.
Runner-ups
Ant-Man – Paul Rudd is a superhero.
The Fantastic Four – a cast loaded with talent, an exciting director and a fresh take is what this franchise needs, and it appears to have it.
Silence – Scorsese’s passion project about 17th century Jesuit priests spreading the word in Japan.
That’s What I’m Talking About – Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused.
Sicario – Emily Blunt is a bad ass FBI agent going up against the cartel in Denis Villenueve’s follow-up to Enemy and Prisoners.
Love my list? Feel free to give it a thumb up. Hate my list? Go [frick] ya self. Just kidding. There are many more movies I’m looking forward to and I'm excited about 2015. What about you?
About The Author:
Favorite CBMs: The Dark Knight Trilogy, A History of Violence, Watchmen, Road to Perdition, Superman, Man of Steel, X2, Iron Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier