A Peek Through The Hatch: Robert's Most Anticipated Films of 2013

So 2013 is shaping up to be one helluva year for movies! And if your tastes are anything like mine, it'll be especially chock-full of great superhero and horror flicks.

Before you go any further, thanks for reading my list! As always, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear what you're looking forward to this year.

Honorable Mention

As the title up there implies, here are (in no particular order) five films that didn't quite make the cut. Summaries are courtesy of IMDb.

5. Riddick (September 6)

“Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick's past."

4. Gravity (October 4)

“Astronauts attempt to return to earth after debris crashes into their space shuttle, leaving them drifting alone in space.”

3. Anchorman: The Legend Continues (December 20)

“The continuing on-set adventures of San Diego's top rated newsman.”

Wikipedia

2. Prince Avalanche (?)

“Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.”

JoBlo.com review.

1. Don Jon’s Addiction (September 19)

“The journey of a contemporary, porn-addicted Don Juan-type as he attempts to become less selfish.”

The List

10. Insidious: Chapter 2 (August 30)

Insidious - the story of parents battling ghosts haunting their house and son - was the first film in years to genuinely make me afraid of turning the lights off at night. It should be interesting to see what direction the sequel takes, as the first one ended on a strange note, one that makes a continuation kind of difficult.

9. The Wolverine (July 26)

Because it can’t be worse than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, right?

But seriously, it sounds like they’re trying to do a solo Wolverine movie right this time and I’m down for that. Wolvie’s adventure in Japan is supposed to be one of the character’s high points and with this film set after the disappointing X-Men: The Last Stand, it sounds like we’re in for an interesting story.

EH Team inside joke!

Cyclops: “Come on, they’re gonna kill him!”
Wolverine: “GOOD.”
Cyclops: “What?!”

8. Evil Dead (April 5)

Was anyone expecting this remake to look this slick (‘cause I sure as hell wasn’t)? I’d never heard of director Fede Alvarez and none of the actors were familiar to me but then those trailers hit. The movie also has Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s blessings (they produced the flick) so it can’t be all bad. It doesn’t hurt that it looks spooky as hell.



7. Thor: The Dark World (November 8)

Pretty curious about this flick as it seems that it’ll be a bit different from the first film (more Asgard?). I’m not a big Game of Thrones fan like a few other members of the EH Team, but I’m sure director Alan Taylor will lend the sequel the appropriate tone.

6. Man of Steel (June 14)

I didn’t hate Superman Returns. That being said, I’m pretty excited for a fresh entry in the Superman mythos. I’m as big a Zack Snyder fan as the next guy, and Christopher Nolan producing can’t be a bad thing. Added bonus: this film is supposedly laying the groundwork for the Justice League movie due in a few years (if all goes according to plan).

 5. Iron Man 3 (May 3)

Iron Man 3 will give us our first glimpse into the Marvel-verse since The Avengers, so I’m pretty excited for it. Plus, Shane Black (director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, an underrated and excellent Robert Downey Jr. movie) is directing this time around. If nothing else, it should be different (and hopefully better) than the bloated and somewhat underwhelming Iron Man 2.



4. The World’s End (October 25)

Am I excited for this movie? Yarp! This is the final film in director Edgar Wright’s "Blood and Ice Cream" Trilogy. Expectations are high, but the trio of Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost haven’t let me down yet. I’m very curious about the plot (yes, it’s all about a pub crawl and the end of the world but, other than that?).

3. The Conjuring (July 19)

I’ve been looking forward to this film - another horror flick directed by James Wan, the guy behind Insidious and, you guessed it, the upcoming Insidious: Chapter Two - for a long time. The movie tells the story of a family that calls in a husband and wife ghost hunting team after discovering that the spirit of a witch is haunting their farm. Between the plot and the director, this sounds like one to watch.

IMDb

2. Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17)

My number two film is the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot. I think Abrams and his team did an excellent job of relaunching the Stark Trek universe and I’m looking forward to seeing how he’s going to advance it in this film. Speculation about the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain has been all over the place, so finally getting to see who he is and why it matters should be payoff enough.



1. Pacific Rim (July 12)

This is it - director Guillermo del Toro’s new giant-monsters-versus-giant-robots sci-fi epic is my most anticipated movie of 2013. As such, I’ll be counting down to the flick until it’s unleashed upon the world on July 12 with posts and tweets and other nonsense. #PacificRimWatch!!!