25ish movies I’ll probably see this year.

I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday and am in just enough discomfort that, coupled with my excessively hyper new kitten, sleeping is difficult. That’s why I’m writing this at 6am with a cold compress on my face and a dull, agitated look in my eyes. Also, I may not be entirely coherent in this entry due to pain meds, so I urge you to sway your raging need to correct my grammar just this once.

In other news, I have several entries I’m in the process of writing, but their progress is coming slowly. To give some spoilers, I finished my Twilight Saga burden and also saw Eclipse, so expect a final entry or two on that. I also finished The Big Bang Theory and I have some opinions on the geekery therein; and speaking of geekery, I’m coming up with a quaint list of 10 ways to be geekier without really trying. As far as movies go, I may write about Predators and although it’s a little late, Whip It, in addition to close to all of the films on this upcoming list.

When I started looking up 2010 films, I had a difficult time finding a site which successfully weeded out the crappy films (*cough*romantic comedies*cough*), so I feel it’s my place to come up with a cohesive list of all the good movies I’ve been hearing about. Although it’s July and over half the films of 2010 have already come out, I think we all know that the good movies, I mean the potentially history-making classic movies, come out in the latter half of the year.

Backtracking a bit.

Unfortunately, there were a few films that I missed because they weren’t widely released and/or advertised.

The Runaways

• Released: March, 2010
• Genre: Biopic
• Starring: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon
• Reason to see it: The Runaways chronicles the story of Joan Jett, and who doesn’t love Joan Jett? Additionally, I’m fascinated by Kristen Stewart’s (lack of) acting capability in what I’ve seen of her so far, so I figure this film will either be an opportunity for her to redeem herself or confirm my suspicions that she is a genuinely sucky actress.

Defendor

• Released: February, 2010
• Genre: Comedy, crime drama
• Starring: Woody Harrelson, Sandra Oh
• Reason to see it: A slightly insane, good-hearted, vigilante superhero played by Woody Harrelson? I’m in. Too bad it wasn’t widely released here. I definitely would have gone to the theater for it.

Youth in Revolt

• Released: January, 2010
• Genre: Comedy
• Starring: Michael Cera, Zach Galafianakis, Fred Willard, Steve Buscemi
• Reason to see it: Although I will happily see any film with Steve Buscemi in it, Michael Cera with an alter ego, a moustache, and aviators is enough to win me over. This film was widely released earlier this year, and you may want to dock me some of my movie nerd cred, but I simply missed it out of negligence. Sigh.

Out this Summer.

The Kids are All Right

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Comedy
• Starring: Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo
• Reason to see it: In my highest hopes, I think this film will be revolutionary for the way people view lesbian couples.

Despicable Me

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Kids, comedy
• Starring: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand
• Reason to see it: What can I say? It looks cute.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Sci fi, fantasy
• Starring: Nicholas Cage, Dave Baruchel
• Reason to see it: I wasn’t planning on seeing it, but several friends whose opinions I trust say it’s worth seeing, so I might as well. Plus, Nicholas Cage won me over with Kick Ass.

Inception

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Sci fi
• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page
• Reason to see it: So far, it looks like the best film of 2010. I wanted to see the midnight release of it last Thursday but a certain person I live with didn’t want to see it because he had to wake up at 4am the next day. Pfft. Anyway, as soon as I get off the aforementioned pain meds, I’m rushing to the theater to see it. It’s science fiction meets awesome.

Salt

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Action
• Starring: Angelina Jolie
• Reason to see it: Supposedly, Salt was supposed to be a male character. This either means that Angelina Jolie’s portrayal is sickeningly sexualized, which is probable, or her character will be awesome. I’m willing to see it on the off-chance that the latter is true.

Dinner for Schmucks

• Release date: July, 2010
• Genre: Comedy
• Starring: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell
• Reason to see it: As soon as I added this film to the list I wanted to take it off because I just remembered that I hate generic comedies. I haven’t liked Paul Rudd in a long time and every character Steve Carell plays (excluding voice talent) annoys me. Maybe I’ll rent it or see it at the cheap theater or something.

The Expendables

• Release date: August, 2010
• Genre: Action, testosterone
• Starring: Every man who has ever been associated with masculinity in film.
• Reason to see it: Even if I didn’t want to see it, the boyfriend would drag me to it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

• Release date: August, 2010
• Genre: Comedy, action
• Starring: Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin
• Reason to see it: Although I have yet to read the graphic novels, they are supposedly great. The buzz for this film is pretty high in the comic book world, so it’s my duty as a comic book nerd to see it.

Out this Fall.

Machete

• Release date: September, 2010
• Genre: Action
• Starring: Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba
• Reason to see it: Jessica Alba + stylish violence = win.

Howl

• Release date: September, 2010
• Genre: Biopic
• Starring: James Franco, Jon Hamm
• Reason to see it: This film is based on the obscenity trial Allen Ginsberg faced after publishing his epic poem, “Howl.” I adore James Franco, beat poetry, and Allen Ginsberg, so I have no reason to miss this fantastically stylish-looking film.

Nowhere Boy

• Release date: October, 2010
• Genre: Biopic
• Starring: Aaron Johnson
• Reason to see it: This film is based on John Lennon’s younger years, as portrayed by Kick Ass‘s Aaron Johnson. No Beatles fan should miss this.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

• Release date: November, 2010
• Genre: Fantasy
• Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
• Reason to see it: I’ve been with Harry Potter for over a decade now when the first two books were released in the US; I’m not about to stop now.

Welcome to the Rileys

• Release date: November, 2010
• Genre: Drama
• Starring: Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini
• Reason to see it: Again arises my fascination with Kristen Stewart. This film looks quaint in a Lost in Translation way, so I feel it’s worth seeing.

Out this Winter.

Tron: Legacy

• Release date: December, 2010
• Genre: Sci fi
• Starring: Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde
• Reason to see it: We’ve waited almost two decades for this. Based on the extreme cult following of the original, this sequel looks promising.

The Green Hornet

• Release date: January, 2011
• Genre: Superhero, comedy
• Starring: Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz
• Reason to see it: Even though this film comes out early next year, I already saw some trailers for it so I thought I’d add it. I’m only planning on seeing it because I feel compelled to see all superhero movies. Even though Seth Rogen isn’t my favorite actor, the combination of superhero movie plus comedy is intriguing.

Questionable/unknown release dates.

Never Let Me Go

• Genre: Sci fi, drama
• Starring: Kiera Knightly, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield
• Reason to see it: This film is kind of a mystery to me. It’s supposedly science fiction-oriented, although the plot seems Logan’s Run-esque, which is reason enough for me to see it despite the presence of overt romantic drama.

Monsters

• Genre: Sci fi
• Reason to see it: I can’t find much on this film, but from the Wikipedia page (linked above), it looks promising.

Skyline

• Genre: Sci fi
• Starring: Donald Faison
• Reason to see it: Directed by the Brothers Strause, who made such catastrophes as Alien vs. Predator and Surrogates, I’m a bit hesitant, but as a devoted sci fi nerd, I’ll probably end up seeing it. Supposedly, it’s an apocalyptic movie where the only means of survival is a skyscraper or something stupid.

Looper

• Genre: Sci fi
• Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis
• Reason to see it: Supposedly it’s about time travel. That’s enough information for me, although I doubt it will be widely released.

Paul

• Genre: Sci fi, comedy
• Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen
• Reason to see it: The synopsis reminds me of Weekend at Bernie’s only with an alien instead of a dead guy. Looks promising.

The Cabin in the Woods

• Genre: Horror
• Starring: Fran Kranz, Amy Acker
• Reason to see it: I would follow Joss Whedon to his grave. The release of this film, however, has been postponed indefinitely. Sad.

The Dungeon Masters

• Genre: Documentary
• Reason to see it: It’s a documentary about DnD that got awesome festival reviews.

Arrested Development

• Genre: Comedy
• Starring: Jason Batement, Will Arnett, Michael Cera
• Reason to see it: It’s an Arrested Development *movie.* Every fan should see it. Too bad it’s mostly speculation and arguments at the moment.

Just looking at lists of ‘anticipated films’ sometimes excludes the good, Oscar-worthy movies that movie-goers like yourselves really want to see and hear about, so I hope this helped organize your thoughts on this year’s upcoming films.