Jon's Most Anticipated Movies of 2013

Starting out with the most anticipated...
including updates with my responses to how these movies actually turned out!

1. Ender's Game- Finally the adaptation of Orson Scott Card's best selling sci-fi saga where children are trained to be cutthroat strategists, generals and warriors defending earth against a coming alien invasion! So incredible that this is actually happening! It wasn't as mind-blowing as I thought. But it was a fairly well made and a fun to watch movie, though it didn't make my top 13.

2. Elysium- Neill Blomkamp dishes out another high concept sci-fi epic with socially conscious morals. Wow! It's too bad this film wasn't nearly as good as District 9. Kind of a bummer… but some memorable moments.

3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- Peter Jackson's first film from the Hobbit Trilogy was my favorite of last year and I can't wait to see Smaug in all his gilded glory this next year!! In my opinion this wasn't as great as the first Hobbit film but I did enjoy it!

4. Pacific Rim- Guillermo Del Toro's anime-inspired sci-fi epic, with Mecha and Godzilla-like creatures battling it out over the planet earth. meh… It had some great action and VFX, but story and acting was weak.

5. After Earth- An epic sci-fi with Will & Jaden Smith returning to our planet in the far future to find out what earth has become. Woah… this was bad. Now we know what Will Smith has become.

6. Oblivion- An epic sci-fi with Tom Cruise returning to our planet in the far future to find out what earth has become. Not so great… but there are some cool images and moments.

7. Star Trek Into Darkness- Watching what JJ Abrams has done with the Star Trek franchise has me all in a tizzy. Now instead of Kirk shouting "Khan!" he might be shouting "Cumberbatch!" It's bad when it should be good! Frustration!

8. To The Wonder- The next art house movie by film master Terrence Mallick. This one actually was pretty decent. It made my top 13 of the year.

9. Oldboy- the American remake of the original South Korean film, which was mind-blowingly cool.

10. The World's End- Simon & Nick get back together to round out the Blood & Ice Cream Trilogy. Should be fun! Edgar Wright never seems to disappoint, neither do Nick Frost or Simon Pegg.

11. World War Z- Billed as the zombie movie to end all zombie movies (which is starring Brad Pitt of course). Better than most thought it would be.

12. The Place Beyond the Pines- Gosling/Cianfrance pair up once again to give us another beautiful drama except this time with Gosling as a reckless motor-cycling bank robber! Yayy! Great film, albeit a tad long. But its good enough to warrant that extra length.

13. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III- Any comedy I can see with Bill Murray & Aubrey Plaza in it will interest me! Its kinda fun but not THAT special.

14. Anchorman: The Legend Continues- The Legend will hopefully get more respect this time around since most of the leads have become super-famous since then, especially Steve Carell.

15. The Evil Dead- This remake of the amazing classic debut film of the same name from Sam Raimi actually looks like it could be worth a watch, even with me not being a horror fan.

16. The Great Gatsby- Regardless of Hollywoods general disregard of Baz Luhrmann's films, I actually really dig his style and this one looks really interesting. Turned out to be pretty great and VERY interesting!!

17. Man of Steel- Looks like a fresh new perspective on the Superman saga by FX genius Zack Snyder. I think this one was the best super hero movie of the summer. There was some angst and some self-discovery going on, and buildings got demolished.

18. This is the End- Seems like NOT just another Seth Rogen comedy! Instead a whole cast of crazy comedy actors can add to the end of the world lampooning of the year. meh… I wasn't that turned on by it. I didn't think these famous people getting sent to hell was that shocking, or interesting and... for someone who seemed to read the Bible to get half of the plot you'd think they wouldn't totally miss the part on HOW you get to heaven.

19. Upstream Color- Could be an art house delight from the director of the breakaway debut film "Primer". It was definitely an art house delight for me! My second favorite film of the year! I hope Shane Carruth makes more films! Quicker!

20. The Heat- A McCarthy & Bullock team up which should offer some side-splitting craziness! It was fun but not a great movie by any means.

21. Kick Ass 2- I loved the first Kick Ass which really had such bright, vivid superhero characters. Hopefully, this one will not disappoint.

22. Riddick- I have a soft spot for the Riddick franchise even though Diesel is the weak part for me. Another excuse to enter into that same world again is really exciting.

23. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- I read the books and even though the first film was awkward I still love the story and what they might do with this film interpretation of a really unique franchise. It was better than I thought it would be!

24. Iron Man 3- This franchise has been one of the best superhero franchises out there & this one should be no exception. Third best super hero movie of the year, after Thor 2.

25. Identity Thief- Another McCarthy movie being released this year except this one is with Jason Bateman. Should prove to be an exercise in hilarity! eh… not so much.

26.The Host- Even though this is written by the writer of the Twilight series, I found the trailers for this film intriguing and a very interesting concept. And I think they could really pull off this one with Saoirse in the drivers seat. Wow! That was worse than After Earth. That was BAD.

27. Warm Bodies- regardless of the fact that my short film "Death Do Us Part" has a similar story I really liked the clip that's been released online from the beginning of the film. Pretty decent film! It is definitely a film of merit this year!

28. Movie 43- A comedy that is as star-studded and as crazy as this one most be good, right? Wow, a real clunker of a film. 

29. Thor: The Dark World- I'm interested in where Hemsworth will take Thor to in the second film of the franchise. Second best super hero film of the year after Man of Steel.

30. Despicable Me 2- I enjoy these kinds of silly animated films and last year there weren't enough of them around.

31. The Lone Ranger- I love Johnny Depp & Army Hammer, so my hope is that this will be even better than "The Pirates" movies. Better than many claimed. Its too bad the film bombed at the box office because it was a very decent interpretation of the Lone Ranger.

32. A Good Day to Die Hard- I actually really enjoyed the last Die Hard film and that Bruce Willis guy has still got that charming know-how to make it work.

33. Small Apartments- Looks like American breakout film for actor Matt Lucas, known for the hilarious BBC show "Little Britain". Not too shabby.

34. Wrong- another random and confusingly quirky film from director Quentin Dupieux, who made the strange film "Rubber" a few years back. A pretty silly film but not as memorable as "Rubber". Still, it is worth a watch.

35. Dead Man Down- an interesting, slick-looking revenge tale featuring Noomi Rapace, Colin Farrell & Terrence Howard. I was pretty unimpressed. The plot was not believable.

36. Jack the Giant Slayer- Fairy Tale goodness from director Bryan Singer.

37. The Last Stand- Could be a good return to fun action flicks for the "Governator". Eh, it was ok.

38. On the Road- I've been waiting for a good accurate adaptation of the classic stream of consciousness tale by locally loved Beatnik author, Jack Kerouac, and this looks like it might do the trick. Nope. 

39. 21 and Over- Looks like a college coming of age party movie that might actually get me to crack a smile, since typically that kind of film bores me to tears. I wasn't bored to tears but afterwards it left my memory. Oh well.