My Most Anticipated Movies Of 2015

SELMA

January 9

Other than the fact that it's about time there was a large-budget, biographical film about Dr. King, I'm genuinely interested in the personal interaction he had with such figures as President Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover.

CHAPPIE

March 6

I was never a big fan of the film "District 9," or its director, Neill Blomkamp, and the whole "robot gains sentience and makes friends with humans" genre has been pretty much run dry after all these years. But as soon as I saw Die Antwoord in the trailer, my wallet had already bounced off the projection screen. 

Oh, and Wolverine, Ripley, Martinez from Walking Dead, and Zuko from the film-that-shall-not-be-named are in it as well.

FURIOUS 7

April 3

Still not ready for the inevitable Paul Walker tribute. 

Also, it's about time they filmed in genuinely interesting locations such as the Middle East.

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

May 1

JURASSIC WORLD

June 12

I could write a book about my myriad of musings and reflections on the Jurassic Park franchise as a whole, and the looong-time-coming Jurassic World, but I digress. This movie has clearly (and rightfully) thrown authenticity and most common sense for the sake of pure, unadulterated action, spectacle, and thrills. It's science fiction with a helping portion of fantasy. They didn't rush to assemble this sequel, as is what plainly happened to the previous installment, and instead waited for the proper screenplay amidst a legion of fan-fiction rejects, as well as a release time that would secure a new generation of innocuous kids who haven't had their own Jurassic Park to drive them dino-crazy. As with Star Wars, it's finally time for us aging Crichton geeks to revisit our childhoods, and share that sense of awe and wonder with the new generation.

It's affectionate tribute and daring reboot all in one, and it gives a chance for new-guy director Colin Trevorrow to either become a new box-office champion, as Spielberg was in his rookie years, or to completely blow it. But if the latter ends up the case, could we really fault him for at least attempting to work with such a perilous source material? At this point, does it even need to succeed, either in the financial or fan-pandering sense?  

And there was nothing quite like watching this trailer in the theater for the first time. I didn't get chills, I got shakes.

ANT-MAN

July 17

In the wake of unexpected success stories such as Guardians of the Galaxy, I for one welcome this new wave of second-tier superhero movies. 

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

August 14

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

December 18

I never cared much for Star Wars as a kid. When I was born, the 80s were over, and while the kids of the last decade were coming of age I was getting bored of reruns of their cartoons and turning my attention towards such riveting productions as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The original trilogy would air on television on occasion, but I had at that point already been spoiled by modern special effects technology in film, not to mention the up-and-coming computer-generated animation seen in Pixar's debut works.

Star Wars was an entity that existed outside my sphere of cultural influence. That is, until I was ten years old, and saw The Phantom Menace, which I've learned in recent years is one that wannabe-Eberts love to delicately dissect for hours on end. As for me and most of my generation, however, Lucas' deed was done, and I was from that moment forward a full-fledged Star Wars geek. I held my reservations towards the rest of the trilogy, as well as spin-off series that unfairly replaced their superior counterparts, but it gave me cause to return to the originals that I had shunned all too often as a youth and appreciate them for what they truly represented.

Time will again repeat itself, and my peers will moan and groan alongside the veterans of yester-year, but I'll be the one returning to the time when I saw pod-racing and duels with dual-sided lighsabers for the first time. And, as with the aforementioned Jurassic World, a new legion of kids will be claim it as their favorite movie of all time, and there will hopefully be new trilogies for years to come, now that it is safely out of George's hands.

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

December 25

Quite possibly one of the few, if not only director whose work I will keenly anticipate while knowing next to nothing about it.