Jan 11: Replicas
January is usually a slow month for movies, but the last few years there have been some surprisingly decent movies (Paddington 2 and Split from 2018 and 2017). This looks like one of those movies that could be a nice surprise or a big letdown. The premise seems interesting enough, Keanu Reeves plays a scientist whose family dies in a car crash. He uses futuristic technology from his lab to recreate them as robots that look and act exactly like them as if they had never died. It looks like it could be an entertaining sci-fi thriller, but it's also being made by the creators of Transformers and Passengers, which aren't great movies. Still, it's got Keanu Reeves in it, which automatically makes it worth giving it a watch.
Jan 18: Glass
The first big movie of the year is also the sequel to a surprise hit from January 2017, Split. This movie picks up where the last one left off, connecting it to the story of M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable. All the characters from both films meet up to bring the story together into what looks like a big showdown between the heroes and villains. Not really sure how this is going to play out, but I'm very excited to watch this movie, which is the first time in many years I've said that about a Shyamalan movie. He really needs to knock this one out of the park in order to show everyone that he is truly back and ready to make great films again. I'm rooting for him.
Feb 8: Lego Movie 2
Back when the first movie was announced, I don't think anyone had high hopes for it. A movie about Legos sounded like something that wouldn't work as a movie and would come off as just a big advertisement. It ended up being one of the funniest and well crafted animated movies of the year in 2014, and it had some pretty strong competition. Judging from the trailers, this looks to be more of the same style of humor and crazy animation, which is not a bad thing at all. If the writing is as good as the first one, this will be another great movie. Though, I think they need to slow down with these lego movies a bit. It already feels like they put them out too frequently and it could start to get old.
Feb 14: Alita / Fighting With My Family
ALITA: I actually talked about Alita in my preview for 2018 early last year. This movie was supposed to be released around Christmas week of 2018 but was thankfully pushed until Feb 2019. This gives it a much better chance of actually being watched since it won't have as much competition as it would have last month in December. I still have no idea how to feel about this movie. The animation looks incredibly detailed to kind of a scary point. Hopefully, it won't be as distracting as it seems to see her interact with human actors. This could turn out to be a really cool movie, but I'm not going in with high expectations... just in case.
FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY: As for Fighting With My Family, this one is interesting because of the subject matter. The movie is based on the life of WWE professional wrestler Paige's life and how her entire family are wrestlers from the UK. It's being made by The Rock's film studio partnered with the WWE. It's got an interesting cast and the story is a really interesting one based on a really cool person.
Feb 22: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
The third installment of the very popular franchise is coming early next year. Can't say I'm incredibly excited to go back into this world, but I have a feeling this movie will be a fine movie. I'd say that about all the How to Train Your Dragon movies... they are fine. Finding a love interest for Toothless seems like the most obvious choice for what could be the last movie.
Mar 8: Captain Marvel
The first of 100 Marvel movies of 2019 is here! Captain Marvel will bridge the two Avengers movies by taking us back to the '90s. The story looks to focus on the amnesia that Carol has as she battles with aliens and shoots lasers out of her hands or something. Honestly, I'm trying to go into this with as little info as possible, because I want to be surprised. I think it's safe to trust Marvel at this point with its characters and I'm sure they will do this right and get us even movie excited for Endgame. I could always be wrong though... ! ? ! ... ?
Mar 22: Dumbo / Captive State
DUMBO: The first of three Disney live-action remakes this year, Dumbo! Tim Burton is going to be directing this one which has me slightly concerned. Burton is a legendary director no doubt, but the last decade he hasn't really put out any great movies, except maybe Frankenweenie? Dumbo has a strong cast behind it and of course all the money that Disney is throwing at it. Disney remaking every single one of its popular animated classics in "live-action" format hasn't really been working for me. The only one so far that I really liked was The Jungle Book, which is also one of the classic Disney movies that I didn't really have a big connection with from childhood. Another classic Disney movie that I don't have a strong connection with also happens to be Dumbo, so maybe there's a higher chance that I will like this one?
CAPTIVE STATE: The other movie this week is the big-budget sci-fi movie Captive State. This one looks like a weird cross between The Purge and the Cloverfield series. A world where aliens have taken over and created a crime free world through what looks like torture and fear tactics. The main reason I have any interest in this is that it's coming from the director of the recent Rise Planet of the Apes movie, which was an awesome start to an awesome trilogy.
Apr 5: SHAZAM!
I really need this movie to be good. After so many disappointing DC movies, I really need to just see something that actually works as a complete movie. This one looks to have a lot of potential and also looks like it could be a really fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. If this movie just focuses on great characters and an easy to follow story without tons of exposition, I think it could be really good. My hopes are high for this movie and it's opening on a comic book heavy month, so hopefully, it isn't overshadowed and forgotten quickly.
Apr 12: Hellboiiii / Missing Link
HELLBOY: It's crazy to think it's already been 10 years since the last Hellboy movie came out. The previous Hellboy movies were actually good, though had a lot of flaws in them. Casting David Harbour as Hellboy was a really cool choice and it looks like they are going to try to focus a lot on over the top action and humor. It looks like a great popcorn movie, like the first Guardians movie and the latest Thor movie.
MISSING LINK: The follow up to the movie that inspired me to start writing these mediocre movie reviews (Kubo and the Two Strings). This movie looks so beautifully animated, I'm definitely going to have to watch this movie on the biggest screen possible and the highest quality possible. The story looks a lot goofier than Kubo and will probably be a lot more light-hearted. The movie will center around a Bigfoot-like creature that can speak our language. He teams up with an explorer to try to find others like him and possibly mind a new link between Bigfoot and humans.
Apr 19: Under the Silver Lake
Andrew Garfield stars in the next movie by the awesome A24 film studio. This movie looks pretty insane in all the right ways. Garfield's character Sam meets a woman, who happens to be his neighbor, and they really hit it off. He goes over to her place the next day to find that she has completely disappeared and is nowhere to be found. What follows looks to be a bunch of quirky adventures as Sam tries to find the missing girl by any means necessary. Movies like these are the ones I always feel the most excited for. An original movie with an interesting premise, that looks like nothing I've ever seen before. April is shaping up to be a great month for movies.
Apr 26: Avengers Endgame
Do I even have to say anything? The answer is no, but I'm gonna do it anyway. This is most likely gonna be the highest selling movie of the year, with only the next Star Wars possibly being any form of competition. It's not really competition when Disney happens to own both of these series though. There's a lot of questions going into Endgame, and I'm still not convinced we are going to get all the answers from this movie. All I know is that Marvel Studios seems like it can do no wrong and I don't think they are going to start making misfires at this point.
May 10: Detective Pikachu
I could have sworn that this movie was just a very strange dream I had, but no it's actually real and happening. I still don't know how to feel about this movie, to be honest. The lead actor looks kind of... unconvincing. Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu is also a pretty weird casting choice. There were parts in the trailer that excited me and also worried me. It looks like it's going to be a fun movie overall and hopefully, those casting choices end up working in the full movie. Video game movies still haven't really gone anywhere. Last year's Tomb Raider film was a decent one and maybe this one will continue the streak? Although that streak won't be lasting long since there's another one of these coming out late in the year and it looks.... well.... we'll get to that later.
May 17: John Wick 3
The first John Wick movie was one of the biggest surprises of 2014 and it really put Keanu Reeves back on the map as a big action movie star. The second one upped the stakes and somehow improved on the great first film. This next one looks to continue that trend by sending every assassin after John Wick, as he tries to escape with his life. The John Wick series has really put Keanu back on as a top action star/movie star. I'm not sure how many more of these we're gonna get, but this is one series I'll keep on watching.
May 24: Aladdin
As I mentioned before, this whole Disney remaking all of their classics as live-action movies isn't really working for me so far. The difference between this and Dumbo is that I actually have a strong connection to the original Aladdin. The original animated movie was a game changer for Disney and the way they made movies. It introduced a new style of humor, using pop culture references in a setting where they don't technically belong. In that movie, it worked because of the good writing and the iconic performance by Robin Williams as the Genie. I'm hoping that they don't try to do that in this new remake and instead try something new, especially with the Genie. Will Smith is a good actor, who hasn't really been in many good movies recently. I don't think I can say a lot of people are super excited to see him as Genie, but that leaves room for a nice surprise.
May 31: Godzilla King of the Monsters
The trailer for this movie was fantastic. The cast is fantastic. The effects look fantastic. The last Godzilla movie was none of those things. It was a decent movie that helped introduce the world to Hollywood Kaiju movies alongside the first Pacific Rim. By the end of the first Godzilla, I was left with a lot of hope and optimism for the sequel. It looks like they have the right idea here. The only concern for me is the number of villains they seem to be trying to fit into this movie. I'm just judging everything by the trailer, so I have no real idea how it all plays out. All I can say is I'm very excited to see monsters beat the s**t out of each other. Yummie.
June 7: Dark Phoenix / Secret Life of Pets 2
I sorta feel the same about these two movies at the moment. That is to say, I'm not very excited about either of them. Dark Phoenix seems to be having lots of problems and it's not even out yet. It was delayed many months from its original 2018 release alongside New Mutants. The last X-Men movie that this one is following up wasn't good either. The X-Men series has reached great highs in quality and also has provided some of the worst comic book movies ever. I hope this one isn't another letdown, because X-Men is still my favorite comic book series and it's got so much potential. I might be one of the few people that don't really care to see the X-Men join the MCU, but if the two movies they got for this year are flops... well maybe it's better in Disney's hands like everything else is. As for Secret Life of Pets 2. It's just not for me. Illumination Studios makes mediocre animation and this one isn't going to be any different. It's a good movie for kids, but that's about it.
June 14: Men in Black International
Seems like no franchise can ever just truly go away. If you gotta keep it going through, Men in Black International looks like a great way to do that. Two great leads who have already proven they work well together in the last Thor. Changing things up by taking things to the UK is also a neat idea that could provide enough change to make this a fresh take on a franchise that was getting stale. This looks like a great popcorn movie for the summer.
June 21: Toy Story 4
Man, this year has 90s nostalgia all over the place. The last Toy Story seemed like the perfect way to end the series and say goodbye to all our favorite Pixar characters we grew up with. Things don't go away these days though, especially when they can bring in the billions. Pixar did say that the reason they are making this movie is that they had an idea so good for a sequel that they HAD to make it. I guess we won't really know for sure until the movie comes out in a few months. I feel like I should be a lot more excited about this considering how much I love Toy Story...
July 5: Spider-Man Far from Home
Spider-Man has been killing it recently, and not just on the Disney side of things. Three big hits in a row with Homecoming, Venom, and Spider-Verse. No doubt that this one will make that four big hits. You already got a great cast returning from the first movie and you get the addition of Jake Gyllenhaal playing the best Spider-Man villain Mysterio. This is going to be awesome.
July 19: The Lion King
Disney's not taking any breaks this coming Summer season. We're going to have Toy Story 4, Spider-Man, and The Lion King playing in theatres at the same time. The Lion King will be the last "live-action" remake of 2018 if you can call it live-action. Judging by the trailers it looks like a full CG movie, so I have no idea what live-action means anymore. The trailer literally looks exactly like the original animated movie from the 90s except not as cute. Like I said about Aladdin, I don't want this to be a shot-for-shot remake that doesn't change anything about the original. Like if they could show the hyenas shredding Scar to pieces at the end without cutting away, then it would be worth it. Seriously. Do it, Disney.*
July 26: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Not to be confused with Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which itself was not to be confused with Once Upon a Time in America. What was I talking about again?
So Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the next big Tarantino movie starring Brad DiCaprio and Leonardo Pitt. Wait... That's not right.
Look this movie is going to be awesome, that's all you need to know.
Aug 2: New Mutants / Hobbs & Shaw
NEW MUTANTS: I could probably just copy and paste what I wrote about Dark Phoenix here. Also probably throw in a Game of Thrones joke since they both star two Starks from that show." But I would never do that. Never.
HOBBS & SHAW: The movie that led Tyrese Gibson to a public meltdown and Vinn Diesel to hating The Rock so much he didn't want to be on the same set as him. Hobbs & Shaw is the new spinoff of the Fast and Furious movies that have made less and less sense as they continue. Finally just taking all the bad parts about the Fast movies and keeping the good parts, which are The Rock and Jason Statham. On paper, this sounds like an awesome idea. These two guys are great action stars and this could make for a very fun movie if done right. Not much else at this point since nothing else has been shown yet. #TyreseSpinOff
Aug 16: PLAYMOBIL
...wait, what-
Sept 6: IT Chapter 2
Yet again it seems like IT has the entire month to itself, has no one learned? The first IT came out in September of 2017 with no competition near it, allowing it to dominate the box office and break a lot of records for that month. Looks like the follow-up is going to follow that same strategy, rightly so. The first movie was a huge success not only because of its great release date but because the movie was actually really good. Horror movies have been doing pretty good these days since they usually have a low budget it doesn't take much to make a profit. I think audiences are really craving great horror movies too, so that actually helps out too. The potential is great for this sequel and the concept sounds like a perfect idea for a sequel. The story picks up 27 years later with an all-new cast playing the grown-up versions of the previous movie's characters. It's an all-star cast and this movie is all set to be another big hit with audiences and critics alike.
Oct 4: Joker
A Joker origin story seems like the last thing I wanted from DC... that is until I saw who was playing Joker. Joaquin Phoenix is one of those actors that can get me to watch a movie on name recognition alone. He's such an interesting actor and his roles are almost always at the very least intriguing. Even in bad movies, he's usually the best part of them. This could really be interesting to see, though I wonder where it all ties with the rest of the DC movies. I'm very interested to see how this turns out.
Oct 11: Zombieland 2
Feels like ages ago since the first Zombieland came out. Maybe that's because it was 10 whole years ago? Yeah, that's probably it. A lot of the actors in this movie went on to star in some amazing things after this after this movie. Jessie Eisenberg and Emma Stone have starred in award-winning movies and won some awards themselves. At a time where we most movies we get are sequels and remakes it's strange this one didn't come sooner. I think that's a good thing though, it gave the actors lots of time to grow as performers and also grow in age. This is a sequel people have been asking for since they saw the first one 10 years ago. I hope it was worth the wait.
Oct 18: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Last years Won't You Be My Neighbor was the best documentary of the year, and also one of the best movies of the year. It really did a great job at showing just who Fred Rogers was and how he changed television forever. This year we will see Tom Hanks take the role of Fred Rogers in a new biopic that will basically do the same thing the documentary did but from a different point of view. Tom Hanks seemed to be the only actor that could possibly play this role so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out on screen.
Nov 8: Sonic the Hedgehog (Dankey Kang)
It's always a good sign when people are already upset at a movie by just its first poster. I can't say I blame them because OH MY GOD this poster looks really stupid. Sonic has a pretty iconic design that has worked for many decades in video games, comics, and tv shows. From the looks of this poster, it looks like they've made him into a monster. This doesn't really mean the movie is going to be bad or good, I guess. It's just not a great sign when Hollywood takes something that doesn't need to be changed and does it anyway. Detective Pikachu is doing this right by changing the art style of the characters, but still keeping the original designs intact. Why the hell is a Sonic movie coming out in 2019 anyway? Who asked for this?
Nov 22: Frozen 2
After a few months of letting other studios make some money, Disney is back at full force with one of its recent mega-hits. Frozen was a worldwide phenomenon that inspired a s**t-ton of youtube videos where little girls sing "Let it Go". The question going into this is this: Can Disney write a song that becomes as instantly iconic as "Let it Go"? Or will they just reuse that song in this sequel? Writing a four-chord pop song mega-hit shouldn't be too hard for them, especially with the amount of money and connections they have. As for the movie itself... well I'm sure it will be another fine movie. The first movie was fine. Nothing special or groundbreaking, but a good movie for younger audiences with very memorable songs to help with rewatch-ability.
Dec 20: Star Wars Episode IX - Return of the Abrams
Earlier this year I wrote a long post about the history of Star Wars and how I feel about the franchise after all the recent movies. [You can read it here if you want]. Basically what I said though, was that more than ever I find myself unexcited about the Star Wars franchise and its upcoming movies. Solo was a big failure not only critically and financially, but it also put off a lot of big Star Wars fans. Disney really needs this to be not only a financially successful movie (which it will be in some way) but a critically successful movie, especially with fans. After The Last Jedi, I found myself to be not very interested in how this trilogy is going to end. Is it just going to be another Return of the Jedi type story, where the big villain Kylo realizes he was wrong and changes sides? It really seems like that's where it's headed. With multiple new tv series and movie trilogies coming in the next few years, things need to change. Star Wars needs to step away from the Skywalker storyline and introduce completely new characters and new stories that aren't connected to the episodic movies. That's how I feel anyway. Star Wars is always a big event when it comes out and I want it to always feel that way. Last year was the first time I didn't rush out to watch a Star Wars movie with Solo, and it was a strange feeling. Hopefully, this last movie will be a nice sendoff to the Skywalker story.
2020 - The End of a Decade
It's been a long and amazing decade for movies and this last year looks to send things off with a bang. The movies on this list are just the major ones that have been officially announced, there are sure to be tons of great indie movies and more to look forward to. Here are some takeaways:
- Disney is releasing at least nine giant movies, most being sequels and remakes.
- The comic book movie crazy looks to be going strong into this year with at least 8 movies.
- Video game movies are going to keep getting made despite the history of flops.
- We could really use a new original franchise about now, but sadly most new ideas seem to fail... because they aren't good (*cough* Mortal Engines *cough*)
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