15. Argo
Bryan Cranston stars in this Ben Affleck directed vehicle about the CIA trying to save six Americans trapped at the Home of the Canadian Ambassdor in Iran, during a revolution. This may seem like an odd pick, but after "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town" being as great as they were, I'm anxious to see what Affleck has in store with a political thriller like this. And, with names like John Goodman, Kyle Chandler, and Alan Arkin, it's hard to not be a little giddy about this film.
14. Lincoln / Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Yes, this will technically make this a list of 16 films, but a biopic, and a fictionalization, of one of America's most well known presidents are projects I'm equally interested in. With the recent successes of "War Horse" and "The Adventures of Tintin", my love of all things Spielbergian has reached a fever pitch. Add Daniel Day-Lewis, an ensemble cast of Oscar caliber actors, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, writers Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and John Logan (Hugo), and of course a score by John Williams, and you have caught my interest. As for "Vampire Hunter", I've been enthralled with director Timur Bekmambetov since his Russian vampire films, "Night Watch" and "Day Watch". This adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel (who also co-wrote the film) is generating big buzz, and I'm buying into it.
13. The Hunger Games
I don't know much about this film, I also haven't read the books, but it intrigues me to no end. Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) directed, and also co-wrote with the novel's author Suzanne Collins, this film about a future society forcing children to fight each other on national television. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, who keeps capturing my heart and attention with every film I see her in, except X-Men: First Class, but I can't blame her for how badly written Mystique was.
12. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Dev Patel plays a young man trying to run a senior's resort in India. Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson are all guests staying at said resort. It looks like a feel good fluff piece that could easily be one of the dumbest films of the year, and honestly I'm not a fan or director John Madden, but it is hard to not watch this trailer without a huge smile on your face.
11. American Reunion
After nearly a decade, and four horrible straight-to-video sequels, the cast of the original "American Pie" is back. This is the first of the original series to not be written by Adam Herz, but it has been taken over by the team that is responsible for the "Harold & Kumar" movies. This gives me enough faith to know that the franchise is in capable hands, and that the characters I've watched for the last 13 years will be ushered into manhood, and family life, with tremendous respect and care.
10. The Amazing Spider-Man
I couldn't leave the neighborhood friendly Spider-man out of the top ten, no matter how concerned I am. I know the third movie was a huge disappointment, but without Sam Raimi I'm on the reserve. "(500) Days of Summer" director Marc Webb is a good replacement to helm the piece, and with a script co-written by Harry Potter scribe Steve Kloves, my concerns are being quelled. And look at Andrew Garfield, he seems to fit so well. Oh, and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy. Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben. Sally Field as Aunt May. IS THAT C. THOMAS HOWELL IN THE CAST?!
9. Paranorman
I have no other reason to be this excited about this film other than this ridiculously awesome trailer, and a plot about a young boy who can talk to the dead trying to save his town from an old curse. Writer Sam Fell's best credit is 2006's "Flushed Away" and writer/director Chris Butler's most impressive credit is as storyboard supervisor on "Coraline". The voice cast has a few good actors in it, but no one in it is going to sell tickets. Watch the trailer, and see why I'm excited to see this film.
8. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
It has been 11 years since Peter Jackson first took us to the shire. It's been 9 since he completed the journey. I want the Hobbit to be higher on the list, but development hell has dimmed my enthusiasm for Tolkien's tale. I'm putting in the top 10 because I feel like this is going to be great. Despite how I feel about the studio has completely dropped the ball, I'm pretty sure Jackson can pick it back up again. Casting Martin Freeman, who has an impressive range as an actor, was a nice start.
7. Brave
I said time and time again, I won't doubt Pixar until they give me a bad film. "Cars 2" wasn't up to the Pixar standard, but I would hardly call it bad. After "Wall-E", "Up", and "Toy Story 3" hit so deep for so many people, it was just not good enough. "Brave", on the other hand, seems like it is going to be the film we should have gotten instead. It looks to be the kind of character driven plot we've come to expect from Pixar.
6. Avengers
The Avengers have entered the Whedon-verse! Joss Whedon has taken control of the Marvel Universe's amazing cast of characters, and it looks fantastic! Thor and Hulk were a good films. Captain America was great. Iron Man was phenomenal! With a writer like Whedon, who understands the complexity of superhero teams, as proven by his relaunch of Astonishing X-Men, I can't see why this film wouldn't be great
5. Django Unchained
Quentin Tarantino constantly makes it into my best of list at the end of the year ("Inglorious Basterds" was my number one of 2009), so I'm always happy to see what kind of genre bending madness he has in store. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has taken the title character, a slave turned bounty hunter trying to rescue his wife, and I can only imagine what Q has in store for him. Come to think of it, this cast is outrageous. I hope this is every bit as violent and over-the-top as the plot suggests.
4. Skyfall
BOND! Being directed by the man who directed "Road to Perdition" (Sam Mendes). The four credited writers of this films include, four previous Bond films, the Bond spoof "Johnny English", "Notes on a Scandal", and "Hugo" (John Logan's resume is so good! Why have I not caught on to him sooner?). My DVD collection boasts all 21 previous James Bond film (even "Die Another Day"), so to say that I'm excited about this one is a little bit of an understatement.
3. The Secret World of Arrietty
Studio Ghibli is doing an adaptation of "The Borrowers" co-written by studio founder Hayao Miyazaki. This apparently came out in Japan in 2010, but Disney is slow at getting us things we want. This took the 3 spot, because I love Ghibli's work. They constantly release top notch material, and I couldn't imagine anything being based off of a book this wonderful, by a studio with such a great record, being bad.
2. Prometheus
Do we NEED an "Alien" prequel? Maybe not. Do I want one? HELL YES! Ridley Scott, director of the first, and best, "Alien" film is back at the helm, and I couldn't be happier about this. Adding Lost co-creator Damon Lindleof as a co-writer also thrills me to an extreme I couldn't even have imagined possible. Wait, Guy Pearce is in it? My head may have just exploded.
1. The Dark Knight Rises
"Batman Begins" was great. The Dark Knight was even better. So, I think I'm justified in saying that I'm hoping "The Dark Knight Rises" is going to be "The Return of the King" of Nolan's franchise. And by that I mean, I want it to be three-and-a-half hours long, have multiple endings, and win Best Picture. I am not looking forward to anything more this year than I am this movie. Before you ask, yes I am getting married this summer.
Oscar nominations are Tuesday. Now that I've looked forward, I'm going to look back next week. My favorite, and least favorite films of 2011. Next week.
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