My Most Anticipated Films of 2009

So 2009 has gotten off to a good start with the releases of “Coraline” and “Watchmen”. But there are still a great number of movies I’m looking forward to.

I’ll begin with animated films. Of course I’m looking forward to Pixar’s newest release, “Up,” directed by Pete Doctor. This movie looks visually stunning, and the concept seems, to me, somewhat Miyazaki-ish in style. Since their last release was “Wall-E,” my expectations are decidedly high. Let’s just hope that Doctor can live up to the expectations.

Next is “9,” a 3D animated film directed by newcomer Shane Acker. It’s based on his 2005 short film about a bunch of sack people and the end of the world. The film looks decidedly dark and will no doubt garner attention due to its affiliation with Tim Burton (who was one of the producers).

There’s also the “Princess and the Frog” which will mark Disney’s first foray into 2D animation since 2004 with “Home on the Range,” (which I never saw. It’s directed by the same duo who did “Aladdin,” so hopefully it’ll be as good. To be perfectly honest, I’m not very excited based on the teaser, but since Disney hasn’t made a 2D film in so long, I feel that I need to support it so that there’ll be more in the future.

“The Fantastic Mr. Fox” is another film I’m looking forward to. When I was little, that was one of my favorite books (along with almost anything else by Roald Dahl). This is a stop-motion film directed by cult favorite Wes Anderson (it had originally been slated to be directed by him and Selick, but Selick left to work on Coraline). Will another stop-motion classic be released this year? We’ll see.

The next film is “Dragonball: Evolution.” I’m more than aware that this movie is going to suck, but I just can’t abandon my childhood fondness of the anime series. Either way, I expect it to be bad, yet still entertaining. And who knows? If I keep my expectations low enough, I might be pleasantly surprised.

I don’t think I need to justify my excitement for “Terminator: Salvation.” It looks to be the most impactful installation in the series yet. And with publicity like it’s been having, it’s guaranteed to be one of the highest grossing films of the year.

“Inglourious Basterds” surprised me (and yes, that is the proper way to spell it). I left Tarantino’s “Death Proof” completely disgusted with the whole concept of ever seeing one of his movies again. But when the trailer came out, I only thought about how badass this movie is probably going to be. It took that minute-long trailer to get me to believe in Tarantino’s filmmaking ability once more.

Last I will say I’m looking forward to “The Good the Bad, the Weird,” which is a South Korean western film based on “The Good the Bad, and the Ugly.” It looks to be a whole lot of fun and has already been enjoyed by attendees of the Cannes Film Festival. Let’s hope we get an American release soon.

Anyways, those are the ones that stick out most to me. I’m sure there are a bunch I’m missing, but this is what sticks out to me as of now. What films does everyone else look forward to here?

Jammer