The world isn’t supposed to end until December 2012, right? Plenty of time to go to the movies. Here’s a list of my most anticipated films of 2012:
10. Django Unchained
Tarantino’s latest. The film’s a Spaghetti Western revenge plot about a freed slave, but it gets a spot on this list for its cast alone, which includes Leo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, and Christoph Waltz.
UPDATE: Read Søren’s review of Django Unchained here.
9. Wreck-It Ralph
I bet you’ve just reread that title 5 times trying to figure out what the hell it is. It’s one of Disney’s next CG animated films (meaning this isn’t a Pixar film). Almost nothing about the film has been released yet, but it’s on my list solely because of the audience reactions it generated from the privately screened footage at the D23 con awhile ago. The film is about a villain from an old video game who tries to change his stars, and the animation is said to be reminiscent of old old video games in a way we’ve never seen before. Keep your eyes peeled for a trailer.
8. The Amazing Spider-Man
A reboot Spider-Man film. I didn’t really like Sam Raimi’s style on the previous 2 movies. They were far too campy and protagonist hating for my taste. So I wasn’t sad to hear Spider-Man’s getting a reboot, but I wasn’t all that excited, either – that is, until Marc Webb was announced as director. Webb directed (500) Days Of Summer, one of my favorite films. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what he can do with Spider-Man. Plus, you should look up Andrew Garfield’s speech at Comic-con about what it means to him to play Spider-Man. It’s criminally ‘dawwwww’ inducing. The film also earns points for being one of two live-action 3D movies coming out this summer that were actually filmed with 3D cameras, not just post-converted.
7. ParaNorman
Remember how good and totally gorgeous Coraline was? Well, it was made by a stop-motion animation studio by the name of Laika, and they’re releasing their follow-up next year. The story concerns a town under siege by zombies and a local boy who can speak with the dead having to save everyone. The trailer for the film is one of my favorites of 2011, with Laika’s trademark devastation of stop-motion animation’s limitations, as well as a very cool song choice. Look it up on Youtube.
6. Much Ado About Nothing
Once upon a 2011 summer, Joss Whedon had just wrapped up filming The Avengers. He planned to take a month long vacation before returning to work on post-production. Instead, he used his vacation to make an entirely different movie. Much Ado About Nothing is a modern-day adaption of Shakespeare’s play, and stars many of his close friends, including Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher, Clark Gregg (of Marvel fame), and Riki Lindhome (Garfunkel and Oates). Much Ado also stars Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney from Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses. Can you not see why I love this man?
UPDATE: Read Ari’s review of Much Ado About Nothing here.