Saturday, January 4, 2014

Weekend Weigh-in: What Are Your Most Anticipated 2014 Movies?

You can hardly wait, right?

There are plenty of big movies and blockbusters on tap for 2014. There are smaller movies, too. Those are harder to predict, because they're not the ones that are announced a year (or two) ahead of time. So which movies coming out this year are you most excited about?

26 comments:

  1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

    (out of curiosity) Guardians of the Galaxy

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  2. I find anticipation is a prelude to disappointment so I try to avoid too much awareness of what's coming out. But that's a bummer of a response, so I'll say X-men: Days of Future Past.

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  3. My real answer is probably a bit of a cop-out (the Cabal cut of Nightbreed...I still can't believe that's finally happening) so I'm gonna have to hop on the Raid 2 train. Hoping Guardians of the Galaxy is a bucket of batshit fun, but I'm kind of burnt out on comic book movies. That thudding sound you hear is 13-year-old me punching current-me square in the face.

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  4. Rehashing my list from the Christmas wish post: The Lego Movie, Interstellar, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, How to Train Your Dragon 2, 22 Jump Street, Gone Girl, Godzilla, and Jupiter Ascending. If even just a couple of those prove to be great, I will be happy.

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  5. Oh, and I forgot about The Sacrament. Really looking forward to that one.

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  6. Out of loyalty to Captain Picard, Singer, and the First Class crew, I really should say X-Men... but dangit, even though I never read any comic books apart from Tintin or watched any superhero cartoons, Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero along with Zorro, I unabashedly love The Amazing Spider-Man, and not only am I eager to see more Garfield/Stone, I'm darned curious as to what this new villain smorgasbord will bring, so I gotta go with ASM2.

    I respect the view that ASM isn't as good as Spider-Man 2 (though I do prefer the former), and I can understand those who think it cribbed too much from Spider-Man the first, but can anyone really say with a straight face that it wasn't better overall than Raimi's first film? Better cast, better acting, a more nuanced arc for Peter, minimal hackneyed secret-identity nonsense, far more in-camera web-swinging and superior CG effects, and a female co-lead with far more brains and character than Raimi/Dunst's MJ ever had.

    Indeed, my hope is that ASM2 will be so good it'll retroactively convert those who weren't too keen on ASM the first time to liking that movie more, also. A guy can dream, no? :)

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    1. Also, I've gotta call Patrick/this site out for asserting several times, including a few days ago, that Shailene Woodley was bumped from this sequel over Internet backlash regarding her looks, and not fine-tuning of a rather crowded movie. After some googling, I'm still unaware of any credible source that substantiates this allegation, which really amounts to slandering the filmmakers in the absence of such evidence. This may just be a movie blog, but I hold the F! folk, both writers/podcasters and commenters, to a higher standard.

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    2. This was a story (see link below). It seems like pretty big coincidence she just happened to be fired after the internet backlash came out. I have to disagree with your slander comment because I don't mean any malicious intent to the makers of Amazing Spider-Man 2. If anything I care more about a young actresses feelings against Internet bullying than the reputation of a sequel to the reboot of Spider-Man.

      (http://www.cinemablend.com/new/You-Think-Shailene-Woodley-Isn-t-Pretty-Enough-Amazing-Spider-Man-2-You-Don-t-Deserve-Movie-36067.html)

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    3. Thank you for replying. Adam, that linked story was written four months before her role-cutting was announced. Given the speed and pressure with which the filmmakers have been assembling not only this movie but the next two or three after that, I disagree that this timing is in any way inherently suspicious. Yes, some lousy internet commenters said some terrible things about Woodley, but given what is likely to happen to a certain character in this sequel, is it really so suspect that the introduction of a new love interest might not quite fit in, especially when the part was conceived largely as a place-setting appearance to begin with?

      If indeed the filmmakers fired her because a bunch of online trolls complained about her looks, I would certainly think much less of them; wouldn't you? I'd think it would be far more hurtful to be dismissed by people you thought were your peers and friends based on some hurtful online remarks than the existence of said remarks in the first place would be.

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    4. I haven't always been kind to The Amazing Spider-Man on the site, but like Adam, my comments re: Shailene Woodley have always been at the expense of the jackass commenters rather than directed at the filmmakers.

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    5. I'm a drama guy at heart, and in high school and college have been on both sides of the audition/casting process. Though none of my projects had any kind of business side, much less millions of dollars and careers at stake, I take the offer of a role very seriously - it's an act of commitment and trust, to be broken only in the case of exceptional personal issues or the really urgent need of the project, and I would be completely ashamed of myself if I'd tried to boot an actor I formally offered a part to for another one, even if that other one was better-looking, more talented, or both. No disrespect, but maybe if you guys haven't yourselves done theater in that way, you may not be aware of just what you're accusing the filmmakers of. I know that actor replacements do sometimes happen in the Hollywood big leagues - Her being the latest example - but based on the paucity of evidence, I really don't think that's what happened here.

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  7. I've read somewhere that Richard Linklater's Boyhood is coming out this year. You know, that movie where he cast a six year old and made the movie with him over twelve years?

    That's bonkers!

    Even if Linklater wasn't one of my favorite working directors I'd be intrigued by the sheer audicity of this.

    Also, the Raid 2.

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    1. I once wrote a short (~35 page) autobiographical screenplay with an assortment of moments from when I was 12 to 21 or so, and since then have always wanted to make a long-term project of producing the movie in real time intervals. Of course Linklater would beat me to it! :P

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    2. There was also the BBC/Granada television series/documentary "Up" following the lives of fourteen children. The series checks in on their lives in six year intervals. The first installment (when the children were seven) aired in 1964, with the eighth installment "56 Up" airing in 2012.

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    3. The Up series is insane from the sheer scope of it but if it's a documentary. If one of those kids turns out to be a terrible actor it doesn't screw anything up.

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  8. Lars von Trier's NYMPHOMANIAC VOL. I & II: I've often wondered what it would be like if contemporary movies tried to depict sexuality on screen like movies used to do in the 1970's ("Carnal Knowledge," "Last Tango in Paris," "Don't Look Now," the Eastern European comedic/political films of Dusan Makavejev, etc.). von Trier is the only director daring, crazy and plugged-in enough to apparently go for it. This is my most anticipated movie of 2014 by far.

    Wes Anderson's BUDAPEST HOTEL: If it lives up to even a 1/3 of what the trailer hints it offers (in 1:33:1 AR no less!) it'll be wild.

    Jim Jarmusch's ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE: A vampire movie from the director of "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai." Oh, yeah!

    Antoine Fuqua's THE EQUALIZER: Denzel stepping into Edward Woodward's shoes could be good, or could be "Man on Fire 2" (i.e. what the hell is Chloƫ Grace Moretz doing here?) Can't wait but I'm worried everything besides Denzel will drag it down.

    Abel Ferrara's PASOLINI: Willem Defoe plays the director of "Salo" and "Mamma Roma" on the last day of his life.

    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 and X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST: The only super hero movies that feel they have gas left in the tank to go another round. Not really feeling it for the new "Captain America" but hope I'm proven wrong.

    Tim Burton's BIG EYES: a biopic of the life and work of painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) seems as close, thematically, as Burton will ever get to returning to "Ed Wood" territory. Beggars can't choose, so... :-)

    Denis Villeneuve's ENEMY: The director of "Prisoners" re-teams with Jake Gyllenhaal. If you saw "Prisoners" you know why I'm there opening day (March 14) regardless of what the movie is about because, damn it, I can't wait. Right, Patrick?

    Paul Thomas Anderson's INHERENT VICE: A Joaquin Phoenix detective drama set in the 1970's. After the uber-pretentiousness of "The Master" I'm hoping PT dials down the nihilism and just delivers a pretty good movie that doesn't make me feel like a human ant.

    The Wachowskis' JUPITER ASCENDING: Must be good-enough to score a summer release slot (unlike "Cloud Atlas'" late Fall last year) and these guys are on a roll.

    Untitled Cameron Crowe Project: I haven't given up on Crowe still having another "Say Anything" or "Almost Famous"-caliber film left in him, and having Bradley Cooper (hot off "American Hustle") gives me hope there's some fire on this one.

    David Cronenberg's MAPS TO THE STARS: Other than Robert Pattinson becoming to Cronenberg what DiCaprio is to Scorsese (which scares me because "Cosmopolis" wasn't so great) this should at least be an interesting take on Hollywood celebrity from the now-matured Canadian director.

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    1. Oh yeah, I forgot, a new Paul Thomas Anderson movie is always worth anticipating. And I'll always give a new Cameron Crowe project a try, considering Almost Famous is my favorite movie of all time.

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    2. I just worry that I won't be able to believe anything Shia says in Nymphomaniac.

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    3. So, is "The Equalizer" a remake of the 80s t.v show? If so will we have Adam Ant reprising his role as the creepy pimp?

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  9. I will go with, Budapest Hotel, Intersteller, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

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  10. Interstellar! So stoked to see Nolan go full on into sci-fi territory. Also excited for Grand Budapest Hotel and Amazing Spider-Man 2

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  11. I'm excited for Christopher Nolan to tap into his inner Malick with Interstellar.

    Also, Grand Budapest and Her (I know it's technically a 2013 film, but we don't get things until the last possible second here in Utah)

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  12. The Cobbler. Because it's looking like it might be another Punch-Drunk Love for Sandler. (Also, I think Tom McCarthy is one of the most talented, subdued directors working today.)

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