The Movies of 2012: Greg's Picks
Friday, July 15th 2011 · Movies
There are still a number of movies yet to come this year that I'm fairly excited for: Cowboys and Aliens, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Tucker and Dale versus Evil, and the Conan reboot. For each, I've got the highest of hopes and the lowest of expectations. But 2012, the year of the apocolypse, is looking even better for movies. Here are my ten picks for the movies to see next year.
10 - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter June 22
One of America's most famous presidents was secretly killing vampires? That's the premise behind the latest young adult novel to be made into a feature film. Hard to say whether the movie will be any good, but I've heard good things about the book, and the premise is cool as hell.
9 - Total Recall August 3
If my memory isn't failing me here, the original Total Recall movie with Arnold was based on a Phillip K Dick story called We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. This movie will be a remake of the movie rather than a re-adaptation of the Phillip K Dick story. Although it's got the highest potential on my entire list to be a steaming pile of rhinoceros dung, I remain hopeful. The new movie will star Colin Farrel in Arnold's role, and also stars Kate Beckinsdale, Jessica Biel, and Ethan Hawke. Oh - and the movie seems to take place entirely on Earth, not Mars.
8 - James Bond 23 November 9
Another James Bond movie? Yeah. Why not? After this many movies, the James Bond flicks are still not half bad most of the time. I'm guessing this one stars Daniel Craig again, but who knows?
7 - The Hunger Games March 23
Linda absolutely loved the books, and read the trilogy in less than a week. I'm hoping that this movie is translated to film better than some others I've seen. It stars the girl who played young Mystique in the X-Men First Class movie and the kid who played "Laser" in The Kids Are All Right.
6 - Ghostbusters 3
After all these years - a sequel? I'll grant you that Ghostbusters 2 was not very good, but the original is such an amazing classic. I can only hope that Ghostbusters 3 has more of the first than the second. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson are in, so the core is present. Not sure about Sigourney Weaver or Rick Moranis, but Eliza Dushku is also rumored to be in the movie, which is interesting.
5 - The Dark Knight Rises July 20
After creating the best superhero movie ever filmed, thanks largely to the late Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan has his hands full with the capstone of the latest Batman trilogy. Personally, I find it hard to believe that this movie will be as good as the last one, but I'll see it nonetheless.
4 - Superman: Man of Steel December
Yet another Superman reboot. I don't even know what to say. I hope it's a good movie, but who knows?
3 - The Amazing Spiderman August 3
I'm more hopeful for the spiderman reboot than I am for either Batman or Superman. Not because Spiderman is Marvel rather than DC, but rather because I've heard that they're going to try to do a grittier Spiderman. As long as they have Peter Parker create his web shooters, I'm on board. And you know what would be really cool? If they decided to include Spiderman in The Avengers.
2 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey December 14
Expectations are high for the next Lord of the Rings movie, given how monumental a success Peter Jackson's trilogy was. This will be the first half of the prequel The Hobbit, with the second following in a year or so.
1 - The Avengers May 4
It's been a long time coming, and Joss Whedon is directing it. With Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner (a.k.a. The Hulk), it's a huge cast. They've even got Lou Ferrigno voicing The Hulk, which is damn cool.
9. I enjoy the Verhoeven/Schwarzenegger version, but unless there's something special about this retelling I'll probably wait for the Total Recall reboot on DVD/Blu-Ray/streaming rental. Perhaps they'll have a more realistic-looking tri-breasted woman this time around.
8. I think the last Bond movie I saw in the theater may have starred Timothy Dalton.
7. I haven't read the books, so it's fair to say I'm not on the edge of my seat waiting for The Hunger Games. That could change.
6. Ah, Ghostbusters 3. Ecto-1, proton packs, Egon, Peter, Ray...I don't want to see any of it.
5. I have issues with The Dark Knight: it's too long, it should have been rated R, Christian Bale's Batman-voice is silly, Batman himself is a hypocrite...but I'll still go see Rises in the theater with everyone else.
4. I suppose Man of Steel could be worse than Superman Returns, but you'd have to bring back Lex Luthor as the villain and have him come up with an even dumber nefarious plot. Yeah, I'll see this one, too, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
3. Yeah, I'm okay with a Spider-Man reboot. I'd like to see a bit more Peter Parker in high school this time around (a la the excellent Bendis/Bagley Ultimate Spider-Man comic).
2. I should be all over this one, but in fact I'm not. I loved (most of) Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I think Ian McKellan as Gandalf is brilliant, but The Hobbit has thus far failed to grab me.
1. So the guy who did Buffy the Vampire Slayer is directing The Avengers. I'm sure it'll get really good around the sixth or seventh season. My confidence in Whedon to deliver a story I want to see is pretty low (I'll give him some props for Firefly/Serenity I suppose), and I'm not happy that Edward Norton won't be returning to the role of Bruce Banner. On the other hand, I've enjoyed both Iron Man films and I'm all kinds of psyched to see Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger, so I'll almost certainly be lining up for The Avengers, too.
