Films to Look Forward To

The first half of this year has been dominated by films breaking box office records—Pixar’s Inside Out passed James Cameron’s Avatar as the highest-grossing opening weekend for an original film and Jurassic World had the highest-grossing opening weekend of any film internationally and domestically—and I’ve had a hard time keeping up with all of the films I’ve wanted to see. Even though I had a final exam the following morning, I attended the midnight premiere (really a showing at 7:00 p.m. because that’s the new thing these days) of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Mad Max: Fury Road blew my mind. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is now one of my favorite indie films. And the number of films I want to still see (Inside Out!!) seems to go on forever. As we enter the second half of the year, I’ve compiled an extremely short list of films I’m hoping to catch.
Fantastic Four (August 7)*
This film reboot brings the Marvel comic team back to life. This is the third film in the Fantastic Four franchise and features a different cast from the 2005 and 2007 films, which includes Miles Teller as Mister Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, and Jamie Bell as The Thing. I’m looking forward to this new take on a familiar story and can’t wait to see this team in action.  
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (August 7)
In this Sundance hit, Bel Powley plays a young girl having an affair with her mother’s (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgard). This indie film is a far cry from the action films dominating this list, but this dramedy is on my list.
Spectre (November 6)
James Bond is back with Daniel Craig reprising the role for the fourth time. Featuring Ralph Fiennes as M after the death of Judi Dench’s M in Skyfall and Christoph Waltz as the antagonist, this action flick is sure to entertain.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (December 18)
I have been anticipating this movie since it was announced, and after the second teaser trailer was released in April, I’ve been freaking out ever since. With new characters and some of our old favorites, this film looks like it’s going to bring the best of the Star Wars franchise into a whole new light.
The Hateful Eight (December 25)
Almost the movie that never was, thanks to the leaking of the script back in 2014, Quentin Tarantino is back with a new take on a Western. Tarantino’s films are bizarre, violent, and tense. I cannot wait to see how this one might shock and surprise me.
*Unfortunately, this reboot isn’t what it should have been, and I’m so sad about it.
Photo: IMDB