A Look Back/A Look Ahead

In a few hours 2012 will be over (in my timezone at least). So I thought it would be appropriate to reflect a little on the past year, as well as look ahead to some of the great things coming in 2013.

2012: the year of superheroes, archers, and box office records.

Six hundred fifty-five films were released and reported grosses during 2012, ranging from the miniscule $117 earned by The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (no I did not make that up), to the mammoth $623 million earned by The Avengers. The domestic box office as a whole earned around $10.8 billion, easily stealing the record for highest grossing year of all time from 2009 ($10.595 billion). The year also takes the record for the most films to reach $1 billion worldwide (if you go ahead and include The Hobbit). Those four films are The Avengers with $1.511 billion, The Dark Knight Rises with $1.081 billion, Skyfall with $1.0002 billion (so far), and The Hobbit with $686 million (so far, but it just has to reach a billion eventually.)

I saw twenty-two of this year's new releases in the theater (some more than once), and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every film I saw in theaters. I obviously enjoyed some more than others, and in different ways for different reasons, but there weren't any films this year that I wish I hadn't paid to see in the theater. The films I saw this year (ordered by domestic box office grosses) were:

The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games, Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Wreck-It Ralph, Prometheus, The Bourne Legacy, Argo, Rise of the Guardians, Dark Shadows, John Carter, Les Miserables, Looper, ParaNorman, This Means War, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D, Finding Nemo 3D, Frankenweenie,and Premium Rush.

Twenty-two out of six hundred fifty-five. Not such a great record, especially since there are around thirty films that I wanted to see this year but just never got around to seeing them.

2013: Star Trek, (more) superheroes, and the return of Smaug the Terrible

Though 2013 probably won't surpass 2012's record yearly gross, I do think the box office is going to fare quite nicely. There isn't going to be another Avengersesque mammoth haul, but there should be at least eleven films that gross over $200 million domestically, which is the same as 2012. Those films are (ordered by my predictions for their final grosses):

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part 3, Thor: The Dark World, Man of Steel, World War Z, Monsters University, and The Lone Ranger. I think that's eleven...I might have lost count.

There's obviously going to be much more to see in the theater between now and a year from now, but this post is already long enough without me listing all one hundred fifty-two films currently scheduled for release in 2013.

I want to see forty-seven of them, so you might get to hear about those (or at least the ones I actually end up seeing).

January 2013 Preview!

In the same way that September is the Box Office's post-summer nap, January is Hollywood's response to the crazy hooplah of the holiday season. That is, at least concerning new releases. For most of January, the city is preparing for its biggest night of the year (which yours truly will be enjoying from the comfort of his own living room and blogging about both here and at roblovesmovies.tumblr.com.)

So here is the short list of films I plan to see in January:

The Impossible (Nationwide: 1/4/13)
Yes, I'm starting off the list with a 2012 release. In my defense, Ewan McGregor's English-language Spanish film about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has only been shown in sixteen theaters, so I haven't really had any opportunities to see it yet. The Impossible has already generated a fair amount of awards season buzz for both McGregor and co-star Naomi Watts, and was given a perfect four-star rating from film critic Roger Ebert.

Zero Dark Thirty (Nationwide: 1/11/13)
It's another 2012 release going nationwide in early January (the day after Oscar nominations) that has been generating massive amounts of awards season buzz, as well as praise (and controversy) from critics. I would be surprised if Thirty's nationwide expansion doesn't follow on the heels of several Oscar noms, including Kathryn Bigelow's directing and lead actress Jessica Chastain (who just happens to be my favorite for that award.) Who says a little torture is a bad thing?

Quartet (1/11/13)
Here's the first new release of 2013 that I'm interested in seeing, although the films I'm most interested in seeing are the afore-mentioned 2012 releases. Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut is a quirky comedy about a retirement home for former opera singers whose annual Verdi tribute concert gets disrupted by the arrival of Jean, a new resident and old diva. Starring Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, and Billy Connolly. Quartet won't be getting much of a release (or make much of a splash at the box office), but it looks to be an enjoyable outing to the theater for those interested. And as an added bonus, you'll get to hear Professor McGonagall drop an f-bomb.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (1/25/13)
The last of the month's reduced slate of films is the newest re-imagining of the classic tale about the brother and sister who get tricked into a witch's ginger bread house and almost wind up on her dinner table. This time, Hansel and Gretel give the old witch a taste of her own medicine and then devote their lives to ridding the world of pesky evil witches. This should be funny, action-y, dark, and very violent (times ten if you see it in IMAX.) I also predict that at least half an hour of the film will be comprised of low-angle butt shots, and hopefully not just of Jeremy Renner.

Are you going to see any of the month's new releases? Or will you be catching up on the last of 2012's releases? Let me know which movies you plan to see!

December 2012 Preview!

Here is a quick list of the films I plan to see in December:

Hyde Park on Hudson
Bill Murray is FDR during the weekend in 1939 when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth become the first King and Queen of England to visit America.

Les Miserables
Tom Hooper looks to repeat the formula that won him a few Oscars in 2011. Am I totally ok with that and excited to see this one? YES.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
XD
Give me a minute to calm down....
Do I think the 48 fps is an issue? I would stand in line for days to see this even if Jackson had shot it using his iphone (or whatever he has). So he decides to split the book into three movies? Please take my money, Peter. TAKE ALL OF THE MONEY. And it comes out on my girlfriend's 21st birthday, so we'll definitely be at the midnight premier in IMAX 3D.

Django Unchained
It's Tarantino. And Christoph Waltz is back as a good guy? Yesplz.

Which December releases are you most excited about? Let me know!