2012: What I'm Looking Forward to This Year

As you could probably tell from my intro post earlier today, I love all things entertainment. Books, movies, music, TV, etc. So it's obviously fitting that my most of the work I do deals with entertainment-related news.

Since we're at the start of a new year (I gotta get used to saying 2012 instead of 2011), I thought I'd take a moment to list some of the entertainment-related things that I am very much looking forward to seeing or reading or whatnot this year. Keep in mind that this obviously isn't everything that I'll be seeing/reading/etc, but it's what would go at the top of the list, I guess you could say.

Movies:
The Hunger Games
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Artist
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (& Swedish versions)
Titanic 3D
Hugo
The Adventures of Tintin
The Muppets
Finding Nemo 3D

The two movies that I am most looking forward to are The Hunger Games and the first Hobbit movie. The trailers for these films look unbelievable, and they have gotten me even more excited. The anticipation is building, and the waiting is unbearable. With The Artist, it is ingenious that in this day and age of big spectacles and special effects and 3D that the current front-runner to win the Best Picture Oscar is a new silent film. That's why I really want to see it.

I've been a fan of the original Spider-Man films in the previous decade (well, maybe not #3), so I'm looking forward to this reboot. For some reason, I've never really gotten into the Batman movies (even The Dark Knight, save for any scene the Joker was in), but Spider-Man, to me, is different.

I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels during the latter half of 2011. Sometime in the next few months, I plan on renting the Swedish films and then seeing the American version when it comes out on DVD.

Titanic is one of my favorite films of all time. I remember way back when going to the theater to watch it with my parents and grandma (and possibly my sister as well, I can't remember). We have it on VHS and it's always fun to catch up with it when it airs on TV, though I usually only watch little bits of it since it seems to be on all day when you add in the commercials to this already lengthy film.

The rest of movies are geared more towards kids, though we all know that a quality "kids" film is one that adults can enjoy as well. I read the book that Hugo is based on in a Children's Lit class I took at WWU and immensely enjoyed it. I've never read anything like it before. For Tintin and Muppets, who wouldn't want to see those films? And finally, Finding Nemo 3D. Finding Nemo quite possibly my all-time favorite animated (and Pixar) movie, though it's tough when there's also Toy Story 3 and Happy Feet. With the success of re-releasing The Lion King into theaters with 3D (which I did go to see), Disney is releasing a bunch more. And I'll most likely go to see Finding Nemo in 3D.

TV:
Smash (new series)
American Idol (season 10)
Alcatraz (new series)
American Horror Story (season 2)

Out of all the new shows premiering during this 2011-2012 season, the one I have been most looking forward to is Smash, starring American Idol alum Katharine McPhee. Not only is the show a musical, but it stars one of my favorites from Idol season 5. I'm in! I really hope it doesn't disappoint after the pilot.

After having The X Factor on this fall, it'll be good to come back home to the show that started it all: American Idol, my favorite show of all time (remember what I said about it in my intro post?).

Ever since it came out that J.J. Abrams was developing a show on Alcatraz, I was hooked in. I've been to San Francisco and seen all the tourist spots and all. But there was something about Alcatraz that I just loved, for some reason. And so now when you combine that with one of the best TV people in the business (who created Lost and Alias), it gets me even more excited. The only thing I'm worried about is the crime drama aspect. I'm not a huge fan of crime dramas. Not even the fairy tale aspect could keep me glued in to the crime drama Grimm. So I am a little worried if it relies too heavily on the crime drama aspect that we've seen time and again on any crime shows.

And finally, the second season of American Horror Story, which will most likely air in the fall. AHS became one of my favorite new shows of this past fall. But since there will be a new cast, I'm worried that it won't be as good. But I'm obviously going to tune in and hope that Ryan Murphy is able to recapture what we loved about season 1.

Books:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green, David Levithan
Room - Emma Donoghue
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Two of the books that I've heard great things about during the past year are Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Room. Check them out on Amazon to read up on them. Even just based on the synopses of both, I'm looking forward to them. And with The Night Circus, I've heard that if you're a fan of Harry Potter or Twilight or any of these popular Children's/Young Adult books, then you'll love Night Circus as well. So I hope to have time to get into that one this year as well.

Music:
Adam Labert: Trespassing

I'm sure there will be many CDs that I will be excited about this year, but since we're only at the start of 2012, we don't know any release dates for most of what will come out. But we do know that Adam Lambert has a CD coming out soon. His debut, For Your Entertainment, is one of my favorites, so I'm can't wait for his sophomore.

Online:
Pottermore (the official debut)

I was one of the Beta testers for Pottermore this past fall. There were things I loved and things where they obviously could have improved on. But now that I'm past the only book they have up there right now, Sorcerer's Stone, I'm just waiting around for the official launch of Pottermore as well as Chamber of Secrets. I just hope us Beta testers have some new material to read this year.

Follow me on my personal Twitter account @TheJeffDodge. I tweet various thoughts and opinions there. And anything I post on this blog will be tweeted there as well.

Are there any movies, TV shows, books, music or anything else entertainment-related that you're looking forward to this year? Feel free to share in the comments.