Selecting Favorites for 2008: Here's mine; what are yours?

Catholic Exchange posts today on Fifteen Films to Look for in 2008. I always enjoy these lists, as they give me new enthusiasm for the films of the upcoming year. One January, I made a list of must-see films and then returned at the end of the year to determine how many of those films I actually did see and how many met my expectations. As it turned out, I saw most of the films on the list and about 80% of them turned out to be just as good or better than I had anticipated.

Here is a list of the films Marc T. Newman, Ph.D. includes as films to look for in 2008, based upon articles , trailers, and plot synapses he has viewed. He warns us that he has yet to view these films and that many of these films are yet to be rated. Keep in mind also that release dates are always subject to change.

1. Veggie Tales Presents the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - January 11, which has already been reviewed by Leticia.

2. Penelope -- February 29

3. Horton Hears a Who! -- March 14

4. Inkheart -- March 21

5. Iron Man -- May 2

6. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- May 16

7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- May 23

8. The Incredible Hulk -- June 13

9. WALL-E -- June 27

10. Hancock --- July 27

11. The Dark Knight -- July 18

12. X- Files Sequel -- July 25

13. Valkyrie -- October 3

14. Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince -- November 21

15. Star Trek XI -- December 25

I'm going to select the five I am most looking forward to seeing based upon the descriptions presented here and then return at the end of the year to see how well I did --- not in terms of how popular they were, but in terms of how well I liked them -- how good they actually turned out to be.

I am eliminating Veggie Tales Presents the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything , as that's already been reviewed.

Here my five (in no special order):

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- This is C.S. Lewis and I loved the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, so it's got to be a winner.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg -- the perfect combination! The only concern I have here is that they don't focus too much on death and dying unless they incorporate the after-life and we get a foretaste of the supernatural energy Jones has in heaven. Jones is like the energizer bunny -- nothing stops him.

3. The Dark Knight -- I'm a batman fan -- have been ever since reading my brother's comic books as a kid (although I preferred Katie Keen or Archie at that time). The dual nature of man is always intriguing and it sounds a little like Spiderman III.

4. Valkyrie -- World War II films are appealing to me -- my dad fought in World War II and there were lots of photos and memorabilia from that time in our house. Hitler has always been an intriguing character to analyze. I'm always eager to learn more about that time period, which shortly preceded my birth.

5. Star Trek XI -- Although William Shatner won't be in this one as Kirk, Leonard Nimoy will be there as Spock and that's enough to satisfy me. I have yet to see a Star Trek film I didn't like.

So which five are you most looking forward to watching?