Tomorrow will bring us my top ten most anticipated movies of 2014, but we must first look at the ten films that fell just out of reach, though I must say this is a rather impressive grouping and it’s rather obvious how much more excited I am about each one of these lists the closer we get to the top.
Today’s list includes a couple of comedies, my highest ranking studio franchise feature, a directorial debut we’ve all been looking forward to, an On Demand release and more than a few directors whose names alone get us into the theater. Check it out and if you missed either of my two previous installments there is a navigation directly below and on the final page of this post.
Most Anticipated 2014 Navigation
#20
Knights of Badassdom
January 21
Knights of Badassdom appears to be this year’s Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, although this one never had a festival run as much as it has the appearance of being a damned funny film that studios shied away from. Now, eOne is set to release it domestically, but it’s skipping the theater outright and going straight to On Demand and digital formats on February 11. I guess we’ll take it however we can get it as Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, Summer Glau and Peter Dinklage star in this LARPing epic.
In this comedic fantasy adventure, Joe (Ryan Kwanten) is a heavy metal rocker who’s just gone through a painful breakup with his girlfriend, Beth (Margarita Levieva). His concerned roommates (Steve Zahn, Peter Dinklage) kidnap him to their LARP (Live Action Role Playing) gathering, where he enters a realm of fantasy escapism in which pretend knights, elves, and barbarians clash with foam weaponry on a mock battlefield. When Joe’s “sorcerer” roommate (Zahn) inadvertently summons a deadly succubus that takes Beth’s seductive form, bloody reality crashes down upon their fantasy world. Once LARPers start to turn up dead, the make-believe wizards and warriors must join forces with other adventurers (Summer Glau, Danny Pudi) to become the real life heroes they have been pretending to be and conquer the unleashed evil.
#19
22 Jump Street
June 13
I thought the first 21 Jump Street was hilarious until a rather lackluster finale that sort of flipped the trigger and turned it into nothing more than just another R-rated comedy, but everything that came before it was a lot of fun and I’m hoping 22 Jump Street is able to keep that alive. Not to mention, word is Richard Greico and Brad Pitt have already filmed cameos, keeping the tradition started with Johnny Depp in the first one alive and I’d be shocked if Depp didn’t once again make an appearance.
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don’t have to just crack the case – they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.
