By Matt Mueller and Colton Dunham
2014 was an impressive year for movies, made even more so by the fact that 2014 was supposed to be simply a layover year. The box office may have reflected that fact (only one movie – "Guardians of the Galaxy" – has currently grossed over $300 million), but the quality sure didn't, with great films ranging from smart, slick blockbusters to mind-bogglingly brilliant indies filling cineplexes all year.
2015, on the other hand, is absolutely stacked with big movies. If there's a movie you've been looking forward to in the last few years, it's probably coming out in 2015. There's "Star Wars." There's "Mad Max." There's "The Avengers." There's a new Scorsese, a new Spielberg and a new Tarantino. "Mockingjay" will finally end. Bond will be back, along with Pixar after a rare year off. The McConaissance rages on with a new movie directed by Gus Van Sant, while the indispensable Emily Blunt finally has a starring role in a new thriller that reteams the "Prisoners" duo of director Denis Villeneuve and brilliant cinematographer Roger Deakins. You like Shakespeare too? Because there's a new big screen adaptation of "Macbeth" coming, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, two of the finest actors working.
You'd have to be a mad man to try to narrow down the plethora of exciting new movies into a list of merely 10. Luckily, OnMilwaukee.com happens to have two such insane individuals: movie guys Matt Mueller and Colton Dunham. The choices weren't easy – we won't say tears were shed, but yes, tears were shed – but here are the 10 movies you should be already buying tickets for in 2015.
"Mad Max: Fury Road" (May 15)
Back in 2000, director George Miller began planning for a fourth Mad Max film with no script, just a ton of storyboard panels. He had a particular vision for his return to the franchise, a vision that seemingly would never make it to the screen. The attacks on 9/11 and the ensuing Iraq War made the film an economic and logistical question mark. Even God seemingly wasn't going to let the movie see the light of day, wiping out its Australian desert shooting location with unprecedented amounts of rain.
15 years later, however, Miller's vision is finally complete. And oh my, what a vision it is.
Judging by the two trailers released, "Mad Max: Fury Road" looks like absolutely insane action movie bliss. The footage looks gorgeous, star Tom Hardy fits the character like a glove and the action … oh, sweet movie gods, the action. According to Miller, 80 percent of the action sequences are done practically and without CG, and it shows. In an era of CG overload, seeing actual cars flip, explode and crash into beautiful dust-kicking fireballs is a heavenly sight. Also, there's a brief scene in the trailer where Tom Hardy fights off an apocalyptic hooligan with a flamethrower guitar.
It's safe to say this will be very different from Miller's last two directorial efforts, aka the "Happy Feet" movies. – Matt Mueller
