Become a Friend of The East County Times

Click on the paper above to visit our
Digital Edition

OK, it's absolutely INSANE how exciting 2015 looks from a movie perspective. At a few minutes after midnight on New Year's Eve, I posted on Facebook that I can now officially say, "Hey, y'all. There's gonna be a new 'Star Wars' movie... THIS YEAR!!!" But even if "The Force Awakens" was not hitting screens in '15, this would still be an amazing time to be a film geek with all of the exciting projects set for release between now and the next New Year's Eve. Here are my 5 Most Anticipated (release dates subject to change):

1) "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" - The fact that we're getting more "Star Wars" is just something I never thought would happen walking out of "Revenge of the Sith" 10 years ago. The fact that we're getting new "Star Wars" with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Threepio and Artoo is just too exciting to put into words. I have NO objectivity where this movie is concerned. NONE. (Dec. 18)

2) "Avengers: Age of Ultron" - Originally, "The Force Awakens" was going to hit around Memorial Day and Disney was going to unleash this sequel to the mega-hit team up of Marvel superheroes three weeks earlier. Well, J.J. Abrams convinced the Mouse House to give him more time to get "Episode VII" right. Thankfully, "Avengers 2" has kept its release. Early word on this is it's pretty epic. (May 1)

3) "Spectre" - James Bond flicks didn't used to be this high-brow. They never used to attract the likes of Ralph Fiennes and two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, to say nothing of directors the caliber of Sam Mendes. But 007 films in the Daniel Craig era now shoot for not only box-office dominance, but legitimate awards consideration. The table is set, my friends. (Nov. 6)

4) "Jurassic World" - I know I shouldn't be overly excited for this one, considering how lackluster the last two "Jurassic" movies were. Remember Jeff Goldblum's gymnast daughter "Gymkata-ing" those raptors? Or Tea Leoni idiotically yelling into a bullhorn upon arriving on an island full of hungry dinosaurs? I hope this is the companion piece to the 1993 classic we've been waiting for. (June 12)

5) "Mad Max: Fury Road" - Let's be honest. As a character, there really isn't a lot to Max. So, I have faith Tom Hardy will be a more than adequate replacement for Mel Gibson. What has me salivating was that early trailer showing the insane amount of real vehicles and stuntmen executing highway hijinks that would have the "Fast and the Furious" crew going, "Whoa! That $^&% looks dangerous!" There is growing buzz in the film community that this flick is truly, deeply off-the-charts awesome. (May 15)