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SALT LAKE CITY — This year has been especially kind to moviegoers. Blockbusters like Marvel's "The Avengers" exceeded audience expectations, while quirky films like "Moonrise Kingdom," and compelling documentaries like "The Imposter" and "Marley," satisfied the smaller, special-interest audiences.
Even films that didn't find universal acclaim like "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Brave" were interesting enough to spark debate from both critics and apologists.
Indeed, it would be easy for movie fans to kick up their feet and call 2012 a success — if it weren't for the sea of potentially amazing films on the horizon. Here are five of the most anticipated films yet to come.
Cloud Atlas Oct. 26
What is "Cloud Atlas"? Even after the almost six-minute trailer, people are still attracted and confused by the direction of this visually driven adventure.
Starring academy award winners Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Susan Sarandon, the Wachowskis tale attempts to explore the cosmic consequences of human behavior and the ripples that carry our lives throughout time.
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Unfortunately for those involved, history has not been kind to similarly abstract, yet visually compelling films. Projects like "What Dreams May Come" and "The Fountain" never found their audience, and as a result have both been critical and commercial failures.
Will "Cloud Atlas" be different? Early reviews are showing mostly positive, but with only 20 critics lending their voice to the discussion, it's still anyone's guess how general audiences will perceive this.
Wreck-it Ralph Nov. 2
Before Disney released "Tangled" in 2010, people were beginning to wonder if the mouse house should turn their animation projects over to Pixar. "Tangled" wasn't a perfect film, but it was significantly better than "Chicken Little," or "The Princess and the Frog." At the very least, "Tangled" proved there was still some magic left in the animation department.
Two animated films later, Disney is boldly attempting to create a decent video-game movie. With the exception of maybe "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" and "Scott Pilgrim vs The World," video game-to-movie efforts have been a disaster. Disney knows this better than anyone after casting Jake Gyllenhaal as their "Prince of Persia."
"Wreck-it Ralph" hopes to find success by including as many video-game characters as possible, while introducing its own 8-bit game character into the gaming world — Ralph.
Hopefully this is another success for Disney, as Pixar seems to be stuck in a sequel-laden tailspin these days. Maybe one day, we'll see both studios acting like their former selves and have more quality-animated films than we know what to do with.
Lincoln Nov. 9
A week after "Wreck-it Ralph" hits the big screen, Steven Spielberg will slowly begin showing audiences his vision of Abraham Lincoln.
During a Google Hangout session before and after the "Lincoln" trailer world premiere, Spielberg mentioned that this film has been 11 years in the making, and that it wasn't until Doris Kearns released her critically acclaimed novel, "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" that he was able to bring the project together.
With Daniel Day-Lewis leading the film as the beloved 16th president, people are anxious to see another award-worthy performance from the actor in what is hopefully another award-worthy project from Spielberg.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Dec. 14
You've probably heard rumors concerning Peter Jackson, famed director of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, splitting the original 310-page "There and Back Again" novel into three full-length films. You may have also heard rumors that early screeners have hated the 48 frames-per-second presentation Jackson previewed at CinemaCon. If you are a fan of the original J.R.R. Tolkien book and were looking forward to seeing Smaug, you were probably disappointed to hear Benedict Cumberbatch — the actor voicing the dragon — announce: "I think my eye might open at the end of the first film and then you’ll get the rest of me in the second."
But a few curious reports aside, let's be honest: Who's not seeing this movie?
"Lord of the Rings" fans are thrilled they're getting three more movies, and the casual moviegoer is going to see Jackson's first film before calling the entire project a bust.
Martin Freeman seems like a perfect choice for Bilbo Baggins, most of the original "Lord of the Rings" cast is back to ground the movie universe, and Gandalf the Grey is a more interesting character than Gandolf the White.
The world will probably be cold, snowy and full of anxious holiday shoppers when this film is released, but I suspect "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will still make a gazillion dollars its opening weekend.
Les Miserables Dec. 25
Most people who have seen the trailer for "Les Miserables" have been genuinely impressed. There are a million ways to make this poignant Broadway musical appear hokey on camera, but Director Tom Hooper has proven himself a solid historical storyteller with both "The King's Speech" and the TV mini-series "John Adams."
The cast line-up is impressive, and the audience has been in place for this project since the 80s. All the cards seem to be stacked for this Victor Hugo classic to sing on film, and come Dec. 25th, this may just be the perfect Christmas present from an already-generous 2012.
You can contact Travis at TSPoppleton@gmail.com.
