Top 5 Anticipated 2015 Award Season Movies (Derek’s Picks)

The staff of Renegade Cinema sat down and looked at the upcoming 2015 Award’s Season movie slate and picked out their five most anticipated movies of the upcoming fall/winter movie season.

From award winning entries to huge spectacle feature films, here is the first day of our week long look at this year’s biggest year-end movies. Check out which five films Derek Johns is most interested in.

5.  Crimson Peak

Okay, I’ll admit, part of my reason for picking Crimson Peak is my love for Pacific Rim.  Ever since seeing it in theaters, I have eagerly waited for Guillermo del Toro’s follow up.  The fact that the cast includes Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain and Charlie Hunnam and that movie itself has been described by Stephen King himself as “gorgeous and f—ing terrifying” is just an added bonus.

 

4.  Spotlight

As a former broadcasting student, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for investigative journalism movies, so naturally I can’t wait for Spotlight (the fact that it’s an early front runner for Best Picture doesn’t hurt either).  I also really enjoy ensemble movies and even though the majority of the awards buzz is being given to Michael Keaton (which probably has at least a little bit to do with his loss for Birdman last year), the reviews so far indicate that the acting is superb all around which is always a major plus.

 

3.  Joy

I will admit to being slightly skeptical about the idea of Joy when I first heard about it.  For starters basing a film on the inventor of the Miracle Mop didn’t sound all that interesting at first glance.  Also, I had some concerns that the now 25 year old Jennifer Lawrence would be too young for the part of a woman that’s supposed to be the mother of three children.  Of course, then I remembered this is David O. Russell we’re talking about and put the skepticism to rest.  Russell and Lawrence have proved to be a winning combination twice already and there’s absolutely no reason for me not to think their third collaboration will be just as good.

 

2.  The Hateful Eight

The film Quentin Tarantino said he would never make will finally be released.  While The Hateful Eight experienced a temporary setback due to an early draft being leaked online, that has only served to heighten my enthusiasm.  I could go on about the intriguing concept of The Hateful Eight which seems to combine the whodunit element of Reservoir Dogs and the old west setting of Django Unchained but come on, it’s Quentin Tarantino.  Do I honestly need to say more?

https://youtu.be/gnRbXn4-Yis

 

1.  The Martian

It’s only been about a month since I’ve read The Martian book and I already can’t wait to see it.  At first, I was worried about how Ridley Scott would handle the source material given that he hasn’t made a decent film since American Gangster back in 2007.  Thankfully, the early reviews at TIFF ended up being mostly positive and based on the trailers Matt Damon appears to have portrayed Mark Watney perfectly, which has only made me more excited.  On top of that, the cast is top notch and includes (but is certainly not limited to) Jessica Chastain, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean and Kristen Wiig.

Make sure to follow Renegade Cinema on Twitter, where we share all the new trailers, videos, and promo images from all the movies we love.