The 13 Most Anticipated Movies and TV Shows of 2011 -- Dixon's Picks

Captain America: The First Avenger

The lynchpin of Marvel Studios' ballsy Avengers strategy comes out on July 22nd. We've seen the ridiculously muscular Chris Evan photos, but will the movie pack the same kind of punch? Director Joe Johnston has a mixed record when it comes to period adventures--on the one hand he did the wonderful Rocketeer. And on the other hand is the abominable Wolfman . Keep your fingers crossed, True Believers!

Contagion

Steven Soderbergh's sprawling epic about the breakout of a deadly disease, you can think of it as Traffic with a soupçon of 28 Days Later. Soderbergh by himself would be reason enough to mark your calender for October 21st , but check out the cast he's assembled: Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne and Bryan Cranston. This could be the Ocean's 11 of movies where people bleed from their eyes.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The last chapter of the Harry Potter saga pulls into Platform 9 ¾ July 15, and the great experiment started by Warner Brothers ten years prior will come to a successful end. Throughout the series there have been high points (Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix) and low points (Half-Blood Prince, The Christopher Columbus years), but Part 2 of Hallows finally promises the emotional money shots we've all been waiting for. Harry confronts Voldemort! Hogwarts in ruins! Dead wizards! Frankly, I've been dying to hear Julie Walters give us that powerful "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" for three years now.

Super 8

After the sleek, sharp whizz-bangs of the Star Trek reboot, JJ Abrams goes back to his muddy, you-are-there Cloverfield roots for Super 8. And that's all I can really say! It's been so secretive that the only news is fuzzily defined--there's a monster, maybe? Perhaps from space? And a bunch of army guys spoiling for a fight? Consider me intrigued, Mr. Abrams.

Hugo Cabret

Whenever Martin Scorsese releases a new film, it's always worth noting (even if it does turn out to be Gangs of New York), but this December release has something else going for it as well: Hugo Cabret will be Scorsese's first movie to be shot in 3D. As someone who has roundly despised all but one live-action movie that was shown in 3D (thanks Jim Cameron!), I'm dying to know what it might look like in the hands of a master director like Scorsese.

The Muppets

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and the rest of the felt band return in December thanks to the persistence of star Jason Segel, who also wrote the story of the old gang reuniting to save the Muppet studio from the wrecking ball. As a big Muppet fan, I'm hoping that it'll reintroduce them to a whole new generation - when I asked, my 14 year old brother had no clue what a muppet was. Friends and readers, this is a tragedy that cannot go uncorrected!

The Green Hornet

I'm approaching this with equal measures of dread and elan, so "anticipated" isn't quite the right word. More like "joyfully apprehensive/nervously excited." I saw about four or five minutes of 3D footage at ComicCon this year and it looked terrific. Director Michel Gondry did some wonderfully bizarre pop-art things with the technology that no other director has. But then couple that with the leads shilling for chicken fingers at Carl's Jr, and well, I just don't know. We'll all find out come January 14!

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