Overall, 2016 has felt
disappointing at the movies. Yes, we have a few great movies like Everybody
Wants Some!!, Green Room
and The
Witch, but the year seems to have produced one disappointment after another
(especially this Summer). Captain
America: Civil War, The Jungle
Book, Zootopia,
Finding Dory, and Deadpool
lived up to our expectations (and surpassed them), but Batman vs.
Superman: Dawn of Justice, X-Men:
Apocalypse, The BFG, The Legend of Tarzan, Jason Bourne, and now Suicide
Squad have all come up short (seemingly pulling down our opinions of the whole
year and our enthusiasm for what is to come). And yet, there are a number of
films to still be excited for:
Pete’s Dragon
At face value, it is surprising
that Disney would remake Pete’s Dragon, a back-catalog 1970s musical that I imagine
anyone under 35 does not even know ever existed. But Disney has done something
interesting with this remake, they have only taken the very basics from the
original and let indie auteur David Lowery run with it, resulting in a family
film that actually feels substantial. Lowery also has a great cast with Bryce
Dallas Howard, Robert Redford and Karl Urban. In theaters August 12th.
Check out the trailer.
The Light Between Oceans
Derek Cianfrance makes brooding
dramas, steeped in deep, dark emotions. This all makes him the perfect
filmmaker to take on an adaptation of The Light Between Oceans, a drama about a
man and wife who decide to raise a baby they find adrift only to discover years
later that the child’s mother is still searching for it. The cast is among the
year’s absolute best with Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz.
This could be 2016’s first serious Oscar contender. In theaters September 2nd.
Check out the trailer.
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins’s novel was a huge
success, making this adaptation one of the most anticipated films of the Fall.
Emily Blunt leads a good cast and Tate Taylor has proven very adept in his
ability to produce strong cinematic adaptations (like The Help). The mystery
thriller is about Rachel Watson, a divorced woman who takes a train past her
old house everyday on her way to work; only, one day something is different
when she believes that she witnesses a murder, but that is not the whole story.
In theaters October 7th. Check out the trailer.
The Birth of a Nation
Writer/director/star Nate Parker
won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film
Festival with his slavery drama The Birth of a Nation. The film feels vital,
given the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and our current sociopolitical climate.
Parker also represents a much needed fresh cinematic voice. The film is about
Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher who organizes a rebellion against the
masters in the antebellum South. In theaters October 7th. Check out
the trailer.
Doctor Strange
Marvel Studios can do no wrong
with their Cinematic Universe (aka the MCU), or so it seems. Doctor Strange,
however, represents an interesting challenge. Marvel bottled lightening with
Guardians of the Galaxy, a gaggle of heroes unknown to general movie-going audiences,
but can they do it again with Dr. Stephen Strange? They certainly have the
goodwill of their fans, a promising (and different) concept and a phenomenal
cast, headlined by Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Eijiofor, Rachel McAdams,
Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. In theaters November 4th.
Check out the trailer.
Loving
Indie auteur Jeff Nichols is one
of America’s brightest independent filmmaking stars. His new drama tackles the
true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple struggling to
live in 1958 Virginia. Like The Birth of a Nation, Loving feels tonally vital
right now. The buzz out of the Cannes Film Festival, where it screened in May,
was very strong with special notices for leads Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton. In
theaters November 4th. Check out the trailer.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime
Walk
Filmmakers have had limited
success tackling the Iraq War, as it seems to be difficult to really capture
the tone of such a twisted and problematic conflict and portray the struggles faced
by the men and women in the middle of it (my personal favorite is the HBO
miniseries Generation Kill). That said, auteur Ang Lee is a good fit to take it
on. Lee also has a good eclectic cast with Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Steve
Martin, and Chris Tucker. The film adaptation is about Billy Lynn, a war hero
who temporarily gets to come home. In theaters November 11th. Check
out the trailer.
Arrival
Auteur Denis Villeneuve made my
favorite film of 2015 with Sicario; he is back in 2016 with the sci-fi drama
Arrival. It is about an expert linguist who is recruited by the military to
determine if an alien race that has landed crafts across the globe comes in
peace or are a threat. Villeneuve again champions the need for more roles and
better roles for female actors by casting Amy Adams in the lead (he famously
gender switched the lead in Sicario, casting Emily Blunt). In theaters November
11th.
Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them
Cynically speaking, we all knew
Warner Bros. would find a way to keep the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
going; however, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has the pedigree to
delight fans. J.K. Rowling is providing the script, David Yates (who directed
films 5-8 of the Harry Potter series) is behind the camera, and Oscar-winner
Eddie Redmayne stars. The film is about the adventures of Newt Scamander, a
specialist in magical creatures, in 1920s New York City. Even after eight
films, I am excited to return to the Wizarding World. In theaters November 18th.
Check out the trailer.
Manchester by the Sea
Auteur Kenneth Lonergan is
finally back with a new film with Manchester by the Sea, a drama about an uncle
who must take care of his teenage nephew after the boy’s father passes. The
film has a ton of Oscar buzz coming out of its early festival screenings, many
calling it the best film of 2016 so far. It boasts a solid cast, led by Casey
Affleck, Kyle Chandler and Michelle Williams. In theaters November 18th.
Moana
Disney’s latest ‘princess’ film
aims to be something completely different. First, Moana, a young Hawaiian woman,
is actually voiced by a young Hawaiian woman in Auli’I Cravalho and second
Moana is her own hero without a love interest. This feels like a big step
forward for Disney, who has made big recent strides forward in promoting its female
characters. The film also features voice-work from Dwayne Johnson as Maui the
demi-god. Ron Clements and John Musker lead the creative team (they have given
us some of our most beloved Disney films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin).
In theaters November 23rd. Check out the trailer.
Allied
Each new Robert Zemeckis film
feels like a big deal, as he is a filmmaker known for pushing the visual
envelope forward while telling big stories. His new film, Allied, is a WWII
action romance about two spies working for the Allies who marry each other and
work together, but what if one of them was really a double-agent working for
the Nazis? The film also happens to have two of Hollywood’s most dynamic
leading actors in Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard playing its spies. I think
this is a sleeper for film of the year. In theaters November 23rd.
La La Land
Bursting onto the scene with
Whiplash, writer/director Damien Chazelle is back with a musical dramedy and he
has J.K. Simmons with him again. We need more good musicals; this one looks
magical and sublimely charming. It stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (who has
fantastic chemistry) and is about a jazz pianist who falls for an aspiring
actress in Los Angeles. In theaters December 16th. Check out the trailer.
Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story
Set right before the beginning of
A New Hope, Rogue One is about the team of rebels who steal the plans for the
Death Star. Director Gareth Edwards describes the film as a war movie, set in
the Star Wars Universe. Writer Tony Gilroy is working with Edwards presently
finishing up the final editing process, getting the tone just right. Everything
we have seen so far is very promising. Plus, the cast, fronted by Felicity
Jones, is very good. This is the film I am most looking forward to seeing. In
theaters December 16th. Check out the trailer.
Passengers
Sony’s most high profile film of
2016 is Passengers, a sci-fi adventure about a spacecraft shuttling thousands
of people to a distant colony planet that experiences a malfunction in one of
its sleep chambers awakening two passengers 60 years early. The story sounds intriguing
alone and then you throw in the very charming leads Jennifer Lawrence and Chris
Pratt and Passengers suddenly jumps to the top of a lot of ‘Most Anticipated’
lists. If Lawrence and Pratt have chemistry, I cannot imagine this not being
highly entertaining. Rising star Morten Tyldum is behind the camera. In
theaters December 21st.
A few others to look out for:
Queen of Katwe, American Honey and Lion.
