Movies to watch for in 2015
If you thought 2014 was a big year for cinematic spectacle, you ain’t seen nothing yet. In January it’s all about the Oscars as the big-hitting Academy Awards contenders arrive.
It starts with gung-ho biopic American Sniper starring Bradley Cooper; followed by Michael Keaton’s comeback meta- film, Birdman.
Also out are Still Alice, starring Julianne Moore; Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, Unbroken, and Foxcatcher, which puts a fake nose on Steve Carell and tells a dark, true story about wrestling.
Two others with Oscar form – The Imitation Game and Turner, both British historical biopics – are already in theatres.
My money’s on Keaton, the original big-screen Batman, getting the Oscar for his portrayal of a down-on-his luck actor trying to regain credibility after his career sinks in the wake of playing a superhero in a big-budget production (talk about art imitating life.)
Later in the year we get Selma, a biopic about Martin Luther King Jr, and the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, both also Oscar possibles.
February goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, the sublime being the animated delight Sponge Bob: Out of Water, and the ridiculous being naked-male-free sex film 50 Shades of Grey.
There’s also sci- fi wonder Jupiter Ascending to look for, and P T Anderson’s Thomas Pynchon adaptation, Inherent Vice.
Neil Blomkamp’s robot romance, Chappie, hits screens in March, followed by less erudite fare, as Kingsman: Secret Service and Divergent: Insurgent duke it out for who’s the toughest young adult on the block.
There’s only one thing happening in April and that’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Expect your block to be busted and your corns to be popped right off as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes assemble once more, this time to fight James Spader’s demented robot overlord.
In May the cinema gets a tuneup with Pitch Perfect 2. There’s also the return of an Australian legend with Mad Max: Fury Road.
One puzzler coming is Tomorrowland, Disney’s ode to that part of the theme park. The storyline is so guarded I don’t even know what it’s about. It stars George Clooney and the ever-lovely Britt Robertson as adventurers.
June goes Jurassic as Jurassic World opens. I’m not sure there’s much point to this film, although we do see a flock of velociraptors running with Chris Pratt on a motorbike.
June is also all about the reboot, with Terminator: Genysis lumbering into cinemas.
And that’s just the first six months! Later in the year we’re supposed to get Peter Jackson’s The Adventures of Tin Tin: Prisoners of the Sun; Ant Man, another Marvel outing; Magic Mike XXL; The Fantastic Four reboot; Maze Runner: Scorch Trials; a new Peanuts movie; The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 finale; Christmas nightmare Krampus; and finally, the film we’ll all be waiting for, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
So it looks like you won’t have to go outside all year if you don’t want to.