Most anticipated 2008 movies

By Stuart Levine

MSNBC contributor

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”

Image: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Paramount Pictures

It’s been 19 years since Harrison Ford put on his fedora and broke out the bullwhip and, evidently, there’s still a demand from baby boomers for the 65-year-old actor to recreate that movie magic. Teens and twentysomethings are too young to understand the phenomenon that was Indy, and with this fourth edition in turnaround enough times to make a studio exec’s head spin, here’s hoping Spielberg and company can bring some vitality to a franchise that was once cinematic gold. (May 22)

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“Burn After Reading”
Image: Burn After Reading
Focus Features
If anyone believed that the Coen brothers were slipping, the brilliant “No Country for Old Men” put an abrupt end to that thinking. And how’s this for a cast: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand — every one an Oscar nominee. The plot centers around the memoirs of a CIA agent (Malkovich) that end up in the hands of Pitt, a trainer at Washington, D.C., gym, and the drastic steps taken to the get it back to Malkovich. The Coens, who co-wrote and direct, should have great fun with this offbeat material. (date TBA)

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Image: Brad Pitt
Carolyn Kaster / AP file
There’s nary a director who’s both as meticulous and captivating as David Fincher, and now he reunites with Pitt, with whom he teamed for favorites “Fight Club” and “Se7en.” Fincher’s latest, “Zodiac,” had the misfortune of being released too early in the year to garner the Oscar buzz it rightly deserved. Pitt plays Button, who begins the film as an older man and then starts to age backward. Based on a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, “Button” will be a curious endeavor, indeed. (Nov. 26)

“Hellboy 2: The Golden Army”
Image: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Universal Studios
I’m no comic book fan, yet find myself intrigued by this sequel of the 2004 film. Not so much because I care what happens to the red-horned creature — although Ron Perlman seems to offer just the right attitude in fighting off otherworldly dastardly creatures — but I’m now a disciple in the church of Guillermo del Toro. His inspired “Pan’s Labyrinth” was such a filmmaking revelation that I’ll be first in line to watch anything he feels passionate enough about to direct. (July 11)

“The Dark Knight”
Image: The Dark Knight
Warner Bros. Pictures
Of course, the tragic death of Heath Ledger will now be forever linked with the film, and that, in turn, may draw the morbid curiosity of audiences who otherwise wouldn’t have checked out the latest chapter in the “Batman” anthology. Christian Bale is back and now he faces off against Ledger’s demonic Joker, made famous back in the ’80s by Jack Nicholson. Bale and director Christopher Nolan smartly reinvented the Caped Crusader three years ago in “Batman Begins” and there’s little to believe “Knight” won’t shine as well. (July 18)