A Dude's Opinion: My 15 Most Anticipated Movies of 2010

Inspired by Jamie's list of her most anticipated movies of this upcoming year, I thought I'd put together a little collection of my own. While are tastes are widely different yet eerily similar, I thought it'd be a good contrast to our own views.

By: Paul Congiusta

15. The Town
- crime, drama, September 2010 -
This film is based on the novel by Chuck Hogan revolving around a thief's feelings towards one of his earlier heists and the FBI agent trying to bring him down. Say what you will about Ben Affleck (I've trashed him whenever I could) but his directorial debut in Gone Baby Gone was a great achievement. He brought a gritty film to the screen with a dark and brooding presence, and I'm looking forward to his encore behind and in front of the lens. A cast of Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Blake Lively only makes things better.

14. The Social Network
- drama. October 2010 -
When I initially heard of a movie about Facebook I thought it was the dumbest idea since the script for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Then again, everyone's lives today are lived through this social networking sight and with the genius David Fincher behind the helm it could turn out to be alright. The script circled Hollywood for a number of days before it was fought between 4 different companies and was praised for it's originality. With it's talented director leading a cast of Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg, Rashida Jones and Jurassic Park's Joseph Mazzello (Where the hell has he been?) you can consider me intrigued at the very least.

13. Alice in Wonderland
- fantasy, family. March 2010 -
Before I start here I wanna get something out of the way first: I'm still on the fence with Tim Burton. He's made some great films (Edward Scissorhands, Beetle Juice, Ed Wood, Big Fish) and some eye-ball gouging pieces of garbage (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Planet of the Apes, Mars Attacks!). To be fair, he's loved by a loyal fan base and he even has his own exhibit at MOMA for a couple of months. But the fact remains that 75% of his films look, feel, and play out in the same way. He twists something we've seen before in a darker, vivid vision. How will Alice turn out? Who knows. What we do know is that he has most of the cast from Sweeney Todd back with him and that puts a damper on my enthusiasm.

12. Green Zone
- action, drama, thriller. March 2010 -
It's gonna be hard to shake the image of Jason Bourne running around the desert in the newest re-teaming of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass in Green Zone. Following the 2003 infiltration of Baghdad, Green Zone follows Damon as a Cheif Officer leading a team of soldiers to uncover weapons of mass destruction. What they do find might foil an elaborate undercover plot that will change the public's perception of this mission and may be the cause for the war on terror. Yup, I'll be there.

11. Robin Hood
- action, drama. May 2010 -
Yet another Hollywood re-imagining appears on my list (are you getting the trend?) except this time we have it covered in Oscar trophies. Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott re-team with what they do best : kicking ass and taking names with a scowling, brooding, take no prisoners attitude. Add in perhaps the best actress working today in Clate Blanchett, the most underrated actor working today in Mark Strong with Kevin Durand, William Hurt and Danny Huston rounding out the cast and you have a formula for success... right? Let's just hope this is more Gladiator then Kingdom of Heaven. I have a strong feeling it will be.

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : Part 1
- fantasy, adventure, drama. November 2010 -
The Potter novels are some of the best books I've ever read and they hold a place dear to my heart, which is why this movie isn't lower on my list. While the Potter movies remain good adaptations, they fail to reach the great adaptation status that The Lord of the Rings pulled off so well. The cast is perfect and the world of Harry Potter looks exactly as I envisioned it while reading, but the movies fall short in contrast to the book. Most noticeably are the underwhelming "epic" scenes. While I do like the idea of splitting the book in two (how can you possibly fit it all into one movie?) I'm anxious and worried that the whole thing may fall short. Either way, we'll find out if the filmmakers are up to the challenge this fall!

9. Clash of the Titans
- action, fantasy. April 2010 -
Most people would assume this would be higher on my list but the fact remains that it's yet another CGI-fueled remake that looks to be ripping off parts of LOTR, 300, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then again, it is a summer blockbuster aimed solely at making money and forcing Sam Worthington down our throats again. But dammit..I'm a sucker for mythology and swords and sandals epics. Throw in the fact that you have the ass-kicking Liam Neeson as Zeus and the equally bad-ass Ralph Fiennes as Hades and I'll be there with a box of Milk Duds opening night.

8. Kick-Ass
- comedy, action, drama. April 2010 -
If you haven't heard of or seen anything from Kick-Ass yet then it's gonna be hard for me to sum it all up for you, but I'll try. Think of this movie as a Watchmen-type world with a play on the super hero, filled with Matrix-style action and sarcastic, satire-laden comedy. Matthew Vaughn brought one of the coolest movies I've seen (Layer Cake) into my life and giving him a super-hero world to play with sounds like a great idea for everyone. Throw in Nicolas Cage as a play on Batman who's father to a 13 year old super hero, McLovin himself as our hero in training with absolutely no powers and you have me there opening weekend. Oh yeah, Mark Strong is in this one too (someone's nearing the A-list this year!).

7. Dinner for Schmucks
- comedy. July 2010 -
Very little people have any idea that Dinner for Schmucks is coming out this year. The movie follows Paul Rudd as an up and coming executive who's finally invited to his boss' monthly dinner event promptly titled "Dinner for Idiots". The person who shows up with the biggest schmuck receives bragging rights and the oppurtunity to get in with the inner circle of upper management. In comes Steve Carrell as the idiot guest and hilarity ensues. Paul Rudd is perhaps the funniest man in show buisness right now and Steve Carrell isn't far behind. Throw in the hottest comedic actor right now with Zach Galifianakis and you have a trio of comedy gold. I'm anxiously awaiting laughing my ass off at what could be this year's Hangover.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
- adventure, comedy, romance, fantasy. August 2010 -
Oh Edgar Wright, how I love you so. Those of you who don't know the genius behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (two of my all-time favorite movies) will get formally introduced this August when he releases Scott Pilgrim. The movie is an adaptation of a dark comedic graphic novel that follows Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) as he fights for the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, before he can finally win her heart he must fight her 7 ex-boyfriends to the death. Not only is the plot original and hilarious but we get to see Michael Cera kick ass and take names. While a lot of people are growing tired of the "same old Michael Cera" I for one, am not. Edgar Wright is the best original film maker in the industry today and I'm eagerly awaiting his newest project. The adroable Alison Pill, beefcake Chris Evans and everyone's favorite Wes Anderson star Jason Schwartzman co-star. And yes.. that's a picture of Michael Cera holding a flaming light saber. I'm so there.

5. Toy Story 3
- animated, comedy, adventure. June 2010 -
Nothing else needs to be said. Once you look at this title you'll realize why I'm so excited. Toy Story is the movie that made me never want to grow up. We now get the 3rd and final chapter of the most beloved animated characters of the last 20 years in all of it's IMAX 3-D glory. The story follows Woody and the gang as they're donated to a day-care center once Andy goes off to college. Once they find out that Andy is looking for them they make it their business to escape and head back home. We get the entire original cast back and a slew of new characters with hilarious possibilities (like Michael Keaton as Ken finding Barbie for the first time). To Infinity and Beyond baby!!

4. The Expendables
- ACTION. August 2010 -
Right off the bat, The Expendables won't be for everyone. But who it is for is anybody that grew up watching 80's action movies without CGI explosions or a bogged down plot. These movies had muscles, explosions, great cheesy one-liners, iconic action stars and enough stunts to fill up a Universal Studios stunt-show. This is the comeback that this audience has been waiting for. After Stallone's successful return to Rambo we know that he still has the body and chops to pull off convincing action scenes. Hell, people forget he's an Academy Award winning writer. We get our simple and straight forward set-up plot as a group of mercenaries are hired to bring down a dictator in South Africa, and then we get every action junkie's wet-dream. The action cast to end all action casts. We get to see Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and Stone Cold Steve Austin ripping off countless rounds of machine gun fire on screen for 2 hours. And if that isn't enough to get you into the theater we get none other then Mickey Rourke as the arms dealer and cameos from Arnold himself and Bruce Willis. Nothing else needs to be said.

3. Iron Man 2
- action, adventure, sci-fi. May 2010 -
Iron Man 2 will most likely be the highest grossing movie of summer 2010 because really, who doesn't love super heroes or Robert Downey Jr.? Everything is always better in the second super-hero movie (The Dark Knight, Superman II) because we have our hero established and the transformation is complete. So now the audience doesn't have to wait for him to become Iron Man because he IS IRON MAN! We also notoriously get the better villain. In this case we get the resurgent Mickey Rourke in all of his whip swinging glory. Don Cheadle is a big improvement over Terrence Howard and we do get back the entire crew and Gwyneth Paltrow but there is one person that worries me: Scarlett Johansson. She's a decent actress that can play the same role over and over again but we've seen that once she steps outside her boundaries the results are pretty underwhelming (The Island, The Prestige). While she may be the Maggie Gyllenhaal of this epic super hero movie we still get Sam Rockwell and the promise of more action, suspense, and a darker story. See you there!

2. Shutter Island
- drama, mystery, thriller. February 2010 -
You'll find one thing in common with my top 2 most anticipated movies of 2010 : Leanardo Dicaprio. Aside from being able to pull off one of the most epic first names you can go by, he is the actor of our generation. He's taken things from Brando, Gregory Peck and James Dean and combined it with the likeliness of Tom Hanks to be the quintessential best actor on the planet. But enough of my bias opinion, let's get to Shutter Island. Anytime Martin Scorsese makes a movie that isn't about Howard Hughes it's often regarded as the best film of the year. Shutter Island manages to be no exception. We finally get Scorsese's take on a creepy and haunting ghost story that plays as a psychological thriller with an impressive cast. I refuse to give out spoilers and have held off of most of the trailers because I want to be floored by every twist and turn. Starring Leo, Mark Ruffalo, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jackie Earle Haley and the gorgeous Michelle Williams, Shutter Island promises to be on every critic's top 10 list for 2010.

... drum roll please......

1. Inception
- Mystery, Science-Fiction, Thriller. July 2010 -
The most secluded and secretive movie of 2010 is of course my most anticipated. Few people know anything about Inception, let alone the fact that it's even been made. Inception is a new age psychological thriller written and directed by arguably the most talented man in Hollywood. Christopher Nolan brings us this ORIGINAL film and with his track record having not one less then stellar picture we should all be expecting to get our minds blown. Quite simply, here is the plot (set in the not so distant future) : "In a world where entering dreams is possible, a single idea from the human mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset." There's nothing better then a grounded science-fiction film that not only feels real but puts us in a view of the future that isn't too far off from our present. With little known about the plot some people would seem slightly underwhelmed but lucky for us, the cast they assembled is the best this year. The film stars Oscar nominated actors Leonardo Dicaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe and Tom Beregner, along with Oscar winning actors Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine. We also get Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy which puts out possibly the best collection of actors assembled since the Ocean movies. I can't wait to get mind-f**ked!