Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Films of 2010

It’s a new year and that means another whole year of great, and perhaps not-so-great films. Regardless of how each individual film pans out on the critical spectrum, there’s always a number of films we all look forward to seeing. We’ve decided to ring in the new year by looking forward at the movies we are most excited about. So, see what our crystal balls have told us about what is bound to be cool in cinema with this Top Ten List of the Most Anticipated Films of 2010.

10. LEGION

So, what’s so original about another movie depicting Armageddon, the end of the world, the final battle between good and evil? Well, two things… first, this one appears to have actually been done right. If you’re gonna go and make a movie like this, you gotta go all out and really impress, no holds bars and hit hard. From the looks of the trailers, this movie is gonna have some serious punch. Second, it’s actually not technically “good vs. evil” but rather a new take on the God cleaning house story. Instead of a flood or fires, or a plague, etc… God decides to send the big guns, his Angels. Well, these aren’t your grandmother’s angels! Great special effects and a cast including Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Charles. S Dutton and Tyrese Gibson, who’s game for some serious angelic ass-kicking?

09. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

Michael Cera is funny… Edgar Wright is funny… Scott Pilgrim vs The World is an extremely funny comic. All of this together makes Scott Pilgrim vs The World easily one of the most anticipated films of 2010. Scott Pilgrim is a 24 year old slacker/Musican dating a high school girl and playing in a band that’s name is a Tom Jones and Super Mario Bros reference rolled into one. That band is Sex Bob-omb. The story of Scott Pilgrim is actually a very honest look at dating for young people filled with references to pop culture, video games, movies and comics, while also giving the story of a boy who must fight the seven evil ex boyfriends of the girl he’s truly in love with. It’s over the top, anime inspired, and with Michael Cera in the lead it’s sure to be VERY cool. The Scott Pilgrim series is a huge cult phenomenon, and it’s only growing, this film is the first part of something very big.

08. ALICE IN WONDERLAND

You’ve got a couple of fascinating things going on here. Once you get past the idea of this being a remake and realize Tim Burton is actually giving us his own, very dark and unique take on a sequel with the same title, this becomes a very intriguing film. It’s not hard to see the special effects are gonna rock and maintain Burton’s touch as well. The story seems to be a mix of the original Alice story and Through the Looking Glass, but a few years later as Alice has returned, now a teenager. As usual, Burton has a stellar cast of regulars and other stars new to his work. This is gonna be a ride already we’ll not soon forget, but throw in that the movie is being made for 3-D and I imagine there will be some folks showing up having already partook with the Caterpillar’s hookah, looking for a way to expand on their high. Trippy!

07. TRON LEGACY

The original TRON rocked our world in 1982 by revealing to audiences what could be done with computer generated effects. Today, we have refined that system to the extent that we’re seeing lifelike visuals in films such as James Cameron’s AVATAR — and director Joseph Kosinski is bringing the world of TRON up to speed in it. With returning cast members Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges in tow (not to mention a sweet redesign of the light cycles) how could any geek resist this film?

06. TOY STORY 3

Undoubtedly Pixar’s best known franchise, young and old alike are looking forward to another trip to Andy’s room this summer in TOY STORY 3. Only this time, he’s graduated high school and is off to college. So where does this leave our lovable friends Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Hamm, Rex, Mr and Mrs Potato Head? Accidentally being donated to the Sunnyside Daycare. The Horror! Woody begins a rescue mission assuring them all that “no toy gets left behind.” We’ll also meet some new toys – the Ken Doll (Michael Keaton), an English hedgehog, Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), and a bear who’s leader of the daycare toys, Lotso (Ned Beatty). Co-Director of TOY STORY 2, Lee Unkrich goes it alone this time, with a script from Michael Arndt. Blake Clark has taken over the voice of Slinky-Dog from Jim Varney who passed away in 2000 and the original stars like Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, and the rest have returned for a third time to provide the voice overs for the familiar characters. Presented in Disney/Digital 3-d, look for TOY STORY 3 on June 18th.

05. PREDATORS

For years, we’ve been waiting for a decent PREDATOR sequel, ever since Danny Glover stumbled into the creatures ship and came across an Alien head, really.  With the stumbles and starts of the ALIEN VS. PREDATOR franchise (more stumbles than starts), it’s time to get back to what made PREDATOR and even PREDATOR 2 such memorable films.  It’s time to get back to the Predator(s) taking on a band of humans and wiping them all out before being taken out himself by a lone warrior.  While I’m not fully convinced that lone warrior is Adrien Brody or Topher Grace, the cast of PREDATORS is quite impressive with Laurence Fishburne and Danny Trejo getting into the mix, as well.  Add to that the script by Robert Rodriguez and the fact that director Nimrod Antal still has some clout for his debut film, KONTROLL and you’ve got yourself an equation for some nicely executed action.  Here’s hoping PREDATORS is the ALIENS answer to the franchise we’ve all been waiting for.

04. SHUTTER ISLAND

Granted, the fact that this “most anticipated film” from 2009 got pushed back to early 2010 put a damper in our spirits, we still have hope that Martin Scorsese will never let us down.  With SHUTTER ISLAND, he’s crafting a film that many fans of his have been waiting a long to see, a dark, brooding mystery that could almost be construed as horror.  The man is a master of his craft, and this is recognize in his own time.  SHUTTER ISLAND has an amazing cast, and, judging from the trailers we’ve been seeing, it seems everyone gives it their all.  If early buzz is any indication, the bump to February doesn’t seem to have hurt this film’s Oscar hopes one bit.

03. KICK ASS

Who knew that a massively popular indie comic book created by Mark Millar could be turned into a huge motion picture with heavyweight director Matthew Vaughn in the director’s seat with no sign of a studio ANYWHERE. That’s exactly what happened with Kick-Ass, a comic book film that asks the question “If the world worships super heroes the way they do, why hasn’t anyone tried to be one?”. That leads to a punk teenager named Dave to dress up like a dork, get his ass kicked several times, wind up on youtube and start a craze of crime fighting insanity across the world. Not only that but one of the crime fighters is a little girl named Hit Girl who openly drops the C-Bomb on people before brutally killing them. THIS IS MY KIND OF MOVIE!

02. IRON MAN 2

After the impressive first outing from Jon Favreau, Robert Downey, Jr. and team with IRON MAN, it’s difficult to not to be excited about the sequel, especially now that it includes Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke as a Russian psychopath with killer whips. Oh yeah, and there’s this new character called War machine as well… if you’re a comic book geek, this movie is a given must-see event, but even if you’re not the film is nearly guaranteed to knock your socks of, and… if it doesn’t, I worry about you. Really. How could you have not liked the first IRON MAN movie? This on’e gonna be even bigger and better!

01. INCEPTION

Give the guy who made The Dark Knight and Memento a huge budget, mind bending special effects and a cast of brilliant actors and you get INCEPTION, a film so puzzling that the trailers just leave you wanting more. I haven’t been this confused or excited by a movie since 1999 when I saw the first trailer for The Matrix. Very little is actually known about the plot and I really hope it stays that way. The movie is being marketed perfectly with small allusions to “Mind Crime” and references to ideas and memories as marketable commodities. Seems like a really cool piece of science fiction and I can’t wait to see it in July.