Starring: Jon Hamm, Sandra Bullock, Michael Keaton
Directors: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Writer: Brian Lynch
Release Date: July 10
It's no surprise that these little dudes are getting their own movie. It was quite evident from the first Despicable Me that they stole every scene they were in. And much like the Penguins from Madagascar, they're headlining their own movie - and it looks every bit as adorable and funny as it could. Unlike the Penguins movie - this feels like a natural spin-off because of the nature of the story. This is a story about the minions before they meet Gru, which gives the filmmakers a whole lot of freedom to explore different places and characters. I'm curious as to how much of the movie is just going to be the Minions own nonsensical vocabulary and how much actual dialogue there will be. But this teaser feels right and I'm excited to see how this turns out.
Starring: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad
Director: Jeremy Garelick
Writers: Jeremy Garelick, Jay Lavender
Release Date: January 16
I have a love/hate relationship with Kevin Hart. At times, he's absolutely hysterical in the smaller roles I've seen him on in TV and movies. But when he's headlining, he can become annoying with his fast-talking, jokes-every-line performance. But I love Josh Gad - he's been on my favorite list since his stint on The Daily Show. And it seems like Hart is playing more of the straight man, so this should be a fun Odd Couple-type movie. One of the main problems that's holding this movie back is it looks like a carbon copy of Hitch - you know the movie where the pudgy white guy hires a suave black guy to teach him all the right moves. And instead of getting dates, The Wedding Ringer is trying to hook the pudgy white guy up with best friends. I don't think I would normally have put this in my top 50, but the trailer is pretty solid - I laughed quite a bit. Whether that's all the funny bits in the movie remains to be seen, though.
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| Look at these goobers havin' fun. |
43. Fantastic Four
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell
Director: Josh Trank
Writers: Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, T. S. Nowlin
Release Date: August 7
Oh man there's so much drama surrounding this movie. I've found out that racism is alive and well because of this movie. What is it with the internet and bigots? When The Hunger Games came out, the internet had a minor meltdown because a lot of people were upset that the little girl in the movie was black. And now the human torch is being portrayed by Michael B. Jordan - a fantastic actor who blew up last year with the movie Fruitvale Station. And people are upset because the human torch is white in the comic books. And Michael B. Jordan is black. This is not about race, it's about sticking to the source material, man. Well, I am excited for the cast - I think the main four characters are all solid, up-and-coming young actors that should bring a little bit of levity to their roles. It's still a superhero movie, of course, not Shakespeare. But I have faith that Josh Trank, director of the better-than-it-should-be Chronicle will does his best with a script written by vet screenwriter Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith). You know me, I love superhero movies, but I just can get too excited for the Fantastic Four. I never saw the other two movies because they looked boring. Campy? Yes. Interesting? No. So I really don't have any idea how a really good Fantastic Four movie should look like. Hopefully all the talent involved will drum up more interest than landing at number 43 on my list when they release a trailer.
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| This is the only picture I could find of Natalie Portman with a gun. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. |
42. Jane Got a Gun
Starring: Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santoro
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Writers: Brian Duffield, Anthony Tambakis
Release Date: February 20
Speaking of more drama, Jane Got a Gun has it in spades. The movie has had a revolving door of cast members and the original director, Lynne Ramsay, didn't bother to show up the first day. Sooooo, yeah, this movie was originally on last year's list, but of course it got pushed back. Now for details - Natalie Portman stars as Jane (duh!) who asks her old boyfriend to help rescue her asshole of a husband from being murdered by outlaws. So this is a western and it seems like every year this genre tries desperately to claw back into our cultural consciousness and every year most people pass on them. For every True Grit, there's a Lone Ranger. But I actually really, really enjoy the genre and it's sad to see it getting very little love. I doubt this movie will change anyone's mind about it, but I'm excited to see Natalie Portman wielding a gun and being a badass. This movie is coming out relatively soon, so don't be surprised if this gets pushed back further into the year.
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| Liam isn't doing a whole lot of running in this shot. I hope he's just catching his breath. |
41. Run All Night
Starring: Liam Neeson, Genesis Rodriguez, Joel Kinnaman
Director: Jaume Collet-Cera
Writer: Brad Ingelsby
Release Date: April 17
Liam Neeson is contractually obligated by the American public to star in at least one action movie where he's kicking ass and shooting a gun. This year there's a least two (don't get me started on whatever the hell Taken 3 is going to be about). Directed by the same guy who directed Neeson in this year's Non-Stop and 2011's Unknown, Jaume Collet-Cera is once again mining similar territory. Neeson plays an aging hitman who must take on his former mob boss in order to save his estranged son and family. This sounds awfully similar to John Wick - that Keanu Reeves action movie that was just so awesome. I don't know how awesome this movie will be, but if it's anything like Non-Stop, it'll be a fun distraction at the movie theaters.
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