Onto the new year then! Always one of my favourite pieces to write each year is my ‘most anticipated movies’ list, it’s great to highlight films to look forward to and then of course, to later compare it to my eventual top 10 list. I think last year I had just three film appear in both lists, but one was the number one on each and I don’t thank any of them turned out to be big disappointments, so maybe I’m getting a bit better at this? Anyhow, one problem with making such a list at the beginning of the year is that inevitably some films will get delayed and not meet their expected original release date. As such, I must begin this piece by mentioning Duncan Jones’ Mute (above pic) and Alex Garland’s Annihilation, two promising sci-fi movies from up-and-coming directors that both made my list last year but failed to see release. Now they’re both expected to arrive on Netflix sometime early this year and I’m still eagerly anticipating both. I’m also not counting here any of the awards-type movies that are coming out over the next few months internationally but are already out in the US, or, what is probably the film I’m most excited to see right now honestly; Paddington 2 (due out here first week of February!) Just missing out here was Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, onto the list proper;
10. Untitled Chris Morris Project
Word recently came out that Chris Morris, the satirist behind such landmark shows as The Day Today and Brass Eye had completed filming on his first feature since Four Lions in 2009. It’s at the tail end of this list as very little is actually known about it at the moment other than the cast members, who include Anna Kendrick, and that it was shot in the Dominican Republic but I’m eager to see whatever Morris has come up with in our current political climate.
09. Hold the Dark (Jeremy Saulnier)
The first of several Netflix movies on this list, Jeremy Saulnier follows up his fantastic siege-horror Green Room with a new thriller written by regular collaborator Macon Blair (who himself made a successful move to directing last year). As with most Netflix releases, we don’t have a fixed date for this yet but expect it to show up some time this year.
08. Psychokinesis (Yeon Sang-ho)
Yeon Sang-ho made the move from excellent, hard-hitting, adult animation to mainstream live action filmmaking with the terrific action-horror movie Train to Busan (an absolute smash-hit in its home country). His next film, Psychokinesis is reportedly a black comedy concerning superpowers. It comes out in Korea in just a couple of weeks, and will likely expand to other locations later in the year.
07. Apostle (Gareth Evans)
Welsh director Gareth Evans set a new standard for modern, kinetic action filmmaking with The Raid in 2011, then upped his game in every department with the more plot-heavy crime epic sequel. He returns this year with his first English-language film Apostle, a thriller starring Dan Stevens as a man on the search for his sister, who’s been kidnapped at the hands of a sinister cult. Expected to arrive on Netflix sometime this year.
06. You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsey)
After failing to get her version of western Jane Got a Gun off the ground (it ultimately emerged as a completely forgettable movie), We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsey returns with this crime thriller. You Were Never Really Here stars Joaquin Phoenix as a hitman who tracks down child sex traffickers. I’m really curious to see how this turns out, it sounds like it could be an arthouse take on the kind of plot that could have been a Van Damme DTV movie. Word out of Cannes last year (where it screened as a work-in-progress but still picked up some key awards) is extremely positive. Due April.
05. Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson)
I was worried for a brief moment that Wes Anderson was starting to lose me a little after the disappointment of Moonrise Kingdom, but then he bounced back with The Grand Budapest Hotel, his best film since The Royal Tenenbaums. Now he’s going back to stop-motion animation again but this time with a fully original screenplay for this Japan-set canine tale featuring an all-star cast including many previous Anderson collaborators. Due March
04. Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Richard Linklater)
I’ve not yet had a chance to see Richard Linklater’s latest drama Last Flag Flying but he already has another film due out in May. I don’t know a great deal about it other than the cast (including Cate Blanchett, Judy Greer and Kristen Wiig) but Linklater’s been on an incredible run recently and been one of my favourite directors for years. I’ll happily seek out anything he makes.
03. Dragged Across Concrete (S. Craig Zahler)
Novelist turned filmmaker S Craig Zahler is in a tremendous ‘2 for 2’ situation at the moment, with his previous 2 movies both making my top 10 of their respective years (including last year’s Brawl in Cell Block 99). He already has another film in the can, Dragged Across Concrete, a crime thriller that sees Mel Gibson (yes, problematic etc) and Vince Vaughan starring as corrupt cops. Expect creatively filmed violence and sharp dialogue. Release date TBA
02. The Predator (Shane Black)
The lone franchise movie on my list here, and from a series there hasn’t been a truly great movie in since the original three decades ago. However, a new Shane Black movie would likely be on my list regardless and considering that he was an uncredited writer on the original Predator (in addition to playing a small role), coupled with the fact that there must have been some idea he had to bring him back to the franchise after so long gives me a really optimistic feeling about this. Due August
01. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
This is a bit of a tricky situation as we don’t know for sure if The Irishman – a mob drama that Scorsese’s been discussing for years now – will actually be released in 2018 or 2019. What seems more likely is that it’ll have an awards-qualifying run in December then be released widely soon afterwards. The fact that it’s being produced by Netflix suggests to me that we might not know until very soon beforehand when it’ll show up so I didn’t want to miss talking about it now because honestly, how could any other film be my number one pick here? Scorsese is still churning out masterpieces and this much-anticipated film, that I had once though might never see the light of day is finally actually happening. It sees Scorsese returning to the gangster genre, reuniting with former muse Robert De Niro for the first time in over 2 decades, co-stars Al Pacino adn Harvey Keitel and features a return to acting for Joe Pesci. This could be a late career redemption film for both De Niro and Pacino at this point, and I couldn’t be more excited.
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