Welcome to the year of our Lord 2015! 2014 was a really interesting film year and as I was looking at the 2015 lineup I was less than enthused. Not to say that it won’t have some good things but that this year isn’t as jampacked as 2014 seemed to be. Nevertheless there are some wonderful films that we’ll be in store for. Enjoy this curated list!
Just Missed: I Am Michael, The Sea of Trees, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Silence
25. Furious 7
Dir. James Wan
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Elsa Pataky, Lucas Russell, Djimon Hounsou, Kurt Russell, Tyrese Gibson
Synopsis: Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for the death of his brother.
Reason: Wan’s visual aesthetic + Paul Walker’s final film + Statham as the villain
24. It Follows
Dir. David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Linda Boston, Caitlin Burt, Heather Fairbanks, Kier Gilchrist
Synopsis: For 19-year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind.
Reason: Horror films masquerading as social commentary + young nubile teens + getting big festival plays
23. Midnight Special
Dir. Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard
Synopsis: A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.
Reason: Michael Shannon and Jeff Nichols make interesting movies + lowbudget scifi but at a stuido!
22. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Dir. Wes Ball
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Giancarlo Espisito, Patricia Clarkson
Synopsis: The Gladers have escaped the Maze, but now they face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a world ravaged by solar flares and disease.
Reason: Dylan O’Brien + Wes Ball is an awesome visual director + the hopes they can improve on the source material
21. Carol
Dir. Todd Haynes
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson
Synopsis: Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Reason: the cast + Todd Haynes + this might be one of three exciting fall prestige pics
20. Trainwreck
Dir. Judd Apatow
Starring: Amy Schumer, Daniel Radcliffe, Brie Larson, Randall Park, Tilda Swinton, Marisa Tomei, John Cena, Bill Hader, Ezra Miller
Synopsis: Currently unavailable
Reason: Judd breaking free from his male buddies + Amy Schumer’s humor + the cast is amazing
19. The Last 5 Years
Dir. Richard LaGraveneese
Starring: Jeremy Jordan, Anna Kendrick
Synopsis: Based on the musical, a struggling actress and her novelist lover each illustrate the struggle and deconstruction of their love affair.
Reason: two people who can actually sing in a musical + unusual story structure + leftover love for Beautiful Creatures
18. Ant-Man
Dir. Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Hayley Atwell, Judy Greer, Corey Stoll
Synopsis: Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
Reason: The hulabaloo with the director + Corey Stoll + will Marvel finally stumble?
17. St. James Place
Dir. Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, Billy Magnussen, Mark Rylance
Synopsis: An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.
Reason: Spielberg is still great + Hanks in October = greatness? + Spies
16. Insidious: Chapter 3
Dir. Leigh Whannell
Starring: Dermot Mulroney, Lin Shaye, Stefanie Scott, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson
Synopsis: A prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
Reason: I’ve read the script + zomg the setting (more apartment hauntings please) + Dermont Mulroney
15. The Good Dinosaur
Dir. Peter Sohn
Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Judy Greer, Frances McDormand
Synopsis: Arlo, a 70-foot-tall teenage Apatosaurus, befriends a young human boy named Spot.
Reason: My childlike love of dinosaurs + Pixar will surely right the ship
14. That’s What I’m Talking About
Dir. Richard Linklater
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin, Blake Jenner, Wyatt Russell
Synopsis: Centers on the lives of baseball players on and off the field.
Reason: Linklater is on fire + baseball is one of my favorite sports + really interesting young cast
13. Divergent Series: Insurgent
Dir. Robert Schwentke
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Zoe Kravitz, Octavia Spencer
Synopsis: Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.
Reason: the best book in the trilogy + that incredible trailer + the cast is still awesome
12. The Tribe
Dir. Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
Starring: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy
Synopsis: A deaf teenager struggles to fit into the boarding school system.
Reason: teens doing very bad things is always fun + unusual setting (school for the deaf) + no subtitles + missing it at AFI Fest
11. Jane Got a Gun
Dir. Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santino
Synopsis: A woman asks her ex-lover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.
Reason: A bit of showbiz voyeurism (all those production issues!) + that amazing cast (Portman, Edgerton, McGregor) + Duffield’s script + HAVING TO WAIT AN ENTIRE YEAR PT. 1
10. San Andreas
Dir. Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandria Daddario, Colton Haynes, Ioan Gruffold, Archie Panjabi, Paul Giamatti
Synopsis: In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue his estranged daughter.
Reason: Disaster movies are my weakness + the Rock is looking to have a banner year + can Colton make an impact in the movies?
9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
Dir. Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrleson
Synopsis: After being symbolized as the ‘Mockingjay’ Katniss Everdeen and District 13 engage in an all-out revolution against the autocratic Capitol.
Reason: The final installment + chile yall don’t even know the foolery that’s bout to happen (unless you read the book) + LMU pride (go Francis Lawrence!)
8. Spy
Dir. Paul Feig
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Morena Baccarin, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Allison Janney, Jude Law, Bobby Cannavale
Synopsis: Susan Cooper is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner falls off the grid and another top agent is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global disaster.
Reason: Melissa and Paul together usually equals awesome + the cast is wonderful + spy comedies do well with me
7. Mission Impossible 5
Dir. Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Rebecca Ferguson
Synopsis: unknown
Reason: the franchise has aged favorably + my undying love for Tom Cruise + director of Jack Reacher brigning some aggressiveness
6. Self/Less
Dir. Tarsem Singh
Starring: Michelle Dockery, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Goode, Ben Kingsley, Sam Page, Derek Luke
Synopsis: An extremely wealthy elderly man, dying from cancer, undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man, but all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the secret organization that will kill to protect its cause.
Reason: Singh is a director like no other + sounds like this could be a spiritual sibling to The Cell + I still root for Ryan Reynolds
5. Crimson Peak
Dir. Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, Mia Wasikowska
Synopsis: Set in Cumbria, in a crumbling mansion in a largely rural and mountainous region of northern England in the 19th century, young author Edith Cushing (Wasikowska) discovers that her charming new husband Sir Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston) is not who he appears to be.
Reason: Chastain in a horror film + Guillermo going back to his horror roots + will this be a women who lie to themselves type film >:)
4. Tomorrowland
Dir. Brad Bird
Starring: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie, Judy Greer
Synopsis: Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.
Reason: BRAD BIRD! + scifi with a family bent + George Clooney
3. Jupiter Ascending
Dir. The Wachowskis
Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean, Doona Bae
Synopsis: In a universe where humans are near the bottom of the evolutionary ladder, a young destitute human woman is targeted for assassination by the Queen of the Universe because her very existence threatens to end the Queen’s reign.
Reason: C-Tates (Channing Tatum) as a wolf-human hybrid warrior + the Wachowskis + original sci-fi blockbuster + Doona Bae + HAVING TO WAIT AN ENTIRE YEAR PT. 2
2. By The Sea
Dir. Angelina Jolie
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Melvil Poupaud
Synopsis: Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
Reason: My loves Brad and Angelina back in a film together + relationship drama with a real life couple + Angie’s progress as a director
1.Avengers Age of Ultron
Dir. Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johanssen, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, James Spader, Colbie Smulders, Andy Serkis
Synopsis: When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for a global adventure.
Reason: That first one was amazing + the trailer was super mysterious + Marvel is a wonderful movie making machine + the mere thought that Cap might pick up Thor’s hammer (Thundershield!)