2014 was an amazing year for film. 2015 likely will be, too, though writing up this list doesn't have me quite as jazzed for the new year's slate as I'd like. I'm sure plenty of gems will surface in the months to come as festivals start, indies surprise, and studios churn out their usual smorgasbord of stuff. These ten, though, have me excited to go to the movies during the next twelve months.
10. Midnight Special (November 25) - Over the course of three films, Jeff Nichols has proven himself an American Master in the making, carving out stories that unfold like folktales, conjuring the wonder of nature and the beauty of the human condition. His films are striking, singular, packing a wallop without ever being heavy-handed or clunky. With Midnight Special, Nichols gets the chance to follow up his acclaimed Mud with a much bigger canvas, a sci-fi film that's also his first studio film. We don't know a lot about it, except that Nichols describes it as a "chase" film and it stars frequent collaborator Michael Shannon alongside Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Scott Haze, and Joel Edgerton. It's always scary and exciting to see directors take on more ambitious projects, and I have a hunch Nichols will make the transition to bigger-budget filmmaking beautifully.
9. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (December 18) - This list would probably be deemed incomplete by the collective internet if the long-awaited Star Wars sequel didn't make an appearance. I was wary when Disney made its initial announcement, and the glut of titles they have planned still makes me nervous, but J.J. Abrams has done a fine job with Star Trek (I even like Into Darkness), and the first teaser trailer looks promising. It'll be a joy to reunite with the core cast of the original trilogy, and the newcomers to the series include Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, and Lupita N'yongo. I'm hopeful that Abrams nails a balance of bold new terrain and much-desired nostalgia; if he does, Star Wars Episode VII will undoubtedly be one of the movies of the year.
8. Furious 7 (April 3) - Before my press screening of Fast & Furious 6 (or Fast 6, or whatever it's officially called), I marathoned the first five films in the franchise, expecting uber-macho gearhead nonsense with only brawn where its brain and heart should be. I was completely surprised to find a franchise that isn't all about thrills, but also manages to invest in its characters and construct some compelling stories. Fast Five is about as good as blockbusters get, and its follow-up was solid, silly fun. With Furious 7, there's a new director at the helm (The Conjuring maestro James Wan), and the film has to deal with the tragic death of leading man Paul Walker, who has been integral to the franchise's success thus far. So Furious 7 will be a curiously bittersweet movie to behold, but I'm excited to see what else this series, with its awesome cast of characters, has up its sleeve. Maybe an even longer runway?
7. Paper Towns (June 5) - John Green has a special place in my heart, just as he does in the hearts of millions of readers - and now movie-goers - who have been touched by his beautiful writing. Green has his finger on the pulse of adolescence, conjuring all the confusion, joy, and pathos of being young, in love, lost, and found. One of my favorites in Green's repertoire is Paper Towns, which is being adapted for the screen by The Fault in Our Stars scribes (and my heroes) Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It's a wonderful story, about a boy (Fault standout Nat Wolff) who goes on a road trip to find a missing girl (Cara Delevingne). To say more would be to spoil the magic, but Paper Towns should make for a captivating film, especially with Robot & Frank helmer Jake Schreier directing.
6. Jurassic World (June 12) - 2015 will bring us new entries in the Star Wars and Avengers franchises, but the blockbuster sequel I'm most excited to behold is the latest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise, which finds the park open and flourishing, a sort of prehistoric Sea World where guests flock from around the world to behold the creatures that time forgot, but people could not. Colin Trevorrow is an inspired choice to direct, coming off his wonderful debut, Safety Not Guaranteed (which could serve as a subtitle for this one, methinks). America's Sweetheart Chris Pratt leads the cast as a raptor trainer (!) who rides a motorcycle (!!), so the film at least has that going for it. And it has dinosaurs. Which is just what we need at all times.5. Silence (TBA November) - Martin Scorsese could make a movie about paint drying, and it would still make this list (though it might clock in a couple spots lower). He is perhaps the greatest living filmmaker, and one who is still capable of surprising. Silence has been on a back burner for years, but Scorsese has finally turned his full attention to it. The film follows seventeenth-century Jesuit priests who go on a missionary journey to Japan, where their attempts to spread the Gospel are met with violence. After a year full of stirring religious dramas - Stations of the Cross, Leviathan, Calvary - Scorsese will continue the trend. Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, and Adam Driver (who is in literally every movie coming out this year) star.
4. While We're Young (March 27) - After the wonder of Frances Ha, a movie that I think about every day, I will follow Noam Baumbach anywhere. His next, While We're Young, explores a generational collision. A middle-aged married couple (Baumbach's Greenberg star Ben Still and Naomi Watts) find their life upended when they befriend a younger couple (Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver, again). If the film is half as prescient, funny, and honest as Frances Ha, it'll be an absolute gift. Baumbach has a wonderfully pure and witty voice; there are few whose work I admire as much. As he continues exploring characters of different ages and at different stages, he may end up creating a thematic franchise of what it is to be a beautifully flawed human.
3. Inside Out (June 19) - There was a time when Pixar was the undisputed king of animation. But it's been a while. The studio's last great movie was Toy Story 3, and for their last great original movie, one must go back another year, to Up. How fitting, then, that Up director Pete Docter is readying Pixar's most promising-looking project in years, the wonderfully original Inside Out, which personifies the emotions that control and contort all of us, taking us into the mind of a teenage girl (potentially frightening terrain, indeed). The film's recent trailer gave us an idea for how the film is going to look and work, and it looks like it's going to be a joy to behold, with plenty of back-and-forth letter us get to know the young protagonist better than we've ever known a Pixar hero/heroine before. Because we're in her mind. Inside Out looks to be one of the year's most fun outings.
2. The Look of Silence (July 17) - I watch a lot of documentaries, and none has ever affected me like Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing, which investigated the mass murders of accused communists in Indonesia, a country where those who perpetrated the crimes are still powerful and flourishing. The Act of Killing revealed the power of cinema, as the criminals recreated their heinous acts for their own film, forcing them to confront their atrocious history. In this follow-up, Oppenheimer turns his camera on survivors of the genocide as they confront the men responsible for the death of their loved one. It should prove a powerful companion to one of the best nonfiction films ever made.1. Knight of Cups (TBA) - The recently released trailer, which you can view below, promises exactly what fans of master auteur Terrence Malick hope for: gorgeous cinematography, striking images, dreamy narration, and sensory nirvana. Here, Malick's signature style is applied to very different subject matter than we're used to seeing him tackle, as his wandering camera finds its counterpart in the lost soul of Christian Bale's actor character as he rises to fame. As usual, Malick is a magnet to top-notch talent, and it looks like none of them were left on the cutting room floor: Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Ben Kingsley, Nick Offerman, Antonio Banderas, Imogen Poots, and lots of others. The enigmatic official synopsis - about a prince who forgets himself after drinking from an enchanted cup - and the amazing trailer promise another unforgettable film from a truly singular artist. The film premieres at Berlin in February, and will find its ways to theaters later in the year.
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