As we head into the end of the year, I’m filled with lukewarm feelings. This has been such a disappointing year, I’m worried about what’s still to come. Even this list was kind of a challenge to cobble together. I mean, I want to see all these films, but other than Skyfall, I can’t say that I’m really ‘anticipating’ any of them. After all, my two other highly anticipated films this year (John Carter and Prometheus) were major disappointments. I hope Skyfall doesn’t send this year out with a third strike. Oh, man. The Dorkies are gonna be rough this year.
5: The Hobbit: I love the Lord of the Rings movies. Sin of sins, I think they improve on the books, taking all the good and leaving off the overindulgences of the novels. And though I’m not generally a reader of fantasy, I do love a good film in the genre. I think some of the reason this film isn’t higher on my list is that I’m not really worried about it. It’s kind of a known quantity. I know the story, I know the director, I know the director’s previous work on this same property. I know what to expect, and I don’t see much reason to expect I won’t see just that. I want to see it, but there’s not a lot of mystery.
4: The Man with the Iron Fists: I love me some crazy Kung Fu, and I know the RZA does, too. So now that the Wu-Tang Clan alum has gotten his hands on just that, I’ll admit, I’m pretty jazzed. I’m not really expecting much. This ain’t gonna be Shakespeare. But if there’s some wacky, over the top chop-socky, and it’s not dull, I’ll be happy.
3: Resident Evil: Retribution: Though all too many of her movies are boring crap, I’ve had a thing for Milla ever since The Fifth Element. She’s still the only tiny little thing that turns out to be a crazy powerful killing machine that I like (sorry, Joss). And I’ll come back to see one of these silly, horror/action movies ever couple of years for as long as she keeps making them. What’s going on in this next one? I see flashes of characters from previous films who are quite dead. What’s up? Can’t wait to find out. And is that Milla army still out there? I hope so!
2: Looper: I love some high concept science fiction. This one looks like it goes over some familiar territory, but with a good cast and from a good director. This has a lot of potential. I’m hoping it’s this year’s Moon, but if it’s this year’s Source Code, I’ll be perfectly happy.
1: Skyfall: Blasphemy that it is, Casino Royale is probably my favorite Bond film, and I think Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond (at least, since From Russia With Love). I loved Quantum of Solace, too. So, a new Craig Bond film is pretty exciting. Yes, they’re bringing back Q in this one (I gather), which I’m not super pleased by. His scenes in the earlier films were usually just an excuse for puns and cheap laughs, and a way to bring in lots of silly gadgets. That was an element of the original run I was very happy to do without, so I hope they don’t bring it back.
-Matt
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