top 5 most anticipated movies of 2014?
I am glad you asked, because I actually currently have an interesting one and this is as nice a venue as any to share it.
5. Guardians of the Galaxy, which is mostly here because of how magnificent this could totally theoretically be, only partially because I’m kinda a MCU fan and because word on early footage and whatnot is really good. Pairing what is, ostensibly, one of the odder comic book blockbuster premises we’ve yet seen with James Gunn is just music to my ears. I lowkey love Super and, while it’s obviously not going to be a higher budget Super, I can’t imagine it making it to screen without that volatility in it, without some of that wide-eyed craziness.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel, which definitely didn’t have this spot locked just on name and talent alone. I love Wes Anderson, and I am bonkers about this cast, but Wes Anderson films aren’t ones I really get lathered up about. This one, though, looks like it could easily be his funniest, based on the trailers, which opened me up to accepting how insane that cast is into my heart. Saoirse Ronan and Ralph Fiennes and all of Anderson’s regulars all in one film! I don’t know of a great many better casts on paper, honestly.
3. White Bird in a Blizzard, because Shailene Woodley is one of the most promising young actors I know and that was only strengthened for me after I saw the Spectacular Now. I’ve been waiting with bated breath for her to really kick into gear since the Descendants, and this year looks to be the year she starts making consistent appearances, and this is the one that looks the best to me. Araki is such an interesting directorial voice, too, that I can’t help but be fascinated by the idea of what will happen when they meet.
2. Noah, which is as much here for lip service as it is for actual hype (not that I don’t think it will be one of my favorite films this year, but it’s just not like an excitement bubbling under my surface), but Darren Aronofsky and Clint Mansell haven’t done me wrong yet. Pi is pretty close to a favorite of mine and he’s only been far better ever since, I would be shocked if he somehow set a new low for himself.
1. Maidentrip, which is a documentary that’s not getting a very big release and also that release is either happening or has happened, but I’m counting it anyway. It documents this young Dutch girl deciding to be the youngest person to sail around the world solo and the various factors related to that situation. Part of it is that I’ve heard very good things from people I trust, but more so are the specific things they’re saying, about how the coming-of-age-ness/gender politics of it play and the way the young girl grows older in such a demonstrable way, how authentically exhilarating it is in this odd age of “sea voyage” movies we’re in that have not quite wowed me yet. It just sounds like it has this odd set of circumstances that will really light my brain on fire. Also, it has a great score, which I decided to check out a handful of days ago and couldn’t stop myself from listening to the whole thing. Whoops.
HMs to: the untitled South by Southwest Malick film, which could probably steal Guardians’ spot if it were a little more concrete, and Veronica Mars, which is going to absolutely tickle me no matter what and hopefully satisfies me as much as Serenity did for Firefly.
