The Best and Worst of Upcoming 2008 Movies

It's a new dawn and a new year for Hollywood to unveil their latest attempts at cinematic glory. Much to the dismay of many studio executives, not all of them will be glorious, or noteworthy. Besides film critics, the audiences help to decide the fate of each and every film coming to the screen. If bad behavior does not do it, the masses are what can make and break a celebrity's popularity once and for all. It would be a dreadful idea to upset fans because they are the most important part of why a star is a star.

With the Writer's Strike in full swing, people need to find the perfect opportunity to escape from the doldrums of everyday life. The ideal way to do that would be through the litany of films coming out this year. Based on movie previews from imdb.com and various movie screens, here are twenty five films that could potentially be good, bad, or in-between. The last category involves films that have potential, but could be marred by the slightest thing and become a total disaster as a result. Let's see how these films rank when they are released for audiences to decide their fates.

Best

The Other Boleyn Girl- Love. Sex. Politics. Sisterly betrayal. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson battling for the affections of Eric Bana's Henry VIII. Combining historical elements and the story of Philippa Gregory's novel indicate that the film should be even more exciting than a daytime soap opera.

Leatherheads- George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, and John Krasinki headline this comedy about the early days of football and a romantic triangle between the three leads. Hopefully, this movie should read more like a football version of The Philadelphia Story than Clooney's previous attempt at broad comedy, Intolerable Cruelty, which tried way too hard to be funny. Sadly, that film was not. There should be higher hopes for this film, but only time will tell.

Fool's Gold-How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days costars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey team up again as a bickering couple searching for buried treasure. Mayhem ensues. A few laughs possibly. Some lip synching to the Police song "Message in a Bottle" that concludes the preview. Hopefully, that song will make an appearance in the film. If not, the movie's humor should make up for it.

Iron Man- Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges head an all-star cast that brings the Marvel Comics character to life. They portray Downey's character as a power hungry businessman who has a life altering experience that changes his outlook on life. Of course, his actions obviously inspire him to become Iron Man. The preview gives an inkling that the film could be a potential blockbuster with the right push of marketing, timing, and star power. Hopefully, all of those elements will help more than harm the movie.

Made of Honor- Patrick Dempsey portrays a man who is forced to swallow his pride and be his female best-friend's maid of honor. Jokes about his character's masculinity are sure to dominate a portion of the film, but Dempsey seems up for the challenge. Let's hope audiences are too.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian- Finally! The much anticipated follow-up to The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe will be released in theaters this summer. The storyline picks up a year after the first movie. The four main characters travel to Narnia again and another battle to restore order ensues. The title prince looks like a blank faced teen magazine model, but that should not take away from the story too much. Most of the audience should be too dazzled by the special effects to overlook that weakness.

Sex and the City: The Movie- Carrie and company return to the screen, the big one that is. The story is sketchy at best. Who cares though. It's Sex and the City, and that speaks for itself.

Get Smart- Eyes might roll at the idea of another movie based on a classic television show, but there is actual promise with this one. Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway show comedic chops as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99. The only way this film will flop is based on timing and if the story is anemic in any way. Luckily, that does not seem to be likely.

The Dark Knight- One of those movies that audiences should run, not walk, to. Christian Bale back as the Caped Crusader, and Heath Ledger as the Joker. All that needs to be said. Some scenery chewing, the good kind, will be part of the film. Katie Holmes's weak portrayal of Bale's love interest will be replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Enough reason to go see it.

Worst

Over Her Dead Body- Eva Longoria as a dead woman tormenting her fiancé's new girlfriend. Looks more cliché ridded than entertaining. Longoria should choose to stay in Wisteria Lane for the foreseeable future if she continues to choose cinematic junk like this.

The Eye- Jessica Alba trying to show she's more than a pretty face, except she's in a watered down version of basically every horror movie imaginable. More icky than scary. Completely forgettable, just like Alba's previous films Awake and Good Luck Chuck.

The Hottie and the Nottie- The story can be boiled down to a boy in love with a beautifully vacant girl and the unattractive best friend in his way. The film is basically another attempt for Paris Hilton to prove she's famous for more than doing nothing, which is still true.

Prom Night- A horror movie remake based on a famous 1980s film with Jamie Lee Curtis. Brittany Snow steps into Curtis' scream queen role and will likely spend most of the story doing so until she gets laryngitis. Rob Zombie's take on Halloween showed how a remake can be done right, while this on the other hand only has beautiful dumb people getting picked off one by one. Boring.

Starship Dave- Eddie Murphy flexing his funny muscles again after his Dreamgirls Oscar nomination. It seems to be Murphy reverting to form once again. Nothing more and nothing less.

Hancock- Will Smith portraying a superhero with a questionable public image. The story could be funny, but the preview showcases jokes of an embarrassing kind. Smith should be applauded for his risk taking and given a lesson in choosing scripts more carefully.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor- There has to be a reason why Rachel Weisz decided not to do this movie. Could it be based on the script? Maybe. Only time will tell if Weisz made the right decision.

Valkyrie- Tom Cruise attempting to show his serious side after his much ballooned personal life and his odd behavior overshadowing his recent films. This movie seems to be questionable at best. Cruise's credibility will never be the same, and it is unclear if this film will restore it.

Rambo- The movie does not appear to hold any high hopes, because it basically seems to be another attempt for Sylvester Stallone to resurrect his flagging career. Based on the preview alone, he should have tried harder. The mini-tidbit of the film is rather vague. It showcases what Rambo did best: killing the bad guy. Lots of them. There's nothing else to go on, which could explain the January release date. Hollywood usually uses this month, and sometimes the early part of February to push off the ones they believe won't do that well. Hollywood could be right, or wrong. Ultimately, the public will decide the movie's fate when it's released on January 25^th.

In-between

Penelope- The much delayed Christina Ricci film will get to be shown to the public, in limited capacity of course. She gets to play a girl with a facial deformity and makes up for it with her ability to make friends. She also has a love interest in James McAvoy. What more can a girl ask for? Besides the opportunity to be released on more screens. Not going to happen, unless it does really well at the box office, which might not happen. Look on the bright side, it's not being released straight to video.

10,000 B.C- The plot of this movie is rather on the vague side. Something about early civilization, romance, and war against the gods. The special effects look awesome, but for what can be seen so far of the story not so much.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- This film could go either one of two ways: show the world that Harrison Ford has still go it, or that he should retire his archaeologist character permanently.

The Incredible Hulk- Didn't Director Ang Lee attempt to make a film about the Hulk years ago to disastrous results? Why is someone else attempting to do the same? Edward Norton is a good actor, but that won't help if the story is exciting as a box of rocks.

The Happening- M. Night Shyamalan exploring familiar territory with regular people fearing the world will end. Cue the cinematic groan. How many times has he covered that storyline? Can he come up with a new angle, or will this movie suffer the same fate as Lady in the Water? Audiences will find out soon enough.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2- Seriously? Did this film actually need a sequel? The film should be quite cute, but the purpose of a follow-up seems to be only additional dollar signs and not much else. We'll have to wait and see if the film is worth the extra ten dollars.

Mama Mia!- A movie musical full of stars (Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan to name a few) singing ABBA songs from the popular Broadway musical. Sounds like a golden movie experience, but it could be a nightmare based on not having heard some of the stars sing before. Hopefully, Brosnan has the ability to carry a tune. If not, audiences will be heading for the hills from the sound of his music.

In the end, these films might not all be good, or bad. It's still early in the year to be judge, jury, and executioner. Most of these films will be edited to some degree to make them better, or worse than they already are. A few release dates might be pushed back even further, case in point Penelope's numerous delays. The most definitive way to choose what is worth seeing is by three terms of quality: star, plot, and music. If any of these elements are weak, then you have your answer.

SOURCES:
http://imdb.com/video/trailer/me60866648
http://imdb.com/video/trailer/me701036451/
http://imdb.com/video/trailer/me60563368/