Most Anticipated Movies of 2006

Casino Roayle is one of our most anticipated moves of 2006.

Eric
2006 looks like another banner year for superhero flicks. Ever since Spiderman brought back the superhero movie genre, Hollywood has not stopped mining comic book pages for film gold. This year, one of the most anticipated movies is Superman Returns. Director Bryan Singer successfully brought the X-Men series to the screen and now he tackles the man of steel. Whereas Batman Begins started the Batman movie series over, Superman Returns fits into the Christopher Reeves series, picking up the story line after the second film. To add further excitement, the great Marlon Brando will appear as Clark Kent's biological father Jor El.

While Singer was filming Superman Returns, former music video director Brett Ratner took over the helm for X-Men 3. Ratner has directed music videos for Mariah Carey and Madonna. His film credits include the action/comedy Rush Hour 2. I hope Ratner is able to match Singer's direction and maintain its serious tone.

Worth noting is that James Marsden is playing supporting roles in both Superman Returns and in X-Men 3. In Superman he plays Lois Lanes new love interest Richard White and in X-Men 3 he plays the often overlooked X-Men leader Cyclops. Marsden has certainly logged some air miles this past year as Superman Returns was filmed in Australia and X-Men 3 was shot in Canada.

While I do like a good superhero movie, I love a true World War II one even more. Opening this year is Flags of Our Fathers about the marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. It stars Ryan Phillipe, Barry Pepper and Paul Walker. Although Michael Bay and an all-star cast proved with Pearl Harbor that subject matter alone does not make a movie good, I have faith that Clint Eastwood will do a competent job directing Flags of Our Father.

Scott
I too am looking forward to X-men 3 and Superman Returns, but it is the return of another series that really has me excited. It's the return of the most successful movie franchise in Hollywood history. I'm referring of course, to the return of James Bond in Casino Royale.

Not only is this a new Bond movie, but it's also a new James Bond, this time in the form of Daniel Craig. While I'm a huge Pierce Brosnan fan, I think the producers chose well when they chose Craig. Anyone who doubts Craig's ability to play the role need only check out his starring turn in Layercake to see that here is an actor capable of filling the famous tuxedo.

Along with the new Bond, the hints are that this movie, which is based upon the very first Bond book, will be a return to the harder-edged, more realistic Bond. I can only hope this is true, because those are the best Bond movies of all. Dr. No, From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only all feature a tougher, less reliant on gadgets Bond, and that's what the producers of Casino Royale are promising. I only hope they don't let us down.