10) THE AVENGERS
Release Date: May 4th
Director: Joss Whedon
The only reason I am putting The Avengers 10th is not because I do not really want to see the movie (I do), it is just that I do not think it will be any good. The best superhero movies of the past decade has always been ones that focused on a singular character/superhero. Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, Sam Raimi's Spiderman movies, Ed Norton's The Hulk, and the original Iron Man have set the standard for what superhero movies SHOULD be and all of them focused just on ONE superhero. The Avengers focuses on SIX. Group superhero movies have not historically worked out well in the past- most notably the original X-Men trilogy and it worries me that The Avengers will be closer to that than the best group superhero movie in a long time- X-Men First Class.
9) ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER
Release Date: June 22
Directed By: Timur Bekmambetov
While I am hesitant to trust a movie based upon a book made for 13 year olds, how does the title alone not suck you in? It will probably be a commercial flop but it will not be because I did not shell out ten dollars to see it.
8) THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
Release Date: April 27
Directed By: Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt
While the trailer does nothing to excite me, I am a big fan of Aardman Animiations- the animation production team responsible for this film. They are best known for their Wallace And Gromit series (all of which are great) and commercially known for Chicken Run but they also were responsible for Flushed Away (even though Flushed Away was far better than Chicken Run). While Aardman Animations may not be in the pop culture lexicon like Disney and Pixar are, they continually produce great quality products and I will gladly go see everything they do.
7) THE BOURNE LEGACY
Release Date: August 3
Directed By: Tony Gilroy
I really disliked the last two Bourne movies (Supremecy and Ultimatum) but The Bourne Legacy has two things working for it that the last Bourne movies did not have. First, it is not directed by Paul Greengrass who is known for his shaky cam during action sequences. This means I am expecting to actually SEE the action sequences and know what is going on during The Bourne Legacy. Second, it stars Jeremy Renner. Renner has been on a role since The Hurt Locker starring in The Town and Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (both of which he was excellent in) and will soon play Hawk Eye in The Avengers (see: above). While I like Matt Damon I expect Renner to exceed all Bourne expectations.
SIDENOTE: Damon joked during his press junket for The Bourne Ultimatum that the next movie to be released will be called The Bourne Redundancy. Well... it was not.
6) BRAVE
Release Date: June 22
Directed By: Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
This is one is a tough one for me. On one hand it is Pixar studios and they have produced great movie after great movie and I expect nothing but greatness from them. However, on the other hand, not only do I really dislike anything set in the Medievil time period (unless it is Monty Python And The Holy Grail) I refuse to see it AND this film looks eerily reminiscent of How To Train Your Dragon (2010) (which was excellent).
5) THE DICTATOR
Release Date: May 11
Directed By: Larry Charles
Not only was Borat amazing and Bruno really good but the trailer makes me laugh with (what I believe) not actually giving anything away from the actual film. Everything in the trailer looks like just set up to the main plot and I am hoping the actual movie will be even funnier than the trailer.
4) THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN
Release Date: July 3
Directed By: Marc Webb
I was like you and thought a reboot of a movie that came out just a decade ago was silly but after seeing the trailer and knowing the characters and what this story is about, I'm hooked. The film has a major villain from the comic books (The Lizard) as opposed to a relatively minor one with The Green Goblin and has a new love interest (Gwen Stacy played by America's Sweetheart Emma Stone).
Don't look at The Amazing Spiderman as just another sequel and a chance for Hollywood to make money, look at it as a chance to enjoy the original Spiderman all over again.
3) THE FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT
Release Date: April 27
Directed By: Nicholas Stoller
The last movie directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by Jason Segel? Oh, that would be Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the two team up again for The Five Year Engagement (also co-written by Stoller). I'll see anything Jason Segel does whether it's How I Met Your Mother or Bad Teacher (in which Segel was by far and away the best part of the movie). This film is no exception.
2) SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
Release Date: June 1
Directed By: Rupert Sanders
I know I just said I am not a fan of things set during the Medieval times era but this looks amazing. Mainly because I just love a darker re-imagining of things and the fact that a classic Disney film (and the fact that a light heartened version of this story just came out in theaters) can be turned into a dark epic excites me.
1) THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Release Date: July 20
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
#OccupyGotham
Come on? Do I really need to say why this is not only my personal most anticipated movie this summer but is everyone else's as well? The Dark Knight was amazing and the best movie to come out within the past 15 years (really one of the best films ever). I am absolutely not worried that the main villains are Bane and Catwoman (I know people are upset about this but let's get real. What has Christopher Nolan done throughout his past four films to make you think he won't be able to make Bane and Catwoman fantastic?). What does worry me is that the hype and anticipation of this film plus the greatness of The Dark Knight almost guarantees that I will not like TDKR- no matter how good it actually is on its own. My expectations MAY be a tad too high. But I hope not.
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BONUS:
THE CAMPAIGN
Release Date: August 10
Directed By: Jay Roach
While no official trailer has yet to be released for this film, it stars Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, and Jason Sudekis. I will see EVERYTHING Will Ferrell does. Although this movie is not directed by Adam McKay (Stepbrothers, Anchorman) so maybe I need to temper by expectations about Will Ferrell. But only a little bit.
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