8 movies to look for in 2013

Warm Bodies (coming to theaters February 2013), includes a zombie protagonist who falls in love with a human during the zombie apocalypse.

The cinematic year is almost over – a year that was filled with lovestruck vampires, avenging superheroes, sensitive strippers with a heart, and Indian boys who travel by boat with tigers.  But never fear, 2013 brings about a whole new crop of movies that promise to satiate your craving for stale popcorn smothered in cholesterol – as well as some pretty dang good cinema.

Here are a couple titles to look for this year:

Les Miserables: This is a Christmas 2012 film we’re letting slip into the must see movies of 2013. Anne Hathaway’s voice rings in this movie (as does Amanda Seyfried’s and Hugh Jackman’s, among other familiar names), proving once again that Hathaway’s not only an actress who’s overcome her teen roles but has the chops to go with it. If you see me in the theater at the same time as you, forgive me as I totally enjoy a good ugly cry to this movie.

Warm Bodies: There are a handful of movies from the zombies point of view – 2006 film Zombies Anonymous, 2007 film Wasting Away (aka Aaah! Zombies!!), 2008 film Colin, just to name a few. You know, your typical B List movies. Never heard of them? Neither have I. But let’s change that, ok? The next protagonist zombie movie is coming out in 2013, starring a zombie who just wants to connect with others. And who just happens to fall in love with a human, causing him to want to hang with her instead of wanting to eat her brain. Totally not a B-Lister. This one is definitely on my must-see list. Coming February 1, 2013.

Side Effects:  Jude Law & Channing Tatum. That is enough to get the female population into the theater. But it looks like this movie has some twists and turns to keep the whole audience on the edge of their seat. Coming February 7, 2013.

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Beautiful Creatures: Based on a book by the same title (and part of the Beautiful series), the dark matter of this movie looks like 2013′s Twilight type movie – but hopefully with better acting. And the Florence & the Machine in the trailer helps with the arm goosies effect. Coming February 13, 2013.

Hansel & Gretel, Witch Hunters: If any retold fairytale could be considered 100% pure rock and roll, this one would be it. I am practically salivating in anticipation over the release of this movie, showing Hansel and Gretel beyond their childhood, now on the hunt for witches. They’re kicking ass and taking names, until a powerful force much stronger than they’ve ever reckoned with starts kidnapping children in broad daylight. It appears that the season of retold fairytales isn’t quite over, and this one could just be the best of them. Plus, you can’t go wrong when Jeremy Renner (The Avengers 1&2, The Bourne Legacy, Mission Impossible 5) plays Hansel. Coming March 1, 2013.

Oz, The Great and Powerful: Imagine if the Wizard of Oz were made today, with today’s technology and special effects. The historic movie would probably be even more epic than it already is. So how about we add that epicness to a prologue of the Oz story, when the great and powerful wizard comes to the land just over the rainbow? Add in a bunch of dark twists and turns, countless mystical creatures, and put James Franco in the starring role with Mila Kunis, Zach Braff, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams co-starring. Um, yes please! Coming March 8, 2013.

The Great Gatsby: The role of Gatsby couldn’t have been more perfectly cast as none other than Leonardo DiCaprio. With a killer soundtrack to accompany a story that could be told over and over, I expect this movie to be one of the films that make waves this next year. Coming May 17, 2013

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire: I’m not sure if there’s any film more heavily anticipated than the second chapter of the Hunger Games saga. Those of us who have read (and re-read) the books are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for this film to finally hit theaters. At the very least, we’re waiting for a trailer to feed our thirst for more Katniss and friends. When the first trailer hit in the previews before Twilight’s last film, the crowd squealed…only to be dismayed by yet another teaser that showed us nothing. Guess we have to wait just a little longer to see what awaits us in this film, not due out until November 2013. Can we wait that long???

At any rate, I obviously don’t have a trailer (unless I were to add one of the million badly made, fanmade trailers created on Youtube). But how about this interview of Jennifer Lawrence recently on the Ellen Show?