Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2007

10 Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
I suppose you could call this film my “sleeper” for this list. It’s written and directed by John Krasinski who plays Jim on The Office (TV’s best comedy). That may not sound like much to excite you, and I’ll admit that I have no idea if the guy can write or direct, but the last time a down-to-earth, twentysomething, indie-rock-loving actor from one of my favorite TV shows decided to make a movie, we got Garden State. So if history repeats itself, expect a lot of gloating from me at this time next year.

9 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
In a time when we’re increasingly getting the same thing over and over from Hollywood, the Pirates films have been unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it’s apparent that audiences are responding to that originality in a big way. They’ve sort of followed the Matrix formula, with a stand-alone film followed by 2 back-to-back sequels, but in this case it seems that they got it right. I’m really excited to see how the 3 films stand as a trilogy once the series is complete. Between this, Transformers, Fantastic Four 2, Shrek 3, and two others on this list, next summer could easily be the biggest summer in box office history.

8 The Simpsons Movie
OK, so The Simpsons hasn’t been too great for the last 7 or 8 years, I admit. But every fan of the show’s heyday has been wondering if we would ever see that long promised theatrical movie. We finally find out if it’s been worth the wait next summer. They’ve recruited many of the writers from the show’s best seasons, and so far the trailers I’ve seen have been hilarious, so I’m cautiously optimistic right now.

7 300
You might remember seeing this on my list last year (along with 2 others below). Well we finally get to see the finished product this March. Seems like every year there’s a little-known comic movie released in the spring (Sin City, V for Vendetta, Hellboy), and this year is no different. Based on the work of Frank Miller, expect this one to be similar to an ancient version of Sin City (with more action, if that’s possible).

6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Harry Potter series is possibly the most ambitious project in Hollywood history. I really can’t get over the fact that they’ve managed to build such an epic saga with a young cast and not fall prey to diminishing returns. The fifth installment (of 7) will see its release this year, and the series has only gotten better over time (both in the films and the books). The director is an unknown quantity, but hopefully he can keep up the high standard set by Alfonso Cuaron and Michael Newell. Anyone avoiding these movies is missing out on the Star Wars of our generation.

5 Zodiac
Another holdover from last year’s list. It’s still directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club). It still stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. It still marks the director’s return to the serial killer genre. And I still can’t wait to see it.

4 Beowulf
The great thing about the movies these days is that technology has allowed for stories that could never be done justice on film to finally make it to the big screen. As you all know, Beowulf is one of the oldest works of literature still being read today, but it’s never gotten the proper movie treatment. Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) is directing from a script by Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction), with the film to be entirely CG. So far the attempts to do a realistic looking movie with computer animated visuals have been mixed, but the set reports I’ve heard so far have me confident that this film could be the one to pull it off. And if you’re not sold yet, there is going to be an NC-17 cut getting a limited release.

3 Knocked Up
I’m of the opinion that The 40 Year Old Virgin is the best comedy of the 00s, so I can’t wait to see writer/director Judd Apatow’s follow-up. Judd also created the shows, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, both of which would be on many of your favorite TV show lists, had they come out in the age of iTunes and Tivo (unfortunately both only lasted 1 season). Knocked Up stars Apatow-regular, Seth Rogen (the bearded guy from 40YOV) who us fans of the above shows know is hilarious in everything he does.

2 Grind House
What started out as a pair of short horror movies has morphed into a full-on double feature with 2 full-length films. One is a zombie movie from Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City), while the other is a slasher flick from Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs). I’m a big fan of Robert, but QT is one of my top 3 favorite directors, so I’m chomping at the bit to see his follow-up to the awesome Kill Bill series. This one is definitely not going to be for everyone, but it should be a dream come true for any fan of either filmmaker.

1 Spider-man 3
Duh.