2014 has enveloped us in a vast variety of cinema, producing one of the film's of the decade (Boyhood), yet another melee of Autobots and Decepticons (Transformers: Age of Extinction) and a genuinely frightening horror story (The Babadook). Two of the aforementioned are hard to come by. One is not. Let us not dwell on that though, as overall I feel the epilogue for this year in film should read: a commercially successful showing for critically acclaimed cinema... and Transformers. Now to look forward to 2015. Here are my Seven Most Anticipated Films for the coming year:
7: Blackhat. dr. Michael Mann. st. Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis. wr. Morgan Davis Foehl and Michael Mann.
Perhaps a surprising entry into my list, but what with the Sony hacking scandal being the topic of the moment, and Michael Mann back in the directors chair of a feature film for the first time in five and a half years, my anticipation for Blackhat has rapidly increased. Blackhat captures the worrying zeitgeist that plagues modern society, cyber criminality, and it follows Nicholas Hathaway (Hemsworth), following a stint in prison, helping American and Chinese authorities pursue a computerized terrorist. Sounds familiar? Die Hard 4.0 attempted to engage us with similar themes. Blackhat might have a better faring though, with Michael Mann at the helm. His last great film was Collateral back in 2004, which came after his two masterpieces, Heat (1995) and The Insider (1999). If Mann manages to inflict us with hefty drama combined with explosive action, cross-examined with thrilling tension, then we're in for a treat.
UK Release Date: 20th February 2015
6: Jurassic World. dr. Colin Trevorrow. st. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. wr. Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow.
I'm going to level with you. I quite liked Jurassic Park 3. Yes, it was a perforated script through rushed writing, inducing uneven characters upon the story (can you believe Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor were two of the writers?). The Spielberg touch was vacant from Isla Sorna, I'll give you that. Having said that, it was exciting enough, and Joe Johnstone did a commendable job with what he had to work with! With Jurassic World, from the trailer, it looks the closest to Spielberg's original, both in style and (hopefully) calibre. Chris Pratt has earned his stripes as an action hero with comedy chops (see Guardians of the Galaxy); give him a line and he'll deliver it with wit as razer-sharp as the dinosaur's teeth that he is running after (or from). Talking of, the stars of the show will undoubtedly be the, formerly extinct, antagonists of the piece. The reveal in the trailer was that a hybrid dinosaur is on the loose (my guess is a velociraptor/tyrannosaurus rex), and this makes for a tantalising prospect. This blockbuster will be busting the box office all summer!
UK Release Date: 15th June 2015.
5: Foxcatcher. dr. Bennett Miller. st. Steve Carell and Channing Tatum. wr. E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman.
Bennett Miller as a director is akin to a classical composer; his previous films exude sophistication, from the acting, to the aesthetics of the set design, the costume design, the sound, the writing. In Capote particularly, there was no false note. With Foxcatcher, he appears to have exelled himself, with his distinguished style emanating from the story of mentally ill billionaire John du Pont (Carell) and his time on Foxcatcher Farm with the wrestling brothers, Mark and Dave Schultz (Tatum, Mark Ruffalo). All three male actors are being tipped for Oscar nominations, though this year in the male categories, competition is fierce. Miller meanwhile won the Best Director award at Cannes, and he will not be oblivious to Academy nominations.
UK Release Date: 8th January 2015
4: Inside Out. dr. Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen. st. (voices of) Amy Poehler and Bill Hader. wr. Michael Arndt (from a Pete Docter story).
An original Pixar. Not a sequel. With the voice talent of some of Saturday Night Live's greatest former players (Poehler and Hader), and with their latest trailer knocking side-splitting gags out of the park, Inside Out has the potential to be a Pixar classic. The story is told from the perspective of the emotions inside a little girl; Joy (Poehler), Fear (Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Anger (Lewis Black). The idea of animating disparate emotions into separate living entities inside a cranium didn't have me at hello, however the first full trailer quickly evaporated any sceptical thoughts I previously had.
UK Release Date: 24th July 2015
3: Midnight Special. dr. Jeff Nichols. st. Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst. wr. Jeff Nichols.
Midnight Special will be Jeff Nichols' fourth feature. His filmography thus far reads very well indeed; Shotgun Stories was an assured debut, Take Shelter for me was the best film of 2011, and Mud motivated the McConaissance. Nichols has an undivided understanding to commensurate narrative with cinematography, rather than to capsize one for the importance of the other. There are certain periods in certain films where I find a director can lose himself or herself in presenting an image on screen that has no bearing on the story. Not Nichols. He is a meticulous auteur and a creator of complete cinema. Of what we know so far, Midnight Special lands in the Sci-Fi genre, and follows a father and son going on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers (synopsis courtesy of IMDB). Nichols knows how to write relationships, and on this account, I feel safe in recommending this coming film to all our readers.
UK Release Date: Late 2015
2: Spectre. dr. Sam Mendes. st. Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz. wr. John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
The top two previews on this list are the latest contributions to two long running franchises. Number two is Bond. James Bond. After the success of Skyfall, the momentum and expectation for Spectre has accelerated. With the first draft of the script leaked online, many now understand what the story will involve, although massive changes have surely occurred since. A cryptic message from Bond's (Craig) past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M (Ralph Fiennes) battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre (synopsis courtesy of IMDB). With Waltz winning an Oscar for one of the most despicable villains in recent memory (Hans Landa, Inglorious Basterds), I look forward to his nefarious bad guy portrayal with anticipation.
UK Release Date: 23rd October 2015
1: Star Wars The Force Awakens. dr. J.J. Abrams. st. Harrison Ford and Adam Driver. wr. J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan.
A foregone conclusion. Star Wars is the film that everyone anticipates the most for 2015. For me, the most intriguing prospect of Episode VII is Lawrence Kasdan, the man who wrote The Empire Strikes Back. Although the expectation is that no galaxy-shattering twist will be present is this particular helping, one would hope that Abrams and Kasdan have established the genesis of which a huge reveal ('I am Your Father' territory) will spawn from.
UK Release Date: 18th December 2015
A Lot of Other Films to watch out for...
- Birdman. dr. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. UK Release Date: 1st January 2015
- The Theory Of Everything. dr. James Marsh. UK Release Date: 1st January 2015
- American Sniper. dr. Clint Eastwood. UK Release Date: 16th January 2015
- Whiplash. dr. Damien Chazelle. UK Release Date: 16th January 2015
- Wild. dr. Jean-Marc Vallee. UK Release Date: 16th January 2015
- A Most Violent Year. dr. J.C. Chandor. UK Release Date: 23rd January 2015
- Inherent Vice. dr. Paul Thomas Anderson. UK Release Date: 30th January 2015
- Selma. dr. Ava DuVernay. UK Release Date: 6th February 2015
- Chappie. dr. Neill Blomkamp. UK Release Date: 6th March 2015
- In The Heart Of The Sea. dr. Ron Howard. UK Release Date: 13th March 2015
- Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes). dr. Damian Szifron. UK Release Date: 27th March 2015
- Force Majeure. dr. Ruben Ostlund. UK Release Date: 10th April 2015
- Child 44. dr. Daniel Espinosa. UK Release Date: 17th April 2015
- Avengers Age of Ultron. dr. Joss Whedon. UK Release Date: 24th April 2015
- Mad Max: Fury Road. dr, George Miller. UK Release Date: 15th May 2015
- Tomorrowland. dr. Brad Bird. UK Release Date: 22nd May 2015
- Untitled Cameron Crowe Project. dr. Cameron Crowe. UK Release Date: 5th June 2015
- Terminator Genisys. dr. Alan Taylor. UK Release Date: 3rd July 2015
- Ted 2. dr. Seth McFarlane. UK Release Date: 10th July 2015
- Ant-Man. dr. Peyton Reed. UK Release Date: 17th July 2015
- The Fantastic Four. dr. Josh Trank. UK Release Date: 6th August 2015
- Everest. dr. Baltasar Kormakur. UK Release Date: 2nd October 2015
- Spielberg Cold War Project. dr. Stephen Spielberg. UK Release Date: 9th October 2015
- Crimson Peak. dr. Guillermo Del Toro. UK Release Date: 16th October 2015
- The Good Dinosaur. dr. Peter Sohn. UK Release Date. 27th November 2015
- The Martian. dr. Ridley Scott. UK Release Date. 27th November 2015
- Mission: Impossible 5. dr. Christopher McQuarrie. 26th December 2015
- Silence. dr. Martin Scorsese. UK Release Date: TBC, Late 2015
- The Hateful Eight. dr. Quentin Tarantino. UK Release Date: TBC, Late 2015/Early 2016
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