By Last week some of our ranks recorded ourselves talking briefly about our most anticipated films of 2014, and now we’re looking at some of those films more in depth as well as mentioning others that we missed. 2013 was a pretty amazing year (we’re all still catching up on the best of the best), and we can only hope that this year will be even better.
But even if it’s not, the non-exhaustive list you’ll find below shows that there’s a whole lot of stuff worth looking forward to.
Time to get excited, but you really should have been already. I mean, it’s been 2014 for an entire month already.
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Release Date: February 7th, 2014
Trailer
The LEGO Movie is the most tantalizing thing I’ve seen in a long time. It looks gorgeous (with what may or may not be stop motion animation), it’s few trailers have been full of sparkling personality (complete with the best depiction of Batman committed to film), The Simpsons LEGO house is releasing shortly after the movie’s release, and I can’t believe it’s a thing that’s really going to happen. It’s our first real Justice League movie, folks. I still can’t believe it. I hope it’s as good as I want it to be. If not, feel free to come back in a week after I’ve reviewed it to laugh in my face. — Nick Valdez
Director: José Padilha
Release Date: February 12th, 2014
Trailer
Why am I excited for the Robocop remake? Mostly because I’m a sucker. I mean we all like robot movies and we all like cop movies so you put those together it has to be great, right? There are a few other reasons I’m actually excited about it. The first is because José Padilha is an awesome action director as his Elite Squad films have shown. The second is because inside me there’s a little boy who just can’t believe that they could screw up Robocop bad enough for me to not like it — even if it is rated PG-13. — Matthew Razak
Director: Wes Anderson
Release Date: March 7th, 2014
Trailer
I mean, any Wes Anderson fan is looking forward to this movie, right? The Grand Budapest Hotel recounts the fairy tale-like adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a ritzy hotel full of personalities. The trailers and images have been making the movie seem like the kind of quixotic, lush and painterly film we’ve come to expect from Anderson, with a generous confirmed cast to boot. Wes Anderson may have a very specific flavor of movie, but at least he’s very good at delivering that. — Liz Rugg
Director: Rob Thomas
Release Date: March 14th, 2014
Trailer
If you haven’t watched Veronica Mars (the TV show) yet you’re the reason kittens sometimes die and why North Korea exists. Almost everything bad in the world is your fault because you’re basically missing out on the best neo-noir television series ever put to air and cancelled too soon. Thankfully Kickstarter came along and gave us all a chance to finally see a worthy conclusion to the TV series. As a backer of the film I’m not only excited to see the movie because “OMG V MARS!,” but also because I actually invested money in it so I want to know it didn’t go to waste. This is what big time movie producers must feel like all the time. — Matthew Razak
Director: James Bobin
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Trailer
Give me slapstick, Tina Fey, and a Kermit-centric plot-line and I am a happy camper. Throw in a cameo of Hobo Joe (the indisputable best character from 2011’s The Muppets) and my wallet will violently expel money at you until Muppets Most Wanted dances before my eyes. Yes, I am just a little bit excited about this movie. I’m not even completely convinced that Muppets Most Wanted will be a good movie, per say, but the trailer looks warm and the story seems lighthearted and fun, and that’s all I could ever ask for in a Muppet movie. Plus, my childhood crush on Kermit may be rearing its ugly head again. Don’t judge me. — Isabelle Magliari
Director: Gareth Evans
Release Date: March 28, 2014
The Raid 2: Berandal is going to be the most kickass movie of the year. It’s still (technically) January, but I’m calling that right now and I don’t think anybody will object. Buzz out of Sundance is spectacular (as if we didn’t already know it was going to be the best thing since sliced bread), which is making this wait a whole lot harder. I’m pretty darn excited. — Alec Kubas-Meyer
Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo
Release Date: April 4, 2014
The next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is here! The sequel to one of my favorite Marvel movies explores our favorite super-patriot’s adjustments to the present, some major changes in S.H.I.E.L.D., and the mysterious titular Winter Soldier, and introduces not only the high-flying Falcon but also one of my favorite D-list mercenaries, Batroc the Leaper. There is plenty to get excited about here, and I’m already frothing. – Sean Walsh
Director: Robert Stromberg
Release Date: May 16, 2014
Trailer
EEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH
That’s pretty much all I want to say about it. It’s a new Godzilla movie, and for the first time, I’m not awfully cynical about its potential outcome. Godzilla is my homie, so I just wish for the best. I mean, even if it turns out to be terrible, it’s a f**king new Godzilla movie. — Nick Valdez
Director: Robert Stromberg
Release Date: May 30, 2014
Trailer
As Flixist’s resident Disney fanatic, I’d like to take this opportunity to openly state Maleficent is going to be one of the best films of 2014. Is that setting the bar too high for what admittedly looks like a cheesy, but particularly fun time as Angelina Jolie hams it up (ham and cheese, mmmm)? Probably. But after Frozen managed to defy all my expectations, I don’t see why every other Disney movie couldn’t do the same. I’m a changed man, folks. Instead of viewing each Disney product with a slight unease, I’m unequivocally in support of whatever they try to do. Taking one of Disney’s most iconic villains and giving her a movie just might work. — Nick Valdez
Director: Bryan Singer
Release Date: May 23, 2014
For the past several years I have been in extreme conflict with the X-Men Movies. Bryan Singer to me, ruined much of X-Men with his “vision.” The first two movies where OK, but made me groan out load many a time, and they set the stage for the abomination of utter dribbling, fumbling, misguided, unintelligible, ball of goat spunk that was X-Men: The Last Stand. Brett Ratner should be ashamed. Also while I am venting, Gavin Hood, really, X-Men Origins: Wolverine? Who did you go down on to be a part of that project? And how could you quite essentially destroy one of the coolest story lines in all comic books as well as destroy one of the coolest characters in all of comic books (Deadpool)? Anyway, X-Men: Days of Future Past will let us know if Bryan Singer has learned anything from Matthew Vaughn, a man who knows how to make a super hero movie and did an amazing job with X-Men: First Class. This will also be the third X-Men movie in a row which will have actually been good in my book, which is an exciting prospect for future Fox super hero movies, and that make me feel excited for them again. — Michael Jordan
Directors: Chris Miller, Phil Lord
Release Date: June 13, 2014
21 Jump Street in college. My body is ready. My body is so ready. – Sean Walsh
Director: James Gunn
Release Date: August 1, 2014
I love literally everything about this movie. The source material, the director, and the cast all have me counting the days ’til August. The most important thing, however, is that Guardians will introduce the third (of six) “Infinity Gems Stones,” the ultra-powerful Macguffins that will likely prove to be the backbone of the maxi-arc of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first act, culminating in Avengers 3. Plus, gun-toting raccoon. – Sean Walsh
Director: Eli Roth
Release Date: September 5, 2014
I have a weird relationship with Cannibal Holocaust, and that weird relationship is 50% of why I want to see The Green Inferno. The other 50% is because Eli Roth forever affected a South American culture by bringing electricity, cameras, and an outside world into their little village so he could make a crazy cannibal movie. That’s amazing and horrifying in equal measure. Hopefully, the ends will justify those ethically ambiguous means. — Alec Kubas-Meyer
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Release Date: Not Soon Enough
This was on my list for most anticipated of 2013, and then it didn’t come out in America. So now it’s here. This movie is gonna be amazing. It just needs a goddamn release. — Alec Kubas-Meyer