Top 20 Best Movies of 2017

I know that my Best Films of 2017 list is very late. Despite my intention to wait for the some of the later 2017 movies, I didn’t intend to be this late. Nevertheless I finally managed to get my list together. I have to say, despite some disappointments, 2017 was a really great year for film, I found myself giving more 10/10s than I usually do and I had to bump this list from a top 15 to a top 20 because I wanted to include so many more films.

Keep in mind that I haven’t seen every 2017 movie but I saw most of the 2017 movies that I was interested in seeing, including most of the big awards movies (I tried to avoid the situation last year where I missed out some of the best films of 2016 including Silence and never including them in a future best of 2016 list). So if a certain movie isn’t on the list, it’s because I haven’t seen it or hadn’t liked it enough for it to be on this list.

Honourable Mention:

Alien Covenant

Alien Covenant was definitely one of the most divisive movies of the year. Some people loved it, other people hated it. Fortunately I was in the former group, I loved it for what it was and it was so different from what I expected. While I can understand why a lot of people had issues with Covenant, I can’t help but be impressed by it.

No one does sci-fi like Ridley Scott and he really impressed me here. Alien Covenant is both a Prometheus and an Alien movie. Ridley Scott returns to horror with direction, excellent cinematography, and very, very horrific and bloody moments. However it is David, fantastically played by Michael Fassbender (who also plays dual roles here), who was the most fascinating element, one of the best characters in the Alien universe so far. Much of the film’s success goes to him as he’s a big screen presence. On top of that, this movie was a lot deeper and different than I thought it would be. All the themes it focussed on surrounded David and without going into too much depth it was really compelling. Covenant is a great mix of slasher, sci-fi, horror, religious parallels and much more that somehow actually works. It’s a bit of a bizarre movie, not what anyone was expecting and I’m glad that Scott went all out in going in this direction. It also has one of the best endings of 2017. Even though I really like Covenant, I can understand why a lot of people have issues with it. I do get that a lot of the questions that aren’t answered in Prometheus aren’t answered here either. It also does have some not so great elements with most of the other characters not being that developed and falling into some cliched moments, and on the whole it’s still a sci-fi horror flick, just with some unexpected parts to it. I’m just fascinated to see what direction Ridley Scott is taking this prequel series in (if a sequel does end up happening). I hope it happens, I want to see what Scott intended to take this story in.

My review of Alien Covenant

20. Detroit

Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit unfortunately really didn’t get the attention it deserved. The dramatization of the Algiers Motel Incident which took place during the Detroit Riots of the 60s was one of the surprise best films of the year that not enough people saw. It’s a real shame because a lot of audiences really missed out on a great and very impactful film.

Just about everything about Detroit was great. The performances were absolutely fantastic, with Will Poulter being a standout, how his excellent performance hasn’t been receiving awards attention is beyond me. But it’s the direction from Kathryn Bigelow that made the film so effective. The second act was riveting and harrowing, and Bigelow played a big part in it being very effective. Maybe it’s a little overlong in the first and third acts and its not exactly a movie that you would rewatch, but for what it is, it’s truly great.

My review of Detroit

19. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

The Killing of a Sacred Deer was absolutely mesmerising and I didn’t expect myself to like it as much as I did. With the unconventional and metaphorical story, the fantastic acting but most of all the stunning direction by Yorgos Lanthimos, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is an admirable film which I can only see being better upon more rewatches and further thought.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film was so bizarre but the way he told the story actually worked. The story itself was really something unique and compelling, truly remarkable. Lanthimos’s direction was excellent, and felt haunting and unsettling from beginning to end. The acting was also top notch, with Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman giving typically great performances but Barry Keoghan also should also receive a lot of praise for his excellent performance here. Killing of a Sacred Deer really isn’t for everyone and I can understand why a lot of people don’t like it but I’m glad I sort of love it, it really does get better the more you think about it.

My review of The Killing of a Sacred Deer

18. Good Time

Good Time was one of the most unexpected movies of 2017, it had slowly been gaining some praise and it actually lived up to all the acclaim. The direction, writing and acting (particularly from Robert Pattinson) was so top notch, it truly deserves more attention and praise than its been getting.

The Safdie Brothers created a straightforward yet effective thriller that grips you from start to finish within its 100 minute runtime. The film is so visually stunning, especially with the lighting at the night-time, the entire film also does such a great job at exerting stress and tension. Along with the direction being truly excellent, it felt very gritty, the story and characters felt real, it doesn’t hold back in the dark things that happen, it doesn’t even try to get you to like the protagonist. Although all the cast was good, its Robert Pattinson who shines in a transformative lead role. He proved himself to be a tremendous talent here and deserves a lot more love for his performance. It’s gritty, fantastic, thrilling, there’s nothing else to say except that Good Time was a… good time.

My review of Good Time

17. Molly’s Game

Molly’s Game turned out incredibly well for a directorial debut and ended up being one of the best films of 2017. It is a stylistic and interesting true story which made for a great movie, with the highlights being Aaron Sorkin’s writing, Jessica Chastain and the supporting performances.

Aaron Sorkin not only proved himself as a fantastic writer (which he has already done many times over) but also as a very good director. He really brought the unbelievable true life story of Molly Bloom to the big screen. It’s an interesting story that’s both riveting and entertaining and as complicated as the film and certain details can get, Sorkin makes it work so everyone can have a degree of understanding about what is going on. Jessica Chastain gave a typically fantastic performance (one of the best lead actress performances of the year honestly), while supporting actors like Idris Elba, Michael Cera and Kevin Costner all played their parts very well and added a lot to the movie. Although a little overlong, Molly’s Game was great and really deserved a lot more praise than it has been receiving.

My review of Molly’s Game

16. Wind River

Wind River was one real surprise of a movie that slowly crept up upon us. It was just a really great murder mystery and it really did live up to the hype, with it being a very riveting story and having great performances.

Taylor Sheridan showed himself to be a great director as well as a great writer with Wind River. He already proved with Sicario and Hell or High Water that he was a talented writer and Wind River was yet another great story from him. The story was bleak and so well put together, a great mystery thriller overall. Performances from everyone were great, Jeremy Renner gave his best performance since The Hurt Locker, Elizabeth Olsen was great, really everyone contributed to the movie. If you haven’t watched Wind River, I highly recommend checking it out because it is really something great.

My review of Wind River

15. I, Tonya

I, Tonya was a real surprise. I went in knowing that we’d be getting excellent performances and wasn’t expecting much more than that. However, it ended up being much more than anything I expected. It was a truly great movie which really benefited from the way it presented the events, and which of course is made even better by the incredible performances from its very talented cast.

Making I, Tonya a dark comedy benefited the film immensely, it made the film entertaining and fast paced, while also not shying away from some of the more darker things that happened. It also maintained a level of emotional depth, so it wasn’t just entertaining, you were invested in what was happening. And of course, the performances from actors like Sebastian Stan and Allison Janney were really great. However, it is Margot Robbie who really shines, she is absolutely transformative and phenomenal as Tonya Harding. It’s her best performance to date and by far one of the best performances of the year. I, Tonya really surprised me and I got a lot more than I thought I would. Definitely one to not miss.

My review of I, Tonya

14. T2: Trainspotting

I’m surprised by how much I loved Trainspotting 2. I really liked the original Trainspotting but it wasn’t like one of my all time favourite movies or anything at that level to me. It’s also not common for sequels to films made decades ago to be any great, it’s even less common for those said sequels to be better than the original film (and it’s not the only one on this list), yet T2: Trainspotting managed to pull off being both. And yes, I do consider T2: Trainspotting to be better than the original.

T2: Trainspotting benefited as a sequel because of the fact that it took a different approach than the original, while still feeling like a Trainspotting movie, it’s very much a continuation of the story. At the same time, the approach to addiction (which the original covered) and the story overall is different, much darker and more mature. All the cast, especially returning cast members like Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle return seamlessly into their original roles and as usual were fantastic. Danny Boyle brought his typically great direction here and watching his take on a modern day Trainspotting sequel was amazing to see. Entertaining, emotional and ultimately satisfying, T2: Trainspotting was one of the most surprising and best films of 2017.

My review of T2: Trainspotting

13. The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist was one of my most anticipated films of all time, because of how much I loved the book its based on and how much I loved The Room. The book seemed like perfect movie material and I was looking forward to seeing how it would be. Thankfully it absolutely delivered on all fronts, it was surprising how great it was.

The Disaster Artist is a very unconventionally inspiring movie, the Ed Wood of the 2010s. The way that Tommy Wiseau wanted to make it big in Hollywood was tragic, ironic and inspiring all at the same time. One of the highlights was James Franco’s performance as Tommy Wiseau, which was fantastic, definitely deserving of high praise. A lot of people can do excellent impressions but it’s a real challenge to actually portray him as a person, and Franco was brilliant. You like Wiseau and root for him despite his weirdness and odd behaviour, yet the movie doesn’t shy away from many of his more less likable aspects. Great portrayal overall. Along with that the script was funny, well written and portrayed the events truly. With a fantastic performance, a great adaption of Greg Sestero’s book and story about Tommy Wiseau and The Room, I loved it. I’m not sure if it would be as impactful to people who don’t know of Tommy Wiseau or The Room but as someone who does, I really loved it.

My review of The Disaster Artist

12. John Wick Chapter 2

John Wick Chapter 2 takes everything from the first John Wick film and improves over it in every single way. It didn’t seem to be very necessary when it was announced and seemed to only exist because the original was such an unexpected hit but after seeing it I am so glad that we have it.

John Wick Chapter 2 is better in every way over the previous film. There are even more excellent action sequences, more worldbuilding, and it actually has you wrapped up in the story. From start to finish it has you absolutely riveted and entertained, there were even sequences that were so beautifully directed that I didn’t expect. All of this made Chapter 2 more than just your typical entertaining Keanu Reeves action flick. Speaking of Keanu Reeves, he has fully established John Wick as his definitive role and he really gets to show off both his action and acting chops. John Wick Chapter 2 was much better than I thought it would be and I already had some pretty high expectations for it, it was fantastic. I can’t wait to see what 2019’s John Wick Chapter 3 will be like, after seeing how great Chapter 2 was I can’t see it being anything less than excellent.

My review of John Wick Chapter 2

11. A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story is not for everyone, it is slow and as cliché as the phrase is, its not a film, its an experience. I personally loved it, while it didn’t have the emotional impact that it did for some others, there was something about it that I really loved and had my attention from start to finish. I have a feeling that it might be one of those movies that may get better the more I revisit it.

I can see why a lot of people don’t like A Ghost Story. It is slow, drawn out (the infamous 5 minute long pie scene often being mentioned as an example) and very unconventional to say the least. It might take multiple viewings to get the full experience. With that said, with my one viewing of the film I really loved it. With great performances from Casey Affleck (who’s mostly behind a sheet) and Rooney Mara (who is so great in a supporting part of the film and says so much with so little) and the unique direction by David Lowery, there’s a lot to love about it. However there was also something that had me riveted from start to finish, and I have yet to figure out what it is. Maybe repeat viewings will reveal what that aspect is. If you haven’t seen A Ghost Story yet, I recommend going in with an open mind and not knowing too much beforehand. David Lowery has crafted a very unique film which will continue to divide audiences in the years to come.

My review of A Ghost Story

10. A Cure for Wellness

A Cure for Wellness really took me by surprise, I was intrigued with the plot, the cast involved and Gore Verbinski’s fantastic direction. However it really divided people and while I can understand due to some polarising aspects, I don’t really know why it didn’t receive enough love. Something about A Cure for Wellness keeps drawing me to it

It’s been months since I’ve watched A Cure for Wellness for the first time and I’m still trying to figure out why I loved it so much. Naturally the 3 main actors (Dane Dehaan, Mia Goth and Jason Isaacs) were good in their roles and the story was intriguing, not spelling out everything to you and requiring you to think a lot. However, I think it is Gore Verbinski’s direction that made me love the movie so much. The cinematography, the lighting, the music, the entire aesthetic, everything is in place. It’s a perfectly directed movie to me. It seems that this movie is not for everyone, probably because of how long it is and how unconventional it is. But I do recommend giving it a chance because of how bizarre and strange it is.

My review of A Cure for Wellness

9. Get Out

Get Out was one of the biggest surprises of 2017. Jordan Peele seemed like an unlikely person to direct a horror film, given that he was more of a comedian. But he has created a truly genius movie that surprised everyone, one that not only has its fair share of horror aspects but also effective humour and great social commentary. Along with it being a great film, with Get Out, Peele and co. have created a new brand of horror, the social horror and it worked so well here.

Jordan Peele did such an excellent job with this movie. He applied such smart racial social commentary, which was utilised well for both horror and comedy. Tonally this film is actually quite well balanced out, the comedic and dramatic and horror aspects are handled fantastically and don’t feel out of place at all. All the performances were great with Daniel Kaluuya being the standout, however supporting performances like Allison Williams (she especially was really great) shouldn’t be overlooked. I haven’t stopped thinking about this movie ever since watching it and I have a feeling that I will love it even more upon repeat viewings. I can’t wait to see more films from Jordan Peele, he has proven himself to be a fantastic filmmaker and writer and will no doubt create some more excellent films.

My review of Get Out

8. Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi

After seeing The Last Jedi in cinemas for the first time it became my 2nd favourite Star Wars film and a rewatch has made it tied for being my favourite in the series with Empire Strikes Back. Director Rian Johnson has done such a great job at continuing where J.J. Abrams left the story off in Episode 8, while taking the story in some unpredictable directions. It may have resulted in an instant mixed reaction amongst some die hard fans but I think it was all worth it.

The Last Jedi makes some of the riskiest decisions of a Star Wars movie, and I am so glad that this happened. The story took the Star Wars universe in some directions that some didn’t like but I was completely on board with all of them. Along with the story being great, this has the best cinematography of all the Star Wars movies, the action was fantastic and the characters were played so wonderfully by the talented cast, the stand outs being Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Mark Hamill as he returns to portray a very different Luke Skywalker. Yes, there are some parts that didn’t work, the Canto Byte sequence is still notably the weakest of the whole movie and there are some minor aspects that didn’t work so well. However the flaws are absolutely dwarfed by the rest of the movie which is so fantastic. I have confidence in director J.J. Abrams and writer Chris Terrio that Episode 9 will be good but I’m not even sure they will reach the level of The Last Jedi, we’ll just have to wait and see. For now, I can say with complete confidence that The Last Jedi is in the top 2 best Star Wars movies.

My review of Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi

7. Logan

There have been 6 comic book movies this year and while I liked most of them quite a bit, I’m not sure if I could call any of them great. They all seem to stretch from being good (Thor Ragnarok, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man Homecoming) to just being okay at best (Justice League). There is one exception however: James Mangold’s Logan. No other comic book movie this year even comes close to being at the level of greatness of Logan. Logan is without a doubt one of the best comic book films ever made. In a genre which has countless larger than life plots which involve saving the world (which I do like 95% of the time), it is very refreshing to see the plot being much smaller and personal. Just about everything about it worked incredibly and I couldn’t be happier for it.

The story was very gritty and raw, and it didn’t hold back in the violence and how dark it could get. The performances were fantastic, newcomer Dafne Keen was great as Laura/X-23, and Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart were outstanding in their final outings as Wolverine and Charles Xavier. In terms of flaws, there really was just one, an expeditionary scene that felt a little lazy, that’s it. Logan isn’t going to be a film that I watch multiple times due to its melancholy and at times depressing plot but it is nevertheless excellent and I’m glad that it turned out so well, and with it being Hugh Jackman’s and Patrick Stewart’s last X-Men film appearance it needed to.

My review of Logan

6. Dunkirk

With Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan has created a very unique war movie, one that really puts the audience in the centre of all the war, more so than most war movies. Intense and captivating, Dunkirk is a masterclass in visual direction and storytelling.

The cast was good, even the actors who really didn’t have particularly deep characters (which is most of them) or much chance to show off do very well in their roles but make no mistake, the true star of Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan. His direction is front and centre and he brought his style and techniques to bring this movie up to a level of near perfection. Pretty much everything works about this movie, really putting you in the position of three perspectives over the course of a week, an hour and a day and the structure somehow works. Everything comes together to make Dunkirk a fantastic film, and it might just be one of Nolan’s best movies, which is saying a lot all things considering.

My review of Dunkirk

5. War for the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes seemed like it was going to go all out in terms of its scale, almost every third part in a trilogy seems to want to make everything bigger and explosive for its finale. Instead, Matt Reeves decided to go in a much more personal and focussed direction, making it a character study for Andy Serkis’s Caesar. And I couldn’t be happier for this. War for the Planet of the Apes is honestly one of the best major ‘blockbusters’ in recent years, one that prioritises plot and character over action and definitely delivers in being an emotionally strong final act to one of the best film trilogies of all time.

The effects were incredible, especially the motion capture of the apes, nothing looked out of place. The story is, to be honest, perfect and fitted well with Caesar’s arc. Performances were great from Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn and Amiah Miller. But Andy Serkis is of course the stand out, delivering a final tremendous performance as Caesar, definitely deserving of high praise. I can’t think of really anything wrong with this movie, the issues I had with the previous movies (that being that the human element felt weaker) wasn’t present here, it definitely surpassed my expectations. War for the Planet of the Apes is a perfect conclusion to a great trilogy and deserves unending praise.

My review of War for the Planet of the Apes

4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Martin McDonagh is one of my favourite directors/writers working today with In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths and he continues to prove that with Three Billboards, which might be his best film yet, it’s at least at the level of In Bruges. With fantastic writing and great performances, Three Billboards was one of the year’s best.

Everything that McDonagh has shown in his previous movies he brings here, from the dark and hilarious comedy to the shocking and truly impactful aspects. It’s a perfect mix of comedy and drama. The performances were also fantastic, with a very strong leading performance by Frances McDormand and great supporting performances including Woody Harrelson and especially Sam Rockwell. I also loved the story that was told about rage and anger and how it can lead people to do destructive and negative things. It’s story was controversial, dark and hilarious, it lead to some backlash, but I’m glad McDonagh stuck to what he set out to do. Whether it will hold up on repeat viewings remains to be seen. However from just my first viewing, I personally think that Three Billboards was fantastic.

My review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

3. Phantom Thread

I’ve been holding back on releasing this list because I knew that there was a strong possibility that Phantom Thread would end up on it, and having seen it very recently, my instincts proved to be right, as it slides in at the number 3 slot. Phantom Thread is perfectly crafted, detailed, riveting and completely unexpected, made even better by its phenomenal performances. Paul Thomas Anderson has done it again.

Paul Thomas Anderson has weaved a truly effective and compelling story, one that is packed with so much detail in its writing and direction, this is a perfectly directed film. From start to finish, Phantom Thread has you riveted with it’s very original and unique story. This may well be one of PTA’s best films, which is saying a lot considered this is the man who directed films like There Will be Blood and Boogie Nights. The performances by not only Daniel Day-Lewis (in his last role) but also Vicky Krieps (who gives a performance at DDL’s level) and Lesley Manville were excellent and only strengthened the film even more. Phantom Thread was truly fantastic and was definitely one of the best films of 2017.

My review of Phantom Thread

2. The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water was such a beautiful movie and a future classic, absolutely everything about this movie is so fantastic. Despite how weird the concept is at times (I mean, it’s basically all about a woman falling in love with a fish monster), Guillermo del Toro does such a great job at making it work well, not many people would’ve been able to make this concept into such an excellent film. Del Toro has directed quite possibly his best film yet, and don’t forget that this is the man who brought us Pan’s Labyrinth.

Having seen it twice, I can say that The Shape of Water just might be a perfect movie, at the very least a near perfect movie. Guillermo del Toro’s direction was beautiful, the performances were great from everyone (particularly Hawkins, Shannon, Jenkins, Spencer, Stuhlbarg, Jones) and the story was just amazing. Much of the credit goes to del Toro, who manages to bring to the big screen some parts that in the hands of another director wouldn’t work at all (especially a very unexpected scene in the third act). Everything just worked together so well, and I can’t imagine it being any better, it honestly took me off guard. The Shape of Water is truly wonderful, definitely worthy of a lot of praise.

My review of The Shape of Water

1. Blade Runner 2049

I was curious about Blade Runner 2049 initially, mostly with the talent involved. However, I didn’t really know what to expect as at the time I found Blade Runner to be a just okay movie (having watched it like 5 years ago). 2049 surpassed my expectations on every single level, I was not expecting this film to be this remarkable, this spectacular, even with the amount of talented people involved. While it didn’t fare well at the box office, it deserves a lot more love and attention because it is really one of the best films of 2017, if not the best.

Denis Villeneuve as usual delivers on creating an excellent film and sequel to the original Blade Runner. It feels like a Blade Runner sequel and does some worldbuilding while doing enough original things to make it special and its absolutely riveting from start to finish. In fact, I personally think it’s significantly better than the original, for example with regards to the pacing (despite 2049 being a much longer movie) but also I loved the story that was told. Roger Deakins’s cinematography has never looked better, the cast with Gosling, Ford, de Armas, Leto, Wright, Hoeks and more did some fantastic work, pretty much everything about this movie is excellent. Blade Runner 2049 is not only the best film of 2017, it’s one of the best sequels of all time and one of the all time great films of the 2010s.

My review of Blade Runner 2049

On another note, while in previous years I made worst movies of the year lists, I decided that from now on I would no longer take part in this unfortunately common practice.

What were your favourite films of 2017? Comment below and let me know.

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The Disaster Artist (2017) Review

Time: 103 Minutes
Age Rating: Offensive language
Cast
James Franco as Tommy Wiseau
Dave Franco as Greg Sestero
Seth Rogen as Sandy Schklair
Alison Brie as Amber
Ari Graynor as Juliette Danielle
Josh Hutcherson as Philip Haldiman
Jacki Weaver as Carolyn Minnott
Zac Efron as Dan Janjigian
Director: James Franco

Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) and Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) become friends after meeting each other in an acting class in San Francisco. Hoping to achieve Hollywood stardom, Sestero moves to Los Angeles and signs on to appear in his buddy’s project. Financed with his own money, Wiseau writes, directs and stars in “The Room,” a critically maligned movie that becomes a cult classic.

The Disaster Artist is one of my most anticipated films of all time. The Room has become a uniquely iconic film that I love for the same reason that many other people love it, because of how bizarrely and hilariously bad it is. I read the book about the behind the scenes of The Room titled The Disaster Artist (written by Greg Sestero) and I was immediately hyped when I saw that they were going to adapt it to the big screen. With James Franco (who both stars and directs), Dave Franco, Seth Rogen and more involved, I couldn’t help but be excited. The Disaster Artist was so great, it was pretty much everything I wanted it to be.

I will admit that it’s been years since I’ve actually read The Disaster Artist so I can’t remember exactly if everything in the movie is accurate to the book but I do think that at least most of it is right. One thing I loved is how this movie wasn’t just a piss take of The Room, it could’ve easily become that. You can tell that everyone who worked on this movie loved The Room and wanted to bring he story behind all that to the big screen. And they really achieved that. Don’t expect this to be just a story about The Room. This film almost feels like its in two parts, one is Tommy and Greg as friends trying to get into Hollywood and then the other is the filming of The Room. There was a good balance of drama and comedy overall, the movie is hilarious (it’ll be particularly funny for fans of The Room) but it also allows you to be invested in this story.

One question that immediately is asked by many when it comes to The Disaster Artist is whether you necessarily needed to have watched The Room beforehand. I’ll say this: you can watch The Disaster Artist without watching The Room but you won’t get the full experience, at the very least try to learn about it and/or watch some clips from it. Fans of The Room will love it, and the best part is that it doesn’t ruin the experience of The Room, it’s a great accompany piece and if anything it makes it even better and helps you appreciate it more. The story of The Disaster Artist is quite inspiring, Tommy Wiseau set out with a dream and ultimately fulfilled that dream. It may have not been exactly what he wanted or expected but he made it in the end. And I think that was shown greatly. Make sure to wait for the post credits scene.

James Franco is absolutely fantastic as Tommy Wiseau. To be honest, the portrayal and performance of Tommy was something I was worried about going in. Franco is a good actor but I’d doubt the performance of any actor cast as Tommy because it can’t just be an impression, he needs to full embody Wiseau as a person (and I read The Disaster Artist, so I knew about some of the things that happened). And he did that. You do not see James Franco, you see Tommy Wiseau. He also portrays Tommy as a real person, it shows his weirdness and doesn’t shy away from how troublesome he was during the shooting of The Room, much of which consists with his very bizarre filmmaking decisions. But it also allows you to really see him as a human being trying to fulfil his dream. Both aspects are balanced well. It poses questions about him that everyone to this day is asking (like how old is he, where was he born and where does he get his seemingly endless supply of money) but it never answers them, still keeping the mystery of Tommy Wiseau. Dave Franco shouldn’t be overlooked either, this is probably the best performance I’ve seen from him. Despite the two being brothers, you quickly forget that, the two share such great chemistry and feel like best friends. There are also a lot of good actors in supporting roles with Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver and Zac Efron, and they are all great here. I do wish that we got a little more of the supporting cast, especially those who played the people who worked on The Room. They are great in their screentime though. There are also some really enjoyable cameos that I won’t spoil.

This film is directed quite well by James Franco. The recreations of The Room were done very well, it is surprising how much attention to detail they had, if you are a fan of The Room you will appreciate these parts a lot. Also the makeup on James Franco was great, making him look as much like Tommy Wiseau as possible without being too over the top.

I had high expectations of The Disaster Artist and it absolutely delivered. The performances were fantastic (from both Francos particularly), the story is great, it is entertaining and for fans of The Room such as myself, it is an absolute must see. Honestly it is a bit of an inspiring movie as well, an very unconventionally inspirational movie. The Disaster Artist is one of my favourite movies of the year and I couldn’t be happier to say that.

Top 25 Anticipated Movies of 2017

While I’m working on catching up on some 2016 movies, I decided to make a list of the 2017 movies that I’m most looking forward to. There are movies that I’m really looking forward to. Now I don’t know of every movie coming out this year so if you’ve noticed that a movie is missing, it might be because I don’t know about it. Either that or I’m not that excited for that movie.

25. Beauty and the Beast

Yet another Disney film is being made into a live action movie.. While it’s annoying that there is more of these (The Lion King will be a live action movie to my disappointment), I liked what they did with Tarzan and The Jungle Book. So we’ll see what this movie will be like.

Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast (Dan Stevens) in its castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the beast’s hideous exterior, allowing her to recognise the kind heart and soul of the true prince that hides on the inside.

This movie has a large and talented cast with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor all involved. The director, Bill Condon, has made many great movies that I haven’t seen with Gods and Monsters, Kinsey and Dreamgirls but I have seen Mr Holmes. This director is clearly capable of making a great movie. So I’ll give this movie a shot.

Beauty and the Beast will be released on March 16, 2017.

24. Ghost in the Shell

I admit I’ve never watched the Ghost in the Shell anime. However I do know that apparently its great. Honestly the movie didn’t interest me that much until I saw the trailer. After the trailer, I’m now curious and interested in checking this movie out.

The Major (Scarlett Johansson), a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, leads an elite task force known as Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

Rupert Sanders also directed Snow White and the Huntsman (which I haven’t seen) so I don’t really have a clear idea how the movie will be. However the main takeway I got from the trailer was some incredible visuals. That’s the main reason I’m interested in this movie, along with it being an adaptation of a great anime. The one problem that this film faces is the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the lead, which caused problems with whitewashing and all (understandably) and this is going to probably affect the success of the movie. Which is a shame because everything else looks excellent. However, I will give this film a shot.

Ghost in the Shell will be released on March 30, 2017.

23. God Particle

Despite being titled God Particle, it is part of the Cloverfield trilogy which for whatever reason don’t really connect to each other but they actually might. However I’m not interested in the movie because of the connection (I haven’t seen Cloverfield yet), I’m interested because of the premise and the cast, also JJ Abrams is producing this movie.

Astronauts must fight for their lives after making a terrifying discovery in outer space.

I have no idea how this movie will connect to Cloverfield or 10 Cloverfield Lane. However either way I’m sure this movie will be great on its own. I just hope the ‘terrifying discovery’ is a twist that pays off. This movie also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Bruhl, David Oyelowo and many more talented actors. The director, Julius Onah, is someone who haven’t done many movies but then again that’s the case with 10 Cloverfield Lane, so that doesn’t really concern me. Overall God Particle is a movie I’m curious about and can’t wait to see it.

God Particle will be released on November 30, 2017.

22. The Lego Batman Movie

I really liked The Lego Movie, it was such a surprising movie. One of the highlights was Batman and of course as he’s such a big character it was natural that he would get his own movie. Now that you have Batman and other DC characters that can be thrown in, there is a lot of possibilities for this movie to be entertaining and fun.

There are big changes brewing in Gotham, but if Batman (Will Arnett) wants to save the city from the Joker’s (Zach Galifianakis) hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

I do hope that The Lego Batman Movie feels different enough from The Lego Movie but that can be done easily. It’s mostly surrounding characters that have already been created, just in Lego form. I have no doubt that this will be a really fun and enjoyable movie. There’s honestly not much to say. It’s Batman. And Lego. Lego Batman.

The Lego Batman Movie will be released on March 30, 2017.

21. Kong Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island is in the same universe as Godzilla, a movie that although divisive, I really liked. Now with Skull Island this movie will introduce Kong into the universe, and he looks like he’s going to be an absolute beast in this movie.

Explorers (Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson) encounter a monstrous ape after traveling to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean.

This is yet another monster movie and yet another Kong movie. This movie also has some pretty good actors with Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Toby Kebbell and Samuel L. Jackson all playing parts. From the trailer the movie has some potential. I’m most looking forward to seeing Kong in action. The one thing I’m not so sure about is the tone of the movie, because the first trailer and the second trailer have completely different tones. Other than that, I’m interested in checking out this movie.

Kong: Skull Island will be released on March 9, 2017.

20. A Ghost Story

A Ghost Story is a smaller movie which has me curious. With Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, as well as the director and premise, this movie is quite intriguing to me. It’s only been announced a few months ago and as pictures and details have come out, my interest in this movie has escalated.

This is the story of a ghost and the house he haunts.

It has a simple premise but the fact that its got some great talent behind it has me on board to see what it is. This movie has the talents of Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, who also collaborated with the director on Ain’t them Bodies Saints a few years ago. This film is directed by David Lowery, who directed Pete’s Dragon (A good movie) and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (a movie I still really need to see). From early reviews, it’s a very unique movie, I can’t wait to see it.

A Ghost Story will be released in 2017.

19. War for the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprisingly good reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes however took the franchise to a new level. Now the third instalment of the Apes franchise is coming and like the previous film, it’s probably going to be a hit.

Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless colonel (Woody Harrelson). After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both of their species and the future of the planet.

Andy Serkis is flawless in his motion capture performances, and is no doubt going to deliver yet another fantastic performance here, just like he did in the previous two films as Caesar. Woody Harrelson is also great, and will likely add a lot to the film. The trailer for the movie definitely looks impressive. Director Matt Reeves (who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) returns for the sequel. This film seems like it may somehow top even the previous movie. I can’t wait to see it.

War for the Planet of the Apes will be released on July 13, 2017.

18. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2

Guardians of The Galaxy was one of the biggest surprises in recent years. It was just such a different and fun movie that was really entertaining. So naturally me and many people are looking forward to the sequel. I have no idea what the film will be about but I’m sure it will be great.

The one thing that I’m worried about however is how this film will compare to the original. While it will definitely have the things that we loved from the previous movie (as shown in the trailers), I also want to add and try something new from the original. Kurt Russell and Elizabeth Debicki join the returning cast, both are very talented and I can’t wait to see them in this movie. Overall I’m excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, I’m certain it will be at the very least a fun time.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 will be released on April 25, 2017.

17. The Snowman

The Snowman is a movie I only found out about recently but I think it has a chance at being one of the highlights of 2017. With the cast, director and premise, this movie definitely has a lot of potential.

A boy finds his missing mother’s pink scarf wrapped around the neck of a sinister-looking snowman. Detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is called in to investigate and begins to suspect it’s the work of a serial killer.

This movie has a big cast with Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer, Toby Jones and J.K. Simmons and others involved. That amount of talent got my attention alone. Also the director, Tomas Alfredson, made Let the Right One In and Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy (the former I still have yet to watch). Clearly this director is very capable. So we’ve got an interesting premise, a talented cast and a great director. The Snowman is definitely a movie that I’m curious about.

The Snowman will be released on October 13, 2017.

16. The Discovery

What originally caught my attention with this movie is the talented cast involved. As information about this movie came out, The Discovery seemed like something truly unique. By the time the trailer came out, I was sold on this movie, and is now one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Soon after the existence of the afterlife has been scientifically proven, the son (Jason Segal) of the man who made the discovery (Robert Redford) falls in love with a woman (Rooney Mara) with a tragic past.

The film’s cast consists of actors like Rooney Mara, Jason Segal and Robert Redford, that alone has my interest. On top of that, the premise of this movie, about discovering that the afterlife is real and the aftermath of this discovery is such a fascinating idea, there’s a lot that can be done with this premise. The trailer was very… unique. It seems like such a different movie that I need to see it. This movie will be arriving on Netflix in late March and you can bet that I’ll be watching that as soon as I can. I really can’t wait to see this movie.

The Discovery will be released in March 31, 2017 on Netflix.

15. Mary Magdalene

Normally I’m not interested in biblical stories, however both the cast’s involvement as well as the director got me interested in this movie. This film will have Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix and Chiwetel Ejiofor. This film is also directed by Garth Davis (who also worked with Rooney on 2016’s Lion). There’s a lot of talent involved and that makes me intrigued to see what this movie is like.

The story of Mary Magdalene (Rooney Mara).

Garth Davis had previously worked on Lion, which was from what I heard was a great movie. So that already has me curious in checking out the Mary Magdalene movie. Also as I previously mentioned, the cast is excellent. We’ve got Rooney Mara as Mary Magdalene, Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter. All of these are very talented actors. As I said, the story didn’t initially interest me but to see all these talented people involved makes me interested in checking out this movie.

Mary Magdalene will be released in 2017.

14. Thor Ragnarok

Thor Ragnarok is a movie that I am still divided about. It has a lot of potential with the new cast and the director, Taika Waititi, I like Thor. I’ve also liked all the MCU movies so far. There are just aspects of the story details which turn me off. I’m certain I will like Thor Ragnarok, but I have no idea how much I’ll like it.

Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk.

Along with returning cast (with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Anthony Hopkins), this film also has Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban and Jeff Goldblum (with the latter three as villains, hopefully not wasted). Also, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is confirmed to play a part in this movie, so that’s exciting as well. An interesting choice was made for this film, Taika Waititi. He is a very talented director and writer, Hunt for the Wilderpeople definitely showed that he’s great. One thing that’s also already looking up is that the comedic relief human characters from the first two Thor films aren’t here, so even if this movie is just funny, it will actually be funny. Thor Ragnarok has a lot of very unique ideas, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well these ideas are executed.

Thor Ragnarok will be released on November 3, 2017.

13. Split

M Night Shyamalan has unfortunately made a lot of bad films recently, with The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth. He however made a comeback recently with The Visit so I’m optimistic that he will have another great movie with Split. And according to many of the people who have seen Split already, it’s really good, so I can’t wait to see it.

A man (James McAvoy) who has multiple personality disorder holds three teenage girls captive.

Aside from Shyamalan the main reason I’m so excited for this movie is James McAvoy. He is a fantastic actor, and he’s taking on such a challenging role, playing someone with multiple personalities. And yes, some people have managed to see Split already and most of the people really like it. Even the people who didn’t like the movie, at least loved McAvoy’s performance. This movie has a lot of potential, I can’t wait to see it.

Split will be released on February 2, 2017

12. Blade Runner 2049

I’ll admit that while I liked parts of the first Blade Runner I never really loved it. I might need to rewatch it, see if my opinion on the movie changes. Despite not being the hugest fan of Blade Runner, I’m still excited to see its sequel, mostly due to director Denis Villeneuve being the director of the film, and I’m always interested in whatever films he makes.

Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His Discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years.

Denis Villienueve is one of the best directors working today. He’s made some fantastic films with Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario and Arrival, so naturally I’m excited to see him take on the sequel of such a classic movie. Also, along with Harrison Ford returning to his role we have Ryan Gosling also involved, Gosling has been doing great recently with both La La Land and The Nice Guys last year, I can’t wait to see him here. From the trailer alone this film looks excellent, the imagery looks great, Denis Villeneuve’s films always look great and it looks like Blade Runner 2049 is no different. I can’t wait to see Blade Runner 2049, it looks like it’s going to be one of the stand out films of 2017.

Blade Runner 2049 will be released on October 5, 2017.

11. Song to Song

Originally titled Weightless, Song to Song is yet another ambitious film from unconventional filmmakers Terrence Malick. I will confess, I haven’t seen a Terrence Malick film before but from what I’ve heard he’s a great filmmaker, if divisive at times. The cast alone has me interested, with Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman all playing parts in the movie.

In this modern love story set against the Austin, TX music scene, two entangled couples – struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) & BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman) – chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

As I said earlier I haven’t seen any films from Terrence Malick, so the cast is honestly the main reason that I’m interested in the movie. I can’t wait to see all these talented actors on screen at the same time. I’ve heard that Terrence Malick can be a bit divisive with his films, I saw a little bit of Knight of Cups and it was a bit unconventional to say the least. So I have no idea what Song to Song will be like. Despite this, I’m still really looking forward to see this movie, if only for the cast.

Song to Song will be released on March 17, 2017.

10. John Wick Chapter Two

2014’s John Wick was one of the year’s best surprises, not only was it Keanu Reeves’s best performance (and in my opinion his best movie), it was also a very fun movie with a great world that I would like to be explored more. And with John Wick Chapter 2, it looks like we’ll be getting that.

Legendary hitman John Wick is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers.

Thankfully, one of the two John Wick directors Chad Stahelski (the other is David Leitch who is instead working on The Coldest City) is returning for the sequel, one of the best aspects of that original film is how the action was done. Instead of a lot of shaky cam, close up shots and fast cuts to create their action like a lot of modern action movies use, they let us to actually see the action unfold, allowing us to get more into it. Common is playing the villain, and he was effective as a villain in Run All Night (even though he could’ve been used more), so I think he will be quite effective here. Oh and also, Laurence Fishburne is involved with this movie. That’s always great. I sure do hope that it lives up to the previous movie, the only possible way that I think this film could be flawed is that only one of the director is returning, we can only hope that one of the directors can deliver the same amount (if not more) as the previous film. The trailer definitely looks like we’ll be getting a fun movie, so I’m hyped.

John Wick: Chapter Two will be released in 2017

9. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Misouri

Most of you won’t know what this movie even is. It’s the next film by Martin McDonagh who has created In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, both fantastic movies (definitely check them out when you can). So naturally, I am extremely excited to see yet another movie from him.

A vigilante mother takes matters into her own hands as she searches for her daughter’s murderer. Fueled by fury, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) erects three provocative highway signs to catch the eye of the town’s revered Chief of Police Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), who has made few inroads finding a culprit. Hoping the incendiary messages spur Willoughby’s unprincipled protégé Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) into action, Mildred ignites a firestorm in the community as the police force evades charges of racism and corruption.

The cast with Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and Peter Dinklage is enough to get me interested in this movie but what got my interest in this movie in the first place was Martin McDonagh’s involvement. We can expect this movie to be hilarious, dark, violent, entertaining and overall just fantastically written. With the director/writer and the cast involved, this movie is likely going to be great.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Misouri will be released in 2017.

8. Kingman: The Golden Circle

Kingsman: The Secret Service was such a great and fun movie, it was such a pleasant surprise film in 2015. Matthew Vaughn and his talented cast return for the sequel, which will hopefully be just as great as the previous film. It definitely has a lot of potential.

Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong), two British spies, travel to the United States to join forces with their American counterparts.

Matthew Vaughn is a fantastic director with films like Kick Ass, X-Men First Class, Layer Cake and the first Kingsman, so I expect that this movie will be great. My thing is like with Guardians of the Glaxy Volume 2, I just hope that it does something new to separate it from the previous movie, while giving us what we loved from the previous movie. In the sequel we also have Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal joining the cast. All of them are very talented and so I’m excited to see them in Kingsman.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle will be released on September 28, 2017

7. The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist is the story behind The Room, one of the worst movies of all time. I have seen The Room and actually reviewed it (and I loved the movie for how terrible it is). This movie is based off the book of the same name by Greg Sestero, actor from The Room and friend of Tommy Wiseau, the star, writer, producer and director of The Room. I myself have read the book, and was fascinated in how the making of the film went. This adaptation has the potential to be a modern day Ed Wood.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003).

The Disaster Artist has a great cast, with James Franco as Tommy Wiseau, Dave Franco as Greg Sestero as well as Josh Hutcherson, Seth Rogen and Zac Efron and others playing real life people who worked on The Room. From the set photos, the actors even looked like the characters/people, so I think that they are doing it right. I think my biggest concern is how Franco can portray Tommy. Look at any clips of The Room, Wiseau acts a certain way and it’s hard to act like Tommy Wiseau without making it look like an imitation. Franco also has to nail the inner emotions of Tommy, as there are moments in the book where there are moments where that happens. I’ve been hearing about this movie for a while and seeing it finally get made is really exciting.

The Disaster Artist will be released in 2017.

6. Alien Covenant

The Prometheus sequel (I know it’s confusing with the Alien title) is directed by Ridley Scott. I was a little sceptical because Ridley Scott nowadays can be inconsistent with his recent films. However he just delivered the great film The Martian, and I also loved Prometheus (even though most people don’t). But what brought me over to make me excited for this movie was the trailer. It was… not what I was expecting.

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers a dark world whose sole inhabitant is David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.

The trailer shows that the film will be straight up horror as well as unflinching and very violent and gory. It also shows some Xenomorphs (or early stages of Xenomorphs) and that’s always nice to see. Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender return from the previous film and other actors like Katheryn Waterson, Demian Bichir and Danny McBride are also part of the film. Before the trailer, I had no idea how this film will turn out but now I am excited for it and I’m completely on board.

Alien: Covenant will be released on May 19, 2017.

5. Wonder Woman

Despite the divisive response to Batman v Superman, one thing that most people liked was Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, she really was something special in that movie. And from everything I’ve seen in this movie, her solo movie looks great.

After leaving her all-female island, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) discovers her full powers and true destiny while fighting alongside soldiers during World War I.

This film looks dark and like a war movie and I love that setting. Director Patty Jenkins directs this film and if you’ve seen Monster, you know that she is a great director. Gal Gadot stole the show in Batman v Superman and I look forward to seeing her lead her own film. The supporting cast with talented actors like Chris Pine and Robin Wright is great. In terms of possible fears, it’s just Warner Bros interfering with the film. As it’s a standalone movie and not tieing into anything (as it’s a prequel), I have a feeling that it won’t be affected. Also not to mention the more positive reception to Batman v Superman’s Ultimate Edition and the criticism of the missing Suicide Squad scenes should’ve altered Warner Bros. But we’ll have to see what happens. Anyway, I can’t wait to see this movie.

Wonder Woman will be released on June 2, 2017.

4. Logan

This movie is one of my biggest worries of 2017. It’s not that I don’t think it will be a great movie, it’s just that it’s the kind of film that needs to be perfect. This is the last time we’ll see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X. This movie
needs to be a good sendoff to these two actors in their characters. With that said, based on the trailer alone this film looks excellent.

In 2024, mutant births are severely in decline, and people aren’t sure why. A government-type operation is turning mutant children into killing machines. From this, Logan (Hugh Jackman) emerges as a mentor to a mutant girl (Dafne Keen), who has two claws instead of his three.

James Mangold (director of The Wolverine) returns to direct the final Wolverine film. The Wolverine was a film I liked quite a bit but with Logan the trailer have made it look on a whole other level. So in this movie we have Wolverine, Professor X, X-23 and others. The first trailer alone had me sold, it looks dark, sad and nothing like any comic book movie we’ve ever seen before. It was the best trailer released in 2016 (the second trailer is also good as well). Logan definitely has the potential to be the best comic book movie of 2017.

Logan will be released on March 2, 2017.

3. Dunkirk

Dunkirk is another film from Christopher Nolan. That’s almost all that really needs to be said. There’s not one movie that he’s made that I haven’t called at the very least ‘great’. This time he is taking on a war movie, a true life story. I have no doubt that this film will be amazing based on the talent involved and the trailer.

British forces embark on a mission to evacuate Allied troops from Dunkirk, France, in 1940.

Nolan has made a very wide range of types of films, I can’t wait to see how he does a war movie. From the trailer alone it looks amazing. The cast is also great with Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and others involved. If there’s any possible weak link it’s the questionable choice of having Harry Styles in the movie. However if Christopher Nolan cast him, he must’ve had a good reason. I’m sure Styles will do fine. Overall Dunkirk looks like it will be a great film and one of the highlights of 2017 and I can’t wait to see it.

Dunkirk will be released on July 21, 2017.

2. Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi

This film was a no-brainer on my list. I loved what JJ Abrams did with The Force Awakens. Now Rian Johnson is in charge of handling the sequel. He impressed me with 2012’s Looper and I can just tell that I will love Episode 8.

We don’t know a huge amount of the plot of Star Wars Episode 8 thus far, or anything really. Not even a teaser of sorts have been revealed. Just the title recently. But I’m actually okay with that. I loved The Force Awakens, so I’ll probably feel the same about Episode 8. Also, I like it when bigger films are more secretive about their movies. What we do know is that Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern have joined the cast, both are great so I’m interested to see what part they will play in the movie. I’m looking forward to Star Wars Episode 8 a great deal, it’s hard not to be, it’s Star Wars.

Star Wars Episode 8 will be released on December 15, 2017.

1. Justice League

Despite all the mixed reception towards the DCEU, it has done nothing to dampen my excitement for the future films. I loved Man of Steel and Batman v Superman and I liked Suicide Squad (despite it’s many flaws. The second 2017 DCEU film will be the first time we’ll see the Justice League on screen together on the big screen. I am hyped.

Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) unite to battle the evil Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds).

As I said, this is the first time we’ll see Justice League in live action for the first time. This movie has a lot of elements going on, it’s has to set up the Justice League, introducing 3 new characters and handle 6 Justice League characters effectively. But I believe that this movie can pull it off This movie also has a great cast, we’ve got Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher as the Justice League. Also there will be returning cast members and characters with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent and Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta. Along with the returning DCEU cast we have new actors and characters with J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Amber Heard as Mera, Willem Dafoe as Nudis Vulko, and Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, the villain of the film. On top of that we have Chris Terrio returning to write the film as well as Zack Snyder returning as director.

There are some worries I have. Like with Wonder Woman, studio interference is a worry, as that happened with both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad in regards to the editing. However I think Warner Bros have learnt their lesson. Also I don’t know if this movie will be too stuffed with other things for setup for other solo movies. There’s a lot of elements that this movie needs to get just right. However I think it’s possible. I loved Batman v Superman, so I can’t wait to see the story that Terrio and Snyder have planned out. I have no idea how this film will turn out, but I have high hopes.

Justice League will be released on November 16, 2017.

So what did you think of my list? What are your picks for the most anticipated movies of 2017. Comment below and let me know.

Top 20 Anticipated Movies of 2016

Because of the big Oscar movies coming out in January-March, I’ll hold off my best and worst of the year for February/March. 2016 will be a big year for movies. It will have many comic book movies, a Star Wars spin off, a Harry Potter spinoffs and some video game movies that might actually be good. Most of these movies look like they are going to be great but then again so did the movies on my most anticipated of 2015 list and many of them disappointed. So this time I’m looking at these movies from different angles and I do hope that they turn out to be good in the end.

Honourable Mentions

The Legend of Tarzan

Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgard), having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

There has been a lot of live action Disney films, there’s another on the list that I’ll get to. This movie can go both ways, it could be good or could be a failure. I’m starting to feel a little sceptical of these types of movies, we recently had live action interpretations of Maleficent (the story of Sleeping Beauty from a different perspective) and Cinderella. The more modern live action Disney adaptations haven’t always been great, Alice for Wonderland (which is for some reason getting a sequel in 2016 as well) being an example. However given the cast and the director, I think that this movie has a shot at being at least decent. This movie stars such actors like Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson and will be directed by Harry Potter director David Yates. It’s strange since Yates is also directed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them so 2016 will be a big year for Yates. I’m still interested in this movie, I’m just not holding my breath on it.

The Legend of Tarzan is scheduled to be released on 1 July 2016

A Monster Calls

The monster does not come walking often. This time it comes to Connor, and it asks for the one thing Connor cannot bring himself to do. Tell the truth. This is a very touching story about a boy who feels very damaged, guilty and mostly angry. He struggles at school with bullies, and pity looks from everyone, and at home with his mother’s sickness. Will Connor overcome his problems? Will everything be okay? Will Connor be able to speak the truth?

All I know is the cast and the director and that A Monster Calls is based on a short story. The cast is pretty big with Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones and Toby Kebbell. The director is J.A. Bayona who did The Orphanage and The Impossible and although I haven’t seen The Orphanage, his work on The Impossible was tremendous. The teaser trailer also intrigued me, there is quite a bit of mystery that it had and I am interested. However my lack of knowledge is probably the reason that it doesn’t make my top 20.

A Monster Calls is scheduled to be released on 14 October 2016

The BFG

A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kindhearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because unlike his peers refuses to eat boys and girls.

It’s strange that A Monster Calls and The BFG have very similar teaser trailers. My main interest in this movie is of course the fact that Steven Spielberg is directing. I haven’t actually read the BFG novel, so I don’t know what I’m in for, which is probably why I’m not as hyped to see this movie even though it is Spielberg. However I am still interested in checking this movie out.

The BFG is scheduled to be released on 1 July 2016

Una

Two people who once had a passionate affair meet again fifteen years later. Ray (Ben Mendelsohn) is confronted with his past when Una (Rooney Mara) arrives unannounced at his office, and they are forced to revisit their relationship. Ray has made a new life for himself. Una is looking for answers. What follows in this emotional thriller is an unflinching excavation of damaged love. The consequences are shattering.

I’ll be honest, it was Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn’s involvement that caught my interest in this movie. The plot is pretty daring and I was surprised to hear that it was already a stage play. This looks to be a dialogue driven movie and seeing as how it is these two great actors leading the movie, I’m very interested and although I don’t know that much about the movie, just the two lead actors are enough to get me interested.

20. The Jungle Book

This was the second live action Disney movie that I was referring to when I was talking about Tarzan. I was surprised when I heard that there was going to be a live action Jungle Book movie. Jungle Book doesn’t seem like it could translate well as a live action film. From the trailer and the fact that Jon Faverau is directing this though, I’m starting to think that this film might be really good.

An orphan boy is raised in the jungle with the help of a pack of wolves, a bear, and a black panther.

This movie also has voice work from Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Christopher Walken and many other great actors working on the film. I think overall I’m more interested in this movie than Tarzan because visually it looks fascinating and because of how hard it will be to pull off. I just hope that this movie doesn’t result in a live action adaptation of The Lion King, we really don’t need that to be a thing.

The Jungle Book is scheduled to be released on 15 April 2016

19. Warcraft

Video game movies are at best enjoyable (Mortal Kombat) and at worst painful (Any Uwe Boll video game movie). Mortal Kombat is really the best video game movie we have and that’s not saying a lot. 2016 might be the year when that changes however. Warcraft has some great people working on it and it has a pretty good trailer to showcase it. Duncan Jones, who directed Moon and Source Code (the latter which I’ve seen), is doing this movie and his involvement has me thinking that he has something special planned with the movie. I haven’t played World of Warcraft so this is all new to me but I’m still interested and I hope that it is actually good.

The film portrays the origin story of the initial encounters between the humans and the orcs, with an emphasis upon both the Alliance’s and the Horde’s sides of their conflict. Featuring characters such as Durotan and Lothar, the film will take place in a variety of locations established in the video game series.

The only thing that the movie has to overcome is that a lot of it is CGI. Don’t get me wrong, this movie probably can’t avoid that. I just hope that it doesn’t get tiresome and that it can have a great story attached to it. The trailer makes it look like it has a story and less ‘videogamey’ than most of the other video game movies. I hope that is the case with the entire movie.

Warcraft is scheduled to be released on 10 June 2016

18. Kung Fu Panda 3

It seems like the only sequels that are guaranteed to be good and mostly likely better than the original are from animated movies. Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda have shown that. I really liked the first Kung Fu Panda and I loved the sequel even more so it makes sense that the third film would be even better.

When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible-learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas.

There really isn’t that much to talk about Kung Fu Panda 3. It’s the second sequel to a good animated film and I’m interested in seeing how it delivers. Also Bryan Cranston and J.K. Simmons will be in this movie voicing some characters. Although it’s not really high on my radar I am interested in seeing Kung Fu Panda 3, and I’m sure it will deliver in being a great movie and better than the previous two instalments.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is scheduled to be released on 29 January 2016

17. Hail Caesar!

I generally like the Coen Brothers but haven’t seen many of their movies. The movies I’ve seen by them I really liked though (with the exception of Raising Arizona). Looking at the cast, the director and the premise alone, this has the potential to be a fantastic movie.

A Hollywood fixer (Josh Brolin) springs into action when a movie star (George Clooney) gets kidnapped and an actress becomes pregnant.

This movie has Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Scarlett Johannsson, Channing Tatum, Ralph Fieness, Jonah Hill and many more popular actors, it’s ridiculous how huge this cast is. This movie is one of the Coen Brothers’ comedies, with a bit of mystery in it. As I said before I haven’t watched many of the Coen Brothers’ movies but most of them delivered in what they set out to do. I have a feeling Hail Caesar will do the same.

Hail Caesar! is scheduled to be released on 5 February 2016

16. Assassins Creed

It’s weird when I’m living at a time when two video game movies are some of my most anticipated movies of the year. With Warcraft, it’s pretty clear that movie will be visually appealing at the very least. But what about a movie that has a focussed story with not as much fantasy elements? It didn’t seem like Assassins Creed would be a great adaptation. However the fact that this stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard and is directed by Justin Kurzel (who worked with both Fassbender and Cotillard on Macbeth), makes me think that this might be something interesting.

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

As I said earlier, I initially thought that it would just be another ‘fun’ video game movie and that there probably wouldn’t be a lot of depth put into the movie. This movie not only attracted the director of 2015’s Macbeth, but actors like Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson, which makes me think that Kurzel has something interesting planned. From what I can tell, this film won’t be based on any of the Assassins Creed videogames but will be pretty similar. Often video game movies are restricted to their story, which can often lead to their failure and having an original story is probably the best way to go. From what I can see this movie could be something special but only time will tell if it will actually deliver. If both Warcraft and Assassins Creed end up to be great than there might be a resurgence in video game movies (hopefully for the better).

Assassins Creed is scheduled to be released on 21 December 2016

15. John Wick 2

2014’s John Wick was one of the year’s best surprises, not only was it Keanu Reeves’s best performance (and in my opinion his best movie), it was also a very fun movie with a great world. I personally would’ve liked to have seen a prequel, to show some of John’s previous adventures before but looking at the world that the first film established, I think there’s plenty of opportunities for a fun movie.

Thankfully, one of the two John Wick directors Chad Stahelski (the other is David Leitch who is instead working on The Coldest City) is returning for the sequel, one of the best aspects of that original film is how the action was done. Instead of a lot of shaky cam, close up shots and fast cuts to create their action like a lot of modern action movies use, they let us to actually see the action unfold, allowing us to get more into it. Common is playing the villain, and he was effective as a villain in Run All Night (even though he could’ve been used more), so I think he will be quite effective here. I sure do hope that it lives up to the previous movie, the only possible way that I think this film could be flawed is that only one of the director is returning, we can only hope that one of the directors can deliver the same amount (if not more) as the previous film.

14. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Star Wars isn’t the only franchise to have spin offs in 2016. Harry Potter gets its own spin offs, following a briefly mentioned character in the books, Newt Scamander. This film will be ‘at least’ part of a trilogy, with an instalment being released every 2 years. This is definitely a movie I’m interested in as it’s not only part of the Harry Potter universe, it is also expanding it.

The adventures of writer Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

David Yates will be directing this movie and seeing as he directed many of the Harry Potter films, I think he’ll do a good job. One advantage to this film over the Harry Potter films is that although it’s based on a character in the same universe, this is an original film and not based on any of the books, so it won’t receive criticism for ‘not being accurate to the book’. It also helps that the script is written by J.K. Rowling, and because she knows the Harry Potter universe better than anyone else, it is safe to say that it’s in the right hands. Eddie Redmayne has been making quite a name for himself with performances in movies such as The Theory of Everything and I think that he will be even more known after the release of this film. This movie will probably explore more of the wizarding world and has no limitations, there are no strings attached. I have no idea what the plot is yet but because it’s connected to the Harry Potter universe I’m already sold.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is scheduled to be released on 18 November 2016

13. The Neon Demon

I’ve seen one of director Nicolas Winding Refn’s films, Drive, and was very impressed by what I saw. One thing that you can definitely count on him is that the film will look great, and the cast looks quite good.

When aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.

Although I haven’t seen the movie, the trailer for Only God Forgives looks very nightmare esque, and ever since then I’ve thought that Winding Refn’s style would be great for a horror film and it’s great to see him actually doing it. It’s also got a pretty good cast, with Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Elle Fanning and Jena Malone. But mainly it was Nicolas Winding Refn’s involvement that interested me, Drive was a fantastic movie and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does with this.

12. Bourne 5

Not much is known about the upcoming Bourne film, which sees Matt Damon returning (not Jeremy Renner) as Jason Bourne as well as Bourne Supremacy and Bourney Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass. But just the fact that those two are returning, as well as the fact that we are getting another Bourne movie excites me a lot.

Paul Greengrass is a great director of action and seeing him return with Damon to the Bourne franchise is really exciting. This movie also has a great cast with Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones as well as Vincent Cassel as the main villain. As I said before, nothing yet is known about the plot but the fact that it was a Bourne movie intrigued me by default.

Bourne 5 is scheduled to be released on 29 July 2016

11. Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek returns for its third movie in the rebooted franchise. I’ve liked the previous two movies and I’m interested in seeing how it is, with a few doubts in mind though. From the trailer it seems much more action packed (as if the past movies weren’t action packed enough) but at the same time I’m not complaining. Its only problems is the direction they’re going in but we’ll find out when the movie is finally released.

Stranded on a hostile planet, Capt. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the Enterprise crew face an alien threat.

The cast from the previous two instalments will be in this movie, which of course I’m happy with. These actors played very well off each other and it will be entertaining to see them in this movie. I am also excited with the fact that Idris Elba will be playing the main villain, it’s a hard act to follow Benedict Cumberbatch but I’m certain that he will be great. Because of his involvement in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, JJ Abrams isn’t involved in the making of this film, instead we have Fast and Furious director James Wan. While I do like a lot of his movies, I’m not exactly sure that he’s the best guy for the job. From the trailers, it seemed a little like Fast and Furious in space, however seeing as how Star Trek Beyond writer and actor Simon Pegg didn’t like the trailer and says there’s more to come, the trailer is probably the product of mis-marketing. I’m still interested to see how this plays out, I just hope that Justin Lin can make a film as good as the previous two instalments.

Star Trek Beyond is scheduled to be released on 22 July 2016

10. Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is a big risk on the part of Marvel as it’s going to a direction that it hasn’t gone before – magic. However if it’s anything that Thor, Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy has proven, Marvel can do no wrong (and yes, I enjoyed Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World).

After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant surgeon (Benedict Cumberbatch) gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under his wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.

Benedict Cumberbatch is on the rise and it’s only natural that he’s finally playing a comic book character. There was a recent picture of him as Doctor Strange and he looks great, it looks exactly like he does in the comic books and I am hyped to see how he does in the movie. This movie also has Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, Chiwetal Ejiofor as Baron Mordo as well as Mads Mikkelsen possibly starring as a villain (hopefully Dormammu). I think that this film is going to be very different from the Marvel movies, seeing as how director Scott Derrickson had directed movies like Sinister and Deliver Us from Evil, both horror movies. This is a bit of a wild card for Marvel, but I’m pretty sure that we will be getting something special that can expand the MCU.

Doctor Strange is scheduled to be released on 4 November 2016

9. The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist is the story behind The Room, one of the worst movies of all time. Although I haven’t seen all of it, I’ve seen many scenes from it and it is definitely something I want to check out. This movie is based off the book of the same name by Greg Sestero, actor from The Room and friend of Tommy Wiseau, the star, writer, producer and director of The Room. I myself have read the book, and was fascinated in how the making of the film went. This adaptation has the potential to be a modern day Ed Wood.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003).

The Disaster Artist has a great cast, with James Franco as Tommy Wiseau, Dave Franco as Greg Sestero as well as Josh Hutcherson, Seth Rogen and Zac Efron and others playing real life people who worked on The Room. From the set photos, the actors even looked like the characters/people, so I think that they are doing it right. I think my biggest concern is how Franco can portray Tommy. Look at any clips of The Room, Wiseau acts a certain way and it’s hard to act like Tommy Wiseau without making it look like an imitation. Franco also has to nail the inner emotions of Tommy, as there are moments in the book where there are moments where that happens. I’ve been hearing about this movie for a while and seeing it finally get made is really exciting.

8. Story of Your Life

Denis Villeneuve has been making a great career recently with films like Prisoners, Enemy and Sicario (I still have to see that last one). I don’t know much about the plot but apparently it’s based on a short story. Just the fact that Denis Villeneuve is directing a movie made me very interested alone. Denis’s films are usually set in reality so it will be interesting to see him taking on a Sci-Fi film. I think it will be a realistic take on this type of story that has been done many times before.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

The movie also has a great cast, which consists of Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forrest Whitaker. Once again I don’t know much about what the movie is about but the director, the cast and the premise are enough to get me interested to seeing the movie on the big screen.

7. Silence

Last year I had Silence on my most anticipated movies of 2015 list. However it looks like it will be released in 2016. My thoughts on the movie are pretty much what I said back then so I might as well show what I thought to begin with:

Martin Scorsese is one of my favourite directors and has so far never failed in making a great movie. He just directs everything with style and every movie he makes feels complete, so naturally I would be very interested in him making a new movie. This type of story is much different than his previous film The Wolf of Wall Street, it’s more closely related to Kundun and The Last Temptation of Christ. I haven’t read the book it’s based on but nonetheless, I’m hyped to see it.

Two Jesuit priests, Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francis Garrpe (Adam Driver), travel to track down their mentor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) in seventeenth century Japan which has, under the Tokugawa shogunate, banned Catholicism and almost all foreign contact. There they witness the persecution of Japanese Christians at the hands of their own government which wishes to purge Japan of all western influence. The film also stars Tadanobu Asano.

Silence is based off the book of the same name by Shūsaku Endō which is a historical fiction novel set in the 17th century. I’m looking forward to what Scorsese can bring to this movie, he has some good material to adapt and work with. The film also has a great cast, particularly Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver and I’m looking forward to seeing their performances. Everything I’ve heard so far about Silence is great and I can’t wait to see it when it comes out.

Silence is scheduled to be released in 2016

6. Deadpool

Fox’s non X-Men superhero movies aren’t really good (Fantastic Four, Origins Wolverine), which is why I was nervous about Gambit, directed by Doug Liman and starring Channing Tatum. It has potential but it has the problem with it being a standalone Fox movie, it didn’t make the list because it is very unlikely that it will be released in 2016, it’s more likely to be released in 2017. Deadpool however looks like it might break the mold and become something great. Ever since the Deadpool test footage was leaked, people have been hyped to see him portrayed on screen. This will be groundbreaking for the comicbook genre, an R rated superhero movie, which hasn’t been done since Blade.

Based upon Marvel Comics most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

Although I was initially sceptical of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool (because X-Men Origins Wolverine wasn’t a great movie) from everything that I’ve seen, I don’t think anyone else is as well suited for the role. It is going to be an R-rated superhero movie, and may lead the way for more of these types of movies. On top of that, the film looks like it’s doing the character justice, just based on the marketing alone. It will be the first comic book movie of 2016 and I am really looking forward to how it turns out.

Deadpool is scheduled to be released on 12 February 2016

5. X-Men Apocalypse

The X-Men franchised returned to form with 2014’s X-Men Days of Future Past. Bryan Singer (director of X Men, X Men 2 and X Men Days of Future Past) is returning to deliver what is probably the darkest entry in the X-Men universe. It will be the end of the trilogy featuring the newer cast (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, etc) and it will feature one of the X Men’s biggest foes, Apocalypse. Everything looks perfect, the cast, the director, the characters used, I find it hard to imagine a world where X Men Apocalypse isn’t a great movie.

Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

The film will have younger versions of older mutants, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and introduce many new characters like Jubilee, Psylocke and of course one of the X-Men’s most dangerous enemies, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). I’ve not seen Oscar Isaac in much, I’ve seen him in The Force Awakens and Drive and from that I can tell that he’s a great actor, so I think he will do a phenomenal job as seen in the trailer. As I said earlier, it will end the trilogy of the newer cast (X-Men First Class, X-Men Days of Future Past and X-Men Apocalypse). X Men Apocalypse from the trailer looks great and seeing everything unfold will be a real treat.

X-Men Apocalypse is scheduled to be released on 27 May 2016

4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One is the first live action anthology movie in the Star Wars universe. This is very intriguing and I think that it will pave the way for more spin offs, with a Han Solo spin off in the works and potentially and Obi Wan Kenobi and a Boba Fett spin off. I loved The Force Awakens but I hope that there is a strong distinction between the trilogies and Rogue One. It needs to stand on its own as a great movie, with maybe some references to the other films and potentially a cameo from Darth Vader.

Rebels set out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.

Rogue One really interests me because from what I can tell, this is going to be a very different Star Wars movie. It’s pretty much a war movie and from this picture, it can be seen that it’s going to be gritty and realistic. With Godzilla (2014) director Gareth Edwards directing it and a cast which features such actors like Felicity Jones, Forrest Whitaker and Mads Mikkelsen, I’m hyped.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is scheduled to be released on 16 December 2016.

3. Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad initially looked like DC’s biggest risk (we’ll get to the biggest risk later). It has a lot of characters that most audiences don’t know of, except for maybe Harley Quinn and of course The Joker. However given the fact that more people have viewed the Suicide Squad trailer than the Comic Con Batman V Superman trailer released around the same time indicates that more and more people are learning about this movie, and are being intrigued by it.

A secret government agency recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency.

This film is definitely taking a more realistic take on the comic book genre, which could be seen as David Ayer is the director, who did films such as Fury, End of Watch and Sabotage. The film also has perfect casting from Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie (who I’m sure will steal the show) to Will Smith as Deadshot. It’s great that we can finally have villains as the main characters in a comic book movie. We will also get a bit of Jared Leto’s Joker, who I’m sure will do a phenomenal job. Although I was a little worried with his look at first, I think that it’s a very different take on the Joker that I think could be great and potentially the scariest Joker performance. I think that his overall design is nothing that we’ve seen before and it could actually work for the film. Except for that ‘Damaged’ tattoo on his forehead.

Suicide Squad is scheduled to be released on 5 August 2016.

2. Captain America: Civil War

This film has the potential to be the best movie yet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is so far my favourite movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it would only make sense that a film which has one of the biggest events in the Marvel Comics would be the best in the series.

After another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps, one led by Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr) surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Civil War for those who don’t know is a major event in the Marvel Comics, the film will be different from the comics however. Civil War in the comics were about superhero registration but in the film it will be more about world governments demanding accountability and oversight of superheroes, probably because identities don’t exist in this universe and the MCU isn’t that big. However this will still have the aspect of the Avengers split in two (except for Thor and Hulk, who will star in 2017’s Thor Ragnarok), Captain America’s team and Iron Man’s team. This film also introduces Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Tom Holland as the (Sony) Spiderman and (hopefully good for a change) villain Baron Zemo played by Daniel Bruhl. This film looks like it may be the darkest movie entry in the MCU and like Winter Soldier, will have significant consequences on the rest of the movies.

Captain America: Civil War is scheduled to be released on 6 May 2016

1. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

I would never predict years ago that there would ever be a crossover between DC heroes. This film is written by Chris Terrio (Argo) and with his involvement, this film looks to be a great film. Even though I’m looking forward to this film the most, it’s also the film that I’m most nervous about. Suicide Squad has a better chance of succeeding because its biggest risk is having a lot of characters that most people don’t know, but that has been done well in the past (Guardians of the Galaxy). Other comic book movies that have so much in it have failed however, so with Batman fighting Superman, fighting a ‘threat’ (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen the latest trailer) as well as the forming of the Justice League (and cameos from Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg), this film could end up as a disaster. However if this movie succeeds, it could end up as one of the best superhero movies to date.

Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’ most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.

Man of Steel was a very dividing movie and one of the most divisive elements for some was the destruction of Metropolis. This film is taking that aspect and making it the catalyst for bringing Batman to fight Superman. The writing was really the weakest aspect of Man of Steel but with Chris Terrio writing the script, I have a feeling that there is something special. Although I was initially sceptical with Ben Affleck playing Batman, after seeing the trailers he has the potential to be the best live action Batman yet.

Now there are some things that I’m still not certain about. We don’t know what Wonder Woman’s part in this film will be, we don’t know how the film will introduce the Justice League without it being rushed and Jesse Eisenberg is playing Lex Luthor, although I’m starting to see him in the role, I’m not completely sold on him yet. There’s also potential for this film to feel bloated, with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor and cameos from Aquaman, Cyborg and potentially The Flash. It’s my most anticipated movie of 2016 but out of all of the movies on the list, it has a lot of potential to fail, and we can only hope that it delivers in the end.

Batman V Superman is scheduled to be released on 25 March 2016