Upcoming Movie Roundup -- January 2015!

Happy New Year everyone! 2015 promises to be an incredibly exciting year for the movie fan, and it begins in January with... next to nothing.

The most exciting thing in my book is a TV series, so I'll start with that.

Agent Carter
Jan 6th; ABC, 8/7c
It's only a mini-series, with seven or eight parts only, but I'm just as excited for this as I would be for a movie. In fact this is almost better than a movie -- 6 hours instead of 2? Sounds good to me! I suppose it won't be as high quality as a film, but being set in the 40's and not being so typically high-tech as the Marvel movies or Agents of SHIELD, it's quality should ride more on the writing, and that's what I'm holding out hope for. Hayley Atwell's return as Agent Peggy Carter is very welcome, as is Dominic Cooper's as Howard Stark. I'm also looking forward to the addition of the real-life Jarvis, who was the inspiration for Tony Stark's computerized butler. He's being played by James D'Arcy, and even if it were Paul Bettany himself I wouldn't be more approving. This wins all my anticipation points for the month -- here's to hoping it'll be worth it!



Paddington
Jan 16th; PG
I'm confused about this one, because when I first saw the trailer, it annoyed me with it's silliness so much that I quit watching before it was over, but, it currently has a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Is this another classic case of "Terrible Trailer Nearly Ruins Great Movie" or, perhaps it's just a good kiddie movie, and not the kind I'd want to see. I've never even heard of the character before this, so I don't have any sentimental attachment either. The cast that includes Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and Ben Whishaw is tempting, and the great reception from the critics sparks curiosity, but I doubt I'll be making plans see this one.




Blackhat
Jan 16th; R
This can be looked at a number of ways, but all I see is an action movie starring Chris Hemsworth. Which is a cool idea of course, but that doesn't mean it'll be worth seeing. The trailer is interesting enough, but my interest rides completely on it's reception.




Still Life
Jan 16th (limited); Unrated
I've only ever seen Eddie Marsan in supporting roles, but based on his scene-stealing performance as Mr. Pancks in Little Dorrit, I think he'd make a great lead, especially in a film like this one. And then there's Joanne Froggatt of Downton Abbey who is sweet and charming, and suddenly I want to see this movie. With the limited release who knows when a chance will come, but still. Still Life.




Mortdecai
Jan 23rd; Unrated
Oh boy. And I thought the Paddington trailer was annoying! I will be very much surprised if this turns out good, and that's too bad, because typically Paul Bettany and Ewan McGregor automatically make me interested in a movie, and Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow aren't bad either, plus the spy/mystery/comedy genre is sorely underused, but this looks unbearably silly and cheap.




I hope you're all having a fantastic 2015 so far! What are your movie plans for the first month of this promising year?