10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2012

It's the start of a new year-a time to look forward at what the year will bring. And it's looking like 2012 will bring, well, more of what we've come to expect at the movies. There's sequels (Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2) and superheroes (The Avengers) and sometimes both within the same film (The Dark Knight Rises). A pair of rival Snow Whites (Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman) will try to determine who is really the fairest of them all. (We all know Charlize is the answer to that!) And it seems modern twists on fairy tales (Jack the Giant Killer and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters) will definitely be having a moment. Two very different Abraham Lincoln's will be hitting the screen uniting the union (Spielberg's Lincoln) and...fighting vampires (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). And that's just a sampling of what we have to look forward to. Join me as I present my 10 most anticipated movies of 2012 (in alphabetical order).

Anna Karenina 

(dir. Joe Wright) Fall 2012

The oft filmed Tolstoy classic is back! Watch out for trains...The famous tragic heroine has already been played by Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, and Sophie Marceau, just to name a few. So, why do we need another version? Well, this past year proved with Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre that good directors and new actors can bring a fresh take on a classic. And this new Anna Karenina comes to us courtesy of director Joe Wright (Atonement, Hanna), his muse, Keira Knightley, along with Jude Law and Aaron Johnson, working from a screenplay by Tom Stoppard. I got excited just typing that. This is Knightley and Wright's third film collaboration (he's also directed her in Chanel Commercials). Their first, Pride and Prejudice, brought a rustic beauty and lived-in, natural quality to what could have been a stuffy costume drama and also brought Knightley a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Perhaps the third time is the charm for Oscar...

Brave

(dir. Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman) June 22, 2012

Let's be honest, 2011 was not a very good year for animation. Rango was kinda weird and boring. And the scale of the characters to their environment and inconsistency on things annoyed me. Kung Fu Panda 2 was visually beautiful and fun, but felt a little like a rehash of the first film. The only Pixar movie I haven't seen is Cars. I can now add Cars 2 to that list. It seemed like the rest of America felt the same because, although successful, it is Pixar's least profitable film. Hopefully they can rebound with their 2012 offering, Brave. The film is a couple of firsts for Pixar. It's their first attempt at a fairy tale. The first time a woman has been at the helm (Chapman was replaced with Andrews late in production, but both are given credit). And it's the first time that the main character is a female. It's the story of Princess Merida in the ancient highlands of Scotland who makes a choice that affects her kingdom. With her archery skills, she must set things right. My favorite Disney animated films are the fairy tale stories (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled) so it'll be interesting to see Pixar's take on something so distinctly Disney. And the visuals are gorgeous.

Cloud Atlas

(dir. Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski) October 2012

The directors of Run, Lola, Run and The Matrix films seem like a perfect match. In the late 90's, both films felt like something new and exciting. Bringing an entirely different approach to how a film can look visually. Over ten years later, their influence can still be seen in films today. For 2012, the three have paired up to make an ambitious film. Cloud Atlas is based on the novel by David Mitchell. Six different yet interconnecting stories span time and countries. Oscar winners, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Susan Sarandon join Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, and Hugh Grant. Each play multiple characters that cover different genders and races. The whole thing sounds so crazy. It could either be a disaster or, if they pull it off, a masterpiece. Here's hoping for the latter.

The Hunger Games, Les Miserables, and more after the jump...