LISTS! Shinji's 15 Most Anticipated Films of 2008
I decided that before I unveil my Top films released this year, I should first list down the films that I’d want to see next year. It’s best to look forward first before looking back, or something like that.
We’ve got four stoners, three superheroes, a bunch of ghosts, a broken-hearted guy, a rape victim, a collective of geeks, an old man, a monster, a drunk girl, an existential robot, two porn star hopefuls and a scary gay guy all waiting in 2008. Awesome. On with teh list then!
15 Most Anticipated Films of 2008.
(in no particular order)
1. The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones kept me reading all night when I acquired the book some 2 years ago. It’s this endearing story of a family that was stricken with grief over the death of Susie. While in heaven (or whatever that is), Susie looks down on the one’s she left on Earth and observes the man that raped and killed her.
One thing that’s really exciting about this movie is the fact that Peter Jackson is directing it. After The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, it’s intresting to see Mr. Jackson head onto a different theme and a slightly less-eye candy film. With a cast like Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Mark Whalberg, and Rachel Weisz , I bet this movie is going to be awesome.
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2. Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt
With a title like that, I bet everything about this movie would be fucking hilarious and awesome. Right after the success of Borat, Sasha Baron Cohen is back to take another character from The Ali G Show and turn it into a frenzied sensation filled with lawsuits and box office earnings.
A gay foreigner in a mesh t-shirt. ‘Nuff said.
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3. Cloverfield
I’ve been mind-fuckingly frustrated over J.J. Abram’s Cloverfield. Ever since the teaser trailer got it, I’ve been crawling over teh internets in order to find a logical explanation about its premise, or its monster. But alas, nothing. It’s a Power Rangers movie, it’s about three monsters that the Jews have, it’s a Voltron movie, a Godzilla remake. Every trashy theory, I believed it somehow. The only way to know the mystery behind the monster of Cloverfield is to wait for it when it comes out 1-18-08. It should be shown here on that exact date, or else I’m gonna go apeshit over film distributors here in the country.
With a viral marketing campaign like that and a promise of a completely original monster, count me fucking in. I’m watching this.
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4. Asian Remakes - The Eye, A Tale of Two Sisters, The Echo, & My Sassy Girl
It’s a given fact that Hollywood somehow rips us Asians off. Haha, kidding. I’m not a really big fan of remakes. I liked The Ring remake, I somehow liked The Grudge, but both sequels of both movies mastered the art of suckage. But us asians have very weird and creative minds, the kind that Hollywood wants to exploit. Hence, remakes = hits.
I loved The Pang Brothers’ The Eye and upon seeing the remake with Jessica Alba, I immediately liked it because the trailer included all the key scenes that made the original a freakishly good time. From that elevator scene to various cars exploding. And Jessica Alba as a blind woman? I’d tap that anytime.
I haven’t heard much about the remake of A Tale of Two Sisters except for Emily Browning’s casting (which I totally adore, those lips of hers… haay) and Elizabeth Banks playing the psychotic step mother (which is a good choice, I think). The original was fantastic even though it made me think for over 2 weeks, and I guess Hollywood could cook something up in order to make this passable.
Still with Korea: My Sassy Girl was, at one point, every Filipino who’ve seen it’s favorite movie. When someone mentions My Sassy Girl, I instantly think about a shit-faced drunktard chick. And of course that ridiculous, yet heartbreaking scene where the two protagonists stand atop two adjacent mountains with the girl screaming out “I’m soorry!” That is classic.
So, Hollywood wants to cash in, eh? Well, I think they’re heading for the right direction. Not only did they cast my favorite hot girl evar, Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford, BUT they made Yann Samuel (who directed that awesome French movie Love Me If You Dare [Jeux d’enfats] which in some way has the feel of My Sassy Girl) direct it. I think it won’t live up to the original, but in some way, it’ll be good.
And last, but definitely not least is our very own SIGAW (The Echo). Yes, teh Pinoys are invading Hollywood. Yam Laranas is still directing the remake (same move as what the producers did with The Grudge 2 and The Ring 2), and is bound to bring his awesomeness to teh U.S. Iza Calzado still has her role as the domesticated wife, which makes it a lot moar awesome since Iza Calzado can act well. I’m betting this remake is going to be better than the original. The reason? Multi-million dollar budget. ‘Nuff said.
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5. Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay
My most favorite two Asian stoners are back, and this time they’re on their way to Amsterdam… or not. I loved the first Harold and Kumar, and I am truly excited for this sequel. I remembered the day the What Would Neil Patrick Harris poster came out and I totally flipped. I’m quite lukewarm about the premise though. I still wanted them to come to Amsterdam. Then it got me thinking, if they went to Amsterdam and there’s weed everywhere… where’s the fun in that? It’s much funnier when you make them convicts and escape from Guantanamo and then find the weed.
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6. Iron Man
I am severely depressed with Spiderman 3 but that won’t stop me from wanting to watch Jon Favreau’s comic book-adaptation of everyone’s favorite drunktard man in the iron suit. Again, much is owed with the casting. Honestly, this is probably one of the few superhero films that I 100% agrees with the casting.
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark? Awesome. Terrence Howard as James Rhodes? He’d be perfect for a future War Machine. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts? She’s been wanting to get involved in a superhero movie so I guess she’ll do okay. And a bald Jeff Bridges as Iron Monger? Awesomeness abounds. The trailers doesn’t look bad too, though Spiderman 3’s trailers weren’t bad also.
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7. Wall-E
There is not one single Pixar movie that sucked tremendously. They’re the single living studio on the face of the planet that has the best critical acclaim when it comes to their films and I think their upcoming film, Wall-E is going to live up to Pixar standards.
Wall-E is said to be a quiet film with little (or no) dialogue at all. It’s about a robot which had been cleaning the Earth for 700 years after Mankind abandoned it. Wall-E falls in love with EVE, another robot but EVE doesn’t have emotions unlike Wall-E. It’s so cheesy. Alavet.
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8. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
I seriously loved the first Hellboy movie to death. I didn’t expected much from it, but upon seeing the first movie in the big screen I was fucking blown away. After Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth became so successful, Hellboy 2 was fast-tracked into production.
The first teaser trailer for Hellboy 2 came out last week, and I’m telling you it’s way better than the first Hellboy. You can never go wrong with Guillermo del Toro, Ron Pearlman’s awesome portrayal of Hellboy, and yes that new emo-haircut of Selma Blair is to die for.
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9. Be Kind, Rewind
Whenever I hear news about a film that’s being done by Michel Gondry, I always get a tingling sensation all over my body. He’s such an amazing filmmaker. I will forever be grateful for Michel Gondry making Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I’m not too hot for The Science of Sleep but that movie was awesome, too.
I know the premise of Be Kind, Rewind somewhat resembles the “Blockblister” sketch from The Amanda Show, but with Mos Def and Jack Black on board-this is going to be fantastic. It’s got film buff fantasies and geek-dom references all over it. Exciting!
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10. Fanboys
So your bestfriend’s dying from an illness, what do you do? Simple. Take a roadtrip to Skywalker Ranch and try to steal a copy of Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace before everyone else gets to see it. This small indie comedy’s been already made for a year now, and is going head-to-head against Cloverfield. But whatever, with a premise and a cast like that it’s bound to be a classic. George Lucas already gave the directors of Fanboys a thumbs up to use the sound effects from the original Star Wars movies. Kevin Smith, William Shatner, and Seth Rogen are doing cameos.
But the real gem of this movie for me can be summed up into eight words: “Kristin Bell in a Princess Leia slave outfit.”
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11. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Steven Spielberg is directing this? Awesome! Although Harrison Ford’s getting old and all, I still believe that Indiana Jones is going to be just like the same as the Indiana Jones that I looked up to as a kid. Shia LaBeouf, one of my favoritest actors of recent time is portraying his son, and Cate Blanchett is rumored to be the villain. Alavet. Whooo! Moar forests and monkey brains on this one, I hope!
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12. The Pineapple Express
I admit, I bow down to every movie that’s stamped with Judd Apatow’s name. With Seth Rogen portraying a stoner, and James Franco playing the dealer, what could go wrong? It’s a “weed action movie” that’s bound to give me a high time with laughter. I’ve seen clips of it, and that joint that’s shaped as a cross is fucking awesome.
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13. The Dark Knight
This could be possibly the most overhyped Superhero movie of 2008. I know TJ fanboy is craving at every production news and trailer that comes out. And I am fucking excited, too. After Christopher Nolan revamped the Batman that Tim Burton started, everything was placed at their respectful places. Not that I hated Tim Burton’s vision, they’re just too… Gay. Batsuit with nipples? Come on.
Thank god, Katie Holmes is out of this movie. You wouldn’t want Scientology ruining the awesome movie. Anyway, I’m glad everyone from Batman Begins is back. But everyone is really excited about Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker. I’ve seen the pictures, and the trailer… and I must say: You’re not in Brokeback Mountain, anymoar.
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14. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Dubbed as the world’s first “Romantic Disaster Comedy,” this new comedy produced by Judd Apatow stars Jason Segel and Kristin Bell. Yes, Kristin Bell and Judd Apatow’s crew in one movie, call me excited. So imagine this, your superstar girlfriend of six years dumped you. What do you do? Well, you take a trip to Hawaii and try to forget her. But of all the goddamn places in the world, she ends up having a vacation too along with her new boyfriend. ZOMG. I’ve seen the trailer and it’s so funny. It’s these Apatow comedies that put these average joe’s under the limelight that makes me terribly connected to his films.
Somehow, there is something in that trailer that made me connect to this movie instantly: Yes, it’s when All By Myself played.
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15. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Apparently, The Weinstein Brothers signed on to produce the movie just by hearing the title. Zach and Miri Make A Porno, that pretty much sums it up. Haha. But seriously, not only is Kevin Smith on board to write and direct it, Seth Rogen will bring to life the character of Zack. Fucking awesome. Elizabeth Banks is on to portray Miri which then reunites the two from “The 40-year old Virgin.”
They’re gonna start shooting this January and it’s bound to be released next year. Yes, this is the film that I am gonna wait for this 2008. There’s also this inspiring blog entry from Kevin Smith’s site that chronicles their quest on how Seth Rogen got the part. You’d have to read it, it is truly amazing.
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So there you go, folks. These 15 (well, technically 18) films is what I expect to make me happy this year. I have yet to see if they’ll make my list next year. But as for now, these are the movies that makes me all wet with excitement for next year.
I’ll post my Top Films of 2007 after Christmas. I swear! So what do you think? Do you think you’ll see these films? or not? Haha, let me know.