Fall Movie Preview

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015 Garrett Uncategorized Aaron Sorkin, Beasts of No Nation, Black Mass, Bridge of Spies, Brie Larson, Carol, Cate Blanchett, Crimson Peak, dinosaurs, Emily Blunt, Fall, Idris Elba, James Bond, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Macbeth, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Movie Preview, Quentin Tarantino, Room, Rooney Mara, Sicario, Spectre, Star Wars, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, The Force Awakens, The Good Dinosaur, The Hateful Eight, The Martian, The Revenant, Tom Hanks, Tom Hiddleston

Well, it’s that time…my favorite season for movie watching. Fall is when studios tend to release their better films (i.e. the ones they think’ll make a splash during the end-of-year awards). Prestige season begins in earnest for me on September 18 — seven days and counting — so I’ve compiled a list of the films I’m most looking forward to.

September 18 sees the release of “Black Mass” — the story of real-life mobster, Whitey Bulger. Johnny Depp plays Bulger, and judging by the trailer, this looks like a welcome return to his more menacing and nuanced work (think “Donnie Brasco,” which happens to be another crime film). On top of that, I was a fan of director Scott Cooper’s first feature, “Crazy Heart.”

Also out on September 18 is “Sicario.” (It’s in limited release that weekend and goes wide on September 25.) The trailer for this drug war drama makes it look like a real nerve shredder. It’s from another promising young filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve. After “Prisoners,” itself a lesson in suspense, this seems like another fruitful collaboration with could-make-a-dumpster-look-great cinematographer, Roger Deakins. The cast is spectacular as well, headlined by Emily Blunt (in full bad ass mode), Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin.

I haven’t liked a Ridley Scott film in several years — really since the Director’s Cut of “Kingdom of Heaven” — but I’m hoping that will change on October 2. “The Martian” is about an astronaut left for dead and his struggle to survive on…you guessed it…Mars. Scott’s susceptible to selecting scripts that are beneath his talent, but Drew Goddard (of “Cabin in the Woods” and “Daredevil” Season 1) is the screenwriter here. And again, we have a phenomenal cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, and Michael Peña.

And then there’s the pairing of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle, whose film “Steve Jobs” hits screens on October 9. The former is a self-described writer of “People talking in rooms” and the latter’s known for his bold and vibrant filmmaking. Michael Fassbender plays the titular tech genius. He’s one of my favorite actors working, but I’m mostly excited to see what Sorkin and Boyle bring out in one another.

The weekend of October 16 is stacked.

First up is “Beasts of No Nation.” It’s directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the man behind the first season of “True Detective.” It stars Idris Elba as an African warlord recruiting children into a civil war. The film is getting a very limited theatrical release, but it’s also going to be available on Netflix streaming the same day it hits screens. I love “True Detective,” so I’ll see anything Fukunaga touches. The positive buzz for the film has only gotten me more excited.

“Bridge of Spies” comes out the same day. This one’s from a young, upstart filmmaker named Steven Spielberg. (I see big things for this guy. Very talented.) The director’s track record has been spotty lately, but even mid-tier Spielberg is better than most. I’m excited to see him reunite with Tom Hanks, who plays a lawyer focused on rescuing a US pilot who went down over the Soviet Union. Oh, and the Coen Brothers have a screenwriting credit!

But the movie I’ll see first that weekend is “Crimson Peak.” Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors working, and this marks his return to the haunted house genre. If you haven’t seen “The Devil’s Backbone,” you should remedy that right away. Based on the trailer, the visuals looks as lush and vibrant as you’ve come to expect from del Toro. Yet another great cast here with Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain.

And finally, “Room” comes out in limited release the same day. I’ve heard good things about the novel on which the film is based, but there’s one reason I’m really excited for this one…and her name is Brie Larson. She gave a stunning performance in “Short Term 12” (actually my favorite performance of 2013). I was disappointed to see her relegated to Love Interest in “The Gambler,” but it looks as though “Room” will be another opportunity for her to flex her acting muscles.

November 6 brings the latest entry in the James Bond franchise, “Spectre.” “Skyfall” director Sam Mendes returns here. Aficionados will recognize Spectre as the nefarious organization that reared its head in early Bond films. The inclusion of talent like Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux and Andrew Scott is very exciting. The only thing that gives me pause is that, after the release of “Skyfall,” Mendes stated he’d said everything he had to say about Bond. Presumably, the studio offered him enough money to keep talking. That’s usually not the best reason for a director to sign on, but based on the strength of the previous film, I’ll be there opening weekend.

On November 20, “Carol” gets a limited release. Director Todd Haynes tackles a similarly taboo subject matter as his own “Far From Heaven.” This one’s about a younger woman falling in love with an older woman in 1950s New York. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star, and they’re two of the best actresses working today. The film’s screened at festivals to rave reviews.

This year brings not one but two Pixar films. After the summer’s “Inside Out,” I’m really looking forward to “The Good Dinosaur” (November 25). The premise is pretty basic — What if the dinosaurs didn’t go extinct? (The trailer plays this out in a hilarious visual gag.) When the animation studio is on its game, there’s nobody better. The film’s had a troubled production, with Disney announcing in June that nearly the entire voice cast had been scrapped. Still, “Inside Out” felt like a real return to form for Pixar, so I’m hoping their latest picks up where it left off.

The performer pairing I’m most excited for is Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in “Macbeth,” which is getting a limited released on December 4. The trailer is gorgeous. I’ve already talked about how much I like Fassbender, but Cotillard is every bit his equal (if not superior). The prospect of these two playing off each other in a Shakespeare adaptation sounds fantastic.

Finally, we come to it — the main course! “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is unleashed on December 18. When the first teaser was released last November, I wrote about my reluctance to get excited for this new trilogy. But as we’ve gotten closer to release and with the second teaser, my hesitance has almost completely faded…except for a minor concern that the film may delve into fan service (see: director JJ Abrams’s own “Star Trek Into Darkness”). But I’m so ready for this!

(The next two are technically Winter titles, but what’s dinner without a little dessert?)

On December 25, Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” will go into limited release (with a wide release soon to follow). It’s about a group of bounty hunters — and a valuable quarry — holed up in a cabin during a blizzard. Tarantino is one of the most consistently excellent filmmakers working. I’m excited by the prospect of him tackling something with a limited setting. If “Inglorious Basterds” was any indication, with its farmhouse and tavern sequences, he knows how to wring suspense out of a confined space. And there’s a great cast: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s follow up to “Birdman” also comes out on Christmas Day — “The Revenant.” The trailer is tense as hell, and the images (composed by two-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki) are breathtaking. There looks to be an extraordinary amount of movement and coordination within the frame, as you’d expect from the DP of “Children of Men.” Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy star.

So those are the movies I’m most looking forward to! What about you? What are you excited to see this Fall?

My 40 Favorite Moments from “Jaws” (Part 2 of 2)

June 21, 2015June 21, 2015 Garrett Uncategorized adventure, anniversary, Brody, Carl Gottlieb, filmmaking, Great White, Hooper, horror, Jaws, John Williams, Peter Benchley, Quint, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, shark, Steven Spielberg, suspense

Welcome back! If you missed the first part of my 40 favorite moments from “Jaws,” click here. Don’t forget to check out the film on the big screen this evening, courtesy of TCM and Fathom Events.

21.) Quint’s shark shack

Quint ribs Hooper about his city hands, and the Chief can’t stomach Quint’s homemade booze. The scene sets up a lot of the conflict to come. These characters and their dynamic are a real strength of the film. I could watch these guys on a road trip.

22.) “Farewell and adieu…”

Before setting out, Quint sings “Spanish Ladies.” (It’s catchy as hell!) I’ve always loved the smile Hooper gives him. I like to think it’s a rare moment of camaraderie between them, Hooper perhaps recognizing a song he’s heard on the ocean. But you could also read it as “Just nod and smile at the crazy loon.”

23.) Genre hop

An interesting things about “Jaws” is that it changes genres halfway through. It starts as a horror film — an unseen force preying on a white picket fence community — and then it becomes an adventure when our three heroes embark on a hunt for a killer shark.

24.) Drinking contest

One of the things that makes “Jaws” so special is its sense of humor. It leverages the suspense and excitement, and it comes naturally from its characters. Consider Quint and Hooper having a drink. Quint drains his beer can and crushes it, Hooper does just the same…except his is a Styrofoam cup.

25.) Air tank exposition

Hooper chews Brody out for sending air tanks across the Orca’s deck. It’s a great bit of exposition, because it accomplishes three things at once. (1) It ups the stakes and the possibility for disaster. (2) It reinforces that Brody is not at home on the water and isolates him from the other characters. (3) It sets up the shark’s final scene and the climax of the film.

26.) Whose [fishing] line is it anyway?

An attempt to capture the shark involves piano wire and a fishing rod. Brody and Hooper are busy, so only Quint notices that something seems to be nibbling on the end of his line. The sound work is fantastic, allowing tension to build. Click, click, click. The line twitches in the water. Creak. And Quint fastens himself to his chair.

27.) The shark is ready for its close-up

Martin: “I can go slow ahead. Come on down and chum some of this shit!”

And boom, more than an hour into the film, the Great White finally gets his close-up. Timed perfectly, I love the way Spielberg turns a laugh into a scream.

28.) Shark’s limited screen time

I adore the judicious use of the shark, a strategy that would surely fall flat today. (Remember all that bellyaching about Godzilla’s screen time in last year’s reboot?) Still, few things take the majesty and menace out of a monster like overexposure.

29.) “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

C’mon, what else do I need to say! The perfect encapsulation of an insurmountable problem.

30.) Pirate music

John Williams’s work highlights that transition from horror to sea-faring adventure. Nowhere is that more prevalent than the first chase. Listen to the track here. Still gets my heart racing.

31.) Fish stories

Quint and Hooper, a little tipsy, compare scars in a game of one-upsmanship. I got this from a bull shark. Well, I got this from a thresher. The Chief lifts his shirt, takes a look at his appendectomy scar, then quickly dismisses it. The scene’s a welcome reprieve after the first thrilling chase and before…

32.) “You were on the Indianapolis?”

I love the way Hooper’s laugh deflates when he learns that Quint was on the USS Indianapolis. It’s a great bit of acting by Dreyfuss. If you’re not familiar with the story — I certainly wasn’t as a kid — it lets you know that you’re in for something. Also note how Brody isn’t aware of the event. Yet again, he’s the outsider.

33.) The Indianapolis monologue

Robert Shaw delivers the movie monologue to end all movie monologues. The language is so evocative: “You know the thing about a shark, he’s got black eyes. Lifeless eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t seem to be livin’…until he bites ya.” Whether a conscious choice or not — Shaw was a drinker on set — I love Quint’s drunken portrayal. As though his boat-mates wouldn’t be hearing this story if he were sober. It also serves as a basis for some of Quint’s more questionable decisions.

34.) The sound of silence

After conditioning the audience to expect the shark’s theme before an attack, Spielberg and Williams pull a great switcheroo. When the barrels attached to the fish surface, the audience knows the threat is there. Its attack comes out of silence.

35.) “He’s chasing us, I don’t believe it!”

I love the characterization – I’m using that word loosely — of the shark. He’s driven by more than just instinct, and, yes, there wouldn’t be much of a movie if he just moved on to another beach. He almost mocks our heroes before bringing his full strength to bear. The way he passes by Hooper in the cage before striking (more on that in a bit). And the way the tables turn and he starts chasing the Orca. The shark’s final scene is spectacular, but it’s earned. You feel as though that’s what it’d take, nothing less, to kill this unstoppable force.

36.) Life jackets

Quint tells Brody and Hooper that he’ll never put on a life jacket again. So when he hands each of them one, the boat hanging low in the water, it speaks volumes about their predicament. This is as close as Quint gets to apologizing. And I love the visual of him finding the life jackets: hanging from the ceiling, dripping with water.

37.) Cage match

With Hooper in the cage, we finally get our first full-body look at the Great White. It appears out of the din, Williams’s theme chugging along in the background. It glides by the cage, not even fitting inside the 2.35 framing. As it disappears into the murk again, the theme fades. So haunting!

38.) “The ocean turns red…”

A shark attack in all its grisly horror, Quint comes face-to-face with the thing he fears most. Shaw’s committed performance sells it and makes for one of the best movie deaths of all time. Oh man, and the foley work — the snap-crack when the shark bites into Quint’s leg. Ouch.

39.) The end

Martin: “I used to hate the water.”

Hooper: “I can’t imagine why.”

40.) Source of inspiration

Okay, not really a moment from “Jaws,” but I owe my love of movies to this film. I’ve told the story before, but when I was seven years old, I wanted to be a marine biologist. So my mother showed me “Jaws,” and I wanted to be a filmmaker. When you hear about all the production’s trials and tribulations — ballooning budgets and schedules, a malfunctioning shark, weather, location politics — it’s a marvel it got made at all and a testament to art coming from adversity. That the film turned out as well as it did, well, that’s just icing on the cake. Or chum in the water. I liked “Jaws” as a kid, but it took getting older to appreciate how good it is.

Thanks for reading! Do you have a favorite moment from “Jaws?” Comment below.

My 40 Favorite Moments from “Jaws” (Part 1 of 2)

June 20, 2015June 20, 2015 Garrett Uncategorized anniversary, Brody, Carl Gottlieb, filmmaking, Great White, Hooper, horror, Jaws, John Williams, Peter Benchley, Quint, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, shark, Steven Spielberg, suspense

Today marks the 40^th anniversary of “Jaws.” Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley, and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss. The film changed the course of Hollywood…and it changed the course of my life. Note the name of the blog. In honor of its big anniversary, part one of my 40 favorite moments from “Jaws.”

1.) Duuh dunnn…duuuuh duun…

“All this machine does is swim and eat and make little sharks.” What better way to characterize something so simple than with two notes? Once John Williams’s theme gets going, it does indeed sound like an engine. A big, unstoppable engine…with teeth.

2.) Peeping shark

Suspense builds as we watch an unsuspecting menu item, her feet dangling beneath the surface.

3.) The first bite is the deepest

The minimalist approach here was the way to go. There isn’t so much as a shadow or flick of a fin. Just violent jerking motions. Primal and visceral.

4.) Meeting Martin Brody

Martin: “How come the sun didn’t used to shine in here?”

Ellen: “We bought the house in the fall. This is summer.”

…

Ellen: “In Amity you say ‘yahd’.”

Martin: “[The kids] are in the yahd, not too fahr from the cahr. How’s that?”

Ellen: “Like you’re from New York.”

In a few quick lines, we learn so much about the Brody family and Martin in particular.

5.) The ferry long take

The mayor corners the chief for a meeting about tourist season. There’s minimal camera movement, but since we’re on a ferry, the background is spinning and Spielberg keeps the actors moving such that we don’t notice the long take. It’s a dynamic way to deliver exposition.

6.) Brody’s POV

Spielberg places us in the shoes of the paranoid chief as he watches bathers from his chair. Beach-goers walk in front of the camera — they wipe off Brody and wipe on what he’s looking at. Someone will be talking to the chief, their face wedged into the corner of the frame and an expanse of ocean over their shoulder, letting us know what’s really on our his mind.

7.) Let’s [not] paint the town red!

Red is used so sparingly in the film that when it does appear, it pops off the screen.

8.) There’s chaos in the air

“We have to talk to Mrs. Kintner, because this is going to turn into a contest.”

“I have a motel! How do you feel about this?”

“Go out there tomorrow and see that no one gets hurt!”

Overlapping dialog during the town meeting accomplishes so much more than a traditional, staged approach. It adds texture and makes Amity feel lived in.

9.) There ARE strings on me.

Brody, on the left side of the frame, talks about keeping the beaches safe. He has no lead room — no vision or conviction. Behind him, the mayor and his cronies watch their puppet dance. A whole story in one shot.

10.) Quint’s intro

Nails on a chalkboard rake across a shark that’s devouring a swimmer. And so we meet the film’s most indelible character. Quint’s entrance encompasses all the bluster that he’ll come to embody. And yet his line, “There’s too many captains on this island,” cuts right to the heart of the problem. Bureaucracy and commercial interests have indeed run amok on the island.

11.) Brody’s studies

Brody glances through a series of photographs depicting real-life shark attacks. Reflected in his glasses, the horror on the book pages consume his vision.

12.) Fickle fin

Martin: “I don’t want him on the ocean!”

Ellen: “He’s not on the ocean, he’s in a boat!”

Ellen: “Michael! Did you hear your father? Out of the water now. Now!”

13.) Attack of the Pier!

After a bounty is placed on the shark, two fishermen attempt to catch it. When the fish takes the bait chained to a pier, half the pier goes with it and one of the men gets dragged out to sea. In one of my favorite gags, the pier turns around and follows him. Shark-by-proxy, far spookier than actually seeing the creature.

14.) Brody and his son

Few and far between are the blockbusters that would make room for a scene like this. Having been blamed for the death of Alex Kintner, the chief finds himself goofing off with his son. The young boy mimics his father, and Martin plays along. It aligns us firmly with our hero.

15.) Ellen & Hooper

Ellen laughs just a little too hard and a little too long at some of Hooper’s jokes. It’s a nice bit of characterization and a nice nod to Peter Benchley’s novel, which contained a subplot about an affair between the two.

16.) “Drowning”

Ellen: “Martin sits in his car when we go on the ferry to the main land. I guess it’s a childhood thing. There’s a clinical name for it, isn’t there?”

Martin: “Drowning.”

You’ve got to love Schieder’s off-handed delivery. In a lesser film, Martin Brody would have been too broadly comic or just a wet blanket. But Spielberg and Scheider strike the right balance.

17.) Boo!

While we ponder Hooper’s discovery of a tooth the size of a shot glass — Bam! — a pale and bloated corpse floats out to greet him. Like a magician, Spielberg draws our gaze away before the trick.

18.) Water-level camera

One of the visual strategies Spielberg employs is a water-level camera. This usually involves water lapping over the lens and swimmers in the background. It amps up the tension as it feels like we, the audience, are treading shark-infested water.

19.) “Michael’s in the pond!”

After a false alarm on July 4th, a woman spots the shark. “There’s a shark in the pond!” The camera tracks with Brody in profile as he makes his way through a crowd, faster and faster until the beach goers are blurs around him. It’s a great means of visualizing the chief’s rising panic as his son happens to be playing in the pond.

20.) Mayor of Shark City

“I was acting in the town’s best interest.” Murray Hamilton says this to himself as much as Brody, as though he was already practicing for the media gauntlet. By the end of the scene, he’s just a broken man: “Martin, my kids were on that beach too.” It’s a glimmer of humanity in a character that’s otherwise pretty sleazy.

Tune in tomorrow for the second and final installment in “My 40 Favorite Moments from ‘Jaws’.” Also tomorrow, Fathom Events will also be screening the film throughout the country. If you’ve never seen “Jaws” on a big screen with a large audience, it’s a real treat! Click here for location and ticket details.

Remember Your First Time?

March 21, 2015 Garrett Uncategorized Aliens, college, dorm, films, freshman, Great White, horror, Ithaca, Jaws, John Williams, Matt Zoller Seitz, movies, New York, Roger Ebert, roommate, scary movies, shark, Steven Spielberg

Matt Zoller Seitz recently published an excellent article about watching “Aliens” with his 11-year old son and a handful of his fifth grade friends. He wrote, “I realized…that while unfortunately you can’t see a great movie again for the first time, the next best thing is to show it to people who’ve never seen it.” Which is a sentiment I’ve always found to be true. Watch a comedy you enjoy with someone who’s never seen it, and you’ll find yourself laughing harder. Watch one of your favorite horror films with someone who’s never seen it, and you you’ll find your palms sweating. In honor of Seitz’s writeup, I thought I’d share my experience showing “Jaws” to my college roommate.

Indeed, my freshman year roommate — and we would remain roomies throughout college — had never seen “Jaws.” I felt determined and obligated to remedy this as quickly as possible. He was a good sport, but he went into the experience with notions of what he thought the film would be. Though he didn’t say anything beforehand, I could read it on him. “Oh yeah, ‘Jaws?’ I’ve heard about the robotic shark.” Or “I’ve seen other movies from this period, and I didn’t like them very much.” Or “Horror movies have changed so much since the 70s. Scary? Yeah, we’ll see.”

One early autumn evening, we had three or four friends over to watch the film. The viewing circumstances were less than ideal. We were all stuffed into a small dorm room. It was stinkin’ hot in upstate New York, and our door was open for circulation. I still remember intoxicated voices bouncing around the hall outside as students were enjoying their weekend. The television set was in the neighborhood of 15 inches, and it was wedged between the ceiling and the top of some large cabinets. (They’re called “closets” in some circles.)

There was idle chit-chat among our friends over the opening credits. I grimaced, not wanting to be a killjoy but also trying to maintain some semblance of a proper presentation. With that first tug on poor Chrissie Watkins’s leg, things started to quiet down. As she was ripped through the water by an unseen menace, the chatter completely turned to silence.

Cut to 15 minutes later, Chief Brody sits on the beach with his family. He anxiously watches bathers enter and exit the water, believing a shark was responsible for the young woman’s death. A couple townsfolk strike up a conversation with him, but his eyes are fixed on the expanse of ocean. The Chief explodes out of his chair at the sound of a young woman’s screams, only to discover that her boyfriend has surfaced beneath her. He leans forward as a shape approaches a woman floating on her back. It’s just a swimmer. Little Alex Kitner enters the water and paddles out on his raft. I watched with anticipation as John Williams’s menacing score started to thump and Spielberg’s roving camera — the shark’s POV — approached the boy from below. The raft is overturned, and there’s a geyser of blood as Alex is taken under.

My roommate screamed: “Oh God! OH MY GOD!”

Movie viewings are rarely this gratifying.

As the full gravity of the community’s situation sets in, marine biologist Matt Hooper investigates a boat that was struck by the shark. A moody night-time scene: lights from Hooper’s vessel filter through the inky water. Eerie music indicates that danger could strike at any moment. And then, my phone went off. I can’t for the life of me remember why I didn’t have it on vibrate. As it rang out, one of our friends piped up, “Well, that ruined the mood!” Without bringing the phone to my ear, I spoke into the receiver: “Hold on.” As Hooper approaches a hole in the hull of the boat, the craft’s former owner, dead, floats into frame to greet him. Screams erupted all around me as I walked to the hallway to take the call.

Afterward, my roommate would admit that he thought the film would be a victim of its times. The next day, he posted a picture of the “Jaws” DVD online and simply stated: Best. Movie. Ever.

Do you have a memory of sharing a favorite film with a friend? Comment below!

Lists: Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2015 (Part 1 of 2)

December 20, 2014December 20, 2014 Garrett Lists Age of Ultron, Andrew Garfield, Avengers, Brad Bird, Coen Brothers, Cold War, Iron Man, Joel and Ethan Coen, Joss Whedon, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese, Marvel, most anticipated, movies, Richard Linklater, Robert Downey Jr, SIlence, Steven Spielberg, That's What I'm Talking About, Tom Hanks, Tomorrowland, top 10

I’m a few prestige titles short of an informed perspective on this past year in cinema, so I thought I’d jump ahead! Here are the titles I’m most looking forward to in 2015…

10.) “Tomorrowland”

Release Date: May 22nd

What governs my interest in a project are the people involved. A two-minute trailer can make anything look good, and a plot synopsis can’t encapsulate the creative decisions that bring a story to the screen. With that in mind, my #10 is a mixed bag. “Tomorrowland” is an original, big-budget science fiction film directed by Brad Bird. From “The Iron Giant” to “The Incredibles” to “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocal,” this guy is one of the best pop filmmakers working today. Sadly, screenwriter Damon Lindelof is not. Influenced by frequent collaborator, JJ Abrams, Lindelof is a fan of the mystery box. His “boxes,” while interestingly packaged, are often empty. The disappointment of “Prometheus” and the final season of “Lost” still stings. Given Bird’s track record and the intriguing teaser — No, I don’t ignore advertising altogether — I’m holding out for a good time at the movies!

9.) “Silence”

Release Date: Fall

Exhibit B in the case for directors generating excitement. “Silence” has been a long-time passion project for Martin Scorsese. It’s about two Jesuit priests persecuted in 17th century Japan. Conceptually, I’m not particularly interested. It sounds like a standard dreary prestige film, but Scorsese seals the deal. Andrew Garfield and Liam Neeson are attached, and though I would prefer the original pairing of Daniel Day-Lewis and Benicio del Toro, Scorsese continues to adapt and produce great work. I was a big fan of his last two movies, “Hugo, which was uncharacteristically family friendly, and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (definitely not for children). I’m excited for him to finally bring his vision of this story to the screen.

8.) Untitled Cold War Thriller

Release Date: October 16th

Here’s another great collection of talent! This untitled Cold War thriller is directed by Steven Spielberg, stars Tom Hanks and is written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Based on a true story, it’s about an attorney sent to negotiate the release of an American pilot captured by the Soviet Union. I’m especially intrigued to see what comes of the collaboration between Spielberg and the Coens. The former wears his heart on his sleeve, while the latter tend to be cold and aloof. It’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out. Hanks’s involvement with Spielberg is always a plus – well almost always…”The Terminal” doesn’t do anything for me. But let’s be honest, when Spielberg is in thriller mode, hold onto your butts!

7.) “Avengers: Age of Ultron”

Release Date: May 1st

I’m getting a little weary of super hero movies, especially Marvel’s. Still, there’s no denying the event-ness that surrounds “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” As a fan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” I was excited by Joss Whedon’s involvement with the first Avengers movie, and he didn’t let me down. As far as the sequel, if the trailer is any indication, he’s taking the “Empire Strikes Back” approach. This will be the darker and moodier chapter, which is fine by me. Dark Whedon is my favorite Whedon. (Buffy’s “The Body,” anyone?) I’m confident he’ll be able to take these characters in new directions and bring a more personal dimension to their struggle. Let’s face it, you can only endanger the world so often before that stops being exciting. Maybe the film’s sentient robot antagonist, Ultron, will bring the Marvel-verse what it sorely needs: a strong villain.

6.) “That’s What I’m Talking About”

Release Date: TBD

With 2013’s “Before Midnight” and this year’s “Boyhood,” writer-director Richard Linklater is on a god damn hot streak. (Spoiler alert: “Boyhood” is a serious contender for my film of the year.) “That’s What I’m Talking About” promises to be a spiritual sequel to Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused.” Set in the 1980’s, it follows several college baseball players. I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story. Though they might be a dime a dozen, I really feel that few get them quite like Linklater. Whether he’s working with a limited cast (“Before Sunrise”) or a large ensemble (“Dazed and Confused”), he’s so respectful of his characters. They come across as real flesh and blood human beings…full of happiness and sadness, drama and comedy.

Stay tuned next week for my top five most anticipated movies of 2015!

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Blog

A "Jaws" fan muses on movies…and other things

Steven Spielberg