For the past two years I’ve done a post like this on one platform or another and I’ve really come to love doing them as a reminder of all the films that have come out that year as well as it aiding me to discover some of the lesser know films that are coming out. Saying that you’ll notice on this list that I’ve not included sequels or prequels, not because I’m not excited about them, but because otherwise they would massively dominate this list. I’ve included a couple of the big blockbusters this year but again I’ve really tried to only include the ones that I’m genuinely looking forward to because I think they’ll be providing something different, or a relatively fresh take. I’d love to know whether you agree with my choices and what you’re looking forward to and I hope that there’s maybe a couple on this list that you hadn’t heard of before which you’ll now be adding to your own lists. Also I feel I have to have a disclaimer that the only reason La La Land isn’t on this list is because it was on last years list.
Okay so before we kick off properly honourable mentions go to; Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume:2, Kingsmen: The Golden Circle, Star Wars 8, Pitch Perfect 3, Thor Ragnarok, Alien Covenant, Blade Runner 49, John Wick 2, Logan.
Beauty and the Beast
After completely falling in love with Disney’s real life adaptation of Cinderella I was already on board for whatever was coming next, by when it was announced that it was going to be my all time favourite Beauty and the Beast I was ecstatic. But even putting my own bias aside, the cast looks about as close to perfect as they could get. and the initial glimpses that we’ve seen seem to be straight out of the original film. Plus it’ll be interesting to see how the additional modern twists play out such as such as Belle being the inventor in this version as well as her refusal to wear a corset. Either way, I can’t wait.
Spiderman:Homecoming
Considering this is the sixth Spiderman film in under 15 years and the third ‘re-imagining’ in that time you’d be forgiven for having given up hope by this point. But there’s enough elements in this new version to pique my interest such as the casting of Tom Holland who’s gynatistic ability is what is rumoured to have helped him land the part in the first place and is sure to add a sense of realism to the stunts. Not to mention the diverse casting choices including up and coming Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson and Zendaya as Michelle, an unknown character who is promised to play a major part in later films. Throw in Holland’s scene stealing introduction in Captain America: Civil War and the very promising first trailer, Marvel has managed to do it again and somehow get people excited for another Spiderman movie, lets just hope it lives up to the hype.
Baby Driver
Edgar Wright’s latest offering sounds like it could be his most interesting to date with Ansel Engort as a baby faced getaway driver (see what they did there?) who suffers from tinnitus, so constantly has headphones in which provide the soundtrack to his life, and as a result the movie. Regardless of whether or not this ends up making the best films of 2017 list there’s one thing for certain, it’ll definitely be one of the best soundtracks.
Wonder Woman
To say DC has been on a losing streak in regards to its recent movies is a bit of an understatement. Even Suicide Squad, which many heralded as being a return to form and the film to finally rival Marvel’s empire fell short due to terrible editing, the mess that was The Enchantress, and a plot that didn’t really exist. After the release of the Wonder Woman trailer last year DC managed to reignite fans hope with a glimpse of what looked like the adaptation that would finally do Wonder Woman justice. After initial criticism of her costume, fans were won over by seeing Wonder Woman kick ass regardless of the length of her skirt and many were excited by the possibility of seeing a well rounded, intelligent female hero taking the big screen (something that Marvel by the way has yet to do). Certainly after the initial excitement from the Suicide Squad trailer it’d potentially be a little bit foolish to place your bets just yet, but here’s hoping the 2017 is the year DC gives us the superhero film we’ve all been waiting for.
The Dark Tower
It’s been on my bucket list for so long to make a start on this series that I’ve finally made my piece with the fact that I’ll be watching it long before I read it. I have to say though it looks so promising that I’m really not that upset about it. Based on the Stephen King series it revolves around 11 year old Jake Chambers who stumbles across a dimension called Mid-World where he encounters the lone frontiersman knight Roland Deschain and joins him on his quest to reach the Dark Tower and save Mid-World before the magician known as The Dark Man, reaches the tower to fulfil his own nefarious purposes. The film has been planned for years so here’s hoping it’s worth the wait and falls into the collection of King adaptations such as Misery, Carrie and IT as opposed to the more recent adaptation of Carrie and Under The Dome.
The Beguiled
Sofia Coppola directs Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning as the teachers and student of a civil war era girls boarding school which is visited by Colin Farrell’s injured union soldier who slowly works his way into their hearts, much to everyone’s misfortune. Needless to say there’s more to this story than meets the eye and the combination of the director, actors and story means this rocketed to the top of my must see lists and I think has the potential to one of the most exciting films of the year.
Snatched
Now I recognise that this isn’t exactly an award show contender but I love Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer and the idea of them playing a mother, daughter duo who get kidnapped on a holiday sounds like music to my guilty pleasure loving ears. Trainwreck was one of my favourite films of 2015 for how intelligently funny it was and Goldie Hawn is comedy royalty thanks to classics like First Wives Club and Overboard so I have high hopes that this film will be one of those rare comedies that only come along once or twice a year that is genuinely funny.
Rock That Body
Speaking of comedies I’m hoping that this’ll be the second rarity this year as it’s packed with some of the best comedic actors of the moment Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Ty Burrell, Ilana Glazer and Jillian Bell. Five college friends reunite for a hen party weekend but their celebrations are put on hold when their plan to hire a male stripper doesn’t quite go as expected. There’s not much to go on yet aside from the odd obscured set picture but once again the cast and plot alone have me sold and it’s promising to see a studio continuing to produce female-centric comedies.
Song to Song (Previously know as Weightless)
Terrance Malik’s latest film has been in the works for years and with an incredible A-List cast of Christian Bale, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett it has been on almost every movie buff’s horizon for the past year. Set against the music scene in Austin, Texas it revolves around two intersecting love stories and their struggles and betrayals in their search for success. I can’t say I’ve really been a fan of Malick’s previous endeavours but I’m really looking forward to this one as it seems like a slight change of direction, and considering the mixed reviews of his previous films I’m intrigued to see how this one turns out.
Submergence
Alicia Vikander looks set to continue her domination of our screens this year with three films coming out but it’s this one with James McAvoy that I’m most looking forward to. As James More (McAvoy) find himself captured by Jihadists, Danielle Flinders (Vikander) is about to embark on a submersive dive down to the ocean floor. In their confines they reflect back on the previous Christmas and their chance encounter which led to an intense and enduring romance. Due to the quality of the actors I’m thinking this will be more that your average romance film and I’m really looking forward to it.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
Based on the story by Neil Gaiman it’s about an alien who on a tour of the galaxy, breaks away from her group and meets two teenagers from the most dangerous place in the universe, Croydon. This is the second Elle Fanning/Nicole Kidman collaboration on this list and from the initial set pictures, as well as Neil Gaiman providing the story this looks to be one of the most inventive, not to mention weirdest entries on this list and probably of this year.
Free Fire
High Rise was one of the most interesting films I saw last year and left me eager to see Ben Wheatley’s next project, and with a cast as strong as this one it was almost certainly going to make it’s way onto this list. When a gang of criminals meet up to trade arms a disagreement turns it into a full-on shootout. It so far has an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes which is usually a sure fire sign of a good thing to come and with Cillian Murphy, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley to name a few, this looks like one of the surest bets this year.
Terminal
There’s very little to go on for this except that it stars and is produced by Margot Robbie and tells the story of two hit-men who embark on a high stakes mission for a mysterious employer and encounter Anne (Robbie) along the way and realise there’s more to her than initially appears. That’s it for information aside from a very intriguing and ominous photo of Margot Robbie as featured. I know it’s ridiculous to be pumped for a film from a photo alone, but still, damn!
Mute
The penultimate film on this list is Duncan Jones’ latest offering which will hopefully makeup for the frankly pretty dire World of Warcraft. For his latest film he’s chosen to return to his science fiction routes of Source Code and Moon, with Mute. Set in a Blade Runner-esque Berlin in 2052 we follow mute bartender Leo (Alexander Skarsgård) who sets out to find his girlfriend Naadirah when she disappears. From the initial photos it’s obvious that Jones has created a neon, seedy underbelly of a city, and with the much anticipated Blade Runner sequel also out this year it’ll be very interesting to see how each fare, especially as Jones’ offering will be premiering on Netflix.
Ghost in the Shell/Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
I know this is cheating but as I tried to restrict myself to 15 entries on this list I found I couldn’t whittle them down and seeing as they’re both a little similar I decided to hell with it, I’d cheat. Both of these films are set in a space-age future with Scarlett Johansson starring as a cyborg counter-cyberterrorist in a futuristic Japan in Ghost in the Shell, whilst Valerian and his partner Laureline are space and time agents responsible for maintaining order throughout the universe. Both are leaving people a little hesistant, what with Ghost in the Shell’s controversial casting and die hard fan base and with Cara Delevinge as Valerian’s leading lady and her less than stellar screen debuts so far people are questioning whether she’ll be able to dually carry such a big film. Either way there’s enough from both initial trailers to pique my interest I just hope that my doubts turn out to be unfounded.
On October 5th 2000 the world was introduced to the fast talking world of the Gilmore Girls and their little New England town of Stars Hollow. They were welcomed with critical acclaim as the world fell in love with these two extraordinary women, and the colourful characters who inhabited their lives. The show was a pop culture junkie’s dream (with 454 Film and TV references alone), but as the show developed it was the depth and heart of the characters that was responsible for its mass appeal, and over the course of seven seasons audiences watched enraptured as the Gilmore Girls dealt with issues of class, family, money, love, education and friendship.
This more than any other film I saw this year complete blew me away in terms of sheer originality and being unlike anything else I have even seen at the cinema. They provide us with a lead female character deserving of modern cinema as well as stellar performances from every member of the cast, and special effects that will literally take your breath away.
As previously mentioned this is one of the greatest hidden gems of this year and has as a result been topping the lists of all the top film reviewers. It’s one of the creepiest films I’ve seen in years and with an awesome soundtrack that sounds like it belongs to an 8-bit game it’s a truly modern horror, with a truly modern “monster”.
Initially I was dragged to this by my father who’s a life long Beach Boys fan but I was blown away not only by the film, but the true life story behind it. It takes an innovative perspective in the use of two separate periods in Brian Wilson’s life which interweave to tell the story to great effect. But it’s the seamless performances by both Paul Dano and John Cusack representing Brian Wilson at opposing times in his life that brings the film together and allows you to fully appreciate the genius behind the fantastic songs.
After years of waiting I was over the moon to find that Star Wars exceeded all my possible expectations. Not to mention my childhood joy to find that (SPOILER ALERT) the main protagonist and future jedi was a girl! And an incredibly bad-ass one at that. The chemistry between the new characters is fantastic and I loved the obvious effort that was made to ensure the film appealed to old and new fans alike. The fact I’ve already seen it twice should prove just how much I love it.
Another one for my inner child this was one of the most beautiful films I saw this year, from the costumes to the sets. Not to mention the perfect casting of Lily James and Richard Madden meant I fell completely in love with the story again, and left me leaving the cinema completely gutted that I was too old to be able to go buy a costume.
The opposite end of the spectrum here with what is probably best described as Guillermo Del Toro’s take on the Victorian Gothic. Another film that is perfect in creating it’s own complex world as well as displaying the level of stunning detail that’s expected when watching Del Toro’s films. It’s also brilliantly gruesome and chilling and is another film that completely overwhelms your senses and provides the perfect escape.
Although this film does have some obvious flaws upon watching, it found its place on my list due to the brilliant performances by Tom Hardy and Emily Browning. While Hardy deserves a nomination of some sort for conveying both brothers superbly, it’s the attention to detail in creating the Kray’s world that really draws you in. Plus who doesn’t love a gangster film.
Another one of the biggest films of this year this is probably the most unoriginal on the list but that’s exactly why I loved it. It makes no excuses and does exactly what it says on the *metaphorical* tin brilliantly. The scene with Chris Pratt riding through the forest with velociraptors sums it up best, it’s dangerous, exciting and most importantly just awesome.
This is one of those examples of films that even from the previews is so highly raved about that it almost has the opposite effect in that it puts you off wanting to see it. By the time I finally got round to watching it I was so annoyed at myself for wasting so much time as surprise surprise, it completely lived up to the hype. Another example that 2015 was the year of Alicia Vikander, while Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac round out the small yet perfectly formed cast, all giving subtle yet award winning performances. Without giving too much away it’s a science fiction film for the noughties, and frighteningly real enough that it leaves you seriously chilled.
Another that I was dragged to by my father and another that taught me to always trust him when it comes to picking films. What I thought was going to be another stranded in space sob-fest (pretty much how I felt about Interstellar) it turned out I was completely wrong. While not only being one of the funniest films I saw this year it was also one of the smartest, and a welcome change from the serious, weighty recent movies of the genre such as Gravity and the aforementioned Interstellar.The vibrant soundtrack in combination with the real scientific truth behind it combine to create one of the most interesting and watchable films of the year.
Gingham and Glitter 