So 2017's prospects in terms of politics, I'll be honest, don't look too great at the moment (though there is some hope), but we should take what pleasures that we can. Time for me to cast my eyes ahead over the next twelve months, and see what cinematic releases catch my interest. (Assuming the world is still here to watch them in).
Once again, this was a pretty tough choice, there are quite a few honourable mentions...
Now for the list itself, starting with…
10. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (ETA 21st July)
Luc Besson is a true visionary that doesn't get nearly enough due as he should. One of his most well known efforts is of course The Fifth Element, so him returning to big scale space opera is something that should peak everyone's interests. This is apparently based on a very popular series of French comics that I admit right now I haven't read yet, but I am now curious to try and track down. Visually though, the sheer opulence looks very much like European sci-fi in the vein of Metal Hurlant or Moebius' works. Cast seems solid, and the trailer has some lovely action set pieces, it will be interesting to see if this lives up to Element, although that's quite a tough act to follow.
9. Thor: Ragnarok (ETA: 3rd November)
I do worry that Marvel are beginning to get into something of a “resting on their laurels” phase; well, if you know your Norse mythology and/or Walt Simonson’s run on Thor comics, this title alone promises as big of a shake-up as your ever going to get. Now the cast line up is fantastic, Jeff Goldblum for a start was destined to be in a Marvel movie, and Tessa Thompson being cast as Valkyrie is a nice touch of diversity (one that I’m surprised I haven’t seen more suburban cavefolk making a fuss about online). The real reason I’m up for this is the director, Taika Waititi; between What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, he has shown himself as a truly stellar talent, who’s earned his chance at being let loose on the MCU. Also, bonus points for the sheer eighties of the logo; I want an official arcade cabinet to go with this movie now. Finally, and SPOILERS FOR A MARVEL MOVIE RELEASED THIS YEAR, HIGHLIGHT TO READI am very interested in seeing how integral Dr. Strange is to this story; that mid credits scene was directed by Waititi too, so that might be a good sign as to the tone this is going for.
8. Blade Runner 2049 (ETA: 6th October)
I will admit that I personally am not the world's biggest fan of Blade Runner, not a knock against the film itself, it's that it's not one that has grabbed me like others have, and infuriatingly it's hard for me to say why. However, the ideas, the world, and the story are well worth investigating. This is yet another decades later sequel that Harrison Ford has been part of (he must have some kind of record for this by now!), Ryan Gosling is a fine choice for lead, but this has earned it's place on the list again down to the director; Denis Villeneuve. After Arrival this year, I'm all in favour of any new sci-fi material he's going to be part of, and this looks like a good fit. My one wish for this is that it remembers the story's origins as a Philip K. Dick adaptation, so keeps a strong amount of mind-bending ideas in there. Incidentally, while I'm on the topic to follow-ups to Ridley Scott films, I'm keeping an eye on Alien: Covenant, not getting my hopes too high after Prometheus, but I will say that the lack of the name "Damon Lindelof" in the writing credits shows they did learn something from that mess.
7. Kong: Skull Island (ETA: 10th March)
Another King Kong reboot? This has to be at least the sixth Kong continuity released over the years, but it does look like one to truly watch out for. For starters, it's not a straight remake of the original story again, the set up and plot look very different. The visual style too looks very different, somehow looking more 70s than the actual seventies version, almost playing like Apocalypse Now if you switch out Marlon Brando for a gigantic ape (not sure which one of them would be heavier) and Dennis Hopper for John C. Reilly. Spectacular cast lined up for this too; Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, that's a great selection, and it looks like they had fun making it. Above all though, it looks like it's status as a kaiju adventure flick is secure. I like how we're not getting the usual dinosaurs in this one, but really cool looking new monsters (that massive bison thing in the trailer is a work of art in itself), and Kong is huge in this version, with probably only the version of him in King Kong vs. Godzilla being bigger. Oh yes, it's also worth noting that this is part of the set up for Legendary's eventual new face-off between him and the King of the Monsters, so it'll be interesting to see how this one leads in to that. Above all though, I think this looks definitely better than the last time Warner Bros. made a Kong movie. Yes, that really is a thing that happened!
6. Wonder Woman (ETA: 2nd June)
I’ve made no secret of my feelings towards the last few DC comics films, but I have also made clear that doesn’t mean that I am absolutely dead set against them going forward. Quite the contrary, I want the best for them and their characters, and this one looks promising. I like the WWI timesetting, it’s different to what else has been done before, I love that Patty Jenkins, after the behind-the-scenes issues with Thor: The Dark World is getting to make her superhero movie, and Gal Gadot did impress me in BvS. It’s the first proper fully female lead superhero blockbuster adaptation of this age, based on a character that has deserved this treatment for way too long. Needless to say, of all of these, this is my main “pleasedon’tsuckpleasedon’tsuckpleasedon’tsuckpleasedon’tsuck…” entry on this list. Whatever happens with this version though, we'll still have the pretty good animated one, if you haven't seen that, you should check it out.
5. Star Wars: Episode VIII (ETA: 15th December)
This ending up in here was somewhat inevitable, huh? After the excellent resurrection of the franchise with The Force Awakens, and Rogue One showing what exactly one can do with the series while still feeling like a Star Wars movie, the still not officially titled next instalment has a lot to prove. Fortunately it's got a good director at the helm, Rian Johnson, who you'd know if you saw Looper can handle elaborate sci-fi action well. Pretty much everyone's back from TFA, and there are quite a few new faces on board including Bencio Del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran. One common point made about Episode VII was that it mostly recovered old ground, so let's hope that this one takes the saga into new directions, and also starts providing a few answers to the new mysteries. My biggest wish for this one? Way more Captain Phasma and Maz Kanata this time!
4. The Lego Batman Movie (ETA 10th February)
Yeah, two DC movies on here, and both ranking above the Marvel entry, wasn’t expecting that, were you? Well, this follow-up to The Lego Movie looks like it’s retaining a lot of its anarchic sense of humour, while at the same time providing a proper tribute to the caped crusader in all of his incarnations. I love that a modern Batman movie is overtly and proudly paying homage to the sixties incarnation (and that’s not the only animated Batman movie at the moment to do that!). There’s also a fine voice cast lined up, which is just getting better all the time; Billy Dee Williams is finally getting to be Two-Face! Above everything though, I love that we’re getting a Batman movie that’s, well, FUN again. I got a taste of that this year with Return of the Caped Crusaders, so it's nice to see creators embrace the silly once more.
3. Get Out (ETA 24th February)
Disclosure time; I only seen bits and pieces of Jordan Peele’s comedy work with Keegan-Michael Key, but I have enjoyed what I’ve seen, Keanu was a lot of fun, I like their style. So with his jump into the horror genre, it’ll be interesting to see how well this works. The trailer for this one blew me away, as I am a big lover of socially aware horror films, and this looks like an ideal addition to that sub-genre. Peele has said in interviews that works like The Stepford Wives and The People Under the Stairs are influences, you can certainly see aspects of both in here. Above all though, it’s very cool to see a horror film specifically made for African-American audiences, and not be at all afraid of being truly overtly political; it takes a lot of guts to put so bluntly this film's point, especially at a time like now. Hell, I’m white and middle class as you can get, yet white people terrify me a lot of the time too, I’m on board with this! I’m already getting ready the popcorn, not just for the film itself, but for sitting back and watching various social media accounts catch fire in outrage. Oh, and bonus points for Daniel Kaluuya in the lead, he’s very good, always happy to see him turn up.
2. Baby Driver (ETA 11th August)
It’s a new Edgar Wright movie. That’s the traditional “Do I have to explain this one” entry, moving on…
OK, I’ll say a bit more. Not a huge amount is really known about this in terms of plot specifics, other than it's a crime thriller following a getaway driver. Given the most recent hints Wright has dropped, it seems to have been largely inspired by this music video he made, specifically in that it will strongly be based around music, with an "eclectic" soundtrack. I'll also note that he recently did a season of his favourite films at Picturehouse Central, and those included The Blues Brothers and Walter Hill's The Driver, so that's probably another clue to the vibe this is going for. Whatever the actual details, it's an Edgar Wright movie, I'm in regardless, and it having a cast that includes Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, and Kevin Spacey is icing on the cake! And my number 1 most looked forward to movie of 2017 is… Ghost Stories
Definitely not a blockbuster this one, my most anticipated title is something a lot smaller and more indie. Ghost Stories was a play by Jeremy Dyson (the invisible member of The League of Gentlemen) & Andy Nyman (Actor, Magician, All Round Renaissance Man in the words of Charlie Brooker) which I absolutely adored, saw it three times during its London runs. Now it’s being adapted for film, with Nyman starring in the main role of Prof. Goodman (which he also played on stage the first time I saw it), but it sounds like there have been some changes to at the very least the linking narrative. That I’m OK with, as the show was written specifically to work as a stage experience, so the film should be “optimised” the same way. The rest of the cast includes Martin Freeman and Paul Whitehouse, no idea as yet if they are the same characters as in the stage version (if so, I can guess who is doing which), and that's the way I'd like it. Above anything else with Ghost Stories, it was a play that was marketed incredibly well, focusing a lot on secrets and surprises. As such, I hope that the release of this film version follows the same principles, don't reveal too much, build up intrigue and anticipation. Here's hoping that works out, and this film lives up to the stage version. You'll notice that this is the only one I haven't included an ETA for, as that hasn't been confirmed as yet, although Andy Nyman has said on Twitter that filming has wrapped, so knowing him, I'm more than willing to wager that he'd be aiming for it to be ready to show in time for Hallow'een.
So those I'm what I'm looking forward to in 2017. In about 363 days, I'll let you know what I thought of them. Until then everyone, be kind to each other. Be the best person you can be; I've ranted long about how much 2016 sucked, so let's take some proper positive action to make 2017 better! Goodnight.
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