Game of Thrones Season 5 Trailer and Bad News for Book Fans

UPDATED WITH OFFICIAL TRAILER IN HD:

For those of you (like myself) in lesser realms not deemed fit to have Game of Thrones released in IMAX, here's a peek at the just-released season 5 trailer:


Exciting to be sure!

What's not so thrilling is official publisher confirmation that George R.R. Martin definitely won't be releasing The Winds of Winter (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Six) this year. In fact, Martin's publisher HarperCollins, admits that 2016 might not see it either. It looks like this upcoming season (debuting April 12th) will see the HBO series fully caught up to events in the books, so in a very exciting reversal of norms, we're probably going to see seasons 6 and 7 charge ahead of the books, before they're actually published. After all, the showrunners pretty much know how it all ends, and have already made some significant departures in this next season to align with their master plan.

It is known.

Producer's Guild Win Moves Birdman Into Pole Position

Birdman has flown away with the Producers Guild Association's coveted Daryl F. Zanuck award for best motion picture, moving the film into front-runner status for this year's Oscar race.

The previous 7 PGA winners have gone on to land the Best Picture Oscar.

Last year saw the first-ever tie in PGA history, split between Gravity and 12 Years A Slave, with Slave going on to win the Oscar gold. In the 25 year history of the PGA, the Zanuck award has been a forecaster of the Best Picture Oscar 18 times, including the last 7 years. The last variance occurred in 2006 when the PGA's Zanuck went to Little Miss Sunshine and Oscar gave the nod to The Departed. 

Last night, Birdman was also buoyed by winning the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild, nabbing SAG's Best Cast in a Motion Picture. Last year American Hustle won the SAG cast award, but failed to come away with an Academy win. The other SAG motion picture winners this year were Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash).

Oscar night is Sunday, February 22nd, less than a month away.

Coming of Age in Boyhood

Drama imposes structure on life, while life itself unspools as a continuous, overlapping narrative. With Boyhood, writer-director Richard Linklater finds a way to weave both perspectives together, crafting one of the most compelling films of recent memory.

Filmed as a long-term project over a dozen years, Boyhood follows Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age six to eighteen, gradually moving forward in time through life's myriad changes - schools, homes, step-parents, relationships and realizations. Linklater deftly keeps a naturalistic pace and tone, never imposing the artifice of contrivance or overt plot, which somehow draws us in and invests us in the characters all the more. There are no simplistic or obvious transitions - you're never abruptly aware of the passage of time, rather finding yourself asking, "Did we just move ahead?"

It's impossible to watch Boyhood without reflecting on your own past and evolution from first grade to the cusp of adulthood. There's a universal experience of moving through the canyons of childhood that is clearly a big part of the film's appeal, with vignettes and quiet moments that are always realistic and easy to relate to.

Boyhood feels very personal. Growing up amid the frayed connections of divorced parents Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke, the film is as much about life's impact on adults as it is on children. Hawke has never been better, and Coltrane is a revelation. The young man we see poised on the verge of adulthood has the charisma and heart to become a major star.

While we have a timelapse view of the characters, we also have one of the last dozen years of America, and what it's like to move from Dragon Ball Z to Obama. From an arrowhead collection to aspirations of a career.

Some critics have dismissed Boyhood's unique long-term storytelling and construction as mere stunt or gimmick. To them I ask, did you have childhood? Have you lost touch with how it felt to be caught between the pull of family and your own desires? If so, Boyhood could very well help you remember. A visionary achievement full of humanity, as rich and unpredictable as life itself.

Room Service! Marxist (as in brothers) Mayhem at The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is a fascinating cat. His films tend to feel more like novels than movies, with a particularly arch, almost Salingeresque sense of characters in the midst of junctures and upheaval. He's become something of a divisive director, which seems silly to me, as though Anderson's embrace of the eccentric was something to be shunned as being too deliberate.

I've seen about half of the Anderson catalog and particularly loved the whimsy of Fantastic Mr. Fox. With The Grand Budapest Hotel, it's as if Anderson finally embraced his more delirious tendencies and gave himself permission to remove the leash and let them range. The result is nothing short of delight and pure hysteria, in what feels like his most overtly farcical comedy to date.

Ralph Fiennes (criminally overlooked by Oscar) is M. Gustav, the panache-propelled concierge who's kept the "Grand" foremost in the reputation of the hotel's guests, deep in the mythical 1930's borderlands of Europe. Gustav's fondness for romancing dowager guests isn't purely mercenary, he just can't help himself. It's like being left-handed. He finds himself having to show new Lobby Boy Zero Mustafa the ropes of running the hotel just so, at nearly the same moment that one of his faded conquests meets her demise, launching the plot into motion like a giant meringue sliding across an ice rink.

The Europe of Grand Budapest Hotel is between World Wars, and the insistent prying of fascist police states is threatening to pull down the stones of the elegant era Gustav's always known. Caught up in crisis over the dowager's will and a hilarious portrait which he stands to inherit, Anderson sends Gustav and protege Zero hurtling into action, spurred by the divine guidance of The Marx Brothers.

The cast of Budapest is enormous and inspired. Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Adrian Brody, Harvey Keitel, a smashing Jeff Goldblum - these are just a handful of the talents on hand to wreak character-fueled havoc within the hotel and without.

Anderson has created one of the most visually arresting comedies in recent memory, thanks to the truly spectacular cinematography of frequent collaborator Robert D. Yeoman, who treats both the environs and the faces of Budapest with equal parts fantastical awe. It's an amazing looking film with shot composition that makes you whistle, but that never gets in the way of the shenanigans.

The Grand Budapest Hotel carries the blush of a bygone era of comedy when audiences counted on Hollywood to give them escape that delivered laughter and the euphoria of elegance, a much needed combination to help forget about the hardships of the day. Wes Anderson playfully pinches that sophistication and bumps its hat off, while making sure that today's audiences get a joyful blast of that same exotic and unhinged sense of fun.

Sundance Shocker The Witch an Early Breakout

There's plenty of excitement at Sundance this year and there are always some surprise films that no one was expecting that seem destined to bust loose and become full fledged pop culture phenoms. It's becoming more and more dependable that a good percentage of Sundance discoveries are in the horror genre, with this year proving to be no exception. One of the first films to generate real heat is The Witch.

Directed by Robert Eggers, The Witch evokes both Kubrick and Bergman, with a setting of Puritan New England, prior to the infamous 1692 Salem trials, with a colonial family living on a remote forest farm. Dark forces gather as food grows scarce, a disappearance occurs and a sinister presence grows near.

Here's the skinny from Variety:

"A fiercely committed ensemble and an exquisite sense of historical detail conspire to cast a highly atmospheric spell in 'The Witch,' a strikingly achieved tale of a mid-17th-century New England family’s steady descent into religious hysteria and madness. Laying an imaginative foundation for the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials that would follow decades later, writer-director Robert Eggers’ impressive debut feature walks a tricky line between disquieting ambiguity and full-bore supernatural horror, but leaves no doubt about the dangerously oppressive hold that Christianity exerted on some dark corners of the Puritan psyche. With its formal, stylized diction and austere approach to genre, this accomplished feat of low-budget period filmmaking will have to work considerable marketing magic to translate appreciative reviews into specialty box-office success, but clearly marks Eggers as a storyteller of unusual rigor and ambition."

Count me in.

More news as it breaks!

Please Look After This Bear - The Joy of Paddington!

Paddington is nothing short of an utter delight and one of the best family films in ages. If you're looking for something to see with the kids that won't have you pounding your head against the armrest, Paddington delivers wildly. The Michael Bond books have been lovingly produced (by Harry Potter's David Heyman) into a film that pleases both children and adults with equal measure.

Uprooted from his home in Darkest Peru, Paddington arrives in London, looking for a place to live. A true innocent abroad, Paddington Bear is also a compassionate metaphor about xenophobia and immigrant alarm. Paddington finds himself taken in by Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville (who gamely endures all manner of shtick) and his wife, the fabulous Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine), in the cutest of all possible London townhouses with their two children.

It's a testament to the strength of Paddington that your fondness for the little bear and the characters continually triumphs over the Cruella De Vil threat of taxidermist Nicole Kidman and a cranky neighbor (current Doctor Who Peter Capaldi) who are out to get our little visitor. You fear we're veering over too far into action movie territory with all the jeopardy, but there's always plenty of marmalade spread onto the proceedings to retain the cozy, happy tone.

Paddington is charming, witty and inventive and will definitely be on everyone's best list when the year comes to a close. Writer-director Paul King has filled it with wry nods to cinema classics ranging from Foreign Correspondent to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It has much of the same sense of delight that fans of Wallace and Gromit will gleefully recognize. Why this film wasn't released smack-dab in the middle of the Christmas season is utterly baffling. It would have been perfectly positioned to be a family box office juggernaut. Too often January is seen as the dead zone between the holidays and stray Oscar nominees.

Don't let the odd timing prevent you and your loved ones from spending a fantastic time with a bear who promises to take very good care of you indeed.

First Trailer for SyFy's The Advance!

Last Spring we learned that the SyFy channel was mounting an adaption of the James Corey Expanse series, said to be part of a larger shift in the channel's goal to try and reclaim their identity as a destination for actual science fiction (and maybe less wrestling). The Expanse (beginning with Leviathan Wakes) was said to be the most expensive undertaking in the channel's history.

Well they've definitely gone and done it, as the first trailer with some pretty solid footage has emerged. Thomas Jane and Steven Strait star, but I'm seeing Jonathan Banks in there, too, which is great news. We don't have an air date yet, but it's clearly emblazoned with 2015, so this baby will be coming our way before we know it. This looks pretty true to the book and they have a couple of terrific writers at the helm, so it's looking like they may just have pulled it off.

Have yourself a gander;

OSCAR NOMS! Snubs and Surprises!

Oscar is looking mighty white this year. With Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel leading the field with nine nominations each, for the first time since 1999, there are no nominations for people of color in any of the acting categories. David Oyelowo's portrayal of Dr. Martin Luther King (Selma) was overlooked, presumably in favor of American Sniper's Bradley Cooper, which seems to send the message that guns are more compelling in America than African Americans - yikes. Selma's director Ava DuVerney was also not nominated, despite Selma's being nominated as one of the eight best pictures (one of the film's only two nominations).

Here's the breakdown of director vs. picture nominees:

Bennett Miller is the only nominated director (for Foxcatcher), not to see his film also be nominated for Best Picture. Other Best Picture nominees likewise not up for director are Clint Eastwood (American Sniper), James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) and Damien Chazelle (Whiplash).

Gillian Flynn did not receive a nod for her Gone Girl adaptation. In the acting races, Jennifer Aniston (Cake) and Amy Adams (Big Eyes) were left out, with the Academy opting instead for Marion Cotillard (Two Days One Night). Jake Gyllenhaal ended up being ignored for Nightcrawler. Jessica Chastain is also out in the cold this year, missing out for A Most Violent Year, which failed to score a single nomination. Life Itself, the highly regarded documentary about film critic Roger Ebert also failed to be recognized. Angelina Jolie's Unbroken received three nominations in largely technical categories. The Lego Movie was overlooked in the Animated Film category, despite it's $258 million dollar haul.

Laura Dern was nominated for Wild, with Keira Knightly (The Imitation Game) and Emma Stone (Birdman) being the other nominees who weren't necessarily locks. Somewhat surprisingly, Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Guardians of the Galaxy scored two nominations (Visual Effects and Makeup) while Interstellar received five.

It will be a very busy day for press agents, bartenders and therapists. Redbox will see a huge spike in demand for Boyhood and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees and heartfelt admiration to all those who are feeling a little unappreciated this morning. May it only serve to inspire you to even greater achievements in the future.

Here's the complete list:

Best Picture
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director
Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Roger Deakins, Unbroken

Best Foreign Language Film
Ida, Poland
Leviathan, Russia
Tangerines, Estonia
Timbuktu, Mauritania
Wild Tales, Argentina

Best Adapted Screenplay
American Sniper, Jason Hall
The Imitation Game, Graham Moore
Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything, Anthony McCarten
Whiplash, Damien Chazelle

Best Original Screenplay
Birdman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
Boyhood, Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Original Score
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie; Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from Selma; Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me; Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from Begin Again; Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, American Sniper
Sandra Adair, Boyhood
Barney Pilling, The Grand Budapest Hotel
William Goldenberg, The Imitation Game
Tom Cross, Whiplash

Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game, Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Into the Woods, Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Mr. Turner, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best Animated Short
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Live Action Short
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Birdman, Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
Interstellar, Richard King
Unbroken, Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
Birdman, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Interstellar, Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
Unbroken, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
Whiplash, Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Best Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy, Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
Interstellar, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past, Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Best Documentary — Feature
Citizenfour
Finding Vivien Maier
Last Days of Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Colleen Atwood, Into the Woods
Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, Maleficent
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner

A Double Dose of Frustration!

"You're tearin' me apart!!!" First, comes the news the Warners' has delayed Ron Howard's sea epic In the Heart of the Sea from March, where it was less than two months from opening, to December, now squeezed right up against Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Maybe it's a vote of Oscar confidence, but I was really looking forward to that one.

Then after that comes the teeth-grindingly annoying news that the amazing IMAX Game of Thrones event is completely bypassing the state that I live in!!! That's Portland, Oregon, in case you're curious - a town that's positively overflowing with with enthusiastic, fantasy and sci-fi, movie-loving, beer-drinking nerd faithful. We would have blown the doors off that box office. Now we're chopped liver!

Oh, well - tomorrow is another day. In fact, the Oscar nominations will be announced at O-Dark-Thirty AM (5:30 Pacific) tomorrow morning, so let's meet back here after that to kvetch and discuss.

Director Roundup: DGA and Globes frazzle Oscar

Award season is in high gear, or another way to put it, the snubs are starting to bloom. Sunday night saw director Richard Linklater win and win big for Boyhood, besting Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman), Wes Anderson (the Grand Budapest Hotel), David Fincher (Gone Girl) and Ava DuVerney (Selma). 

Today's Director's Guild nominations saw the puckish gods bump into the game board and knock a few pieces askew. Will Ava DuVerney become the first African American woman nominated for a directing Oscar? We'll find out Thursday, but she didn't get the nod from the DGA. Likewise, David Fincher was also overlooked. Joining fellow DGA nominees Iñárritu, Anderson, Linklater, we've got Clint Eastwood (American Sniper) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) rounding out the pack.

The ten pictures up for the Producer's Guild's Darryl F. Zanuck award include American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash. 

The notable PGA omissions include A Most Violent Year, Interstellar, Into The Woods, Selma, Unbroken and Wild.

The initial "Birdman's got it in the bag" fervor has abated a bit, while enthusiasm, timeliness and massive critical praise has helped Selma, not that the DGA paid notice. At this point, I'd say the five most likely names to be called Thursday morning are Iñárritu, Anderson, Linklater, Eastwood and DuVerney. That's Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, American Sniper and Selma. 

Linklater's in pole position, but after the surprise win Sunday for Best Comedy or Musical at the Globes, Wes Anderson's star definitely seems to be on the rise, especially since Budapest came out way last March. Iñárritu's Birdman and Linklater's Boyhood will likely be duking it out, so the votes could split, and that could just favor Wes Anderson or Ava DuVerney, assuming she's nominated. 

So as usual, it's a heck of a circus, and it's going to add another ring as of Thursday morning. Definitely feeling like a year where Oscar will split Picture and Director to two different films. Stay tuned!

A glimpse of NECA's 3rd Ripley!

We've already got two versions of Ripley coming from NECA, both depicting her debut appearance in Alien, due around May of this year.

Now we've got a glimpse of some concept art for the 3rd iteration of Sigourney Weaver's iconic space traveler, this one from James Cameron's Aliens, making her ready for action in the Powerloader NECA has already announced. This Ripley's prototype will go public next month at Toy Fair, February 14th - 17th.

Looking good and mean, Rip!

The Phenomenal Star Trek Continues!

It turns out to be Georgia! Yes, after the original Star Trek series went off the air, some time later (much later), actor Vic Mignogna and an incredibly talented bunch of fellow artists and filmmakers in the state of Georgia got together to continue the ongoing Original Series era adventures of James Kirk and the Star Trek Enterprise crew. The good folks on Wired have posted an excellent behind the scenes snippet of their work, which will frankly leave you a bit awestruck at the fidelity and level of commitment on display. CLICK THIS LINK to check it out for yourself. Frankly, it's downright eerie! There's even a sequel to "Mirror, Mirror" ("Fairest of them all") that actually shows us what happened back on the evil Enterprise after their true Captain returned, and it's awesome. The writing, the tone, the performances, the lighting, the sets, cinematography - everything feels like the original series, as though it had just kept on rolling.

If that intrigues you (and it should), full episodes and plenty of other excellent content are available at the Star Trek Continues website or on their YouTube channel. They're launching a "Kirkstarter" campaign to help fund episode 4, so consider lending a hand.

Massive congratulations to Vic Mignogna, James Kerwin and everyone involved with this amazing achievement. Live Long and Prosper!

Game of Thrones coming to IMAX theaters!

Game of Thrones is making history again, with special screenings of digitally remastered episodes of the HBO series in large format theatrical exhibition.

The screenings will consist of the final two episodes of season four along with an exclusive preview trailer for the new upcoming season that debuts in April. 150 IMAX theaters will carry Thrones from January 23rd - 29th.

"The cinematic brilliance and grand scope of the series is perfect for the IMAX format," said Pamela Levine, HBO's Chief Marketing Officer. Game of Thrones is the first television series to be presented in the IMAX format.

Happy New Year and 2015 movie release look ahead!

Welcome back! I hope you all had a terrific holiday season! Looking back at last year's forecast was interesting - Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and Godzilla were probably the biggest disappointments. I don't think anyone was expecting Snowpiercer, easily one of the years' most pleasant surprises. I'd say my favorites would have to include Snowpiercer, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Edge of Tomorrow, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Babadook, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. 

My favorite of the year would have to be Guardians, as it was so completely eccentric, lighthearted and unpredictable. Marvel Studios deserves the highest praise for being willing to back such an unlikely candidate for box office success, but audiences hungry for freshness and fun flocked to the film in droves. A real happy ending if ever there was one, which should serve as a message to studios everywhere: audiences want something new and fun. Take chances on original, lively material.

So what's capturing our attention as we begin a new orbit? What's looking exciting? You'd better take a deep breath, as 2015 is looking to be the most colossal geek movie freakout year of all time:


Kingsman: The Secret Service - Matthew Vaughn adapts another Mark Millar (Kick-Ass) comic. Early reviews have been wildly enthusiastic, promising delirious action and a subversive reinvention of the British spy genre. Sounding great.

In the Heart of the Sea - Ron Howard reteams with Chris Hemsworth to tell the true story of the whale ship Essex, the infamous shipwreck that inspired Moby Dick. I'm a huge nautical nut who loved Master and Commander, so I'm making sail for this one as soon as it opens. Can't wait.

Ex Machina - As we recently mentioned, director Alex Garland's work on this film got him the Annihilation gig, so this story of artificial intelligence is definitely one that should be turning a lot of heads. It's got some terrific buzz.

Avengers: Age of Ultron - Need I say more? It's going to blow the doors off. It's going to peel the paving off the autobahn.

Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller will be 70 in March, but he directs like he's 25. The trailer for the new Tom Hardy Max is positively eyeball-popping and looks like huge, unchained apocalyptic insanity.

Jurassic World - Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) is another director who pole-vaulted from modest indie to massive behemoth in a single bound. There are some audacious moments in the trailer and it's Chris Pratt's first flick since Guardians of the Galaxy, so here's hoping the stars align for this one.

Ant-Man - Having Edgar Wright depart Marvel's project was a disappointment, but they've had a truly unbelievable streak, with an army of new titles on the horizon. Can Ant-Man give them another Guardians blast of newcomer success? I'm really hoping this one does well.

Chappie - I loved Elysium, and Neill Blomkamp is turning into one of this era's great sci-fi visionaries. For him to do three original science fiction films back-to-back is wonderful. He's building a real slate of unique glimpses into the future. If it's got Blomkamp's name on it, I'm interested.

Crimson Peak - Ah, Guillermo! So great to have you back, with a Gothic ghost story, no less! Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnum, Tom Hiddleston! What a Halloween present!

The Walk - Robert Zemeckis tackles the true story of aerialist Philippe Petit's 1974 attempt to cross the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit.

The Hateful Eight - I loves me my westerns, and to have Quentin Tarantino returning to the genre again right after Django Unchained is a rare treat, given that Tarantino almost walked away from the project in disgust after a script leak. Kurt Russell and Bruce Dern in 70 mm CinemaScope?!? Another absolute must.

SPECTRE - Director Sam Mendes' follow-up to Skyfall, this time giving us a look into old school nemesis S.P.E.C.T.R.E.  which should be really smashing. Sounds like this particular script has been written and re-written, so here's hoping this is nothing short of an absolute Smersh - er, I mean, smash. 

                                     

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Have you heard of this one? It kind of blows my mind that for the first time since 1977, we've got a Star Wars movie that opens for the Christmas holidays and not in May! That's wild! Expectations are off the charts, but this truly feels like the right combination of participants to really deliver something special.

There are plenty of other contenders for greatness this year - two new Pixar features: Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, a Steven Spielberg cold war thriller, Terminator Genisys, Fantastic Four, Pixels, Brad Bird's Tomorrowland, Mission: Impossible 5, Jupiter Ascending and The Martian from Ridley Scott. Any of these could easily breakout huge or just collapse, as it's anybody's guess at this point.

Plus, something is bound to appear out of nowhere that we never expected that delights and awes. Who knows what this year's Babadook or Snowpiercer will be?

One thing's for sure, 2015 is looking to be one of the most epic and crowd-pleasing years in movie history. Here's hoping we all get to make some tremendous discoveries, and may this new year be kind and generous to you all. I'm excited to get started, aren't you?