With all of the attention being paid to award-contenders and Rogue One right now, it's easy to forget that the official start of a new movie season is only a week away. 2017's crop of winter/spring films is (thankfully) a lot more exciting than this year's dismal early slate with a number of exciting sequels/reboots, whacked-out original horror projects and dark indie fare set to hit theaters from January to April. Here are the 10 films I'm most excited to see in the inaugural, tone-setting months of 2017.
10.Split (1/20): While far from perfect, 2015's The Visit was enough to confirm that M. Night Shyamalan has finally gotten his shit together after his lengthy post-Sixth Sense slump. His latest project, Split, seems to have all the makings of another winner for the veteran horror/thriller director. The trailers look tense as hell, the reviews following its premiere at Austin's Fantastic Fest in September were excellent and the casting of the immensely talented James McAvoy as a deranged man with split personality disorder couldn't possibly be more perfect.
9.Kong: Skull Island (3/10): The strength of the primary cast (Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, Jason Mitchell, John C. Reilly) alone is enough to get me excited for another King Kong movie. As long as Skull Island doesn't follow the model of Peter Jackson's painfully bland reboot, it should be a nice piece of cheesy summer blockbuster fun in the beginning of spring.
8.Life (3/24): Do I have any idea what Life is about outside of a few vague details I've gathered from the teaser and studio-supplied plot synopsis? Nope. Has there been a complete overload of space-set movies in the past few years? Yep. Will I still be seeing this as soon as it comes out? Absofuckinlutely. The presence of Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson in the lead roles is enough to get my ass in the theater without asking any follow-up questions.
7.Logan (3/3): I'm weary anytime the makers of a superhero
film promise a dark, unique experience, but since Marvel Studios
doesn't own the rights to X-Men, I actually believe all of the things Hugh Jackman and co-writer/director James Mangold (The Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma) have said about Logan.
Jackman's farewell to the character that made him a Hollywood A-lister
is reportedly a cynical bloodbath that highlights the emptiness and pain
Logan has developed as a result of his immortality. The world needs a
bleak, no-holds-barred superhero film more than ever and hopefully Logan can add some much-needed grit to this watered-down genre.
6.A Cure for Wellness (2/17): Director Gore Verbinski's (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Ring) long-awaited return to the world of horror films has the potential to be one of the most unique, unsettling and flat-out insane piece of work to come out of the genre in a very long time. Here's to hoping that the phenomenal, ambiguous advertising campaign isn't just a flashy facade by Fox to cover up a shit movie.
5.Get Out (2/24): I can't remember the last time I was as pleasantly surprised by a trailer then I was with Get Out. Despite the backing of generic horror superproducer Jason Blum (the Insidious and Paranormal Activity producers, comedian Jordan Peele's directorial debut looks like a bonkers horror satire filled with commentary on modern race and biting dark humor that I'm beyond stoked to check out.
4.Free Fire (3/17): I'm always down for a good B-action movie and Free Fire seems like it has all the ingredients in place to be a runaway success. The cast headlined by Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley and Armie Hammer is full of fantastic actors that have a knack for comedy, the trailer gives off a Guy Ritchie-esque vibe and the R-rating all but ensures that they'll be no shortage of bloody mayhem throughout the film.
3.John Wick: Chapter 2 (2/10): 2014's John Wick was the type of straightforward, brutal and badass action movie that I can't help but fawn over every time it's mentioned. With the writer/director team of Derek Kolstad and Chad Stahleski back at the helm and the additions of Laurence Fishburne, Common and Ruby Rose to the already stellar cast, there's a strong possibility that the sequel is going to be another slice of over-the-top action bliss.
2.T2: Trainspotting (3/3): I never thought a sequel to Danny Boyle's brilliant pitch-black comedy Trainspotting would ever materialize after years of being stuck in development hell, but god damn am I glad that it finally has. If the long-awaited sequel can be even half as sharp, engrossing and amusing as its predecessor, it should be one of the best films of the year.
1.The Fate of the Furious (4/14): Here we go again..... No other tentpole that Hollywood has pedaled out this decade has come anywhere close to matching the inventive, infectious and unrelenting fun that the last three Fast and the Furious movies have offered up in droves. The latest installment in this masterful, over-the top action franchise once again keeps things fresh by having primary protagonist Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) suddenly become the villain and adding even more game actors (Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren) to its beautifully-assembled ensemble cast. God I can't wait for April 14th.
Films I'm also interested in:
Underworld: Blood Wars (1/6)
Sleepless (1/13)
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (1/20)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (1/27)
The Lego Batman Movie (2/10)
Fist Fight (2/17)
The Great Wall (2/17)
Table 19 (3/3)
The Last Word (3/10)
Raw (3/10)
The Belko Experiment (3/17)
CHips (3/24)
Power Rangers (3/24)
Wilson (3/24)
Ghost in the Shell (3/31)
The Zookeeper's Wife (3/31)
Going in Style (4/7)
Sleight (4/7)
Gifted (4/12)
The Lost City of Z (4/14)
The Circle (4/28)
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