{"id":95735,"date":"2018-12-28T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T17:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/?p=95735"},"modified":"2018-12-28T12:24:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T20:24:50","slug":"roundtable-2019-movie-anticipation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/roundtable-2019-movie-anticipation\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Roundtable: 2019 Movie Anticipation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new year is coming, and with it, a whole bunch of new movies. If we’re lucky, a few of them might even be great. Which 2019 films are you looking forward to?
\n<\/p>\n

Wikipedia has a list<\/a> to give you some idea of what’s scheduled for the year.<\/p>\n

Shannon Nutt<\/span><\/h3>\n

I’d love to give some creative “Oh, I never thought of that one” answer to this week’s Roundtable, but I’d be lying if I said it was anything other than Star Wars: Episode IX<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Any Star Wars<\/em> movie brings with it a certain amount of anticipation, but after the controversial The Last Jedi<\/em> (a movie I did a complete 180 on after a recent second viewing, moving from the like to dislike column) and the underperformance of Solo<\/em> at the box office, not only does this next Star Wars<\/em> movie need to be a massive hit, it needs to put the entire franchise back on course.<\/p>\n

Here’s a known, but little discussed fact about the Star Wars<\/em> universe: There have been more bad films than good ones. The saga coasted for a long time on memories of the first two films, and J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens<\/em>, while certainly derivative of the original trilogy, seemed to recapture the magic that Star Wars<\/em> had been missing for so long. Will he be able to do it a second time? Short of George Lucas returning, I can’t think of a better guy for the job.<\/p>\n

David Krauss<\/span><\/h3>\n

I’m a sucker for a good film noir, so it’s not surprising that the upcoming neo-noir Under the Silver Lake<\/strong><\/em> caught my eye. It’s about a young man (Andrew Garfield) who sets out to investigate his neighbor’s disappearance and uncovers a major conspiracy in the process. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film premiered at Cannes this past May. The buzz has been mixed, but the premise sounds interesting and I think Garfield is a superior actor, so I’m excited to check it out. Good noirs are hard to come by. I’m hoping this one measures up.<\/p>\n

M. Enois Duarte<\/span><\/h3>\n

Going through the list of upcoming movies, 2019 is poised to be a fantastic year for cinema. With so many options to choose from, it’s a challenge to narrow the list down to one as my most anticipated. Nevertheless, the film that jumps to the top is the final installment of the John Wick<\/em> saga, which hits theaters in May. Famed stuntman and coordinator Chad Stahelski returns to direct John Wick 3: Parabellum<\/strong><\/em> and brings the character’s fight to escape his dark past to a close. Or at least, that’s the idea if the legendary hitman \u2013 Keanu Reeves reprising the role that brought him back to the mainstream spotlight \u2013 can ever make it out of New York City alive after the events of Chapter 2<\/em>, where audiences were introduced to the mysterious underground world of professional assassins. I’m really excited to see how Stahelski will bring the trilogy to a close.<\/p>\n

And I really, really have to give some honorable mentions to some other hotly anticipated titles: M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass<\/strong><\/em>, Jordan Peele’s Us<\/strong><\/em>, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood<\/strong><\/em>, It: Chapter Two<\/strong><\/em>, Godzilla: King of the Monsters<\/strong><\/em>, Child’s Play<\/strong><\/em>, Joker<\/strong><\/em>, and of course Star Wars: Episode IX<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Brian Hoss<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first John Wick<\/em> didn’t really grab me at first, but part 2 was a different story. It’s packed full of great scenes and fun touches of style. Before it was even over, my anticipation for a third movie was quite stoked. While unlikely to duplicate the scene by scene success of part 2, John Wick 3<\/strong><\/em> is as can’t-miss as sequels go. <\/p>\n

As for a non-sequel, I’m interested to see how Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark<\/strong><\/em> turns out. I loved the book series as a kid, and I also have a fondness for anthology-style horror movies. Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk<\/a>)<\/span><\/h3>\n

The older I get, the less interested I’ve gotten in grim, gritty comics with hyper-realistic artwork and staggering body counts. Instead, I gravitate more toward cartoony linework and whimsical senses of humor. That’s not to say that these comics don’t still have grave stakes, but there’s just a lightness.. .a sense of joy… to them that I appreciate more now than I did in decades past.<\/p>\n

Even though I’m looking forward to the likes of Avengers: Endgame<\/em>, the superhero movie I’m most anxiously awaiting in the coming year is Shazam!<\/strong><\/em>. I’m a sucker for that sort of childhood wish fulfillment fantasy. The trailer is too fun for words, with a wide-eyed sense of discovery and big, beating heart that I find completely infectious. Here’s hoping that the movie lives up to that early trailer, which hasn’t always been the case with DC film adaptations. (I’m scowling in your general direction, Suicide Squad<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Josh Zyber<\/span><\/h3>\n

I can’t get excited for superhero movies anymore. I’m about eight entries behind in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I don’t even bother keeping count of how many in DC. I hate to say that my most anticipated movies are sequels, but I just don’t know enough about any of the new properties yet to feel any hype for them. As such, the two movies I know I will definitely see in 2019 are The Lego Movie 2<\/strong><\/em> and John Wick 3<\/strong><\/em>. <\/p>\n

Of those two, The Lego Movie 2<\/em> is perhaps the riskier bet. Without Phil Lord or Christopher Miller directing, it may turn out to be a merely serviceable sequel like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2<\/em>, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, I love both of the first two John Wick<\/em> movies enough that I’m confident the third will be another great ride.<\/p>\n

Your Turn<\/h3>\n

What movies are on your radar for the coming year?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new year is coming, and with it, a whole bunch of new movies. If we’re lucky, a few of them might even be great. Which 2019 films are you looking forward to?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":95737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5036],"tags":[1922,5365,10385,2728,9720,7756,2633,7159,1950,10549,10550,8819,264,10133,10548,551],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95735"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95763,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95735\/revisions\/95763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}