With 2014 as a "disappointing" year for Hollywood ticket collectors, there is much to look forward to in 2015. So what are my most anticipated movie moments for 2015?
Coming out January 23 is the animated film
Strange Magic. What makes me awaiting it? Two things: 1) it is inspired by Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream (a personal favorite of mine), and 2) it is the first film since 2012 that George Lucas (
Star Wars series,
Indiana Jones series,
Red Tails) will be producing and writing the script for.
February 20 will see the release of Disney's new sports drama
McFarland, USA, about a 1980s Latino cross country team from McFarland, California. I am particularly interested in seeing Kevin Costner in the role of the coach. Last year, Costner returned to acting in sports films with
Draft Day. Any fan of
Field of Dreams will always connect him with a drama film that has sports themes.
Next, March 13 is set to be when Disney's
Cinderella will come to theaters. While I have never been a fan of the original cartoon, this new adaption interests me for a few reasons. One reason is that there are two actresses in the film who are also stars in the popular
Downton Abbey television series. Also, this film will include the acting talents of Helena Bonham-Carter (
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
Les Miserables,
Great Expectations), another favorite of mine, as the fairy godmother. Besides, Disney has recently made
Maleficent, a live-action adaption of
Sleeping Beauty, from the villain's perspective. I enjoyed that film and I hope to enjoy this one also.
In the past decade, Marvel Comics has become immensely famous for their super hero movies. 2012's
The Avengers broke box office records. On May 1, the sequel,
Avengers: Age of Ultron, will likely be another box office success. This is certainly one of the most highly anticipated films of 2015 worldwide.
A few weeks later, Disney will release
Tomorrowland. To be honest, I do not know a lot about this film, but judging from the trailer, it looks like it will be decent. From what I have heard, it will be a wonderful new adventure film from Disney.
As a huge fan of the
Jurassic Park trilogy, I was wildly excited when a fourth film was announced.
Jurassic World (June 12) will feature all new actors, set in a fully-operational dinosaur theme park named Jurassic World. Already I've seen the trailer, which features velociraptors, a water dinosaur, and a brachiosaurus herd.
A week later, yet another Disney film will be released.
Inside Out is an animated film about the emotions living inside a young girl. While there are lots of ways Disney could mess this up, I really am interested in what they will do with it.
Ant-Man is Marvel's second film of 2015. Very few have heard of Ant-Man, but he is an Avenger in the comics, who has the ability to shrink and grow (not to mention control ants!). The trailer doesn't appear amazing, but I still can't wait to see the film.
Pan will tell the "origins story" of Peter Pan and how he came to the magical Neverland. I love origin and back-story films, and this one looks like it will be relatively family-friendly. Besides, Hugh Jackman is going to play Blackbeard. How can anyone argue with that?
On August 7, another Marvel film will be released:
The Fantastic Four. I did see the original (though not the sequel), and I was largely unimpressed. I hope that Marvel does a better job on this remake than they did with the older one.
In September, Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightly will be starring in
Everest. This is a true story film based on the events of a 1996 disaster in which some climbers died. I am half-expecting this to be given an R rating (primarily for language, I would assume), but I really would like it to be cleaner. If you've never heard of those actors above, just watch
The Day After Tomorrow,
Pride & Prejudice, and the first
Pirates of the Carribbean film. Gyllenhaal and Knightly are both excellent actors.
Moving into November, one of the films I look forward to the most is
The Peanuts Movie. As an avid
Peanuts fan, I am so thrilled to see a new movie. This will be the first one without involvement of creator Charles M. Schulz, though his son will work on the film.
Finally, my most anticipated film of 2015 (and perhaps worldwide):
Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In recent years, we have seen reboots of classic series from the 70s and 80s. However, the seventh
Star Wars episode could very well be the most popular of the decade. It will feature the acting talents of the original actors, as well as some new faces. Also, it will include actor Andy Serkis (Gollum, from
The Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit trilogies).
These are the films I look forward to the most. How would your list differ from mine?
First, they both hold some valuable morals and lessons we can take from them. In Maleficent, the title character is entrapped in anger and bitterness after being betrayed by her love. The once-joyous fairy becomes the "mistress of all evil." Yet, her story doesn't end there...she grows in fondness of the Princess Aurora, whom she cursed as an infant. Through her motherly love for the girl, Maleficent is redeemed from evil. All people are sinners, but that does not necessarily have to be the end for our stories. Through the selfless love of Jesus Christ, we can be redeemed, and brought into a relationship with God.
America is a culture where we can wish for just about anything. We can often get our wishes through hard work and perseverance, but do we ever stop to wonder the consequences of our wishes? Into the Woods uses nearly all of the two-hour screen time to answer that question. Our desires may seem good to us, but sometimes they have consequences, big and small. Achieving our dreams is not always a bad thing, but we should be aware of what will happen to those around us. To take an example from Into the Woods, Jack climbs a tall beanstalk and steals gold from a giant. He is chased, but chops down the beanstalk, killing the giant. Happy ending, right? Well, just wait: a second beanstalk is accidentally grown, and the giant's wife comes down in search of Jack. In doing so, she causes earthquakes across the kingdom and destroys much of the forest. Jack persevered to get his wishes, but it caused pain and loss for many other people (and eventually caused loss for himself).