15 Films to watch for in 2012

In response to a blog post on IMDB, where there were obvious misconceptions and incomplete or inaccurate data, here is the list of the 15 films for 2012 that will be most worth going to, and that you should mark on your calendars.

15. Argo Ben Affleck's follow-up to the Town is a star-studded gold mine of a story. The CIA sends in a team to rescue hostages from Iran under the guise of a documentary film crew. Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and Kyle Chandler co-star with Affleck. It will be even better than it sounds, just you watch. Maybe it needs to move up this list.

14. Total Recall The remake of the 1990 Schwarzenegger classic, based on the Philip Dick short story "We can remember it for you wholesale" will be a home run, or a miserable swing and a miss. There will be no middle ground. It looks like enough thought has gone into it that it will be an improvement on the original screen adaptation, and Colin Farrell will be in his element.

13. This Means War Not making the list by many critics, I have high hopes for this based on the acting of Tom Hardy and Chris Pine alone. These spy versus spy movies tend to be good action comedies, and I think despite having Reece Witherspoon in it, it will be a great time.

12. The Bourne Legacy I haven't heard much buzz about this one yet, but Jeremy Renner takes the reins as Aaron Cross, a Jason Bourne type agent, and oh yea, Tony Gilroy directs this one. You might remember him as the director of Michael Clayton, or the writer of... the Bourne trilogy (screen adaptations). Will be a great film.

11. The Amazing Spiderman This will be a big jump for Marc Webb, who did 500 Days of Summer in 2009. He's rebooting the franchise that started the current superhero craze, and it has only been 5 years since Spiderman 3. There is a lot riding on this one, but with Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studio behind him, and the budget, it has to be a hit. I'm just a bit concerned that people won't want the origin story this soon after the Sam Raimi version.

10. Gangster Squad It's a little hard to tell if this is going to be serious, or comedic at this point as Ruben Fleischer as a director has only done comedies (mostly funny, and good direction) so far, but with a cast like this, it will be worth watching no matter what. Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi, and Anthony Mackie to name a few. Think L.A. Confidential with some special effects.

9. The Hobbit Peter Jackson essentially makes Lord of the Rings 4 with this one. It just can't be quite as good though with a new cast and new story. The magic is gone, but it will still be incredible.

8. World War Z Brad Pitt taking on a zombie apocalypse? This will be a great film if it's anything like the book.

7. The Avengers Marvel has been building up to this for the past few years by introducing each of the superheroes separately. It has Joss Whedon attached, which is supposed to impress us, but I'm not totally convinced that this won't be a big letdown. Time will tell.


6. The Hunger Games This is the pivotal young adult book series of the next generation. Harry Potter is done, as is Twilight, so the tweens need something to sink their teeth into, and the Hunger Games will do just fine. It's a compelling story, and the preview makes it look like they did a nice job. Gary Ross is a solid writer and director, so it should be fun.

5. Skyfall Sam Mendes directing the next James Bond movie? I'm there.

4. Lincoln Best picture, director, actor. Pencil them in now. Spielberg captures Daniel Day-Lewis (perhaps the greatest actor currently working) as the great emancipator. It's going to be heavy, but awesome.

3. Django Unchained The idea and cast alone is enough to make a movie fan giddy. Foxx as a slave-turned-bounty hunter, DiCaprio as an angry slave owner, and Christopher Waltz as the man who will train Foxx to fight and rescue his wife. With the supporting cast of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kurt Russell, Sacha Baron Cohen, Samuel Jackson, and Don Johnson, it's going to be a riot. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino only means one thing, that it's going to be entertaining.

2. Prometheus I'm an Aliens fan through and through, and although Ridley Scott denies up and down that this isn't a prequel, we all know damn well that it is. Scott returns to the genre that he defined with a stellar cast, and a mysterious story that could well be the best Sci-Fi film in years, if not of the 21st century (no joke).

1. The Dark Knight Rises So you may think I'm just a Nolan disciple, but the world of Gotham City that he created is so revolutionary in cinema that you can't refute his genius and vision. The Dark Knight was one of the best action films of recent memory, if not films in general. I can only predict its greatness for so long. No, nothing will ever truly compare to Heath Ledger's Joker, but I trust Nolan, and I expect this trilogy ending to rival Revenge of the Sith or Return of the King in magnitude. There will be both buzz and controversy when this comes out.

There are many great films that I left off the list, but they were excluded for a simple reason; They won't have the impact that the aforementioned 15 films will on the box office, or on the general movie-going audience. What do you all think?