My Most Anticipated Films of 2018

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Here’s my latest list of anticipated films for the year. Based on my track-record lately, I’ll probably see about half of the movies on the list below during the calendar year. (Especially since it’s hard to get out to the theater these days.) I consider my top five to be non-negotiable, and the rest to be based on whether or not it is possible for me to get to the movie.

  1. Solo: A Star Wars Story – I’m looking forward to this one the most. Another Star Wars film (within just six months of  The Last Jedi) and based on the May release date, it should also be available to purchase on Blu-ray before the end of the year, making two new additions to my Star Wars film collection in 2018. With  Star Wars: Episode IX coming a year and a half later, in December of 2019, I hope that this film helps to tide me over. I did enjoy  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but I know very little about this film. What I do know is that it features a young Han Solo, young Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca. I have several predictions for the film, including seeing Han win the Millennium Falcon from Lando with the dice that we’ve now seen in both  The Force Awakens and  The Last Jedi. I also believe we’ll see the infamous Kessel Run, and that it will finally put to rest what Han said about the distance traveled to complete it. My wild-card guess is that we’ll see Jabba the Hutt, and even Boba Fett in this film. I don’t have any reason to guess these two characters appearing, other than Han’s past with at least Jabba. Fett, however, only seemed to get involved in Han’s life after the Empire hired him, but then he was with Jabba in the Special Edition of  A New Hope, so he does, at least, know of Han. (Han also clearly knows Boba Fett, based on comments in Return of the Jedi. “Boba Fett! Where?”
  2. Avengers: Infinity War – This feels like the culmination of everything from the past few years, and not just Phase 3. I just hope it’s better than  Avengers: Age of Ultron. I watched the first Avengers film more than the second, but this one looks like it’ll be the best of the bunch.
  3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – For me,  Jurassic World finally fulfilled what I’d wanted to see since the original  Jurassic Park was released: the park, open to the public, with people visiting and enjoying the dinosaurs. It was a wish-fulfilling movie and I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have simply because of that. I did enjoy the characters, mostly, and the story as well, so I’m curious to see where it goes from the end of that film. Based on the teaser for this one, it looks like the park was never re-opened, nor did anyone go in to try and fix everything that went wrong. I’m guessing that public perception would have been too much to overcome, at least in the short-term. Now it appears the island’s volcano is about to erupt, so our  Jurassic World protagonists are going on some kind of dinosaur rescue operation? I don’t know if I have that right or not, but it definitely feels like a new story for the Jurassic Park series that is unlike the others. And I’ve heard that there is already work being done on  Jurassic World 3, which I believe may have stemmed from ideas that were too good to throw away, but didn’t fit into the story of this film.
  4. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 – I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed the first one. I still use some of the music from it as my ringtone on my phone. I loved the score for the first film and hope that the second one is similar. I don’t know how they can top the first one, but I hope they have a story with heart. If it makes me laugh and impacts my emotions in a good way, it will have succeeded.
  5. Christopher Robin
  6. Black Panther – Due to the lateness of this list, I’ve already seen Black Panther.
  7. Paddington 2 – The first was a surprise and a delight. Can’t wait to watch this one.
  8. Bumblebee – The first live action Transformers without Michael Bay at the helm. Could rejuvinate the franchise that I’ve loved and hated (simultaneously at times).
  9. The Incredibles 2 – Wasn’t really a BIG fan of Incredibles. This looks fun, though.
  10. Ant-Man and the Wasp – The first was quirky, if a bit formulaic in parts. Hope for more of the same.
  11. The Grinch – Fan of the classic animated original special. Not so the Jim Carrey live action version. Hope this one makes up for that.
  12. Aquaman – I don’t know if I’ll enjoy this or not. Can Jason Momoa open a superhero film? Will the movie turn Aquaman into more than a joke?
  13. Ocean’s 8 – Big fan of 11, 12 and 13 (11 being the best, and 12 being pretty fun in parts, with 13 being the least, but still funny, of the three). I had wondered why they called it Ocean’s 8 apart from the cast, but it allows them to make a 9 and 10 without making an 11 again, and have a trilogy.
  14. Ready Player One – It’s Spielberg, based on a modern (classic?) book of the same name, from the writer of Fanboys, if I recall correctly.

Most Anticipated Documentaries of 2018

  1. A Voice that Carries — A Brett Culp (Legends of the Knight,  Look to the Sky) helmed documentary, this one about the relationship between fathers and their daughters.
  2. Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters — A pair of feature length documentaries, one about  Ghostbusters and the other about  Ghostbusters II. I’ve been following the production of these documentaries for about 10 years now. They are getting closer to release. They didn’t make their 2017 release date, and may not make a 2018 release date, but they’re definitely on their way toward a release very soon. I’m definitely hoping for a release this year, as I have hoped for every year since I first learned about this project.
  3. Power of Grayskull — The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe… from the creative team behind “Turtle Power” and “Nintendo Quest.” This documentary has been in the works for some time and while I’m not the biggest fan of He-Man, it was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid.
  4. Nobody Knows Anything (except William Goldman) — A documentary about the author of The Princess Bride. I don’t really expect it this year, but we’ll see.

Movies that I want to see, but am not super excited about.

  1. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms – Want this to be really good, and surprising, in the way that Cinderella was a few years ago. It might edge closer to Mirror Mirror though.
  2. Mission: Impossible – Fallout – I’m kind of weary of this series now.
  3. Creed 2 – AKA Rocky 8, continues the reboot of the series focusing on the son of Apollo Creed.

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