Happy New Year!
January is often the Weekend Warrior’s favorite time of year, because it’s the time to brush off the cobwebs, finally set aside any attempts to see the movies of the year before and start fresh with new movies that will be released on a weekly basis. Some will be good, some will be bad, some will be great, but like everyone, there are movies that I’m so excited to see this year that I feel the need to share them with all of you so you can tell me, “You’re nuts” or “I’m with you” or whatever you want to say.
2014 feels like it’s going to be a transitional year for sure. Last year started out fairly weak and then by September we were slammed with quality movies one after another, many of which we never saw coming. Of course, this early in the year, I’m really looking at some of the bigger summer tentpoles and holiday releases, sequels and such, but there are a couple of smaller movies on my radar that I hope will deliver as well.
I’ll give an honorable mention to Jon Favreau’s Chef (Open Road) just ’cause I honestly like the guy and I can’t wait to see him return to smaller, more personal films.
So that’s what I’m looking forward to and we’ll see how many of these movies deliver and if any of them end up in my yearly Top 25 movies list. Either way, 2014 is going to be an exciting year, even if it’s just going to act as an appetizer for the absolutely INSANE 2015 line-up with sequels to some of the biggest franchises in the history of moviemaking… plus Ant-Man!
Make sure to leave your lists of movies you’re looking forward to see in 2014 in the comments below!
Weekend Warrior Anticipated 2014
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#25 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=80115">Sin City: A Dame to Kill For </a>
(Dimension Films)
I'm such a huge fan of the source material that I'm willing to forgive that Frank Miller's really gone down hill in recent years as a comic creator. Hopefully the nearly year's delay has allowed them to fine tune the story and special FX and that the terrific cast, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, will make this one of 2014's nice surprises. -
#24 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=89195">Need for Speed</a>
(DreamWorks)
I'm not really expecting a movie nearly as good as the last couple "Fast & Furious" movies and I've never played the video game, but I have a lot of faith in Aaron Paul doing his first big budget movie and with stuntman-filmmaker Scott Waugh helming a racing movie, there's going to be a lot of exciting action scenes, as confirmed by the recent trailer. -
#23 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=47176">RoboCop</a>
(Sony)
I've been pretty excited about this one ever since I heard that Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) was directing and I was pretty blown away by the most recent trailer, so I'm holding out hope that this will be one of the few remakes that works as a separate entity from the beloved, campy classic by Paul Verhoeven. -
#22 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=46423">300: Rise of an Empire</a>
(Warner Bros.)
I have no doubt that without Zack Snyder actively directing the movie, there's just no way that it can live up to what I loved so much about the original 300, but so far, everything I've seen looks very cool and I'm looking forward to the return of Xerxes and seeing the super-sexy Eva Green commanding a fleet of ships to war. -
#21 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=51463">Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit</a>
(Paramount)
I'm not really a big Tom Clancy fan, nor am I particularly a fan of the previous four adaptations of his Jack Ryan stories, but I'm intrigued by the thought of Chris Pine (Star Trek) revamping the character and the idea of Kenneth Branagh directing a very different movie in between Thor and Cinderella. -
#20 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=64817">Edge of Tomorrow</a>
(Warner Bros.)
Sure, it's another Tom Cruise sci-fi epic right after the boring Oblivion, but this one has a much cooler "Groundhog Day"-like premise, it's directed by Doug (The Bourne Identity) Liman and it co-stars Emily Blunt, so here's hoping it's another one of Cruise's better films. -
#19 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=105339">Stretch</a>
(Universal)
The thought of Joe Carnahan doing a micro-budget action-comedy featuring Patrick Wilson, who really can do no wrong in my book, puts this unlikely (and probably under-the-radar) movie into my sights, mainly because I've seen Smokin' Aces so many times and I just love Carnahan's sense of humor, so this should be fun. (Photo Credit: JP/JFXimages/Wenn.com) -
#18 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=83362">Jupiter Ascending</a>
(Warner Bros.)
I don't know a ton about the latest from Lana and Andy Wachowski, except that it's a new original sci-fi epic starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis that hopefully will surpass some of the weak sci-fi attempts from last year as they seem to be back in their game after adapting Cloud Atlas. -
#17 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=96663">Bad Words</a>
(Focus Features)
I really like Jason Bateman a lot and he's quickly grown to be one of my favorite comic actors, between "Arrested Development," Horrible Bosses and yes, even Identity Thief. He just has a way of playing a straight man and delivering lines that's perfect and I expect him to be even edgier in this obscenity-laced take on spelling bees. -
#16 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=76641">Captain America: The Winter Soldier</a>
(Marvel Studios)
I probably should be more excited about Marvel's other superhero movie coming out this year, especially since it will bring back the Black Widow and S.H.I.E.L.D.--I mean, the REAL S.H.I.E.L.D., complete with crashing helicarrier--but I just wasn't a fan of the Winter Soldier storyline and was bummed by the mishandling of Bucky in the first movie. But as long as a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier crashes, I'll be happy. -
#15 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=57975">The LEGO Movie</a>
(Warner Bros.)
When I first heard about this movie, I thought it was the silliest idea I'd ever heard, but then Phil Lord and Chris Miller from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs came on board--two of the, in my opinion, best and funniest comedy filmmakers on the planet--and I'm just totally enamored by the joke-filled trailer and all the characters we'll see in LEGO form on screen. -
#14 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=85647">Horrible Bosses 2</a>
(New Line/WB)
I loved the original comedy since it was such a funny concept and while I'm bummed to see director Seth Gordon departing for the sequel, the whole cast is back and they have Sean Anders of the super-raunchy "Sex Drive" directing, so we expect this to earn its R rating. -
#13 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=99202">Gone Girl</a>
(20th Century Fox)
I still haven't read Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel, but the fact that it got one of my favorite directors, David Fincher, interested in directing immediately puts this on my radar, and having Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike leading the piece can only mean we're in for some intense drama. -
#12 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=92388">The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1</a>
(Lionsgate)
While I wasn't as big a fan of Suzanne Collins' third book as the previous two, I was so excited by what director Francis Lawrence did in "Catching Fire" and that cliffhanger ending that I'm super-psyched to see how they turn the last book into two movies and are able to keep both of them exciting. Just bring back more Jena Malone as Johanna Mason. -
#11 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=85764">The Monuments Men</a>
(Sony)
Delaying George Clooney's latest movie to February seemed like a cruel joke, but the idea of a World War II treasure hunt with a cast that includes Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and John Goodman just seems like perfection. Here's hoping it turns out better than Soderbergh's The Good German. -
#10 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=96354">Transcendence</a>
(Warner Bros.)
This has barely been on my radar until I recently saw the trailer. I was already intrigued by Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister directing a movie, but when I realized that this one revolves around Ray Kurtzweil's theories about "The Singularity," I knew this was one for me. Who knows how this might affect Roland Emmerich's own planned take on a similar subject which probably will be far more bombastic? -
#9 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=87570">22 Jump Street</a>
(Sony)
I was a pretty big fan of the first movie because the Channing Tatum-Jonah Hill pairing just worked so well... a lot like the pairing of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have become quite a great team when it comes to doing comedy, enough so that I'm looking forward to both their movies this year. -
#8 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=64647">Godzilla</a>
(Legendary/Warner Bros.)
As a long-time fan of the Japanese creature feature star since I was a little kid, I'm certainly excited to see what Gareth Edwards (Monsters) brings to the mix and he has a pretty terrific cast of actors there to run around while Godzilla terrorizes the city. -
#7 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=75561">The Amazing Spider-Man 2</a>
(Sony)
I'm a little more tentative about this sequel, partially because I wasn't that crazy about the first movie and piling on far too many villains may not be the way to go with the sequel, since what worked best about the first movie was the relationship between Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy. -
#6 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=93087">The Hobbit: There and Back Again</a>
(New Line/WB)
After seeing "The Desolation of Smaug," which proved to me that Peter Jackson still had what it take to make an exciting adventure movie, I can only imagine that the finale to the trilogy will be even bigger and more exciting and I can't wait to see what happens next and whether it will end on a high... or on 15 epilogues. -
#5 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=15534">Interstellar</a>
(Paramount)
At this point, I'm definitely in the camp that Christopher Nolan can do no wrong, especially when he's breaking away from franchise superheroes and doing his own thing, as he is with this outer space epic that may give Gravity (and Guardians of the Galaxy) a run for their money as the space odyssey for the 21st Century. -
#4 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=89668">Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</a>
(20th Century Fox)
This is another franchise that I've loved since I was a kid and the reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes was such a strong start that I can't wait to see what happens next, especially with Matt Reeves at the helm and Andy Serkis back as Caesar. Fingers crossed! -
#3 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=83954">X-Men: Days of Future Past</a>
(20th Century Fox)
X2 remains one of my favorite superhero movies of all time and the thought of Bryan Singer returning and bringing back a lot of the original cast--on top of bringing back the cast of X-Men: First Class, which I also enjoyed--just makes me go into a complete and total fanboy swoon. Oh, and did I mention Sentinels? -
#2 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=78486">Noah</a>
(Paramount)
My love for Darren Aronofsky's entire filmography has never steered me wrong, and Noah seems like a really challenging take on the biblical story, possibly in a similar way as The Fountain, which remains one of my Aronofsky faves. The first trailer blew me away and I hope the story matches the emotion evident from that trailer. -
#1 <a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=80842">Guardians of the Galaxy</a>
(Marvel Studios)
It wasn't tough to pick my #1 anticipated movie of 2014 because I just love James Gunn, as much as a person and internet personality as a filmmaker. The guy is clever and creative and funny and that's just what this movie needs, plus the cast he's assembled is so impressive there is no way this can't be a fun outer space adventure.
