Enough of my jibber jabber, let's start this list! Here are the 9 films you need to search for this 2016 year.
The Hipster Category (Ones You Didn't Know Were Coming)
Under the Shadow (January 22 @ Sundance Film Festival)
Trailer
If you want a head start on Oscar season, you need to pay attention to Sundance. This foreign language darling debuted there this year and is already drawing comparisons to the 2014 horrifying Australian film "The Babadook". That's mighty high praise for this Persian film, seeing that "The Babadook" is one of the best horror films I have ever watched.
This film appears to have a psychologically horrifying story playing out over an equally horrifying landscape of waitron 1980s Tehran. While it might play out to be a simply overused "demon terrorizes home of desperate poor innocent family" trope yet again, I am sensing a fresh take on the story. Look for this one either at an Indie theater or Walmart this summer.
The Hollars (January 24 @ Sundance Film Festival)
Trailer
Jim returns home from his 13 Hours in Benghazi to find Beca is now pregnant with Pitch Perfect 3's plot.
Ok, maybe that's not true, but John Krasinski's 2nd directorial endeavor appears to be able to tug all of the right heart strings to make a beautiful melodic indie film. This was picked up almost instantly at Sundance by Sony to distribute, which tells me that this was quite a catch. It will be quirky and hilarious (starring John, Anna Kendrick, and Charlie Day, how can't it be?), but the awesome story of a man returning to his home town after a long time away will be an interesting and thought provoking element to the story, one that almost all of us will be able to relate to.
The Witch (February 19)
Trailer (if you dare)
Kid's, this isn't Hocus Pocus. Set in 1630s New England, this horrifying film from one of my favorite distributors, A24 (seriously. I could do an anticipated list with just their films), promises to scare the pantaloons off your rear, the pilgrim hat off of your head, and make you never want to celebrate Thanksgiving again.
The trailer promises a chilling, gritty, freakish experience. In a world where horror films tend to rely on old tropes and gore over solid terrifying story, this film breathes fresh air to bring it back to life...only to scare the life out of you.
Baaaa baaaa baaaa (don't get why that's there? WATCH THE TRAILER.)
The Mid-Range Favorites
Demolition (April 8)
Trailer
Jake Gyllenhaal is a man that is in the prime of his career right now. That previous sentence may be an understatement. He has played 3 distinctly different people in his 3 major films the past 3 years (Nightcrawler, Southpaw) and now Demolition. This film promises to have quirky humor and a darker story. I mean, come on: he's writing a letter to complain about getting cheated out of peanut M&Ms 10 minutes after HIS WIFE DIES IN A CAR ACCIDENT. After his life was figuratively demolished, he will physically build it back from the ground up.
This will definitely be a challenge to his acting range, as he will need to be charming yet deep, funny yet sad, and overall awesome. Along on the ride will be Naomi Watts and Chris Cooper, both stellar talents in their own right. Fox Searchlight is a reliable studio, and they've backed this film, which means you should too come April.
Nice Guys (May 20)
Trailer
Confession: I am not a Ryan Gosling fan. I loved "Drive", but one of the things that bugged me about the film was that they were making Gosling out to be a tough guy. The soft voice is not "tough guy" to me. I'm sorry (I'M LYING).
However, that being said, this is a perfect casting. Gosling is a private investigator that is, well, not a tough guy. Russell Crowe is a tough guy that is, well, not the brightest. They will team up to be a hilarious duo running around 1970s California, leaving a trail of broken windows, explosions, bullet holes, and laughs. This film looks to be good enough to make me forgive Shane Black (the director) for the atrocity that was Iron Man 3.
The Little Prince (March 18)
The Little Trailer Here
"You will make an awesome grown up some day"
That line perfectly captures the problem with our youth's busy schedules these days, and it is the poignant message of this film. The mixture of cg animation and stop motion is beautiful. The voice cast (Paul Rudd, Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, James Franco, Benicio del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti, Marion Cotillard, etc) is amazing, and the classic tail seems to be interwoven well into a bigger story.
How excited am I? Let it go on record that this film WILL BE NOMINATED AND MIGHT WIN BEST ANIMATED at the Oscars in 2017. Write that down.
The Stuff Of Legends (Or, What We've All Known About)
Silence (2016)
Trailer
Martin Scorsese. Liam Neeson. Rising stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver. Do I need to really sell you on this anymore? I will.
This is the film Scorsese has been trying to bring to the big screen for years now, and 2016 we are going to get it...hopefully. A heart wrenching story about Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan who are spreading Jesus' name and rescuing their mentor. Even judging by the crew involved and the stills we have gotten from the production, this looks to already be a major Oscar front runner whenever it finally hits. Once the release date is out, mark your calendar. This will be a tear jerker and inspiring tale.
Suicide Squad (August 5)
Trailer
"Man of Steel is too somber." "DC films have no humor." "DC movies wouldn't know a joke if it hit them." "The funniest thing about DC movies is that they actually thought Green Lantern was good."
In comes Suicide Squad. This crazy, zany, utterly chaotic action movie is going to be the talk of the year, well after another film that is. What makes this movie so unique is that it is a huge departure from the typical comic book film. The first team up film in the comic book cinematic universe era to feature villains instead of heroes will be an interesting dynamic, especially since the marketing has appeared to show no real attempt to make the villains heroic.
The big talk surrounding this so far has been Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as the lovable Harley Quinn, and the new Jared Leto Joker. The latest trailer, however, may reveal that the real scene stealer might be Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang. Any way you slice it, this looks to be a truly entertaining movie unlike any the comic book hero world has seen yet.
It also might show how awesome all of Batman's villains are, and really help establish how super Bats is, which brings us to...
My Most Anticipated Film of 2016
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 25)
Trailer
To anyone that knows me, this is no surprise. As I sit typing this out in my "Batfleck" shirt, I can't help but think back at the 3 year wait we have had for this film. It has not been easy. The popular thing to do is to nitpick everything that comes out, but alas that is the life of a film fan.
We are getting the 2 biggest heroes in history on the same screen for the first time. We have a Batman that looks like the Batman we all imagined. We get the first major motion picture version of Wonder Woman. That will sell itself.
I am really hoping this will be as good as it can be, and unlike many people, I have full faith in director Zack Snyder. Watchmen is one of the greatest CBM of all time. Man of Steel brought together the best of Superman (hope in the face of hopelessness, full air to air combat, muscles). Now, take that vision and throw in one of the best directors today (Ben Affleck), and you can bet that the end product will be good. Batman is my favorite hero, and this film will do him justice.
Yes that was a Justice League pun.
Anyway, what about you? What are you looking forward to this year? Civil War will be cool, Deadpool will be nuts, X-Men will be crazy to say the least! We'll be back this time next year to see how right and how wrong I was about all of this as well.
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