I don’t know about you, but it sure looks to me as if 2008 is shaping up to be one amazing season for moviegoers! Here’s my short list of must-see films:

Iron Man

‘Nuff said.

Son of Rambow

This movie reminds me of my childhood: days spent in the backyard with the video camera, my brothers and I making our own action/adventure blockbusters. We never got this creative with the special effects, though.

Speed Racer

When I saw the first trailer it was so much eye-candy, my optic nerves wanted to puke. That reflex has settled down now, and I actually think I’ll be able to enjoy the thing.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Finally! Last year I read Prince Caspian to Katie in anticipation of this film… and then it was delayed. Hmm… I wonder if we ought to re-read it now?

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

The boys (Lucas, Spielberg and Ford) said way back when that they’re only making this movie because they’re rich, old men and they thought it would be fun. That could mean that it’ll be really good, or really bad. Like, worse than Temple of Doom bad. :shudder:

The Incredible Hulk

Hooray! We finally have a Hulk film that doesn’t look like a box-office bomb stink like Banner’s pits! (Don’t let the door hit you on the backside as you leave, Mr. Ang Lee. Thank you.)

The Happening

“In a world where all of humanity is mysteriously dying off, one man will survive… Marky Mark.” Yes, Shyamalan truly understands the horror genre.

Get Smart

Let’s face it: Steve Carell has played “Michael Scott as ___” in every single theatrical role he’s had to date. Let’s face it: that’s why he’s so hilarious.

Wanted

The good: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging. The bad: it’s just like The Matrix, but less sci-fi and more wild west gunslinging.

(Seriously! A guy working in a cubicle meets a cute chick who thinks he’s some special mystical dude and takes him to a black man who will then spout philosophy and train him to take out “the bad guys” by doing things with bullets that you aren’t supposed to be able to do. How is that not The Matrix, people?)

Wall•E

It’s Pixar. It’s robots. It’s the future. I am so there! (But please, Pixar: don’t let this be another A.I.!)

The Dark Knight

From what I’ve seen in the latest trailer, the late Heath Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker is quite possibly the best ever. I’m most excited about this one.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

I want to believe that this will be good—if only because Nicole’s already itching to buy the tickets! (Update: the X-Files movie trailer is now online.)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Grab the popcorn and prepare to zone out, because you know that any movie where Brendan Fraser faces off against Jet Li has firmly released any grip it otherwise had on reality. But hey, that’s why we love the Mummy films, right? (Anyone remember “Brendan Fraser vs. Scorpo-Rock”?)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

This will be fun! That is all.

Popularity: 33% [?]

And here I thought I was the only one:

For those of you who don’t know what this is about, you were apparently doing your homework or something equally unimportant when the rest of us were watching “Perchance to Dream.” That, of course, is the now-infamous episode of Batman: The Animated Series where the Caped Crusader gets stuck in a Mad Hatter-induced dream world. Ol’ Brucey didn’t realize he was dreaming, however, until a crucial point where he attempted to read a newspaper (9:35 in this clip)—and the text was jumbled beyond all recognition. In the climax of the episode, Bruce gives us this encapsulated science lesson:

“That’s because reading is the function of the right-side of the brain, while dreams come from the left-side. It’s impossible to read something in a dream.”

One of the things that sets Batman apart from a bunch of other superheroes is that he’s supposed to be a detective (one of his “official” nicknames is “World’s Greatest Detective”), so when Mr. Wayne dishes out a nugget like this, his fans assume they’re being taught something that’s… well… true. The show left us young viewers under the impression that you really couldn’t read text when you were dreaming. Which meant that when I later had dreams where I could read, I took it to mean that I was special or had some sort of above-average right/left brain connection.

And now, finally, after years of bewilderment and self-doubt, my gullibility has been immortalized in a webcomic.

Popularity: 6% [?]