Most Anticipated Films of 2025

This is The Brain, and you're listening to the

GeekCast Radio Network. Yes! Hello, and welcome

to another episode of The Cinema Geeks. I am

one of your Cinema Geeks Optimus Solo, and joining

me today is, of course, the comic concierge,

Dan. Hello. Hey, how's it going going wonderful

if you guys didn't catch our last episode we're

back at it doing our thing So go back and check

the previous episode out where we predicted the

2025 box office results. I'm sure we were right.

So just you know Bookmark that and check it in

a year and I'm sure will be Nostradamus like

so that was last week our last episode in this

episode we're going to do another look ahead

at 2025 but instead of giving two rats about

money we're going to be talking about what films

actually are on our radar as far as most anticipated

films we're looking forward to for a variety

of reasons usually it comes down to one of i

don't know four things maybe so we usually you

look at the director that can be a big tell we

all have our favorite directors sometimes you

might look at the writer Sometimes it's the cast.

Sometimes it's just the synopsis of the film

and what it sounds like it's going to be like.

We've done this a number of different years,

but it's been a little while. So Dan, kind of

what was your process going through this and

coming up with your list of most anticipated

films of 2025? Yeah, I'll be honest, because

like I've been out of it for the movies last

year or two. So like, you know, some of the more

up and coming directors I'm not really sure about.

also the number one thing is I wanted to go with

something that had like an actual release date

because like Get those movies where it's like

TBA who knows of actually coming out So that

was the number one thing which I think helped

limit it down and like you said, I looked at

directors Actors and some premises of like what

seemed interesting. So it's kind of the way I

looked at it and also if you know, I did Franchises

or something like that was something that I'm

interested in that I of connection towards that

that was something I considered too. I should

have phoned a friend when I was coming up with

my list because if I would have narrowed it down

based on solid release dates that would have

been 10 times easier so I will probably do my

normal thing where I have films on my list that

don't come out in 2025 so let's just yeah make

it make it like it used to be where I think I

had Sometimes where I had a film on my list like

three different years for the most anticipated

like the Irishman or something like that I don't

know. Yeah Spoiler alert for me. I actually will

have nothing on my list that we talked about

last episode So interesting. Yeah, nothing that

came up in the box office discussion is gonna

make my list So that I guess it's kind of interesting.

It's just not I'm not saying I'm not interested

in some of the main blockbuster films or I won't

be watching them and stuff like that But it doesn't

have the box office Like the blockbuster I guess

is what what I meant to say the blockbuster slate

Doesn't have like the typical ones that are like

ones that I get like Super excited about I guess

like there's no I don't know like in recent years

like if a Planet of the Apes movie was coming

out I would be interested in that for a while

before it became a little bit numb Star Wars

films would be like that so I mean yes this year

doesn't have the ones that are like my go -to

like blockbuster films so we'll see maybe something

will surprise me but that's kind of an interesting

uh slate this year where none of them are are

the blockbusters but um so we'll go through we're

going to count down our ten through one just

so you guys are aware if a film comes up that's

on somebody else's list the tire on the list

we're just going to talk about it all together

just for sake of making the conversation flow

a little bit better and then towards the end

we'll probably go over a few honorable mentions

that didn't quite make our list dan anything

else that you want to get out of the way before

we get into our number tens Then we go ahead

and get started. All right, I'll go ahead and

start off I think you started off with the blockbuster

So I'll start off here for most anticipated and

we'll just ping pong back and forth. So Like

I said a lot of times for me it comes down to

a combination of the cast and then the director

slash writer and then a little tiny bit about

the the genre or the Plot synopsis something

like that This one has two things going for it

I don't know if I'm as big on the premise and

whatnot, but it's making my list basically based

on the director and the main actor. So I am going

with a film that says it's coming out in the

spring. So it doesn't say to be determined or

to be announced. It actually says spring. It

just doesn't give me any type of month or day.

So I don't know. I feel that it's promising that

it's going to come out in 2025 if it at least

says spring. So this film is a crime thriller.

Um, it's about a bank heist in Manhattan, uh,

where some mass robbers take control of the bank

and hold hostages. And it explores hidden agendas

and deception as detectives trying to understand

the motivations behind the heist. That alone

doesn't do it for me. Cause I feel like there's

been a hundred movies that have been similar

to that. Uh, what does do it for me is it's directed

by Spike Lee and it stars Denzel Washington.

So it's called Highest to Lowest and also starring

Jeffrey Wright, who's been big as of the last,

I'd say five, 10 years. So Spike Lee, Denzel,

that's enough for me. I don't really need to

see too much more. So it was able to creep in

here at number 10 for me. That's not on my list.

I honestly didn't even know that was coming out.

So there you go. But I think, you know, thinking

Spike Lee did what? Inside Man. And that was

a really great. I don't know if you can call

that a heist movie, but it like kind of, so yeah,

I would be interested to see him kind of go back

to that again. Yeah, absolutely. What was your

number ten though my number ten? I don't know

if we talked about this in box office or not

I don't know it doesn't I don't think this is

be movie that's gonna be huge at the box office,

but it is part of a franchise And a big reason

I have this at number ten is because I didn't

want to consider something like I'm gonna go

see with my family that I think I'm just looking

forward to that experience and And there are

a lot of people go see I'm not super excited

for but I know my kids will like so that'll be

good But this one I am excited to see maybe even

more than my kids and that is Paddington in Peru

Paddington 3 Which I know technically is a 2023

movie first, like, you know Europe and stuff

like that for but for us in the states. It's

a 2024 film Saw the trailer when I went to go

see I think one or two kids really dug it So

I'm really looking forward to it padding into

Such a good movie. So it was the first Paddington.

I think people Overlook that the first Paddington's

really strong as well. They're movies that are

so much better than they have any business being

And uh, you know, can that continue with Paddington

three? I don't know, but I think it will at least

be one of those Family films that you know, there's

so many limited There's so few choices like really

really good family films anymore like I feel

like us growing up We had all those like sport

movies like Mighty Ducks and Sandlot like those

movies that are like for kids And families and

this is one of the few and it's also really good.

So that's why I had it at number 10 I actually

that is a franchise. I don't think I've seen

any of the films on yet. I know it's got like

Everybody's talks well highly of it. And I think

now that I have a daughter Maybe that'll be something

that we can put on sometime and watch together

I just missed it I missed the first one and I

haven't watched any other one the second one

because I didn't haven't seen the first one yet

So I need to catch up on that franchise because

I've only heard good things There it's you know,

it has a lot of like physical humor and stuff

like that the kids like but it's also just really

well done and It's just super charming. So excellent.

Well, my number nine is I kind of am torn a little

bit. So I like the director. The director is

Gore Verbinski, who did a bunch of the Pirates

of the Caribbean films. He did Rango. He did

A Cure for Wellness. And then he stopped directing

for like the last nine years. So this is going

to be his first film in nine years. It's called

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. And so I'm excited

to see what he does nine years later. The writer

Matthew Robinson, I'm a little eh on. He hasn't

done anything that's like really wowed me, but

this one stars Sam Rockwell, Michael Pena, Juno

Temple. It's a sci -fi film and the premise reads,

a man from the future travels to the past and

recruits the patrons of a Los Angeles diner he

arrives in to help combat a rogue artificial

intelligence. That sounds kind of zany. To me,

um, and I don't know like I love wrangle. That's

one of my favorite animated films of all time

And i'm just interested to see how this all works

out. I like sam rockwell. I like michael peña.

So Um, it's just a quirky enough premise and

a combination of cast and director that i'm interested

to see what he does nine years later So good

luck. Have fun. Don't die is my number nine Yeah,

that's interesting. I can get another one. I

Going into this. I thought we have a lot of crystal

for me. We will get to it But so far that's the

one that's on my list. So Nice to see yeah, and

also great title. So there you go. Yeah, I like

the title. So what's your number nine then? My

number nine is so this is one where I don't know

much about the director But honestly part of

me talking about great titles was the title just

interested me and the cast as well as as a really

Eye -catching or at least unique movie poster

and it's death of a unicorn This is directed

by Alex Sharfam. I don't know that director.

It looks like it might be their first feature

film that they've directed. But the cast is pretty

strong at least. It has Paul Rudd, of course,

who's in everything. He seems to be the main

star. Janet Ortega, Will Poitier. And the premise

of it is really, I mean, it's just described

as a supernatural comedy horror film. and death

of a unicorn. So it just kind of caught my eye

seeing Paul Rudd attached. The poster's interesting

because it's like you have like basically a unicorn

body with a sheet over it and like the horn pointing

out. So it almost has like a almost looks like

kind of like say almost like a fantasy novel

in a way. But I don't know and it is through

A24 and of course you know people love their

A24. But it does seem a little bit something

different from them. Like, I can't think of a

lot of comedies that A24's had, so maybe it'll

be something new. And I feel like I love Paul

Rudd and everything he's in, so at least, worst

case scenario, he'll be good. But, you know,

I was looking for something that was a bit different,

that might be out there, and I love, I do love

good comedy horror when it's done well. You know,

something like, of course, like... Sam Raimi

is great at it not to put it on that type of

pedestal but it all just seemed kind of unique

so I'm curious to see how it turns out. So this

is interesting because I talked to Dan a little

bit offline before we started and I've had years

in the past where we've gone to do this like

most anticipated list and I have literally I'm

not lying to you I've put spreadsheets together

that have had like 200 films on it that was like

literally every release I could possibly find

that was coming out in the year and then I like

narrowed it down from that. Because I like spreadsheets

and I'm a geek like that. But this year I didn't

do anything like that. I came up with a spreadsheet

of like Not even 35 films and kind of narrowed

it down from that So there's gonna be a bunch

that are like I are not even on my radar I didn't

even know they existed or I hadn't heard much

about him and this is one of them like I didn't

even know this was a thing but I'm intrigued

Yeah, so I'm sure it will get like some probably

be in some festivals early on and stuff it's

scheduled to come out it has a release date on

march 28th so it's coming out pretty soon which

is kind of cool i know like march is usually

kind of can be a dumping ground but i think for

a24 they they tend to put good stuff out all

throughout the year so that's why i'm not really

worried worried about the release date so yeah

there you go look forward then I'll have to mark

it down for the record. I didn't say it, but

good luck. Have fun. Don't die will be the first

of many of my films that don't have a release

date. So it's And speaking of which my number

eight also does not have a release date. This

is a thriller it's from someone who's been very

much in the Limelight, I guess this last year

when it comes to film and that's Luca Guadagnino

who did call me by your name he did challengers

and queer, I didn't see queer, but I saw call

me by your name. And I saw challenges. He's done

other films as well, obviously, but I really

liked those two films. Spoiler alert. I'd really

like challenges. Um, and this one stars Julia

Roberts and Andrew Garfield. It's listed as a

thriller. Uh, college professors forced to grapple

with her own secretive past. After one of her

colleagues is faced with a serious accusation.

Um, that type of storyline has been done before,

I guess, in different ways. Like I think of like

movies that I've really liked, like the hunt.

But it's been done in a lot of different ways.

But I think this is up Guadagnino's alley to

make this interesting and unique. So I'm going

to keep giving him chances, I guess, until he

disappoints me. So this one is called After the

Hunt. I guess I didn't realize that it had the

hunt in it, but it's called After the Hunt. And

I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully it comes

out in 2025. I have not seen challengers and

his new movie this year and Now like I wasn't

the biggest fan of call me by me your name like

I like I saw it multiple times in theaters because

One just my own but then also solid because it's

part of the best picture showcase It's unlike

it as much a second time, but I haven't seen

challengers or queer So maybe that would change

my mind my mind. I'm just interested. I'm a big

Julia Roberts fan and Yeah, like sometimes she

doesn't get as many I mean, I know she gets lead

roles But it's like more few and far between

so anytime that she's got a lead role I'm like,

I'm interested in yeah, do and I like the pairing

of her and Andrew Garfield I don't know what

the relationship is gonna be like, but I think

that's interesting Yeah, definitely. It's good

to see her in that type of role again My number

you mentioned no franchises. This is a franchise

again but It's not about putting like no comic

book movies on my list, but I would be lying

to myself So my number eight is fantastic for

first steps It's the only marvel movie on my

list I'm looking forward to this I know people

down on marvel and I get it some of the stuff

they put out lately hasn't been their best stuff

But I really liked what i've seen about this

so far like just the even the marketing like

the look of it It looks different than what?

Call MCU. I like the idea of doing it a retro.

I think that could work with Pedro Pascal as

Reed Richards. I like him as an actor I don't

know if it's the character that well, but maybe

it will work But I have high hopes You know this

can actually give us the first Really good Fantastic

Four movie. Maybe it won't turn out to be awful

But maybe this is the year Marvel bounces back

I don't know but I just like what I see and I

am a fan of the Fantastic Four I do like That

that team that comic so hoping they do stanley

and jack are we proud? We shall see but I thought

I I would be lying to myself if I didn't put

it someplace But I put it at number eight got

to be true to yourself and i'm hoping you're

right about it I think we're due for a good fantastic

four film. So uh, it would be a nice uh A nice

change. So I'm looking forward to that one. Um,

it, it didn't make my list, but I think out of

the comic book movies, that one's a little bit,

uh, maybe more intriguing than the rest just

to see how they, how they do it this time. So,

um, for my number seven combination of a lot

of things, I think there's, um, enough here that

has me interested. I'm not a huge Stephen King

person. I'm not saying I'm not a fan of some

of the stuff that I've seen that's been based

on his books, but I I'm just not well versed

in all things Stephen King. I believe this is

a Stephen King adaptation called The Running

Man, which is being directed by Edgar Wright,

who did a lot of films, obviously, but the one

of the more recent ones that I liked. And by

recent, I mean in my movie going, which was remember

there was like a black hole the last four years.

So. He did Baby Driver right before that, and

I really liked that film. It's written by a guy

named Michael Bacall, who was the writer on Scott

Pilgrim and 21 Jump Street. This one's starring

Glenn Powell, who I love recently. I think he's

been doing fantastic work. It's got Josh Brolin

and William H. Macy in it. This one does have

a release date, so I at least got that going

for me, but it is November, so that's always

tricky, too. It's November 7th. So for those

that don't know what the running man is It's

a this one's gonna be set in 2025 a game show

called the running man has people chased by murderous

hunters across the world to win money Sounds

like 2025 to me. So I don't know. I just think

that there's enough things there Stephen King

Edgar Wright the actors that have been named

on it so far I'm interested to see how this all

works out. So the running man is my number seven

Yes, well your fan of the Schwarzenegger film

too. I don't think I've ever seen it I don't

think I've seen it either. I don't see I saw

that the running man was there and I completely

skipped over it Because I didn't realize Edgar

Wright was directing it Who I always like same

to you. I love a lot of what if he what he's

done? So even movies that other people don't

like I seemed to seem to like a good deal. So

I Mean, I'll definitely check that out, but I

like you I don't think I've seen the original

or if I did it was like when I was on cable So

right. It'll be one of those like there's there's

a few films where I've seen like The new adaptation

of and then I have to go back and watch like

two different versions that came out before it

Yeah, it's like that. What's your number seven?

My number seven this might be on your list just

hearing what you're saying. It is another horror

film It's not based upon Stephen King novel or

maybe it could be one day I don't know but I'm

interested in this because of again the director

and the cast as well. This is Ryan Coogler, of

course, who's done a lot of great film. He's

teaming up again with Michael B. Jordan for the

horror film Sinners. And I'm not fully sure about

like what the premise is going to be exactly.

It seems like there is a lot of interest in this

movie in the sense of like, you know, of course,

because of Ryan Coogler's background and his

success as filmmaking. I like what he's done

with, you know, Michael B. Jordan in the past,

of course. I love Free Fuel Station, Creed, of

course, Black Panther, and... Now, of course,

they're doing centers together and something

different for them because I don't think he's

done a horror movie before. And that does require

a different type of director. This is set to

be released in April as well. So I guess one

of the good things is like a lot of my most anticipated

films are coming out before June. So I guess

we'll know. That's really good for us, because

those of us that can't go to the theater that

much, like that means that there's a chance we're

actually going to have an opportunity to see

it before the year's over. It might make it by

that point. Exactly and it's other thing too.

It's like you never know if it's like this is

actually gonna hit theaters or is it? You know

streaming film. I'm pretty sure this is actually

gonna hit theaters. Although this didn't have

that It has less than a 90 million million dollar

budget, which is not that much compared to a

lot of movies But yeah, I'm a big fan of Ryan

Coogler Has a pretty as well as Jack O 'Connell

in it. Who's another actor I've actually been

impressed with he's One one of my favorite films

over the last like 10 years start up. He's great

in that so uh interested really interested to

see how this one turns out i know this if if

amanda was on this record i promise you this

would be in her top five um it just something

that's right up her alley uh it is in my like

just miss list so it's like in my honorable mentions

um so it was in like it was in my top 20 it just

didn't quite make it to the top 10 um and that's

only because like vampire things are not like

up my alley Not saying I won't watch it not saying

I won't like it. I have like films in that genre

It's just not something that would like when

I see it on paper excites me But Ryan Coogler

and Michael B Jordan and you know, Jack O 'Connell

and all that is all I'm all about that So and

what I've seen like in images and whatnot look

cool So like I'm all for it and I like that it's

coming out soon. So I like it Or we keep saying

this and eventually we're gonna hit one my number

six may be on your list. I don't know I it's

hard because he just keeps on coming out with

films. It seems like every year and. It's hard

for me to keep up like I was doing a real good

job at one point, and then I don't think I've

seen his last couple just because like I said,

it's my movie going experience has been a black

hole since COVID, but I'm going to the world

of Wes Anderson and another movie that's to be

determined so. probably come out in 2026. I think

it's titled The Phoenician Scheme. I'm not a

hundred percent sure. He's teaming up with a

writer that he's worked with before named Roman

Coppola, who I don't know how many movies they've

partnered up with, but I know for sure that they

partnered up on Moonrise Kingdom. So, and that

is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films. So

this one obviously has all of the folks in it.

So we got Del Toro, Michael Cera, Bill Murray.

Reese Ahmaud, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch,

Scarlett Johansson, William Defoe, Bryan Cranston.

I'm sure there's like 10 other people that are

like names in there. The only thing I can find

is that it says it's a dark espionage film about

a strained father -daughter relationship in a

family business. So I don't know exactly how

he tackles that and how that would translate

in his style, but it's Wes Anderson. So I felt

compelled to put him on my list. didn't include

it just because it didn't have a release date

and didn't have much like Not even like a post

or anything. So I just like I don't I feel like

this isn't coming out this year So that's the

reason I did like I think he has a quota to hit

he has to release a film every year Sure, that's

your that's also true. So maybe you know Figure

out a way. I do feel like I don't know like he

maybe he makes movies quick or something like

that. I don't know So I guess I'm gonna have

the franchise list because I'm going to another

franchise, another comic book movie, the last

comic book movie on my list, but it's based upon

one of my favorite superheroes, probably second,

it came in Captain America or 1 and 2, and that's

the Superman film coming out this year. Superman's

my favorite DC hero. I love the original Superman,

Superman 2. I even like Superman Returns and

Elements of Man of Steel as well. but i love

the trailer i thought it was really good i like

the direction that they're going i do have trust

in james gunn like you know he like he got me

to watch a peacemaker tv show uh so i love what

he did with guarding the galaxy and you know

army is just it's also that like how exactly

they're making this new dc universe work like

how is it going to actually They're putting a

lot into this movie. We see like a lot of different

characters. Mr. Terrific, we're seeing, you know,

Lex Luthor and like the norm, but also like Green

Lantern. So there's a lot going on. Hopefully

it's not too much. You know, hopefully it's not

just another not supposed to be an origin story.

So that's good. I don't know. There's a lot of

unknowns, but I'm hopeful and I like what I've

seen so far. And I think, you know, We deserve

a good Superman film again, you know if it I

think you know having a movie that centers on

hope and Being able to be again. I'm lifting

experience and think something we're gonna need

this year. So Hoping this It all stay with that.

So I like your comic book picks so far because

it's like the redemption story Like we were we're

due for a good fantastic for film. We're due

for Superman film like I like it all so I'm looking

forward to that one, too I'm just not like the

biggest um comic like not comic book but i'm

not the biggest like marvel dc person so like

a lot of those wouldn't make my list but i am

very intrigued to see you like how gun does it

and like a good version of superman i think is

can take us into a new chapter for some of the

comic book stuff so i like it um you know we

talked we had a conversation before about how

we were going to handle crossovers that apparently

wasn't necessary but um i really think this next

one is going to be on your list like if there's

one that i had to pick on my 10 It's got to be

this one. And if it's not, I don't know if we're

going to have a single one that's crossing over.

So we'll see. I am a huge fan of this studio

and I am a huge fan of the director and the writer

involved has also done pretty good work, even

though I'm not as well versed or educated on

him. I'm going with a film called Wildwood, which

is coming from a studio called Leica. and directed

by Travis Knight who did Kubo and the Two Strings

as well as the Bumblebee movie in the Transformers

franchise. It's written by or co -written or

whatever by Chris Butler who did ParaNorman and

also partnered up with him on Kubo and the Two

Strings. We got Jacob Tremblay, Mahershal Ali,

Jemaine Clements in this, I think Angela Bassett's

in this, Carey Mulligan. I don't know much about

the actual film. This is what the synopsis reads.

Pru, Makil, and her best friend Curtis are drawn

into a hidden magical forest after Pru's baby

brother Mac is kidnapped by crows led by a mysterious

woman named Alexandra. I don't know what any

of that means, but I know that it's from Laika

and Travis Knight. And so from an animated standpoint,

this is the most anticipated animated film I

have for this year. I don't have it on my list,

honestly, just because I completely missed it.

I was looking, just behind the scenes, I used

the Wikipedia movies coming out, which is always

not great, but it's not listed there, because

I guess it doesn't have a solid actual release

date. Another one might come out in two years.

Yeah. And I looked through a lot. I didn't see

this mentioned at all. But yeah, if I did, it

definitely wouldn't be in my top 10, because

like you, I loved Kubo. This could end up being

great. So I really now i'm excited because it

just gives me something else to be excited about

so Yeah, that's a good thing about doing these

lists is like we both run into the notes that

we hadn't heard of before So I I do like that.

What's your number five? I don't think this will

be on your top 10. I don't I don't know how you

feel about Yogo's lanthimos or if you enjoy is

not this stuff or not because I know not everyone

does Um, but he has a new film coming out this

year. I'm probably gonna butcher this but I guess

it's Ganya, I'm not sure but he's teaming up

again with Emma Stone. They know they've didn't

their last few movies together Jesse Plamins

as well. I was playing a beekeeper and It is

about to conspiracy obsessed young men kidnapped

a high -powered CEO of a major company, convinced

that she's an alien intent on destroying planet

Earth. That does seem kind of up his alley a

little bit. It reminds me of something like Killing

of the Sacred Deer. I love a lot of his movies.

I haven't seen Kinds of Kindness or whatever

that came out last year, but The Favorite was

a huge fan of. I love The Killing of the Sacred

Deer. The Lobster was my favorite film that came

out that year. I know a lot of people didn't

like that one as much, but I've enjoyed. so much

of what he's done so he's a very unique specific

style that kind of can turn some people away

but it it hits my sensibilities quite well and

seeing that it's having Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons,

Alicia Silverstone is playing his mom which should

be great so I don't know like this does have

release date and then November 7th as well maybe

it'll probably hit festivals before that but

Yeah, I love his movie. So hoping this is just

as good as what he's done before. Yeah, I wasn't

like as huge on the lobster as everybody, but

I did like Killing of a Sacred Deer. I like the

favorite and I actually liked Poor Things. So

he was like winning me back. And then I saw Kind

of Kindness, Kinds of Kindness this last year.

And it was one of my least favorite films of

the year. So it just did not work for me at all.

So now I'm kind of like. I don't know like some

of the stuff he does I like some he doesn't but

I get it And I get why a lot of people aren't

anticipating this one So I'll probably give it

a shot because like I said, there's only really

been one that I just didn't didn't like they

were lobster It wasn't a film. I didn't like

it just wasn't my favorite Kinds of kindness

was the only one I actually have not liked so

I'll give it a shot for sure It just wasn't after

the kinds of kindness that had a sour taste to

my mouth. So I I didn't yeah this time But a

lot of people anticipating that one. I'm sure

This one, there's a couple on here that I wouldn't

have thought would have made my list, but I don't

know. This is a combination of the director and

one actor, I guess, because I'm such a big fan

of this actor. So I'm going with my number four

being The Lost Bus, which guess what? Also doesn't

have a release date, so that's fantastic. It

is directed by Paul Greengrass, who did like

the Bourne series and Captain Phillips, which

we were both big fans of obviously. This is starring

Matthew McConaughey. It's a drama. A bus driver

has to navigate a bus carrying children and their

teacher to safety through the 2018 Camp Fire,

which became the deadliest fire in California

history. Not anymore, but I don't know. Maybe

that will make it so it doesn't come out at all.

This weird timing, I know that wasn't planned,

but... It's either gonna come out and like really

resonate with folks or they're gonna back away

and like delay this So but Paul Greengrass and

Matthew McConaughey are enough for me to at least

be interested if and when this comes out Yeah,

I want to mess I like I do like Paul Greengrass,

of course like he The Captain Phillips as well,

which is legitimately one of the most intense

movies I saw in theater even though like I knew

the ending of it Real events, uh, you know, same

thing with the 993 So he's done, you know, he's

taken Real world stuff before and done really

good job with it. Um, so I would assume he would

do the same thing with that And yeah, I I do

wonder if they would push it back like how they

would handle that I guess we'll see because I

know like there was a lot of films like when

9 11 happened that were Anything around that

subject got booted. I don't know what this would

be like since it's not necessarily like a Don't

know it's not like outside. Yeah, you know what

I mean? It's not like a and just yeah versus

like a war or terrorist or something like that

so I don't know how it's gonna get handled, but

I think it's an hopefully it doesn't just get

scrapped completely because if It seems like

it has some some stuff there and like you said

he's done some great work with like turning real

-world Stuff into like dramas and whatnot, so

I'm interested. What's your number four? I'm

gonna go to another franchise I was a huge fan

of what Dan Trachtenberg did with the Predator

film that he did, Prey. I thought it was one

of the, sad that it didn't get a theater release.

Probably the best movie that Hulu has ever put

out themselves. And he's going back later this

year, again, another November release with Predator

Badlands. this is set in the future so it's kind

of going the exact opposite in an alien wasteland

uh so that i'm intrigued by because you know

so much of what made pray so interesting was

the setting and this is going a different way

but of course i also really enjoyed some of the

you know something like tentacle at clover fair

lane which did i guess i don't know if you would

count that as the future or not but at least

kind of um so Was impressed with what he's done

so far, uh, even though he's only you know done

two movies really so Based upon what you know,

the last prey movie. I do like the predator movies

like the first one I even like predator 2, you

know the alien verse predators, you know, maybe

not so great but excited to see him take this

on and again, uh Different setting so yeah, see

how it goes I think there's been some interesting

stuff being done with both the predator and the

alien franchise recently that the But I like

tentacle overfield lane is was one of my favorite

films that year and I did really enjoy prey as

well So i'm more interested now than I was 10

minutes ago about this film So i'll put it on

you said this was november november 7th I don't

know if it's getting if it's gonna go to hulu

again. I hope it hits theaters It's scheduled

to be in his it is scheduled to go to theaters

this time. So that's good. Yeah, there's been

some bad predator movies. There was like that

Predator there was a predator or the predator.

I don't know and then and then there's predators

which actually liked with Adrian Brody They're

like they're on a different planet. I do like

that movie, but we'll go go from there What's

your number three? My number three is a film

that is 100 % not on your list. I Don't know

if it's on anybody's list There's not really

too much information about it And I think this

is on my list just because I feel like it's gonna

speak to me like 100 % Like I feel like this

is a Kevin movie, so I don't know Um, I don't

know much about it. The guy directing it is named

Carson Lund and he's never directed anything.

The cast is full of people that nobody's ever

heard of outside of the fact that it does have

a few. Like old school baseball players in it

and like some announcers and whatnot that were

actually in like the major leagues and stuff

like that. So I'm somewhat interested in, in

that, um, it's called, if I'm saying this right,

it's called the EFIS. So. What this is is there

is a group of middle -aged men. All right. You

got me. Um, who are playing basically their last

game of, I don't know if it's baseball or softball

that they're playing. I'm going to say baseball

just because I think it is, but it could be softball,

um, before the field slash park, whatever it's

called that they're playing in is going to get

demolished. And it's not. getting demolished

by like some type of like company or corporation

or like, it's not like a money thing. So it's

not doing, it's not going to do the typical thing

that you would see where it's like, oh, you know,

like the, the big corporate greedy people are

going to knock down this old field that everybody

loves and we got to fight them. It's actually

being torn down to put up a school. Um, so it's

not going that route at all. It's so it's literally

more of like, these individuals like dealing

with aging and dealing with the fact that it's

like the end of a I don't know if the end of

an era might be a little grand but like the end

of this thing that they were using to enjoy each

other and you know still live out their their

hobby or their some of their passions or whatnot

and I just feel like if it's done right this

could like really speak to me on like an emotional

level being the right age, being someone that

probably already has played their last game of

organized sports right before we moved to Florida

because I was playing softball every year and

I think that was probably the end of it when

we moved. So I think it's just it could explore

a lot of interesting concepts when it comes to

aging and things of that nature. Granted, it's

being done by someone that really has never done

a movie. So I don't know if he's going to do

it well or not. But I think it's something that's

at least intriguing to me. It is in the dumping

grounds that you mentioned earlier. It's coming

out March 7th. So it does have a release date.

Um, I don't know if it's going to be straight

to streaming or whatnot. I'm sure there's not

a huge audience that's going to go to the theater

for it, but I'm interested to see how this subject

is handled and just kind of how it all works.

So EPIS is a very unique and strange thing that

I wouldn't have thought I was putting all the

way up at number three. Is that, is it, are they

naming it after the pitch, the EPIS pitch? Is

that where that's coming from? Maybe. it maybe

I I can't find a whole lot of other information

about it outside of a cast list and when I went

through the cast list there was literally some

people that were like major league pitchers back

in the want to say 70s or so maybe 80s and then

like a couple people like that so I was like

oh well they're actually like getting some people

that know about the game that are doing this

that might even be like able to like translate

this even better so I don't know I'm intrigued

so the documentary or is it actually like a movie

movie I think it's an actual movie But again,

I didn't do an extensive amount of research for

this list, so I could be completely wrong. Maybe

it's a little bit of both, something like...

So my next one, it has a release date, it doesn't

have a title though. So I know Paul Thomas Anderson,

similar to Yogo Slimerthimos, is not for everybody,

but I don't love everything he's done. But when

he hits, like he hits really hard for me, like

I... Really loved the master there will be blood

punch truck love boogie nights Really enjoyed

those. I was licorice pizza licorice pizza his

last film. I enjoyed it wasn't my favorite I

know that was kind of controversial phantom threat.

I wasn't a huge fan of or inherent vice So again,

it's not like he said every time but I even wanted

to hit misses like Like his misses are at least

interesting or like at least out there and he

takes chances So he isn't a movie. There's no

title right now. It's just the untitled Paul

Thomas Anderson project, or whatever it may be.

So it's set to come out August 8th, so hoping

soon it'll get a title. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio,

Sean Penn, Vinicio del Toro, so it has a pretty

strong cast. Not much regarding what it's about,

like there's not much regarding the synopsis

or anything like that, like what it's going to

center on, which isn't too surprising. But again,

I'm just going based upon Paul Thomas Anderson.

And I don't think he's worked with the Caprio

before so Interested to see how how they work

out Regina Hall is also in this as well. So really

stacked cast and good director Hopefully works

out for this was a good movie This was the only

other one that I thought we might have a chance

to have crossover. So we do because this is my

number two Nice and I think it's the Paul Thomas

Anderson like rule that you have to come out

with a film that doesn't have a title until the

last second because I feel like he does And unlike

you I'm a little bit mixed on him like there's

some movies that he's done that I've loved there's

some that I've just been kind of like lukewarm

on I felt like this just based off of Again,

there's not much out there, but like the little

tiny pieces. I could gather about this film It

seems to me like it's going in a direction. That's

more towards the Paul Thomas Anderson films.

I really like so that made me feel competent

enough to put it on here. And I did read something

that, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but

I did read something that this is actually going

to be, have some sci -fi elements. Oh wow. Which

I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson's ever done,

right? Uh, not sci -fi. I mean, Magnolia had

like fantasy elements, you could say. I don't

know how much sci -fi it's going to be, but I

just, I did see that phrase that there was like

sci -fi elements or sci -fi Parts or part sci

-fi part something else. I so I don't know if

that's real or not I don't know if anybody actually

knows what the movies about or people are just

making stuff up but like I know he's been one

of those people that have always been like When

when people say like, you know name a director

and a genre that you would like to see them do

that They haven't done like I feel like this

was a combination that I've heard come up before

So I'm intrigued. I've also heard that the film

was called I heard a name, but I don't know if

that was just like a placeholder or just like

something else. Battle of something. But I don't

know if that's real or not, but it is Paul Thomas

Anderson that I'm willing to give him a chance,

especially with DiCaprio, Penn, Del Toro. Like

I think that's enough for to have me intrigued.

So this is my number two. So we finally did get

our crossover before you go. I did forget that

Ifes is a film because I remember I looked it

up and it actually has already been released

in. 2024 in Cannes, I believe. And it does, the

other thing that had me intrigued is that right

now in Rotten Tomatoes, it only has 17 reviews,

but it has a 100%. So that was another thing

that kind of had me going. And there's like an

IndieWire review and a couple of other things

that I thought was enough to make me interested.

So we're going to double up on the Paul Thomas

Anderson film, Love, and that takes us to your

number two. Maybe we'll have a crossover here,

too. I'm not sure but my number two I'm a big

fan of Bong Ju Ho. Of course, he lasted Parasite,

which was, you know, one best picture. Also really

like Snowpiercer, Mother, a huge fan of that

film as well as the host. He's coming out with

a new movie, Mickey 17. It's going to be starring

Robin Patterson. Mark Ruffalo is also in it.

does sound weird it does sound like a mojo movie

it's about someone basically that wants to get

off earth so they signed up to be an expendable

where basically this means your your body gets

copied like multiplicity and then after like

they're done using them they're supposed to be

deleted one of the copies ends up actually surviving

the procedure and then is It goes into conflict

with the the most active copy, basically. I don't

know. You certainly see a lot of similar themes

to something like Parasite, you know, probably

going to go after the corporate culture, things

of that nature. So based upon his past record,

he's worked with American actors before, like

Snowpiercer, but I think this might be his first

full, you know, English language film. So, um,

I guess, you know after the parasite basically

gave them an idea of like let's do whatever you

want And now six years later, which is kind of

crazy. Um, he's finally back with another movie

So considering that I have it at my number two

Yeah, I this is my like number I guess if I had

to put a number on it, it's probably like either

11 or 12 Um, so it just missed going out there.

I love snow piercer parasite was obviously good

So like i'm all about that. I like the fact that

mark ruffalo is involved in this as well as robert

pattinson and Like sci -fi and I thought I just

sci -fi comedy. Did I read that right? Yeah,

even though even like the The posters come, you

know what like who robert patterson kind of looks

like in the I don't know his face Uh, he even

has like a silent film look to it. Like I don't

know if that's what what's going for but It'll

be interesting. We'll see. It's uh, also I think

you mentioned it, but it's a another movie that

comes out Supposedly march 7th, which is the

same as my number three. So maybe there's hopefully

there'll be a few good movies coming out in march

So I hope so, because that's where my number

one is coming out as well. So my number one is

slated for a March 21st release date. And this

may not end up being like as good of a film as

I want it to be, but like it is totally right

up my alley, just like Ephis was in a completely

different way. So my number one is a film entitled

The Alto Nights. which is being directed by Barry

Levinson, who directed things like Rain Man and

Good Morning Vietnam and some other stuff since

that hasn't been quite as good, but like he does

have some, some good films in his filmography.

But here's where it gets me. It's written by

a guy named Nicholas Pileggi, who was the writer

of Casino and Goodfellas or the screenplay or

something involved with the writing. And this

is starring Robert De Niro, who is playing both

lead roles. Um, so this is a mob movie. De Niro

portrays Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, real

life leaders of the Genovese crime family. Storyline

focuses on their involvement in organized crime

during the mid 20th century. And it highlights

Genovese's attempt to assassinate Costello in

1957, which marked a turning point in mafia history.

So you got De Niro playing two roles. You got

the guy that wrote Casino and Goodfellas. You

got Barry Levinson directing it. I know it feels

like we get a mob movie like every couple years

and I'm a sucker for it every time so Especially

with the right people attached so the alto nights

Kind of similar to the Irishmen years ago when

we probably did this the last time visit is my

number one most anticipated film of this year

How about you? I? Had that at number 11 actually

like I my only hesitation is like it's been a

while since Barry Levinson's done a really good

movie So that was mainly in it It wasn't until

I researched the writer that I was like, it went

from like a maybe on my top 10 to like all the

way to number one. If I saw, I didn't even look

at the writer, so if I saw it was, you know,

the same writer as Goodfellas, that probably

would have bumped it into my top 10, but we'll

see. My number one is a movie that I guess you

could say it's 20 years in the making. I love

28 Days Later. It's one of my all -time favorite

horror films for a while. Until I lost this DVD,

I would watch it every Halloween. And then, unfortunately,

it hasn't been available streaming anywhere,

but now that's changed. Really like 28 weeks

later, been waiting for a sequel forever. And

I didn't honestly, didn't know, kind of gave

up hope. I didn't think they were going to do

one and kind of like, okay, well, that's the

end of that franchise. And then the trailer came

out and legitimately, I think it's one of my

favorite trailers I've seen in years. I just

love it. the approach, you know, feels like Danny

Boyle is back at his game again. And because

of how much I love the first film and the second

and how great that trailer was, like that is

the movie I'm the most hyped for going into this.

You know, I like horror. I'm not like the biggest

horror fan, but I don't know if they qualify

it as zombies or not. I know there's that debate.

But with all that, I just was super impressed

with everything I've seen for this so far. When

I just thought about what movie I'm most looking

forward to the first thing that came to mind

was 28 years later It's not often you get one

It makes me feel old that we're even like close

to that because it's like wait It's been it hasn't

been 28 years, but it's been far closer than

that that I'd like to realize I remember seeing

that when I was in high school in the theater

Yeah, I was high school and the first one came

out and I'm old. So yeah with all that That's

why it's my number one. So I I knew it probably

wouldn't be on your list But I had to show it

some love because I'm really looking forward

to it. Yeah, absolutely I guarantee this would

probably be an Amanda's top ten as well I think

it's gonna be a good year for her. There's a

lot of stuff That's right of her alley that's

coming out. Did you know that this was also again

being written by Alex Garland? Yes, I forgot

to mention that it's good. That's a good point

bring up, too He was the writer on 28 days later,

and then he had uncredited writing For 28 weeks

later, but now he's I guess getting credit this

time for 28 years later so thought that was interesting

to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland kind of teaming

up and I don't think you mentioned the cast but

Killian Murphy and Jack O 'Connell refines Aaron

Taylor Johnson. Maybe you didn't I missed it,

but no I didn't mention them So I think it's

got a lot going for it. And apparently there's

going to be another one next year, too, that's

already filming. So they're not waiting three

years for the next one. It says 28 Ireland's

Wikipedia says 28 years later in 2025. And then

in 2026, it says 28 years later, the Bone Temple.

I don't know how I feel about that, but. Either

way that doesn't take away from this this one

that's coming out this year because I think that's

though That's the natural progression with 28

days 28 weeks now 28 years. So I totally get

it any Honorable mentions that we want to discuss

that hasn't come up on any anybody's list so

far that you want to start with Um, there's um,

the maggie lomb hall is doing the bride with

movie based upon frankenstein, which I thought

looked interesting um, there's a movie called

legend of ochi, which is like yeah that looked

kind of interesting what's interesting about

that one is that they're doing a whole excuse

me they're doing a whole bunch of different uh

styles of like visuals like there's i think the

main character is actually being performed by

like seven different people like almost like

a like puppet muppet type deal or like a practical

effects but it seems like they're also doing

Like it's not just CG with the effects It sounds

like they're incorporating a number of different

things that which I think is going to be very

interesting for that one We mentioned it last

with the with the box office, but I do like to

mission impossible film so I'm looking forward

to I'm reckoning The electric state which is

done by the Russo brothers, you know that that's

a Netflix film So anything that goes on Netflix,

I'm always a little hesitant on but they've had

some good movies. So Maybe it will work out but

anything that you can talk about that you're

interested in first I got to give a couple shout

outs to some films that I know my wife would

be interested in so you mentioned bride with

Maggie Gyllenhaal, but there's also Again, it's

to be determined. So maybe it won't happen. But

game. Well, Dottaro is also doing a Frankenstein

movie with Oscar Isaac and Christophe Waltz So

that sounds intriguing, especially for the types

of films that she likes, as well as like you

said with The 28 Years Later. There's a lot of

good horror stuff coming out. Horror supernatural,

that type of stuff. So just out of guilty pleasure,

I guess, I put The Smashing Machine on my honorable

mentions, which is being directed by Benny Safdie,

one of the Safdie brothers, just starring The

Rock as an MMA person. I don't know much else

about it besides... The Rock and Emily Blunt

in a movie about an MMA person. So I'm like,

whatever, I'll watch it. Couple actors that have

some, or directors that have some stuff that

I'm interested in. There's a film entitled Roof

Man, which is being done by Derek Cianfrance,

which I could have said that name wrong. I don't

know, but he's the director that did Place Me

on the Pines, Blue Valentine, and The Light Between

Oceans. And it has Peter Dinklage, Kirsten Dunst,

Channing Tatum. General Temple, Ben Mendelsohn.

So I think that's interesting. It's about a fugitive

Jeffrey Manchester, which was a former United

States Army Reserve officer known as roof man

due to his propensity to steal from branches

of McDonald's after entering the premises via

the roof. That just sounds crazy to me. So like

I'm fine. I'm all about that. There's another

baseball film. Apparently it's a year the baseball

films for me or sports films because there's

a film called it actually has nothing to do with

baseball. I don't think but it's called caught

stealing. And it's being directed by Darren Aronofsky,

who did good on his last sports film, right?

The wrestler. I haven't liked all of his stuff,

but this one's, I don't know, it's got an interesting

premise. It's a former baseball player that finds

himself immersed in the crime world in New York

in 1990. I don't know, it's got Austin Butler,

Zoe Kravitz, Luke Schreiber, Vincent D 'Onofrio,

Matt Smith. So that one's kind of interested.

I also had Legend of Ochi on mine. There's a

Steven Soderbergh film called Black Bag with

Pierce Brosnan and Cate Blanchett, which is a

spy drama. So that one sound interesting. Alex

Garland has another film coming out called Warfare.

It just seemed like it was a little too real

for me to put on my top 10, but I was at least

interested in it. And then I am interested to

see what they do with the ballerina film, the

John Wick spinoff with Anadarmis on June 6th.

Trey Parker has another film or has a film coming

out Kendrick Lamar Trey Parker film. I just don't

know anything about it. So I Couldn't put it

on my list I guess and then I can't find anything

to substantiate that this is a film but I read

somewhere that there's a film called heads or

tails that stars John C Riley playing Buffalo

Bill and That just on itself is somewhat interesting

to me. And then the last one I'll mention is

a Untitled Catherine Bigelow film that is apparently

starring Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, and also

has Jason Clarke in it. So she usually does good

work. So we'll see what that actually is. It

may not come out this year. It doesn't even have

a title. So those were some of the ones that

I was interested in. There's also going to be

a new Tron movie this year. I don't know how

you feel about Tron. Yeah, same with me. And

I am cautiously optimistic. I don't think it'll

be any good, but Happy Gilmore 2. I'll probably

watch it, you know, just for nostalgia sake,

but I don't I You'll be watching that in the

same way that I watched the the reboot of I know

what you did last Yeah, yeah, I I can't think

of last time like Adam Sandler did a comedy that

I was like like you like that Adam Sandler comedy

that I actually liked, you know, it feels like

so So I'd love to hear what everybody else is

anticipating. If you have some films that are

at the top of your list that we didn't mention,

or we probably didn't know they existed or are

coming out, feel free to comment on the website

post or get in touch with us via all the different

social media channels. Dan, how can someone reach

out to you on social media? I'm comic house here

is on like everything, you know, Facebook. I

did. Don't even know if tick talks gonna exist

it by the time this comes out, but it does I'll

be there but almost on Instagram and hopefully

But just with tick -tock potentially going away

I think I might try to shift more focus to YouTube

like more long -form comment, but that's that's

way down the line So but yeah, I'm comic con

tears everywhere reds blue sky all that stuff

It's tough when the government doesn't know the

difference between China and Singapore But anyways,

you can find me at Optimus Solo on most of those

things, or you can search out the Cinema Geeks

and we have stuff on Facebook and the platform

formerly known as Twitter and a couple other

things. So feel free to reach out to us and let

us know what you're anticipating. After this

episode, we're going to get into a new series.

So you're going to hear us going through a 10

film retrospective of the legendary Alfred Hitchcock.

So we look forward to that. We're gonna start

with the 39 steps in the next episode and then

we have nine other Hitchcock films that we'll

be exploring. So if you're a Hitchcock fan or

maybe it's a blind spot, this may be a good chance

for you to watch some of them for the first time.

We hope that you'll take that journey with us.

Until then, this has been Optimus Solo and the

Comic Concierge. Tune in next time for another

chance to listen to more Cinema Geeks.