As 2010 is coming to a close, I thought it would be a good time to preview the movies coming out in 2011.  Now, obviously, I’m not previewing all the movies coming out next year.  I am going to go through all the ones that I’m planning to see at this time.  The list can change, of course.  I had planned to see Gulliver’s Travels until I saw the preview, and some movies go under the radar until the previews come out.

January 7, 2011

Season of the Witch – It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this movie.  Nicholas Cage is my favorite actor.  This movie was originally supposed to come out last year in February, I believe.  It was pushed back, if the reports I read were correct, because preview audiences thought it needed more back story, and they went back and filmed more back story.  This is the story of a knight returning from the crusades (Cage) and his closest friend (Ron Perlman), who are tasked with taking a girl accused of being a witch to be burned.  The trailers look amazing.

January 14, 2011

The Green Hornet – “The Green Hornet” has been everything from a radio show in the 1930’s, to a television series, movies, and comic books.  While I’ve heard of the Green Hornet, I’ve never actually seen anything of the character.  From what little I know, I love the concept.  I’m not sure about making this a comedy.  Seth Rogen was very funny in “Pineapple Express”, but I don’t think I’ve seen any of his other work, aside from voice acting in “Monsters vs. Aliens”, and “Kung Fu Panda”.  The previews do look good though, so I think it will be worth seeing, but I’m not completely sold.

January 21, 2011

The Company Men – Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones star as three successful men who lose their jobs and redefine their lives.  Kevin Costner and Craig T. Nelson also star.  I’m seeing this movie based on the star power of the cast.  It sounds like an interesting premise.

January 28, 2011

The Mechanic – Jason Statham is an elite assassin who kills people and blows shit up.  I’m sold.

February 4, 2011

Sanctum – This undersea tale about divers exploring caves and getting trapped their looks like it could be an interesting movie.  As I read the description, I kept waiting to find out that there was something in the cave with them, but it seems the enemy here is the caves themselves.  To me, a movie like this needs a “villain” of some kind, as opposed to just having it be a life or death struggle against the environment.  This has worked for other movies though, like “Unstoppable” and one of my favorite 1970’s disaster movies, “The Poseidon Adventure”.

February 11, 2011

The Eagle – I love a movie when the primary weapons in battle will be swords.  I don’t think there is anything quite as exciting as a good duel.  The Eagle promises to have more than a few of them.  Set in Roman times, this is the story of a many (Channing Tatum) who, along with his slave, is attempting to discover what became of his father and the Roman Ninth Legion, which disappeared never to be heard from again.  I thought Channing Tatum was excellent in “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra”, which I really enjoyed.  The preview looks amazing.

February 18, 2011

I am Number Four – After seeing the trailer, it seems like this is a formula done many times.  Nine teenagers escape from somewhere, and are being hunted down because they have super powers.  The catch is that they can only be killed in sequence.  One, two, and three are dead, and number four is trying to survive and figure out what his powers mean.  Sounds interesting, if not totally original.

Unknown – This is the story of a man (Liam Neeson) who wakes up following a car accident to find out that another man has assumed his identity and his wife doesn’t recognize him, while people are trying to kill him.  I would never have picture Liam Neeson as an action star before I saw “Taken”.  This looks good.

February 25, 2011

Drive Angry 3D – Nicolas Cage is a criminal who breaks out of prison and has three days to stop the cult that murdered his daughter from sacrificing his granddaughter beneath a full moon to create hell on earth.  When I first saw the trailer, for a few moments, I thought it was a trailer for “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”.  Sounds like a perfect role for Cage.  I’m really looking forward to this one.

March 4, 2011

Adjustment Bureau – Do we control our own destiny?  That is the question this movie asks, when Matt Damon finds out he isn’t doing things according to plan, and doesn’t care.  I like the premise.

Rango – Johnny Depp voices a chameleon that has issues.  Umm…ok.  When was the last time Johnny Depp played a character without issues?

March 11, 2011

Battle: Los Angeles – Aliens are invading and Los Angeles is where humanity will make its last stand.  The trailer looks good, but I’m doubtful any alien invasion movie will ever live up to “Independence Day”.

Red Riding Hood – Gary Oldman hunts a werewolf.  And here, I thought his best friend was a werewolf.  (Sorry, Harry Potter joke if you didn’t catch that.)  I was very disappointed with “The Wolfman” last year.  I hope this will be a better werewolf movie.

March 18, 2011

The Lincoln Lawyer – If I were accused of a crime, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t hire a lawyer that worked out of his Lincoln Continental, but as a movie premise, it wounds interesting.

March 25, 2011

Sucker Punch – I don’t quite understand the premise of this movie.  I know it’s based on a comic book, so that’s why I’m seeing it, but I’m not clear if all the fantasy action is taking place in the main character’s mind or in reality.  It seems to be about a group of girls trapped somewhere by someone and how they escape.  Sounds interesting.

April 1, 2011

Source Code – Jake Gyllenhaal plays a soldier who is using a government experiment to relieve the last eight minutes in the life of a man killed in a bombing.  He’s looking for clues to who is responsible before they can strike again.  Very interesting.

April 8, 2011

Rio – This is an animated comedy about a bird that can’t fly.  Should be funny, if nothing else.

Your Highness – When I saw the trailer, I immediately thought of the “Princess Bride”.  This movie feels very similar, though this is probably got a bit more silly comedy in it, but I’m looking forward to it.

April 29, 2011

Fast Five – I don’t really know what to expect from the fifth film in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise.  “The Fast and the Furious” was awesome.  “2 Fast 2 Furious” was okay, but suffered by not having Vin Diesel in the lead.  “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” was a clear case of going to the well too many times.  However, “Fast & Furious” might be the best of the four, so we’ll have to see if “Fast Five” can maintain the momentum of the fourth movie.

May 6, 2011

Thor – What do I really need to say about this?  It’s Thor.  The god of thunder is finally making his big screen debut, and if the trailer is any indication, this movie will be fantastic.  When it was first announced, I was a little worried they would take “The Ultimates” approach to Thor.  In the beginning of that comic, we weren’t sure if he was a Norse God or an escaped mental patient.  While it worked well in the comic for a while, he was eventually revealed to be a god.  I’m glad they are taking a more tradition Marvel Comics approach, starting Thor out as the angry young man, cast out by his father, and going on a journey to regain his birthright.

May 13, 2011

Priest – A warrior priest ignores church law and hunts down vampires.  If there are two things I’m in favor of, it’s ignoring church law and hunting vampires.

May 20, 2011

Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – I’m not sure I’m glad they made a fourth one.  I loved the first, and the second one was very good.  The third wasn’t as good, but I LOVED the ending.  I just hope this isn’t a case of another film ruining a franchise.  I still wished they had stopped after “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”, which was the perfect ending to the series.  “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” and “Terminator: Salvation” were good, but they ruined the perfect ending of the second one.  I hope that doesn’t happen here.

May 26, 2011

The Hangover 2 – I don’t see a lot of comedies, as you can probably tell by the movies I’m previewing, but I saw the first one, and if the sequel is half as funny, it will be worth it.

May 27, 2011

Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom – The first one was so funny, I hope the sequel lives up to it.  I’ve only seen the teaser trailer, and it doesn’t reveal anything about the story.

June 3, 2011

X-Men: First Class – It’s kind of unfortunate that this wasn’t the first X-Men movie they did, but I can see why they didn’t.  X-Men isn’t as big or well known a title and Spider-Man, so they had to do a story that was bigger than just an origin.  I’m glad they’ve gone back to do this.

June 10, 2011

Super 8 – I have no idea what this movie is about, but it’s J.J. Abrams, so until I see a trailer that gives me a reason not to see it, I’m going to see it.

June 17, 2011

Green Lantern – As you may have noticed if you’ve been reading my blogs, I am a Marvelite, and I don’t read DC comics.  I do however, love DC Comics movies.  I love the old Superman movies, and the older and new Batman movies.  I don’t know much about Green Lantern, but the trailer looks great.  Ryan Reynolds was so good as Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, I think he’ll be great as Hal Jordan.

June 24, 2011

Cesar: Rise of the Apes – I have only seen some of the original “Planet of the Apes” movies.  I loved the more recent “Planet of the Apes” movie from a few years ago, so I’m glad to see they are rebooting the series.

Cars 2 – I’ve never seen the first one, but it’s been on my list of movies I’ve been meaning to see for a while.  I love animated movies, and the trailer looks pretty funny.

July 1, 2011

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Do I really need to say that I think this will be the highest domestic moneymaker of the year?  “Transformers” was the top non-sequel of 2007, and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” would have been number one for 2009 if Avatar hadn’t come out.  (I still think Avatar is way overrated.)  I really don’t see any movie coming out that can beat it since the Hobbit was pushed back.  I do need to put one small asterisk beside that, see the next preview for why.  I am a little nervous that this may be the last time we get a Transformers movie made by Michael “The Lord of Awesome” Bay, but we can only hope that if he doesn’t come back for a fourth film, they pick a good replacement.

July 15, 2011

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II – What can be said about this?  Part I was epic.  I’ve seen it five times, and I still tear up just thinking about Dobby.  I think it’s remotely possible this might be the number one domestic movie of the year, but “Transformers” beat “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” beat “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”, so I think it’s unlikely that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” can beat “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”.  It is the last film in the franchise (I’m going to tear up if I think about that) so it is possible that it could be the top movie, but I wouldn’t bet on it.  I won’t bother say anything about the story, if you haven’t read the book, you’re probably not looking forward to this one that much anyway.  I will be in Florida at “LeakyCon 2011” when I see it.  I can’t wait.

July 18, 2011

Sinbad The Fifth Voyage – The only reason this is on my list is because it star Patrick Stewart, but there will likely be sword fighting, so there’s that.

July 22, 2011

The First Avenger: Captain America – This will be the third Marvel movie of the year.  (It could have been the fourth if they hadn’t decided to reboot Spider-Man.)  I love the Captain America Comics, post WWII, but this movie is going to take place during World War II.  I’m also not sure about Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America.  I just hope they get it right, this will be the last lead in to Avengers in the summer of 2012, and Avengers can’t succeed without Captain America.

July 29, 2011

Cowboys & Aliens – This is another one that I’m seeing specifically because it’s based on a comic book.  The trailer looks good though, and it stars Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, but to me the real draw for this movie is that it is written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the geniuses who brought wrote “The Legend of Zorro”, “Star Trek”, “Transformers”, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, and the television series, “Alias”, “Fringe”, “Hawaii Five-0”, and “Transformers: Prime”.

August 3, 2011

Smurfs – I loved watching the Smurfs cartoon when I was a kid, so I feel like I have to at least go see this.  I’m really not sure what to expect.

August 5, 2011

The Darkest Hour – Yes another alien invasion movie.  This movie is about five people trapped in Moscow during the invasion.

August 19, 2011

Conan The Barbarian – I’ve never actually seen the Schwarzenegger Conan films, but it sounds interesting.

Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World – If you’ve never seen it, the first “Spy Kids” was a great movie, and I highly recommend it.  “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams” was good, but nowhere near as good as the original.  “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” well…it is worth seeing for only one reason.  Ricardo Montalban reprised his role of the Grandfather.  This was his final on-screen movie appearance.  After this, he only did voice work until his death in 2009.  It’s a pity that his last role was in this turkey.  (Khan Noonien Singh would be most displeased.)  However, I’m going to hope this is as good as the first one, and having seen the first three, I really can’t not see it.  Besides, Jessica Alba is in it, and if that’s not a good reason to see a movie, I don’t know what is.

September 9, 2011

The Apparition – Okay, I’m seeing this movie because it stars Tom Felton.  I hope all the “Potter kids” are going to go on to do great work after Potter.  As a fan of all of them, I’ll see their movies, unless I just can’t stomach the plot.  I’ve not seen any movies other that any of the, have been in yet.  Well, Emma Watson did a voice in “The Tale of Despereaux”, but that doesn’t count.

Warrior – A movie about mixed martial arts.  Okay, September is a slow month, so, I’m not expecting much from this, but it should be entertaining.

September 16, 2011

Drive – Stunt drive by day, getaway driver by night.  Sounds like fun.

October 7, 2011

Real Steel – A movie came out in 1990 called “Robot Jox”.  It wasn’t exactly a big hit.  “Real Steel” sounds like someone saw Robot Jox and said, “well let’s do it a little differently and see what happens.”  However, it stars Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, Evangeline Lilly (Lost), so it’s a must see for me.

October 14, 2011

The Three Musketeers – It’s the Three Musketeers…what more needs to be said?

The Thing – When I heard about this, I assumed it was a remake of John Carpenter’s 1982 Sci-Fi Horror classic.  It now appears that this is more of a prequel, or possibly the first in a series, with the next one being a remake of the original.  In any event, there are few horror movies that I really like, but I love the original, so I have to see this.

October 21, 2011

Contagion – I like “Outbreak”, and since this sounds like it will be the same movie, but it stars, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet, so with a cast like that, I’ll have to see it.

November 4, 2011

Puss in Boots – One of Shrek’s sidekicks gets his own movie.  Antonio Banderas reprises his role for the third time.  Puss was my favorite part of the second and third movies, How could anyone not want to see this?

November 11, 2011

Immortals – Another movie based on Greek myths.  I love the Percy Jackson books, and though I had a few issues with the movie, hope they continue to make them.  It just worries me that we will get so many Greek myth movies that they won’t finish the Percy Jackson movies.  This one looks good, but so did “Clash of the Titans”, and while I liked that, I don’t feel it lived up to the hype.

November 18, 2011

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I – It kind of sucks that I have to go see this.  I went to see the first movie because as a huge Harry Potter fan, I laugh a lot at the Twilight fandom that thinks those books are just the greatest things in the world.  The first movie was okay, but seemed better after Is aw the second one which might be the worst movie ever made in the history of mankind.  The third one wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great, but it seemed like they got Taylor Lautner some acting lessons and all the dialogue wasn’t crap.  There was more action, which was good too.  I’ve never read the books, but if “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” is half as bad as I’ve heard the book is, this might be a train wreck that you just can’t look away from.  I just wish it wasn’t two parts.  I want to see the last two so I know how it ends, but do we really have to have the pain stretch into 2012 before this turkey of a series mercifully ends?

November 23, 2011

Arthur Christmas – An animated movie about Santa’s son Arthur.  Oh, yeah, and did I mention that Santa’s sleigh looks more like a space ship?

The Muppets – They just don’t make bad Muppet movies.

December 9, 2011

Hugo Cabret – This is a movie about a boy who lives in the walls of a Paris train station and goes on a magical adventure in a toyshop.  Okay, sounds different.  The reason I’m seeing it is that it stars Chloe Moretz.  She was fantastic as Hit-Girl in “Kick-Ass”.  She’s a great young actress, and this movie sounds interesting and no bad movie can take place in a toyshop, right?  This is a bit off topic, but there have been some rumors that Chloe may be a candidate to play Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games” movie.  While that might be controversial since Katniss is described as olive skinned in the books, I think she would be a fantastic Katniss.

December 16, 2011

Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol – I love the Mission Impossible series.  I’m a big Tom Cruise fan even though I think he’s nuts.  I don’t know anything about the plot, but hopefully it will be a worthy successor.

Sherlock Holmes 2 – The first one was so good, and they practically said “To Be Continued” at the end.  I’ve been looking forward to it since I saw the original.  Robert “Iron Man” Downey, Jr. should have been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for the first movie.

December 21, 2011

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I don’t know much about this movie, but I’ve heard people whose opinions I trust raving about the book.

December 28, 2011

War Horse – A horse goes off to war and changes people’s lives.  Well…In Spielberg we trust, so it should be good.

There are some other movies that ComingSoon.net lists at to be announced for 2011.

Horrible Bosses – This movie is about a group of people who conspire to kill each other’s bosses.  How can anyone not love a movie like that?

Gatchaman – I’ve been waiting for this movie since I was a kid.  I used to watch the cartoon, which was called “Battle of the Planets” in the United States.  “Gatchaman” is the Japanese title.  More alien invaders.

Journey to the Center of the Earth 2: The Mysterious Island – I really like the first film, so I’ll definitely see the sequel.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – I’ve heard it would be live action, but I haven’t heard anything in a while.  My guess is that if it happens it won’t be this year.

Terminator 5 – I highly doubt this comes out this year, I haven’t heard a thing about it.

XXX: The Return of Xander Cage – I loved the first XXX movie.  The second one was good, but nowhere near as good as the original.  I hope this one does come out this year.

So, my picks as the five must see movies of the year are “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II”, “Thor”, “X-Men: First Class”, and “The First Avenger: Captain America”.  I’ll give honorable mention to “Green Lantern” and “Season of the Witch”.

Well, that’s about it.  Thanks for reading!