At the beginning of the year, a friend of mine who enjoys movies too asked me which ones I was looking forward to this year. I could have made a Top 10 Most Anticipated of 2014, but I thought it would be more effective to come up with 5 films from January through August that included all the summer blockbusters, and then do another 5 for September through December discussing potential Oscar films and others I was less aware of in January. As I’ll do with my Top 10 Best of the year and Top 5 Worst of the Year, I will do some honorable mentions at the end.

Without further a-don’t, let’s get started then!

5. This Is Where I Leave You

I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to see this film as I believe it’s only getting a limited release first, but I am very excited for it. This Is Where I Leave You has an all-star cast, and I think that may just be luck because the trailer makes this film look like it will have a very clean story. I have not caught any indie films yet this year, and I’m hoping This Is Where I Leave You will be a charming story to fill in the gaps for the others.

 

4. Big Hero 6

I was going to have The Penguins of Madagascar here (that would probably be number 6), but after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy so many times, the hilarity of the Big Hero Six trailer has gotten me really excited for the film. I think that with both this and Penguins coming out within a few weeks of each other, November could be a critical hit for animated features.

 

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One

A LOT of people are skeptical for this film, but I’m really excited for it. I understand it’s the shortest (and in my opinion the weakest) of the Hunger Games series, but if the screenwriter and director play their cards right, then Mockingjay Part One could be like The Town, in the sense it has a really gritty crime-drama feel to it over a young adult adaptation. As I said, I’m one of the few with faith in the movie but the trailers are all making it look dark and intense, and I think that if all goes well, this could be the best of the Hunger Games film series.

 

2. Gone Girl

David Fincher is in my Top 3 Directors working in Hollywood right now because of how well he brings his style to any film he’s doing. The Social Network was so masterfully directed, but I agree that his best films are the ones like Zodiac that have plenty of story to tell and plenty of crime-based nature. I have not read the book, as I want the rumored twist to surprise me, but from what I know there is so much to draw from and I think Fincher has been set up beautifully to make one of the best films of the year.

 

1. Interstellar

I mean, this was a no-brainer since I’ve flat-out said it time and time again. Interstellar was my most anticipated for the ENTIRE year of 2014. I mentioned David Fincher was one of my favorite directors in Hollywood? He’s number two after Christopher Nolan. (Three is Scorsese is you guys care.) Matthew McConaughey is SO well established now and he’s such a great actor, he will do an amazing job in this film (and his next film Sea of Trees is actually being filmed right now in my location, which is unbelievably awesome in every sense of the word). Anne Hathaway looks great in these trailer, the movies looks like it will be visually beautiful and it deals with one of my favorite concepts: space. I love space. I love space movies, space shows, even just looking up at the stars. But I like really realistic and thought-provoking space stories like 2001. Granted, I like Guardians and Star Wars (the original ones) as much as the next guy, but I think Interstellar could be such an interesting and plot-filled film that just blows me away. I’m about an hour away from any advanced screening locations, making it special anytime I go to one (other than Into the Storm…), and the only film on this list (or from this past year for that matter) I’ve wanted to go to an advanced screening for was Interstellar. Even if this movie is REALLY good, it could disappoint me, so the standards are high. Don’t disappoint me Interstellar. (Don’t worry, I know you won’t!)

 

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So now I’ll just run through some of my other hopefuls for the rest of the year. Penguins of Madagascar, as I said, would be number six. If I made this list two days ago, The Judge would have been between Gone Girl and Mockingjay, but when it was pushed at TIFF and didn’t get many good reviews, I backed it up a bit. And the last one I’m skeptically optimistic about is Exodus: Gods and Kings. I feel like it could be a REALLY cool movie with a capable, yet not racially correct, cast (with the exception of Bryan Cranston, who would make the best Moses ever, right? Imagine him in his Heisenberg voice just telling the Pharaoh, “let my people GO!” Just me?). Ridley Scott has had some bad movies recently, but this one could be a good one to get him back on track. Notice I said ‘good’ though and not great. Because I’m cautiously optimistic…

 

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So guys, those are my most anticipated movies for the rest of 2014! My top 5 for the beginning of the year were 22 Jump Street, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy in that order. And when the Top 10 Best and Top 5 Worst of the Year come around you’ll see what I thought of 4 out of those 5.

But I want to hear from you guys! What are your most anticipated films through the rest of the year? Let me know down below! And as always, thanks for reading guys.