List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt
Director: Andrew Niccol
Writer: Andrew Niccol
Release Date: March 29
It's a well-known fact that I love science fiction. And it's been pretty evident lately that I'm not alone in this love - there's been a plethora of science fiction movies the past few years and 2013 is going to be no different. The Host is a book written by Stephanie Meyer, the lady that bestowed upon us the Twilight franchise. Normally I wouldn't give two stinks about this movie - but hey, it looks interesting enough that I'll give this one a shot. It's got a decent cast - Saoirse Ronan, last seen kicking ass in Hanna, plays the lead role and she's decidedly creepy in the trailer. Add in Diane Kruger from Inglourious Basterds and William Hurt and the movie has that much more credibility. Andrew Niccol directs this one and he's been hit or miss. His last movie, In Time, was a laughable mess with good intentions. But the man did give us the excellent Gattaca - one of the best science fiction movies in the past twenty years. I haven't read the book, but if somehow this movie tries to throw in a love triangle or one of the hunky dudes decides to take off his shirt - I'm walking out of the theater. I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment because the very first line in the trailer is "This is a love story." Uggghhh that right there hurt my brain. I've always believed that science fiction movies are better when the focus is not about the science aspect of the story but rather the characters. So while I think a love story set in a science fiction universe is splendid, I don't know if this is going to end up being a Twilight-inspired romance. If that's the case, I will probably never trust anything that has Stephanie Meyer's name on it.
44. After Earth
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writers: Steve Gaghan, M. Night Shyamalan, Gary Whitta
Release Date: June 7
Another science fiction movie, this time written and directed by the notorious and infamous M. Night Shyamalan. I don't think I've seen a hot shot director rise to such notoriety and fall to such depth so quickly. In a span of five years he went from the next big thing to a laughing stock. His last three movies were anything but enjoyable and he's trying to reclaim the title as most interesting douchebag director with After Earth. At least the story is interesting: One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai. When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon (taken from Wikipedia). Yeah, that's a mouthful, but it tells the story way better than I could. This movie should be higher on my list, but I just can't get behind all the people involved. Shyamalan needs to hit this one out of the park for me to really trust him as a director. And Will Smith teaming up with his son for this movie just makes me feel all yucky. He's trying way too hard to get his son to be Mini Will Smith. It's a bit sickening. Once the trailer hits the interwebs, I might check this out, but it would have to be one heckuva trailer for me to shell out money. The potential is sky high, but I'm not risking looking foolish by putting this movie beyond 44 on my list.
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy
Director: Seth Gordon
Writers: Craig Mazin, Jerry Eeten
Release Date: February 8
Seth Gordon is one of the better comedic directors working. He started out doing the wonderful documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and then nailed it last year with Horrible Bosses. He's done a lot of TV shows as well (Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office) and he's the main reason this movie is on the list. Melissa McCarthy is experiencing a career high right now and I'm excited to see what kind of crazy she can bring to the movie. I'm expecting the movie to get an R rating and I can only assume she and Jason Bateman are going to push it to the limit. The trailer makes the film look decent enough - maybe they're saving all the really funny jokes for the movie which would be awesome. This may sound really, really dumb but the only thing holding this movie back is how funny it's going to be. Melissa McCarthy's character could end up being just mind-numbingly annoying rather than funny and Jason Bateman might play his role a little too straight. And that's what really bothers me about Bateman - I love him to death, but he continually lands these roles where he's the straight man to some crazy and wacky actor - Couples Retreat, The Change-Up, Extract. I don't think this is the movie that will change that routine, but I'm sure there's going to be plenty of funny all around this movie.
42. Internship
Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell
Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Vince Vaughn
Release Date: June 7
Owen Wilson teams up once again with Vince Vaughn in this high concept comedy that sees two unemployed men in their 40s tackle an internship at a successful internet company run by a bunch of 20 somethings. Wedding Crashers was a phenomenal movie and it's surprising these two actors haven't been able to get together since then to make another comedy. Vince Vaughn (our Double V as I affectionately call him) hasn't really done anything funny lately. He's got his usual schtick that's he's been doing for ten or so years and it hasn't really been that good - The Watch this year was a pretty awful attempt at humor and Double V had some moments, but they were few and far between. And then you have Owen Wilson, who's had his ups and downs as well since Crashers. It will be nice to see if this movie can recapture that same magic Wedding Crashers had. The movie is directed by Shawn Levy (Date Night, Night at the Museum), so I'm a little weary if he can deliver the funny. Vince Vaughn wrote the screenplay himself and the only other screenplay he wrote was Couple Retreat, which wasn't bad, just not great either. The other problem with this movie is the plot itself - I don't know if people are willing to see a movie about unemployment. The Campaign had the same issue this year and while that movie was funny, it didn't really make me want to watch it again. All that being said, it's sounds like I'm really down on this movie - but it does have a lot of potential, so it sits at 42. Maybe six years ago this would have made my top 10, but here it sits.
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy
Director: Paul Feig
Writer: Katie Dippold
Release Date: April 5
Melissa McCarthy strikes again on this list! I absolutely loved Bridesmaids. And I love Freaks and Geeks. Paul Feig was one of the main influences in that movie and television show. And this is his new movie. I can't help but get excited even though the trailer didn't make me laugh out loud. I'm digging the vibe the movie's got though - it seems to be more a parody of the buddy cop film than anything else. However, Melissa McCarthy's character better have some more depth, otherwise her Cartmen-esque "I do what I want" attitude will get old real quick. I trust the director enough to restrain the character and the movie is written by one of the writers from Parks and Recreation - one of the best shows on TV right now. I really hope this movie gets an R rating - I just don't think you can bring the funny as much in this type of comedy without going balls out (or in this case, vaginas) out. 21 Jump Street was a genius movie and shows how to do this type of movie right. The Heat should take notes from that movie, otherwise this movie might end up being just okay, much like the movie Date Night from a few years ago. Sure, I had some laughs, but I don't think I'd watch it again. I have faith in the people involved to take this movie beyond what's in this trailer.
List: 50-46 | 45-41 | 40-36 | 35-31 | 30-26 | 25-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | Runners-Up: 10-6 | 5-1 |
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