Ep. 25: Most Anticipated Films Of 2024

Now that the Oscars are over, Alex and Lee look ahead to the rest of the year and discuss their most anticipated films for the remainder of 2024. 

*** Please note: this episode was recorded prior to the release of “Dune: Part 2”.

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Transcript

Lee Pugsley
What's up, everyone? Welcome back to The Dark Room, where two blind cinephiles illuminate the sighted. I'm Lee Pugsley.

Alex Howard
I'm Alex Howard.

Lee Pugsley
And this is a podcast hosted by two legally blind guys for film lovers of all abilities. And we're really glad that you could join us today.

Alex Howard
Yeah, this will be a fun episode. We're doing our most anticipated of 2024, and it's always fun to talk about the potential of movies to be good or bad.

Lee Pugsley
And it's really interesting because when I was making my list for this episode, I didn't really expect there to be that many movies that I was anticipating. And surprisingly enough, there was a very good handful to choose from already.

Alex Howard
Yeah, I know. This year is going to be a little lighter because of the strikes, but also, I mean, Marvel's kind of taking off the year except for one movie instead of -- they usually do four, so they're doing one this year. And DC has zero movies in their universe, so we're getting a bit of a lighter blockbuster year, you could say. So I was surprised that I found so many that I was looking forward to.

Lee Pugsley
Well, let's go ahead and just dive right in.

Alex Howard
Well, actually, I think what would be fun is if we both predicted how many we think we'll have in common on each other's. Because we don't know what each other's list is. So I think we're going to have two movies in common out of our top ten, not counting our honorable mentions. Do you have a guess for how many you think we'll have in common?

Lee Pugsley
My gut reaction is actually going to be four. It was between three or four, but I actually think that we will have four in common on our top ten most anticipated lists. So it'll be really fun to find out. And it's always fun when we do these things and we haven't talked to each other about our lists. Obviously our lists can change over the process of creating them. So I'm really excited to see what you have on your list.

Alex Howard
Do you want to start with your honorable mentions first?

Lee Pugsley
I'll just go through them very quickly. I have a good handful of them. First one on my honorable mention list is the new Yorgos Lanthimos movie, Kinds of Kindness with Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone, which apparently is already filmed and ready to go. Second is the new Francis Ford Coppola movie Megalopolis, which has a really good cast. Lawrence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman. And I've seen a lot of buzz about this movie, so it'll be exciting to see what that's about. Then there's Trap, the new M. Night Shyamalan movie. We don't really know a lot about this other than it's a psychological thriller that takes place at a concert and that's really all I need to know. Then there's this new Steven Soderbergh movie called Presence, which I actually believe will be shown at Sundance. I think Steven Soderberg is a very solid director. He hasn't always had hits. You know, he's had some misses, but overall I've been very pleased with what he's delivered. And then there's the new Amy Winehouse biopic Back in Black. You know, I'm always a sucker for musician biopics. Probably going to follow similar beats of what we know, but hey, I'm here for it. And then Gladiator 2, because Gladiator is one of my favorite Ridley Scott movies and I'll be curious to see what Ridley Scott is going to do with this and the direction he's going to take with it. Civil War, the Kirsten Dunst to Nick Offerman movie. I think it's very interesting that it's coming out this year when we have elections and just the political angle I'm very intrigued by. Then we have The Bikeriders, which was supposed to come out last year. This is the Tom Hardy movie that got dropped from distribution and they found a new distributor. So I'm glad that we're getting that this year. Mickey 17 the new Bong Joon-ho movie. A Sci-Fi adventure movie from the sounds of it.

Alex Howard
So interesting enough, that movie, I think it got taken off the March release schedule. I don't know if they're going to push it back to later in the year, but just like the last few days, they took it off the release schedule.

Lee Pugsley
They took it off the March schedule because they still needed more time to finish it in post. From what I understand, it sounds like it's still coming out this year. So fingers crossed on that one. And then there's the new Jordan Peele untitled project that I'm very excited about. I think Jordan Peele is a masterful filmmaker and he always has really interesting ideas to explore. Last but not least is Twisters. I like the original Twister movie and I like the cast for this movie, and I'm curious to see where they go with this new natural disaster spin. So those are my honorable mentions. Alex, what are your honorable mentions? And do we have any crossover?

Alex Howard
So that's so funny. A lot of the ones in the beginning of your list, I didn't even know we're coming out this year, which is a fun part of doing this list because I mean, we both love movies, so thanks for educating me on a lot of those. We do have The Bikeriders in common for honorable mentions. Very excited. I love Jeff Nichols as a filmmaker and it got pushed from last year, so I'm really hoping it turns out well. So my honorable mentions, I'll do rapid fire as well. Wicked Part One, which is obviously self explanatory, and I'm sure that's on your top ten. Somewhere. Inside Out 2. Woman of the Hour, which is directed by Anna Kendrick, about the serial killer that was on the dating game show. It's a true story. It was at TIFF and I didn't get a chance to see it because it didn't have audio description, but I think Netflix acquired it, so I think it will get description this year and I hear it's really good. Like I mentioned, The Bikeriders. Only superhero movie in my honorable mentions is Kraven the Hunter. Sony has not had a good track record, but it's supposedly rated R. And I love Aaron Taylor Johnson, so I'm excited for this one. My next one is M. Night Shyamalan's daughter's movie, her directorial debut called The Watchers. So I'm curious to see where that goes. And I'm sure she has been influenced by her father's filmmaking. And then my last honorable mention is The Shroud, which is the new David Cronenberg movie. And I am always interested in body horror, especially when it comes to audio description body horror. So I'm very curious to see how that's going to be. 

Alex Howard
Awesome. I am intrigued by the majority of those choices, and a few of them, the Anna Kendrick movie Women of the Hour, is that what it's called?

Alex Howard
Yeah.

Lee Pugsley
That one almost made my honorable mention list, and The Shrouds almost made my honorable mention list as well. And I forgot one more movie on my list, which is if the John Krasinski movie. I just think the concept of imaginary friends being left behind is really interesting, and I think that there could be a lot of poignancy to it, potentially. At the very least, I think it's going to be really fun because it has a solid voice cast.

Alex Howard
Awesome. So now let's get into our actual top ten most anticipated of 2024. So what is your number ten, Lee?

Lee Pugsley
My number ten is The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. I'll be honest and say that the trailer itself doesn't look mind blowing to me, but I love both Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt and I'm here for it. I think that it looks like it has potential to be a lot of fun. I don't think it's necessarily going to do anything particularly groundbreaking or doing anything in terms of reinventing the wheel, but it just looks like a really good popcorn flick and I am excited.

Alex Howard
Nice. Yeah, I'm excited for that one too. Ryan Gosling is my favorite actor, so that one looks great.

Lee Pugsley
And what's your number ten?

Alex Howard
So my number ten is Megalopolis. I think that's how you say it, right? Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He hasn't been great lately. He hasn't made a movie in a while, but his last movie, I have not seen it, but the trailer looks pretty bad. But this one, he has been trying to make this for so long and he sold his ranch, I think it was, or his winery to make this movie. And the cast is stacked and I'm like, this has been in development since I was an intern in 2015. I was hearing whispers of it when I was a development intern. So I am very excited to see what all the buzz is about and why they've been trying to make this for so long. And it's supposed to premiere at Cannes this year, supposedly.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I love that. As you know, it was in my honorable mentions that almost made my top ten most anticipated. But for all the reasons you mentioned, I'm so intrigued and it very much seems like a Coppola passion project. And whenever a director has a passion project, the passion for it always shines through.

Alex Howard
So what is your number nine?

Lee Pugsley
Number nine is Joker 2 or dare I pronounce, try to pronounce the french thing. Joker Falmondu, is that...?

Alex Howard
I think it's Filet. Well, I'm not even going to try Filet Adieu? [laughs] 

Lee Pugsley
We'll just say Joker 2. I was a really big fan of the first Joker movie. I thought it was such a fascinating character study. I thought it was a great performance by Joaquin Phoenix, obviously. And it'll be interesting to see where they go from here. It'll be interesting to see Joaquin's return with the addition of Lady Gaga coming into the mix and the fact that it's a musical. You know, me being a big musical guy really piques my interest. I would have never imagined that you would do a Joker sequel as a musical, so I have no idea what they're going to do with that and how it's going to pan out. But hey, I will definitely be their opening day.

Alex Howard
So I think I'm already wrong in my prediction. I think I underestimated you. Joker 2 is my number two most anticipated of the year. The first Joker movie was my favorite movie of 2019 and that was the year Avengers Endgame came out. I love the first Joker. I love the unreliable narrator. I think that movie is a masterpiece of superhero cinema, but beyond that, just a great, solid movie with the IP taken out of it even. I'm so excited for this and the fact that it is a musical would mean we got something we didn't expect at all from the first one. So to go the other way with it being a musical and all of that, I am so, so excited for this. I cannot wait.

Lee Pugsley
And I trust Todd Phillips as a director, too. Even though Joker and musical don't necessarily go together in my mind, I think he's a really good director, so I will trust his expertise.

Alex Howard
But especially with the whole insanity part of it. And so I feel like this could literally be in their head, them singing and getting into mischief. I think it's great.

Lee Pugsley
Good point. I was literally just thinking that they could go places with the fantasy type sequences that could be very imaginative, and I think that there's going to be some really solid visuals to accompany that.

Alex Howard
And with stunning visuals comes hopefully stunning audio description.

Lee Pugsley
Yes, let's hope so, especially when it comes to musicals. I know we've talked about this a little bit on previous episodes, but there is a certain specificity to describing musical numbers that has been done very effectively in many films and not quite as effectively in other films. So moving on, then, to-- That was my number nine. What is your number nine?

Alex Howard
My number nine is A Quiet Place Day One. I absolutely love the first Quiet Place movie, the second one as well. But the first one especially, I think is a masterclass in tension building with the silence. And I think the audio description, there's a fine line when it comes to Quiet Place movies where you want to describe, but you don't want to describe too much because the silence really does make the tension heightened. And so if you're describing the whole time, there's no silence, obviously. So I'm very excited to get back to this world of A Quiet Place. I think it's a great idea and I'm really anxious to see how they do the audio description with this one as well.

Lee Pugsley
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, no, I'm excited for that movie, too. It wasn't on my honorable mentions. It almost made it there. It'll be interesting because this is a spinoff movie, correct?

Alex Howard
Yeah, I think it's Lupita Nyong'o was in this one.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, that is true. So I'll be very curious to see how they expand the Quiet Place world. And I think that Quiet Place 1 and 2 are both really legit films that have a lot of fun and fascinating components to them. So yeah, I'm looking forward to that movie.

Alex Howard
What is your number eight then?

Lee Pugsley
So number eight is this movie called Eden, that's a Ron Howard film. It stars Jude Law and Ana de Armas and it's a survival movie from the brief synopsis that I've read. The main reason that I'm excited for this movie, I do like both Jude Law and Ana de Armas, but I'm also a big Ron Howard fan. He's done really good movies like Frost Nixon, and I'm a big fan of the Grinch, obviously, among other movies. And I was actually even a fan of Hillbilly Elegy when that came out in 2020. I know that that got panned by critics and audiences alike, but I was also a fan of that movie. So I guess it's more so, I just trust Ron Howard. I trust his experience in the industry and I just think he does really quality work. So I don't know much about this movie, but it was enough to put it in my top ten most anticipated.

Alex Howard
I didn't even know this movie was coming out. Does that one have a release date?

Lee Pugsley
I think it said somewhere in the fall. It didn't have a specific release date yet.

Alex Howard
Okay, I know A Quiet Place Day One is supposed to come out in the summer, but we'll see. And then Megalopolis, who knows. If it gets a good Cannes reception, it probably will come out for awards season next year or this year. But you know what I mean.

Lee Pugsley
Totally. It will be really interesting too, this year to see what movies have release dates now that get pushed back or shuffled around. Because if we're being honest, due to the strikes and everything last year, I'm sure there are some movies now that have release dates that will get pushed back and other movies will come in and potentially take their place too.

Alex Howard
Yeah, definitely.

Lee Pugsley
Okay, so what's your number eight?

Alex Howard
My number eight is Nosferatu, which is supposed to come out on Christmas this year. It's from Robert Eggers, who did The Lighthouse and The Witch and The Northman. And I know from what I've heard, Nosferatu has been something he's been wanting to do for a long, long time. And even though sometimes I struggle with his movies visually because they're so dark, like lighting-wise, I'm very excited to see his take on Nosferatu. It should be very visceral and just very real looking, as most of his films are. And I'm very anxious to see what he does with it.

Lee Pugsley
Nice. So Nosferatu is actually number four on my list, and it's for all the same reasons that you mentioned that I think Robert Eggers is a very good filmmaker. I really enjoyed The Lighthouse. Last year, or whatever year The Northman came out, I know that was on my top ten of the year. And I am very excited about what he's going to do with this story. And I have no reason to expect nothing less than high quality filmmaking. Some really good cinematography, a solid score and some great performances.

Alex Howard
Do you know who stars in Nosferatu? I think it's Anya Taylor-Joy again, right?

Lee Pugsley
Yes, I'm pretty sure that is true.

Alex Howard
And obviously she's not the vampire. I can't remember who the vampire is.

Lee Pugsley
It's interesting, too, because when I was reading, I don't know much about Nosferatu. Do you know, have there been previous versions of this movie?

Alex Howard
Oh, yeah. It's a remake. From what I've heard. I think Nosferatu, it was supposed to be Dracula, but they couldn't get the rights to Dracula, so they just made it a different thing. And so, yeah, it's a remake from way back. I think the first one was, like, black and white.

Lee Pugsley
And is it like a romance, too?

Alex Howard
I actually don't know.

Lee Pugsley
'Cause when I was reading a little synopsis about it, it sounded kind of like a bit of a romance, even though I don't think it's going to be classified as the romance genre. And it reminded me of the premise of Phantom of the Opera, of a type of creature or person longing for this girl. So I don't know, once again, if that is actually the story, but that's kind of what I deducted from the synopsis.

Alex Howard
Okay, so it's Bill Skarsgård, Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp, Johnny Depp's daughter.

Lee Pugsley
Okay, so cast.

Alex Howard
Yeah, it'll be great. So what's your number? Seven.

Lee Pugsley
So my number seven is The Electric State. It's actually a movie by the Russo brothers. And what the synopsis says is about this futuristic past or something like that, where this teenage girl goes in search of her brother with the help of a robot. And it stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. And, I don't know, for whatever reason, this really jumped out to me. I didn't even know this movie was being made. Obviously the Russo brothers have a very good track record and the whole Sci-Fi adventure element really sticks out to me. So I am looking forward to this movie with a lot of anticipation.

Alex Howard
Do you know, is it a Netflix movie?

Lee Pugsley
I wasn't able to gage much information about that. I don't know.

Alex Howard
It sounds... Because I know Millie Bobby Brown and the Russo brothers have a relationship with Netflix. But it sounds like the kind of movie I would like because it sounds like that boy meets creature, girl meets creature kind of thing. So you're giving me an education on what's coming out this year. I didn't even know your last two were even a thing.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, well, I guess that's what happens when you deep dive and you're kind of like, "Huh, none of these movies on the surface really stick out to me, so I might have to go deeper to see what other movies are coming out this year that I can pull from." It does sound like a Netflix movie based on the point you brought up, that the Russo brothers and Millie Bobby Brown's connection with Netflix would lead me to also believe that it's going to be on Netflix. But maybe it'll get a theatrical release beforehand because this does seem like the kind of movie, at least based on premise, that would be really fun to see in theaters as well.

Alex Howard
Oh, definitely. And maybe we can try out the Egyptian Theater since Netflix owns it, because I know they do audio description there.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, that would be really cool. We will bookmark that and when the time gets closer, let's look into that. What's your number seven?

Alex Howard
My number seven does not have a release date, but I'm hoping it'll come out in 2024 because they're done shooting. It's MaXXXine. It's the third movie in the X / Pearl franchise, and I loved X and I loved Pearl in 2022, so I'm really hoping we get the sequel to those in 2024.

Lee Pugsley
Nice. Yeah. I still have to see X and Pearl. And do you know, did they film all of them at the same time? X, Pearl and MaXXXine?

Alex Howard
No, they filmed X and Pearl, I think, at the same time or back to back, close to it. And then they filmed MaXXXine last year. Jamie, who was on an episode of the podcast, he went to visit the set one day because he had a friend working there.

Lee Pugsley
Oh, that's awesome. I see no reason then why it wouldn't come out this year. Fingers crossed on that one.

Alex Howard
What's your number six?

Lee Pugsley
So my number six is this movie called We Live in Time, it's with Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. And apparently Florence Pugh is a chef and Andrew Garfield is a divorcee and they meet and get together and then it's kind of about just their dynamics and apparently some kind of secrets are revealed. The strength of this movie is really on these two actors. Andrew Garfield is one of my favorite actors. I've never seen a bad performance from him. That doesn't necessarily mean that I think every movie he's been in is a hit, but his performance is always very consistent and quality. And then Florence Pugh is definitely becoming one of my top actresses as well. I just think that she's really solid in everything that she does. So when I saw that these two were in a movie together, I'm like, "Oh yeah, let's do it. I'm so there for that." I don't know the release date for this movie, but once again, the strength of this movie is the cast that draws me in.

Alex Howard
Wow, this is another one I did not even know was coming. It's funny because I think a lot of the ones you're saying are like the smaller movies that I would discover later in the year and be like, "Oh, this is one of my favorites of the year, but I didn't even know it was coming out." That's great that you're putting that on my radar.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. So what's your number six?

Alex Howard
My number six is the untitled Jordan Peele horror movie that was in your honorable mentions. It comes out on Christmas the same day as Nosferatu. I have a feeling one of them is going to move. I feel like it's probably going to be Jordan Peele since his doesn't even have a title yet. But at the same time I feel like Jordan Peele's movie is probably holiday themed, so it might not move. We might get two of my most anticipated horror movies on Christmas. So I'm very excited.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I am super excited for this movie too. And let's just talk about too, how weird... I don't know if 'weird' is the right word. It's just such an interesting choice to put out two horror themed movies on Christmas Day because usually you go for the family friendly movies that you can take the whole family to because everyone's home for Christmas break and the kids don't have school and everything. Once again, I'm here for it and I'll see both of those movies. But it's just such interesting release strategy.

Alex Howard
It's also funny because both of these, I mean, you consider both of them like auteurs, but they're both kind of Oscar bait-y directors. And so they're coming out in the Oscar bait time of year in winter, and they're both horror. So that'd be really cool if next year at the Academy Awards, we're talking about two horror movies competing because the Academy doesn't normally do that.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, that would make me really happy.

Alex Howard
So what's your number five?

Lee Pugsley
My number five is a movie called The Piano Lesson. It's with Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, and Danielle Deadwyler. Oh, and also Corey Hawkins. It's based on an August Wilson play. And August Wilson, for those that don't know, is a very prolific playwright in American theater that has done a lot in chronicling the black experience. He was the playwright and the screenwriter for the movie Fences with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. So The Piano Lesson is based on a play. It was a movie that was supposed to come out last year, and there was speculation about Oscar buzz around the performances, but I don't know what happened. It never came out. It was going to be on Netflix, and it is a Netflix movie. So from what I've heard, it's projected to come out this year, even though they don't have a release date for it. I know the play, and so I'm always a sucker for stage adaptations, especially when you have a really good cast like this one.

Alex Howard
And it's not a musical, you said?

Lee Pugsley
You said it's not a musical, it's a play.

Alex Howard
That's great. See, this is another one. You are teaching. I thought I was going to come in here and give you an education, but it's the other way around. Damn. That sounds really great, too. And I love Danielle Deadwyler. I was her cheerleader, 2022 for the Oscars. So that's awesome. 

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. Maybe this will be her performance that brings her to an Oscar nomination and dare I say it, even a win.

Alex Howard
There you go.

Alex Howard
So, yeah. What's your number five?

Alex Howard
My number five. I really hope this comes out this year because they haven't even started shooting, but they say it's going to come out around Halloween. It's the Wolf Man. And they-- Originally it was Ryan Gosling as the Wolf Man and Derek Cianfrance as the director. And I love Blue Valentine. So I was very excited about that. And then recently they changed it to Leigh Whannell, who did The Invisible Man, and Christopher Abbot, who is my... I think the most underrated actor in Hollywood is Christopher Abbott. So I'm still very excited for this movie. Invisible Man was one of my favorite movies of 2020. So I'm really hoping that Leigh Whannell can once again deliver. This is his third feature after Invisible Man, And Upgrade, and I love both of those. So hoping he can keep his style and doing a more modern take on the Wolf Man, just like he did with Invisible Man.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. I am also looking forward to this movie. Obviously not as strongly as you, but I do want to see this movie and I liked The Invisible Man. So if he can continue that momentum and give us something, I don't want to say in a similar way, but similar in terms of quality and storytelling, I definitely will be there. And hopefully some really good audio description because Invisible Man, I know you always bring this up, has one of the best audio description tracks.

Alex Howard
Oh, yeah. It'd be so cool if we got great description for the transformation scene, if they could go really, like American Werewolf in London kind of thing. And then I'm even-- I feel like Invisible Man had a lot to say of the modern, like Me Too movement, all of that with gaslighting. There's so many, you know, modern themes in The Invisible Man, and I'm really hoping they take that into Wolf Man as well and maybe take on some political or societal things to say in this movie as well.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I think that there's a lot of room for that to happen, so hopefully it does.

Alex Howard
Now we're going into our top

Lee Pugsley
Uh, four.

Alex Howard
Okay. And you said your number four was one that I had said earlier, right?

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. So my number four was Nosferatu is what I said earlier, but I was actually mistaken. Nosferatu is number three on my list. Number four is Challengers, the new Luca Guadagnino film that was supposed to come out last year with Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, who was in West Side Story, and I'm a big fan of him. I like Zendaya a lot and I don't know, it just seems like a very interesting movie. I know that there's a love triangle in it, which I'm always a sucker for. A good love triangle. It's like a sports drama, too, because it deals with tennis. And I really like everything I've seen from Luca Guadagnino so far. I was really looking forward to this movie last year and was sad that it got moved, but I can understand why. So, yeah, that's my number four.

Alex Howard
Nice. This movie looks great. I know the trailer came out. The trailer looks great. I'm very excited to see this one as well. My number four is Dune Part Two, which I'm shocked that there's three movies ahead of it that I'm more excited for. But yeah, I'm very excited for Dune Part Two. I know you can probably speak more to this since you read the book, but from what I've heard from you and everyone else who's read the book, the second part is where everything kind of comes to a head and most of the action happens in the second part. So I like the first one, but I'm very excited. I hope I can love the second one. And obviously Denis Villeneuve is an amazing director. He's one of my favorite modern directors.

Lee Pugsley
Nice. Yeah. Dune Part Two, it's actually number two on my list. And you are right that if this movie is following the way that the book goes, then there's going to be a lot of action. There's going to be a lot of high stakes situations in this movie that the momentum should just keep going. And I know in the first Dune movie, the complaint was that it just seemed a little slow moving. It just seemed like it was all set up. And I don't disagree with that. I can understand why people would feel that way. But if you were turned off by the first Dune movie because you felt like the pacing was too slow or just seemed like not that much was happening, brace yourself for Dune Part Two because there's going to be a lot that happens. And I think it's going to be done in a very masterful way because Denis Villeneuve is wonderful. And he adapted the first part of this franchise so well. And the trailer for this movie, the multiple trailers we've gotten for Dune Part Two look really great. This movie was one of my most anticipated of 2023 and then when it got moved, now it makes my most anticipated of 2024. I will be excited to hear your thoughts on Dune Part Two and I hope it lives up to your expectation. Moving on then, to my number three movie, once again, is Nosferatu. We don't really need to talk more about that. But what's your number three, Alex?

Alex Howard
My number three is Alien Covenant [he meant Romulus], directed by Fede Alvarez. I'm a huge sucker for the Alien movies. Obviously 3 and 4 aren't great, but I love the first one, love the second one. I liked Prometheus. I even liked Covenant more than probably most people. But I'm so excited to see what Fede Alvarez does with it. I mean, he did great with Evil Dead. He did great with Don't Breathe. I'm hoping he'll take the more horror aspects of Alien because I know Aliens went more action. So I really want, like a gory, intense Alien movie. Hoping the audio description is great. I'm also hoping for a theatrical release because I know this is a Hulu thing. Since Disney bought Fox, they put the Prey on Hulu, which was the last Predator movie. So I'm hoping they learn their lesson. They'll put this in the theater. This one's called Alien: Romulus.

Lee Pugsley
And this is connected to all the other Alien movies, correct?

Alex Howard
I believe so. I don't think they're doing a reboot. I think it is connected.

Lee Pugsley
Okay, nice. So, confession. I've never seen the Alien-- let's see. No, I saw Alien 1 and 2, and those are the only Alien movies that I've seen. And I don't remember much from them, so I probably should revisit them.

Alex Howard
I think this is considered more of like a spin off you could say, like Alien one through four, they're all same characters with Ripley and all that, but the other ones are kind of their own thing with a new crew and all of that. So, yeah, this is kind of a spin off, but it is like a continuation of the species, I guess you could say.

Lee Pugsley
Okay, very cool. Well, hopefully when I watch it, I won't feel too lost by it then. Okay, so moving on from me to number two, which is Dune Part Two. I already gave you my thoughts on that, so just pass it over to you again.

Alex Howard
My number two is Joker, which we also already touched on, which you and I are both stoked for those movies. But I wonder if we have the same number one. I'm very curious. Actually no, I know what your number one is. We don't.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. Okay. What is my number one?

Lee Pugsley
Your number one is Wicked Part One, right?

Alex Howard
That's a very smart and educated guess. And I would love to say that you're right... And you are! So [chuckling], yeah, of course it's going to be Wicked Part One. This has been a movie that they've been trying to make for years. It's passed through so many different studios, the hands of so many different directors, and for one reason or another, it got shut down. So the fact that we're finally getting it is really exciting to me. This is also the Broadway show that I've seen the most live. I've seen it 18 times live. And it's coming back to LA this year. So I'll probably see it for my 19th time.

Alex Howard
Take me with you. I've only seen it once in LA. I would love to go again.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah. When tickets go on sale, I will definitely loop you in for that. I do have high expectations for this movie. Obviously, with any musical movie, there is a bit of fear that they're going to get it wrong. I'm still unsure how I feel about them breaking it up into two parts because I know that they're kind of putting in some more book material and the book material is a lot more adult and darker. And so if you're going to make this a musical, then my fear or concern is that the fans of the musical will think that it's too dark and it's just not the story of the musical as much as they want it to be... But then people that aren't musical fans will be like, "Well, I like this story, but why is there singing in it?" And I will also be really interested to see how they're going to market this movie and if they're going to try to hide the fact that it's a musical. I mean, that kind of seems to be a trend lately. Although it is Wicked. So even if you try to hide that fact, I don't really know how successful that's going to be to fool people into thinking it's not a musical. Needless to say, I'm here for it. I'm excited and I'm sure I'll see it multiple times.

Alex Howard
I'm very excited for this one as well. It just got bumped out by Francis Ford Coppola, so I had it at my number ten spot before. I'm very curious to see how they market it as well. I feel like they have to put the songs in the marketing because there are two songs that really sell Wicked that everyone knows is from Wicked. And so to not put that in the trailer, I feel like would be a disservice.

Lee Pugsley
Right. And I feel like Wicked is so transcendent beyond just the theater community that it's kind of become really iconic in, you know, different pop culture circles as well. So people know Wicked. You don't need to fool anyone into trying to get them to go to the theater. I think it's going to do really well at the box office as well.

Alex Howard
How do you feel about Jon Chu directing?

Speaker 1
I think he's a really good director. I really loved what he did with In the Heights. I liked what he did with Crazy Rich Asians. I think he uses color really well. All of his color palettes are very vibrant and just have a lot of life to the visual aspects of his films. And then some of the set pictures I've seen from Wicked when they were filming look pretty extravagant, so that made me excited, too. All right, so we're at your number one, and I'm going to take a guess at what it is.

Alex Howard
Okay.

Lee Pugsley
I would guess it's Deadpool.

Alex Howard
It is Deadpool 3. I'm shocked it wasn't even on your honorable mentions. I had this penned as one that I thought we'd have in common. But I am so excited for Deadpool 3. I saw the first one with my dad before I had my jaw surgery. Like literally the day before I had it. I loved it. And then the second one, I saw it three or four times in theaters. I absolutely love this franchise. I'm so excited to see where they go with it. Obviously Hugh Jackman's coming back, which that's a huge deal. I love-- Like, Logan's one of my top three favorite superhero movies ever. And obviously Hugh Jackman's been in more superhero movies than any other person. But I am so, so excited for this movie. And I've been avoiding spoilers. I know there are rumors that Taylor Swift is in it. There are rumors that, you know anyone who's ever been in any X Men movie is in this movie. That's what the rumors are. So I've been trying to avoid them. I know Ryan Reynolds tweeted to stop putting out leaked photos, but I'm so excited. And even though it might be cameo overload, I think, in Ryan Reynolds I trust. And same with Shawn Levy, who's directing this one, who did Free Guy as well. I'm so stoked for this movie. I cannot. And I think it comes out in July, I believe.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, that tracks. That's awesome. And I love your excitement and your passion for this movie. I know that you're far from alone in this. I got to be honest, though, and say that I have never been a huge Deadpool fans, as shocking or as much of a hot take as that is. I don't have anything against it. I don't hate it or strongly dislike it or anything. I've only seen the first movie and it just didn't really do much for me. I'm like, "Oh, okay, that was fine." But with this movie coming out, I am feeling a little more motivated, inspired to revisit the first and second Dead-- to revisit the first Deadpool movie and to watch the second one for my first time. And I'm open to having my opinion on this franchise changed.

Alex Howard
Yeah, the second one has my favorite post credit scene of any superhero movie. But yeah, I want you to watch the second one so bad. And I'm really hoping what they do with the third one is get really meta and basically say Deadpool kills the MCU, and he can just go back and kind of reset the Fox timeline and really set things up. But, you know, I've been disappointed before. Every Marvel movie the last few years has been like, "Oh, this is the one that's going to set everything up." And it doesn't. I'm really hoping that this is just a Deadpool movie because I love these movies.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I hope for your sake it delivers. And I will say that a draw for me is Hugh Jackman coming back. I love Logan as well. You know, even if I just went for Hugh Jackman making another appearance, that's enough to get me there.

Alex Howard
What about if Taylor Swift is in it? Would you be excited about that? Because I know, they went-- So she has her box at the Chiefs stadium, and there was one time she had her, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, and Shawn Levy, the director of Deadpool, in the box with her, and everyone was like, "Oh, this means she's in Deadpool!"

Lee Pugsley
Yes, absolutely. I mean, as you know, I'm a big swifty, so Taylor Swift being in the movie would also be a huge draw. Also be a really smart marketing move for them because all the swifties would come out just because she's in it, even if they didn't like Deadpool. But beyond that, I do hope that it does deliver, and I hope that it succeeds. I'm definitely rooting for the success of this movie, regardless of how I personally feel about the franchise.

Alex Howard
And I'm going to have a prediction. If this movie is good, which with Marvel lately, it's questionable, but if it's good, I think it could break the rated R box office record, which is currently held by Joker.

Lee Pugsley
I would agree with that. I will fully jump on board with that prediction and back you up on that. I think it's very possible. All right, so now that we're done with our top ten, it looks like neither one of us were right that I said that we would have four in common on our list. And you said two. We have Joker, Nosferatu, and Doom Part Two. One of us over guessed, one of us under guesed.

Alex Howard
Well, there you go. It was right in the middle, so it was always meant to be that way.

Lee Pugsley
But, yeah, I mean, this was really fun. I mean, there were certain movies that I had either forgotten about or wasn't aware of as much. So thanks for bringing more awareness to my movie palette for this year.

Alex Howard
Yeah. And we would love to hear from you guys. What is your most anticipated movies of the year? What are some things that you would like us to talk about this year, when it comes to the upcoming movies? We like to plan our episodes usually around what people are talking about, what's coming out, things like that. It's usually themed, so if there's anything you would like to hear us talk about, let us know. You can email us at DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com. That's DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com.

Lee Pugsley
And you can also follow us on Instagram @DarkRoomFilmCast. So however you want to get a hold of us. Yeah, as Alex said, we would love to hear from you and we hope that you'll be with us for the rest of this year's journey. We have a lot of really fun things planned. Thank you guys so much for listening. And also thank you to Matt Lauterbach and All Senses Go for making transcripts of this episode possible and we will see you here next time on The Dark Room.

Alex Howard
I'd also like to thank you guys. I feel like at this point, when this comes out, we will have been doing this for a full year. Thank you to everyone who has listened and whether you came on board from the beginning or later. Thank you guys so much for all the support. We are so happy to be doing this for a full year and we hope to continue doing it.

Lee Pugsley
And our mission in doing this is to, once again, to create awareness of audio description, of accessibility in media, and how people in the blind and low vision community specifically, but all communities, can interact with film and be fans of movies and enjoy them just as much as anyone else. So if you enjoy our podcast, please feel free to spread the word to anyone else so that they can have the same awareness that you guys are getting here. If you feel so inclined, you can take some time to write a little review for us. It really helps us out. Thank you so much for listening and thank you for being with us on this journey for the last year. It really does mean a lot and we look forward to another great year as we move forward for the rest of this year.

Lee Pugsley
Thanks guys.