2005: Our most anticipated films

[Josh]

A predictable thread at the start of a new year... which movies, scheduled to release in 2005, are you the most excited about?

Here's my list, copied from my Infuze/Reveal blog. These are not really in any particular order, except for #1, which is far and away the one I'm most excited about.

1. Howl's Moving Castle. The latest film from the brilliant animator Hiyao Miyazaki, one of my favorite directors, who gave us such creative masterpieces as Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky.

2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The trailer, while somewhat disturbing, strikes just the right note of whimsy. It looks to me like this remake will be truer to the spirit of the beloved book than the original film was. And hey... it's got Johnny Depp. So it's gotta be worth seeing.

3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. God, please don't let it suck...

4. Tideland. New from Terry Gilliam, another favorite director. This film finds him reuinting with the great Jeff Bridges, who also starred in Gilliam's masterpiece, The Fisher King.

5. Melinda and Melinda. A Woody Allen film starring Will Ferrell.

6. Batman Begins. Directed by the guy who did Memento and Insomnia. Let's just hope that this one is better than...um... every other Batman film ever made.

7. Domino. New from the guy who gave us Donnie Darko.

8. Madagascar. The trailer looked pretty funny, anyway.

9. Don't Come Knockin'. New from Wim Wenders, the director of the unforgettable Wings of Desire.

10. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. What can I say... I'm a fanboy.

11. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. If it's half as funny as the novel then it's bound to me one of 2005's most memorable comedies.

12. Brothers Grimm. Another new one from Terry Gilliam... assuming it FINALLY gets released this year.

13. The Corpse Bride. Another collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, this film will be made using Henry Selick's wonderful stop-motion animation, much like A Nightmare Before Christmas.

14. A Scanner Darkly. Richard Linklater and Phillip K. Dick. 'Nuf said.

 

[enemy anemone]

I don't know much about many of those, but I am looking forward to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
I haven't read the book (don't shoot me) but I'm interested in seeing Hitchhiker's Guide the the Galaxy.

isn't there an X-Men or X-Men character spin-off movie that's supposed to be released this year? or is that next year...or never?

I remember seeing a couple previews of movies that I thought looked interesting...but I've forgotten what they were. how memorable, huh.    

[enemy anemone]

so after posting the above, I went to comingsoon.net and saw that J.J. Abrams is set to direct Mission: Impossible 3. hmmm...sounds like a good match.

and yeah, Madagascar looks funny. before I looked it up I wasn't sure if it was the movie with the talking animals and racing zebra, but that's Racing Stripes.

I'm moderately interested in seeing what Spielberg and Cruise do with War of the Worlds. I'm also somewhat interested in seeing how bad Elektra is.

hm, just came across this. I've heard of Townes van Zandt because Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch have mentioned him and covered a few of his songs. I liked the songs, so this film piques my interest.

A Scanner Darkly sounds good...but Keanu Reeves? I dunno.

I would probably catch The Legend of Zorro. the previous one was fun.

and Peter Jackson's King Kong intrigues me.

[Josh]

Oh, yeah, The Legend of Zorro is definitely on my list, as well.

And they haven't even written the script for M:I 3 yet, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a 2005 release...

[bethany]

7. Domino. New from the guy who gave us Donnie Darko.
 

Southland Tales sounds like the more interesting of the two 2005 releases from Richard Kelly, but I'm looking forward to both of them.

I kind of doubt Paris je t'aime will be out in 2005 (at least not in the States), but you never know, and I really want to see it.

Also I would like to see Little Fish (no, not a prequel to Big Fish), if only because I'd watch Cate Blanchett read the telephone book. Also no release date attached yet, but it's in post production, so I'd imagine sometime this year.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...can't believe no one else has mentioned this one yet.

Romance and Cigarettes, despite my disappointment in the Coens' last couple offerings.

Corpse Bride  is going to rule. http://www.timburtoncollective.com/images/cb2.jpg (copy and paste URL)

All The King's Men - Don't know too much about this one, but it has Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Mark Ruffalo, and Sean Penn in it. Directed by the guy who did Searching For Bobby Fisher, so ... we'll see. Work keeping an eye on anyway.

The Wallace and Gromit Movie: Curse of the Wererabbit: just for fun.

Plus all the ones Josh mentioned. Except maybe Batman Begins, Melinda and Melinda and Madagascar. I might see them, but not too interested at present.

[Josh]

A few others that I forgot about:

-- Elizabethtown. It's the new film from Cameron Crowe. Who cares what it's about? It's from the guy who gave us Almost Famous, so I'll be there on opening day.

-- The Science of Sleep. Good news: It's from the same director who brought us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-- my favorite film of 2004. The bad news: It stars Drew Barrymore.  

-- The new, untitled film from Jim Jarmusch. It features Bill Murray and Julie Delpy, among others. 'Nuf said.

-- A Good Woman. Scarlett Johannson and Tom Wilkinson, together again!

-- Marie Antoinette. Sofia Coppola's new film. Once again, I need not say anything more.

 

[Josh]

CNN has list of ten high-profile, big-budget films set to release this year, and they've reminded me of a couple more possibilities: The Producers and The Pink Panther.

[enemy anemone]

random trivia: Patty Griffin has a role in Elizabethtown.

there was an article in the paper about Liev Schreiber's directorial debut, Everything Is Illuminated. I'm interested.

[bloop]

6. Batman Begins. Directed by the guy who did Memento and Insomnia. Let's just hope that this one is better than...um... every other Batman film ever made.

I still like the first Batman film from 1989, with Nicholson and Keaton (as opposed to the very first one that featured Adam West *shivers*).  However, I have high hopes for this one because I think Christian Bale is good for the part, and now I know the director is capable of the moodiness of the comic.