USA Today has a piece up today about 16 "hot" movies to watch for in 2008. Here's the list:The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Sex and the City: The Movie
The Dark Knight
Mamma Mia!
The X-Files
Quantum of Solace (aka the New James Bond Flick)
Star Trek
Iron Man
Speed Racer
The Incredible Hulk
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Madagascar: The Crate Escape
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Of these, I'm excited about Indiana Jones (if only to see a geriatric Harrison Ford swinging that bullwhip around), The Dark Knight (if only to see Heath Ledger), Iron Man (if only to see Robert Downey, Jr), Speed Racer (hey, it's the Wachowskis and looks pretty trippy) and Caspian and the Harry Potter (because I love the books). I'm moderately interested in seeing Mamma Mia!, X-Files, Star Trek, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The latter has Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly and I'm curious to see how it comes out. There's not a lot of midde ground for me with Keanu, I either love him (Speed, the Matrix flicks, My Own Private Idaho) or loathe him (A Walk in the Clouds, Johnny Mnemonic).
I've not got a lot of interest in the Sex and the City movie, really -- been there, done that, don't think we need the movie. I've never been that into Bond, so can take or leave this latest entry. I'd rather see more of Matt Damon in another Bourne flick, personally. The Incredible Hulk? Meh. The Mummy? Uh, no. Don't care. Madagascar was cute the first time, but I'm not convinced it merits a sequel. I get the whole built-in appeal that makes it easier to sell kids on harassing their parents into buying Happy Meals to get the toys; other than that, I don't see that a Madagascar sequel has a lot of reason to exist. Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D kinda feels like Land of the Lost in 3D ("Marshall, Will and Holly, on a routine expedition ...")
2008 has an awful lot of films that are sequels, remakes or adaptations, which kinda makes me wonder where, outside the indie film world, is the original material? Not that adaptations can't be perfectly good films, and I get that the Bonds and geek/superhero fare will always have that built in fanbase, but I do like a bit of originality mixed in with my rehash, just for flavor.
I was going to put a poll for this, but since our polling system currently only allows you to make one choice, and I figure a lot of folks might have more than one film they're pumped about seeing, a discussion might be more interesting. Here's your sandbox -- which of these films are you most excited to see? Which could you care less about? And which shouldn't have been made at all? Discuss away.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-12-2008 @ 8:23PM
Aaron said...
2008 will be a good year if I don't find myself in the theater for...any of that.
Synecdoche, New York would be my pick.
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2-12-2008 @ 8:24PM
AJ said...
WALL-E
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2-12-2008 @ 8:54PM
uforeader said...
The Happening!!!
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2-12-2008 @ 9:03PM
Chris Vaughn said...
I'm really looking forward to Fanboys, IronMan, Dark Knight and Star Trek.
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2-12-2008 @ 9:12PM
Jordan said...
the dark knight, the dark knight, the dark knight and also i'm incredibly excited for the dark knight....that covers my big budget quota...im also excited for burn after reading, blindness, synecdoche new york, and snow angels...also, the signal, which i know has come out some places but not where i am as of yet.....i feel like 2007 was such a great year for movies that 2008 can only be better....exciting stuff...
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2-12-2008 @ 10:13PM
carg0 said...
there certainly seems to be a lot of crap mixed in for a list that's supposed to be comprised only of "hot" movies...
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2-12-2008 @ 10:18PM
Christian Toto said...
Hope springs, or at least summer's eternal. Only Spielberg could make "Indy 4" more than a tired sequel. Christopher Nolan usually isn't in it for the quick buck, so "The Dark Knight" holds promise. Edward Norton is too smart to make a lousy movie like "The Incredible Hulk" appears to be, and I loved those feisty penguins from "Madagascar." If their agent told them to sign up for part deux, it's good enough for me.
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2-12-2008 @ 10:40PM
AJ said...
I'm actually really excited for this year because it looks like a lot of the blockbusters will actually be good. As none were last year.
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2-12-2008 @ 10:46PM
Gary said...
The new Coen Brothers flick "Burn before reading" looks a hoot and with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malcovich, Tilda Swinton and a welcome return to the Coen movies for Mrs Coen aka Francis McDormand then is is sure to be the most impressive cast list of the year.
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2-12-2008 @ 11:17PM
FutureColumnist said...
As well as selections of the above (ie Dark Knight, Star Trek, Fanboys, Burn After Reading, and Synecdoche, New York), I'm particularly looking forward to Hancock, Pineapple Express, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the possibility of others (Ye Old Times, Ender's Game, Adventureland, Stanford Prison Experiment, and especially The Trial of the Chicago 7).
If only I had planned that sentence to break into three.
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2-12-2008 @ 11:18PM
Hewe said...
The Warlords
CJ7
The Forbidden Kingdom
The Dark Knight
Synecdoche, New York
My Blueberry Nights
and, of course, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
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2-13-2008 @ 12:13AM
DaveTehWave said...
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones
The Dark Knight
Quantum of Solace
Star Trek
Iron Man
Speed Racer
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2-13-2008 @ 12:14AM
DaveTehWave said...
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Indiana Jones
The Dark Knight
Quantum of Solace
Star Trek
Iron Man
Speed Racer
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2-13-2008 @ 12:37AM
Adamantium said...
The Dark Knight.....Can't wait to see The Joker in action...I have a feeling he will "Put a Smile on my face"...HAHAHHAHAHA......I AM SERIOUS. LAWL
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2-13-2008 @ 5:00AM
daniel c said...
i think this list is relavant and cool.
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2-13-2008 @ 5:52AM
Natecore said...
why is nobody talking about The Brother's Bloom....?
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2-13-2008 @ 8:16AM
BondsBabe said...
Quantum of Solace! That's the top of my list! I am also looking forward to Indiana Jones so seeing that one is a given. I might go see Speed Racer. I'm iffy on Iron Man and Hulk, I'll see when it really starts to get heavy tv promotion whether I'll dig it enough to check it out.
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2-13-2008 @ 9:53AM
DAVID F said...
These stand out for me (in no particular order)....
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
The Incredible Hulk
Star Trek
Run, Fatboy, Run
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crsytal Skull
Punisher: War Zon
Get Smart
The List
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Happening
Wall-E
The Ruins
Wanted
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hancock
Step Brothers
Semi-Pro
X-Files 2
Eagle Eye
Pineapple Express
Blindness
Fanboys
City of Ember
The Changeling
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2-13-2008 @ 12:14PM
Riley Freeman said...
the dark knight. the previews heath ledger looks amazing as the joker. i wasnt too optimistic when he was first cast but i love what hes done just from the trailer. if the entire movie is as good as he looks in the trailer then it really sucks even more that he died cuz now they will have to cast another joker.
madagascar only for the penguins.
thats it no more xmen plsssssssssssssss. unless they fix spiderman series i dont want anymore.
my wish list. SIN CITY 2 i dont know whose responsible for the delays but GET OFF UR ASS. i had never read the comics but i fell in love with that movie it was great and very different.
dont know much about pineapple express but it looks good so ill put it down
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2-13-2008 @ 1:28PM
rex said...
NORBIT 2
...ugh, I feel dirty just making a joke about that.
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