Happy new year!  Some of the most anticipated movies of the new year include:

January

“Gangster Squad” Sean Penn plays 1940’s mobster Mickey Cohen and Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin are the cops who must be as ruthless as he is to stop him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRVvEHk7xOs

February

“Stand Up Guys” Al Pacino plays a guy who spent 28 years in prison as a “stand-up guy” (he didn’t squeal on his friends).  Will he return to a life of crime with his old friends (Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin)?  Or will one of them follow orders to silence him forever?

March

“Oz the Great and Powerful” The prequel to the “Wizard of Oz” story stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams, with dazzling sets and effects that were really built, not just created digitally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zheMJPEciBk

April

“The Company You Keep” Robert Redford returns to the screen in a story about a 60’s radical who has been underground, co-starring Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Nick Nolte, and Shia LeBeouf.

May

“Iron Man 3,” “Hangover 3” and “The Great Gatsby 3D”  — no more need be said.

June

“Man of Steel” Rebooting Superman, with British actor Henry Cavill, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as the Kents, and Russell Crowe as Jor-El.  I’m looking forward to Michael Shannon and General Zod.

“Monsters University” Pixar’s prequel to “Monsters Inc.” show us the college years of Mike and Sully.

July

“Despicable Me 2” How do you improve on the irresistible original?  Add Al Pacino and Steve Coogan to the cast!

“The Lone Ranger” Johnny Depp is Tonto and Winkelveii Armie Hammer plays the title role.

“Pacific Rim”

“Girl Most Likely” Kristin Wigg is  a playwright and Annette Bening is her mother, a gambler.  Co-stars include “Glee’s” Darren Criss and Broadway star Reed Birney.

August

“Disney’s Planes” John Cryer provides the voice of a crop dusting plane in who joins a race in Disney’s new animated feature.

September

“Runner Runner” Justin Timberlake, Anthony Mackie, and Ben Affleck star in a story about online gambling.

October

“The World’s End” Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite with their “Shawn of the Dead” director Edgar Wright in this story of a reunion of friends at the end of days co-stars Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman (Bilbo in “The Hobbit”), and Rosamund Pike.

November

“Ender’s Game” Harrison Ford goes back into outer space in this big screen version of the classic novel about a boy who has to save the world from aliens.

December

“Saving Mr. Banks” Walt Disney tried to persuade “Mary Poppins” author P.L. Travers to allow him to make a movie from her book for 20 years.  This is that story, with Tom Hanks as Disney and Emma Thompson as the reluctant author (who never did like the movie version of her book).

PLUS: Sequels to “Anchorman,” “GI Joe,” “Scary Movie,” “Fast and Furious,” “Hangover,” “Star Trek,” “Kick-Ass,” “300,” “Red,” “The Smurfs,” “Grown-Ups,” “Sin City,” Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “Paranormal Activity,” “The Best Man,” “The Hunger Games,” “Thor,” “Bad Santa,” “The Hobbit,” and “Pitch Black”

 

(All titles and release dates subject to change.)