Friday, December 4, 2015

29 Movies I'm Excited to See to in 2016

by Patrick Bromley
With just a few weeks left in 2015, let's get a jump start on talking about next year. That's how the internet works, right?

1. Hail, Caesar! (dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
Release date: 2/5
A new Coen brothers movie is always reason to get excited, and if you've seen the wonderful trailer for this one you know it looks like their return to wacky comedy and Barton Finkian Hollywood satire. Also, holy shit that cast.
2. Ghostbusters (dir. Paul Feig)
Release date: 7/15
Even if there wasn't a bunch of stupid, sexist controversy surrounding this one (which, in the defense of stupid, sexist controversy, has changed the argument enough to help distract me from the fact that no one should be making Ghostbusters in the first place) I would be curious enough to see it based on Paul Feig's participation, the incredible cast that includes Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon making the jump to the A-list and just to see what the hell a remake of Ghostbusters looks like. Feig's comments that he plans to try to make this one a little scary has me interested. I don't know that this will be any good at all, but I want to give it the benefit of the doubt.

3. Get the Girl (dir. Eric England)
Release date:
I included this movie on last year's list of movies I was excited to see, but it didn't come out this year. I'm bumping it next year's list because I'm still excited to see England's next effort, which seems to be something of a departure from his horror movies. I was a fan of his work even before he became a friend and supporter of our podcast, but that alone is good enough reason for everyone reading this to see his next film whenever it comes out.

4. Triple 9 (dir. John Hillcoat)
Release date: 2/26
I don't know much about this one, except I recently saw a trailer and it looked pretty kick ass. It's got a good cast and I'm a sucker for a hardcore crime movie like this. I haven't yet loved any of Hillcoat's movies, but I know he's a good director and I'm just waiting to connect with one of his films. Maybe it will be this one.
5. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (dir. Zack Snyder)
Release date: 3/25
Listen. LISTEN. Of course I'm going to see this opening weekend and of course I'm super curious to see how a) DC launches their new "shared universe" and b) how a movie can possibly contain as much story as they appear to be cramming into this one. I'm a fan of Zack Snyder and am excited at the prospect of Ben Affleck's Batman. More than anything, though, I'm excited about an appearance by Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Having said that, there is very little that has been released so far that has instilled much confidence in me, and the trailer that was released this week makes this look actively bad -- and I'm not referring to Jesse Eisenberg. I have my doubts, but I also wouldn't miss it.

6. The Witch (dir. Robert Eggers)
Release date: 2/26
This is another festival darling that a lot of people I respect (including some of the Killer POV crew) swear would be the best horror movie of the year if it was being released in 2015.

7. John Wick 2 (dir. Chad Stahelski)
Release date: TBA
My dick just healed from having it kicked by the first John Wick. I'm not totally convinced the sequel will hit screens next year, but I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm more than ready for John Wick 2: The Re-Kickening.

8. Midnight Special (dir. Jeff Nichols)
Release date: 3/18
Another movie that appeared on last year's list. Trailers for the film have just started appearing and it looks very cool. I'm not totally sure what's going on, but it's got Michael Shannon (of course), Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver and some alien shit.
9. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (dir. Gareth Edwards)
Release date: 12/16
Yes, it has the dumbest title this side of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and yes it's premature to get excited about the first of many Star Wars spin-offs before even knowing if The Force Awakens is going to stick the landing, but even if that movie is terrible (and I don't think it will be based on what I've seen so far) I would be curious about this new model. The story sounds cool, the cast is great and I'm rooting for Gareth Edwards even if I did have my problems with his version of Godzilla. There are a lot of elements for something special here. I hope they get it right so that these side stories can get started on the right foot.

10. The Nice Guys (dir. Shane Black)
Release date: 5/20
Shane Black has a new movie. Shane Black has a new movie. Ryan Gosling is in it and it's a crime story set in the world of porn in the '70s and sounds kind of like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Shane Black has a new movie.

11. The Invitation (dir. Karyn Kusama)
Release date: 3/26
I know very little about this movie except that my friend Heather Wixson flipped out over it and says it's great. I'm sold.
12. Green Room (dir. Jeremy Saulnier)
Release date: 4/15
This played Fantastic Fest this year and blew the doors off, but I was dying to see it even before then just because it's the new Jeremy Saulnier movie and he made both Murder Party and the great Blue Ruin. April can't come soon enough.

13. The Magnificent Seven (dir. Antoine Fuqua)
Release date: 9/23
I'm depressed looking at how many movies on this list are based on existing properties -- sequels, remakes, IP titles -- but I'm torn between that burnout and my desire to see a Magnificent Seven movie led by Denzel Washington and co-starring Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio and Byung-hun Lee. Antoine Fuqua is more miss than hit for me, but this is a timeless story and I'm happy to be seeing the western make such a comeback in recent years.
14. The Neon Demon (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)
Release date: TBA
Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks and Alice Dainard star in the latest from Nicolas Winding Refn, a horror film that looks and sounds like a modern-day Argento movie. And by that I mean a modern movie that resembles an Argento film from when he was good, not that it resembles one of Argento's modern efforts. Nobody wants that.

15. Kickboxer: Vengeance (dir. John Stockwell)
Release date: TBA
Van Damme returns to the Kickboxer series to mentor Dave Bautista. If that's not enough, Gina Carano is in it.

16. The BFG (dir. Steven Spielberg)
Release date: 7/1
This is the new Steven Spielberg movie.
17. Extraction (dir. Steven C. Miller)
Release date: TBA
Just this week I was going on about how much I like Steven C. Miller, and while the trailer for this makes it look a little like a stock DTV action movie, I know Miller will direct the shit out of it and elevate to something special. If that's not enough, Gina Carano is in it.

18. Everybody Wants Some (dir. Richard Linklater)
Release date: 4/15
This is the new Richard Linklater movie.

19. The Bad Batch (dir. Ana Lily Amirpour)
Release date: TBA
Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour's follow-up to her debut effort A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night casts Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves and Jason Momoa in a story described as a "love story set in a Texas wasteland among a community of cannibals." Take all of my money.

20. Suicide Squad (dir. David Ayer)
Release date: 8/5
Here's another one where I'm more optimistically curious than I am excited, partly to see how DC is going to develop their cinematic universe and partly because I think the story sounds cool and the cast they've assembled is incredible. Jared Leto's take on The Joke is likely to be incredibly polarizing, but Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn will be inspiring fangirl cosplay for years to come.
21. 31 (dir. Rob Zombie)
Release date: TBA
I know that Rob Zombie is a very divisive filmmaker -- even among the horror community -- but, as I have said time and again, I have enjoyed every movie he has made to one degree or another and really, really like a few of them. Supposedly this is his last horror film (for now, I'm guessing), and while it appears that he's leaning all the way into the grimy, long-haired aesthetic for which he is so often derided, I'm excited to see him working completely unhinged. I suspect this will be unpleasant. I'm ok with that.

22. In a Valley of Violence (dir. Ti West)
Release date: TBA
Yes, we were hoping that the new Ti Western would be released this year as was originally speculated. That didn't happen. I'll wait. While I'm sure this will get a VOD release, I'm hoping it also gets some sort of theatrical run. I want to see it on the biggest screen possible.

23. The Huntsman: Winter's War (dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan)
Release date: 4/22
As one of the few people alive who actually really likes Snow White and the Huntsman, I know I am alone in looking forward to its sequel. To be fair, it did not need a sequel, nor does the sequel look very good at all. Rupert Sanders' eye for beautiful compositions appears to have been jettisoned for lots more CGI nonsense. But how can I not get excited about a fantasy film starring both Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain? I'm not a monster.

24. Captain America: Civil War (dir. Anthony & Joe Russo)
Release date: 5/6
Marvel probably should have just called this The Avengers 3, since that's pretty much what it is. While I'm not crazy about seeing a bunch of characters I really like fight one another, I like that Marvel continues not just to sequelize their properties but actually build a single massive story that echoes throughout all of their films. The story for this one sounds a whole lot more compelling than the one for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and I'm excited for the Russos to come back after knocking it out of the park with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Plus, this is the Marvel movie that will introduce The Black Panther and, even more importantly, their own Spider-Man.
25. Independence Day: Resurgence (dir. Roland Emmerich)
Release date: 7/24
I still refuse to believe this movie will ever be made, much less released in 2016. I have zero expectations that it will be any good. While I am an unapologetic fan of the first Independence Day, it was such a product of the '90s blockbuster marketplace that to try and capture the same brand of goofy, old-fashioned, numbingly stupid lighting in a bottle is probably an enormous mistake. And the title, like most contemporary sequel titles, is awful.

26. The Purge 3 (James DeMonaco)
Release date: 7/1
I liked The Purge: Anarchy enough -- and, in particular, Frank Grillo's performance as a would-be Punisher character -- that I'm looking forward to him coming back for another installment.

27. Star Trek Beyond (dir. Justin Lin)
Release date: 7/22
Despite its massive problems, I unabashedly love the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, which I still credit for turning me into a huge Star Trek fan (it made me go back and rewatch the whole series, many episodes for the first time, which I know love a lot more than the 2009 film). Star Trek Into Darkness broke my heart. That makes Beyond the "tiebreaker" entry, but I'm trying to remain optimistic about a screenplay co-written by Simon Pegg and Justin Lin taking over the director's chair. After all, he's the guy who turned the Fast & the Furious franchise around. Hopefully he's able to do the same for Star Trek. "You can have any drink you want as long as it's a tranya." -- Kirk Toretto

28. Doctor Strange (dir. Scott Derrickson)
Release date: 11/4
I swear I'm not totally in the bag for Marvel (or superhero movies in general), but as a former comic book reader I'm have tremendous curiosity about how some of these characters will translate to the screen. Benedict Cumberbatch is a good actor and all, but his casting as the Sorcerer Supreme doesn't excite me all that much. I'm far more interested in seeing what Scott Derrickson does with this big a movie, as Marvel continues to choose exciting directors to helm their movies but don't always let them make the movies they make. Maybe the recent dissolution of the company's "creative committee" will improve that situation.

29. Colossal (dir. Nacho Vigalondo)
Release date: TBA
Anne Hathaway and Dan Stevens (of The Guest) co-star in Nacho Vigalondo's latest sci-fi film, which was reportedly sued for resembling Godzilla too closely. This probably means that Nacho Vigalondo is making a movie with giant monsters. So there's that. We have that.

Wait, isn't Avatar 2 supposed to be out next year? Disregard the rest of this list.

23 comments:

  1. Great list. The Witch, The Invitation, Green Room, Neon Demon and the Nice Guys are way up there for me too. And I had no idea about Nacho's new movie! Amped!

    A couple more you might be interested in keeping on your radar that are supposed to be out next year:

    What Happened to Monday? - The new Tommy Wirkola film.

    High Rise (definitely) and possibly Free Fire - Both new Ben Wheatley films.

    Sun Choke (did you already see this at a festival?) I'm excited for it.

    Synchronicity (Jan. 22) - Jacob Gentry (one of the Writers and Directors of The Signal (2007) and AJ Bowen is in it again)

    XX - all female director Horror Anthology with some names attached.

    The Minds Eye - Joe Begos' (Almost Human) latest; already at festivals.

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    1. Yes! A couple of those I completely forgot about and I few others I didn't know of. It's hard to find a list that's complete, especially when it comes to some of the indie titles. But I'm out of my mind excited about The Mind's Eye and High Rise. And I did see Sun Choke -- it's very much worth checking out.

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    2. Something I always do to keep a list is just add films that I hear even the smallest blurb about to my IMDB watchlist blindly if they sound the least bit interesting or if I'm into any of the names attached. Then I'll revisit the list every now and then to see what's happening with them. I've got about 150 titles in there now although some will probably never see the light of day, unfortunately, as they played 1 maybe 2 festivals and never got picked up for distro. (Why don't more filmmakers use online outlets to release their films even if they don't get picked up? In this day in age there should be a bunch of websites where you can rent these movies for 5 bucks or something. Hell, it seems you can get just about anything on Amazon now. Maybe there are more variables involved that I'm overlooking)

      Right on for Sun Choke! I know next to nothing about it and want to keep it that way but glad to hear it sounds like it's worth the anticipation.

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  2. That Batman V. Superman trailer was quite disappointing and underwhelming, not to mention it seemed to give a lot of things away. Ben Affleck looks good as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but hopefully the movie itself has a few tricks up its sleeve and is better than the trailer would suggest.

    At any rate, I'm on board with almost all of this list. I think Captain America: Civil War; Hail, Ceaser!; and John Wick 2 are my top 3 most anticipated movies at the moment. we shall see!

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    1. Man, you aren't lying about the Batman/Superman trailer. I feel like I just saw the whole damn movie.

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  3. Because I'm old and live in a hole, I had no idea that there was a new Kickboxer movie in development, let alone that it starred JCVD and Batista. Nothing from 2016 (including Rogue One) has me as excited as discovering the existence of Kickboxer: Vengeance.

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  4. The batman v superman trailer shows way to much and actually hurt the hype the film had built up. The trailer for the trailer was actually better. Either way im all in and will be there day one. Good list. I found out about some films I wasn't aware of. Ryan Gosling in a 70's porn crime drama gets my intention. Not happy to here that Justin lin is directing Star trek. I was fine with JJ Abrams.

    I think I enjoy the look of Snow White and the Huntsman more than the actual movie. Im reminded of this every time I go back too it. This sequel or prequel is keeping the best part of that movie and that's Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman.

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  5. All these superhero movies and no Deadpool? The trailer gave me the implication it could be either really funny, or just kind-of-ok-but-hey-at-least-we-tried Ant-Man funny, but nonetheless it's my second most hyped superhero-movie after Captain Am3rica (Oh, we're not doing that anymore? Dammit, Fox!).

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  6. I want to see Dirty Grandpa. Can I still work here?

    P.S. Patrick, you need to fly to California and see The Finest Hours with Doug. Era.

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  7. The Huntsman: Winter's War looks like a ludicrous mess and I can't wait to see it. Getting rid of Kristen Stewart (I mean she seems relaly nice but that role was not a good fit) and replacing her with Jessica Chastain AND Emily Blunt riding a polar bear is one of the best moves you can make.

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  8. No no, you're not alone loving Snow White and the Huntsman! I LOVED that. You're so right - Rupert Sander's movie was GORGEOUS. What really struck me about it was all the special effects seemed to have - in color or symbolism- a really feminine quality to them, and I've never seen that with CGI before. I've never even liked CGI before! But I liked it a LOT. Florence Welch didn't pop out anywhere in the movie, that was a little disappointing for me personally. But Kristen Stewart barely had any lines, so that was a very very smart choice by her boyfriend director. I hope not too many of the good elements are stripped away as you say in the sequel.

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    1. For a few years now I've been meaning to write about the movie as feminist blockbuster. Now that I know someone will read it maybe I will.

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    2. I'm trying to find the words...to tell you how excited I am for that. I'm glad to inform you you have at least one annoyingly feminist FthisMovie reader now :-)

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    3. Excuse me, but just because I have been in hospital with a gland near my brain having bled doesn't mean I should be forgotten as the also feminist member of the small Snowwhite and the huntsman fan club. Meredith what is your twitter? Great to see more fiesty ladies here!

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    4. Hi Gabby! Glad to meet you! What an ordeal you're going through, I hope you're feeling well and feisty :) I thought there were a ton of problems and missing pieces in SW/Huntsman but as I wrote, the super feminine-y things about the visuals, which made it a totally new movie experience for me, and the characters' potential to have really deep story lines in the sequels made it a win. I was truly looking forward to the director's sequel. Now there's a new director - I don't know what to expect. I don't go to regular action-y CGi movies. What do you think? PS: No twitter as of yet :)

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    5. You sound very cool Meredith! Would you like to join me on a duscussion on a different film on Fb? /gabby.ferro.9

      Thank you Adam! I am out of hospital now thankfully

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    6. Thanks Gabby! I'm relieved you think so! :) And yes, I would very much like to partake. Is there a forum besides fb where you have these interesting discussions? If I opened a fb account and had access to all my ex boyfriends facebooks, that would be an extremely major distraction that I cannot afford. If you are by any chance discussing Romance & Cigarettes, though, I might cave ;)

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  9. X-Men: Apocalypse comes out next year, right? Because X-Men: Apocalypse totally comes out next year. (As does Deadpool, as noted above.)

    Now, I grew up on Star Trek, to the degree that it (especially TNG) will always be a part of me, but Into Darkness pretty much killed my enthusiasm for 09's XI, so even though it's the franchise's 50th anniversary year, I'm not much interested in Beyond. (Indeed, I'm far from convinced the Trek franchise should continue/expand indefinitely.) And though I'm a big-time MCU fan, as a non-comics guy, I don't (yet) give a flip about Doctor Strange, either. So I'm definitely looking forward to Apocalypse as much as any movie next year, right up there with Civil War.

    (Myself, I don't care if it's a franchise/existing-IP project or not, I'll take a good movie based on pre-existing material over an average "original" one any day.)

    Also, I feel obligated to point out that, even though I haven't enjoyed any of her movies in years, there are several Rachel Weisz joints coming out next year, including one which sounds hopelessly artsy-fartsy but co-stars Fassbender and Vikander, which has to be worth considering on that trio alone, no?

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  10. Ah, the time of the year where we are filled with such hope and optimism.

    Great picks, though if I could also throw one out there:
    Musker/Clements + Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson + Lin Manuel Miranda = Disney's Moana. Fangirling as we speak.

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  11. Good list. Most of the listed movies I hope to see on the big screen.
    But hey, no mention of the CGI-orgies Gods of egypt and Warcraft from some visionary directors.....?

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