2015 Year in Preview

With 2014 in the books, and the awards season all but over, it's time to set our sites toward 2015 and the projects that look intriguing. Here are the 20 films that caught my eye, and I left out the Avengers, Ant Man, Ted 2, Magic Mike 2, 50 Shades, Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2, Jurassic World, Terminator, Fantastic Four, and all the others that if we're being honest, I'll probably see anyway. These 20 films are the ones that just might hit the mark this year. Although a quarter of them are sequels, there is something different about these that propel them to a higher level in my book. Here are the films, in no particular release date order. Let's start with the sequels.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - J.J. Abrams nailed Star Trek, and now with Disney, Bad Robot, and Lucasfilms behind the first of a six-film dynasty, expect greatness. The original cast is back, this film picks up presumably 30 years after Return of the Jedi, and will expose a whole new generation of kids to the Star Wars universe. Let's just hope these are like the first three, and not the George Lucas prequels. He's a creative genius, but better to leave the directing to Abrams. This should be the coming out party that the Phantom Menace was supposed to be.

Mad Max: Fury Road - this one has been in the works for seemingly years, and finally (hopefully) this summer it will come to the silver screen. Written and directed by original Mad Max creator George Miller, this will be visionary to say the least, and with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the lead roles, it will bring some star power to the gonzo action. The previews show just a glimpse of the madness that is the mind of George Miller. This should be cool.

Spectre - Who cares if the script was leaked by hackers? Sony's team of Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig are the best 007 yet. Already having consumed the original Ian Fleming collection, we're beginning to delve into more original stories, which is very 21st Century. Should be the caliber of Skyfall, not so much License to Kill.

Vacation - Yes! Rusty and Audrey are all grown up, and the Griswolds once again take a family vacation. Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo are back as the grandparents, but this time it's Ed Helms as the clumsy patriarch, and Christina Applegate as his wife. This might be the reinvention of a brilliant comedy franchise. Here's hoping.

Mission Impossible 5 - I thought Ghost Protocol was a great action film, and I am back on the Tom Cruise bandwagon after Edge of Tomorrow and Rock of Ages (even Oblivion was pretty cool). Brad Bird was a big part of the success of MI4, so we'll have to see how Chris McQuarrie does filling his shoes as director. McQuarrie is one of the best screenwriters around, but his direction has been suspect. Fresh faced Drew Pearce wrote this screenplay, and his only other feature length film was Iron Man 3. This could go either way, but with Renner and Cruise back, I have faith.

Tomorrowland - Speaking of Brad Bird, his latest is one of the more mysterious projects out there. A kid and a scientist explore space and time in a collective memory in this sci-fi for kids endeavor. George Clooney may only have a few films left in him before entering the political arena, but at least his next one is a Coen Brothers comedy. Tomorrowland might be a massive hit with kids. Perhaps the non-animated smash of the year? We will see.

Pixels - This has some serious potential, or could be awful. Adam Sandler. That's why. However, Chris Columbus is behind this sci-fi action comedy which has aliens invading Earth with a battle strategy devised by intercepting signals sent to space in the 1980's which happen to be old-school video games. So, the military recruits the best players of Pac-Man and the other classics to beat them at their own strategy. Sounds incredibly ambitious to me, but Sandler notwithstanding, this could be pretty fun.

Masterminds - Napoleon Dynamite creator Jared Hess hasn't done much since the indy breakthrough, but with Kristin Wiig and Zack Galifianakis on board this bank heist comedy, it just might work.

Selfless - I read about this story and immediately thought about one of my favorite Tales From the Crypt episodes. The one where the old rich man envied the young muscular man, who had all the women. So he offered him cash to exchange body parts, and piece by piece through surgeries, the young, muscular man got old and frail and wealthy, and the old, rich man got muscular and poor. Well, turns out women like money more than muscles, so the old man was cursed to live broke and homeless in his hot new body. Anyway, Ryan Reynolds plays the young, healthy body in this rendition. The wild card is director Tarsem Singh, who has a resume with mixed results, but one of his brilliant gems was The Cell from 2000. Ethereal and mystifying, the imagination of Singh bodes well for this film's basic premise.

In the Heart of the Sea - Ron Howard taps Chris Hemsworth as his Captain Ahab in this Moby Dick retelling. Pushed from spring to summer to fall, perhaps initial thoughts are that it might be an awards contender. Howard is a master of his craft, and audiences love big fish stories.

The Walk - A bit out of character for Robert Zemekis, this Philip Petit biopic takes us back to a time when the Twin Towers stood, 1974, when the Frenchman crossed them on a tightrope. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit, and the film will be released in IMAX and 3D, so I imagine the scenery and high-wire tension is going to be breathtaking. Zemekis is pretty good with dramatic scenes.

Regression - Emma Watson will appear naked in this, but that's not why it's on the list. Writer/Director Alejandro Amenabar does a great job creating suspense and then pulling a twist at the end. He wrote Vanilla Sky and the underrated The Others (check it out - it's chilling). Regression follows a family dealing with PTSD where an abusive father doesn't remember perpetrating the abuse.

The Gunman - Could be disappointing, but this generic ex-spy-on-the-run tale has 2 time Oscar winning actor Sean Penn in the lead, and he looks pretty good. Idris Elba and Javier Bardem make this an eyebrow-raising cast in what otherwise would be another Transporter or Taken (which the director worked on).

Everest - This might be one of the best films of the year. A climbing expedition goes bad on Mt. Everest and survival is the name of the game. The cast is the scintillating part. Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, Sam Worthington, and John Hawkes. Throw in Emily Watson and Keira Knightley and you have a true contender.

The Hateful Eight - Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino, but he knows how to make a movie. And his next one should be awesome. Back in the Western genre, in Post-Civil War Wyoming, a group of strangers seek shelter during a storm, and their dialogue and interactions will be talked about for years to come by critics and audiences. Tarantino knows how to make a character, and whether you're a fan or not, you have to respect his writing. Some of the eight include Channing Tatum, Samuel Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Zoey Bell, Bruce Dern, Demian Bechir, Michael Madsen, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I know that's more than eight, but I'm sure Quentin knows what he's doing.

Joy - David O. Russell is back with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro in this biopic of a struggling single mother who invents a better mop. No joke. This might be the beginning of the end for Russell's Oscar darling run.

Untitled Cameron Crowe Project - Bradley Cooper is busy these days. He's a military contractor caught in a love triangle between Rachel McAdams and Emma Stone. Tough gig. Crowe's first movie since We Bought a Zoo (which I thought was refreshing), this might be a feel-good, might be a tearjerker, but either way, it's Cameron Crowe, so expect some fun music.

Untitled Steven Spielberg - Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Cold War CIA spy drama. Oscar nominations, but won't win. See the next film on the list.

The Revenant - Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu is a household name now with Birdman (OK, maybe not household, but at least people can remember Alejandro?) The Revenant was my second favorite book of 2014 (technically I read it this month, but whatever). 1820's fur trading along the Missouri river, Leonardo Dicaprio is Hugh Glass, a part of a trapping and trading team who is left for dead after a savage bear attack. After survival, he seeks revenge on those who left him behind. Whether you're a fan of historical fiction or not, this will be pretty cool. And explains Leo's long hair and beard lately. He will win his first Oscar, and this will win Best Picture if Innaritu is on his game. Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domnhall Gleeson play his betrayers.

The Martian - The best book I read in 2014 is also going to be one of the most fun films to watch. Matt Damon stranded on Mars? What's not to love. Oh wait, Ridley Scott directing? A sci-fi movie set in space? Oh, OK. Sounds like there can't be much of a plot, but The Martian is a must-read. Great book filled with science, humor, and some witty monologues.

That's my list. 20 films that I will certainly be checking out, and although there are always others, and some of these may be bumped to 2016, or off the map entirely, we have something to look forward to besides superheroes. Although, I do look forward to superheroes as much as the next guy.

Thanks for reading, send me your thoughts in a comment or an email...