2016 is here and it is jam packed with sequels, spin-off’s and
reboots. While there is a lot to look forward to like ‘Batman v Superman’, ‘Rogue
One’, ‘Warcraft’ and every other movie that is set to either continue a
franchise or initiate one, I thought I’d write an article on some of the films
you may not know about and may not get as much publicity, but by no means does
that make them less worthy of excitement. They may not be drawing in billions
of dollars at the box office but I’d say that a few of them might deserve to.
Hail, Caesar
The Coen brothers are back once more and with a slew of
successes under their belts they bring what looks like another comedy classic
in the making. Set in 1950s Hollywood it sees Josh Brolin hired by a studio to
track down their missing actor George Clooney along with appearances from Channing
Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Tilda Swinton, Frances
McDormand and if that cast doesn’t get
you excited then few things will. Expect the usual brand of Coen quirkiness
that made ‘The Big Lebowski’, ‘Burn After Reading’ and their last foray into movies
about Hollywood ‘Barton Fink’.
The Nice Guys
A Shane Black movie that from the looks of things is not
happening at Christmas (what the hell is going on here?). It is shaping up to
be another venture into what Black does best, the buddy comedy as hired muscle
Russel Crowe teams up with private eye Ryan Gosling in what looks like the
usual brand of the hilarious crime capers we have become used to. Many are
comparing it to Black’s ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ but it seems to have less of a
noir style and if anything just looks even more entertaining, the red band
trailer was amazing so even if you’re unfamiliar with Black’s work you should definitely
add this to your watch list.
Silence
Martin Scorsese’s long awaited passion project is still draped
in mystery but come on, as soon as the words ‘Directed by Martin Scorsese’ it
is already worth getting excited about it. It’s been a long three years since
his last film, the riotous ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘Silence’ looks to be very
different, a return to intimate and traditional themes. It stars Andrew
Garfield, Liam Neeson and fresh from his stunning performance in ‘The Force Awakens’
Adam Driver.
Everybody Wants
Some
It’s been a while since Richard Linklater delved into the realm
of comedy and he has been sorely missed from the genre. We know that ‘Everybody
Wants Some’ is described as a spiritual sequel to ‘Dazed and Confused’ and set
a decade later in the 1980s, as well as being staged in a college rather than
high school, and that’s about it, because the plot of a Linklater film is even
less than half the story. If it’s anything like ‘Dazed and Confused’ we are in
store for something hilarious and subtly heartfelt as well as being
ridiculously entertaining and I cannot wait.
Triple 9
The cast ranges from Chiwetel Ejiofor from Woody Harrelson
and (because he needs a good script before we forget how good he was in ‘Breaking
Bad’) Aaron Paul as well as Kate Winslet and the tightly packed thriller looks
to be one of the most heart pounding films of the year. It promises to be a dark
and brutal tale of cops and robbers from the director of ‘The Road’ and ‘Lawless’
at the helm.
Snowden
Oliver Stone is back doing what he does best (I hope). We
all know the story of Edward Snowden, especially after the Oscar winning documentary
‘CITIZENFOUR’ but with a dramatic retelling of the story Stone could use his
excellence with character studies as seen with ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ and
his conspiracy enthusiasm as seen with ‘JFK’ to craft something very special
with the help of Joseph Gordon Levitt in the lead role.
The BFG
Speaking of directors going back to what they do best,
Spielberg is back making an epic family adventure film and as much as we all
love his more dramatic work of recent years like ‘Munich’, ‘Lincoln’ and ‘Bridge
of Spies’ this is shaping up to recapture that Spielberg magic that permeated our
childhood. The teaser trailer alone looks spectacular.
There are a few more I want to mention though such as ‘Midnight Special’ and ‘The Witch’ as they are currently
dominating the indie scene excitement. You also have ‘La La Land’ (from the director of ‘Whiplash’ so that should get
you excited immediately) as well as Clint Eastwood’s ‘Sully’, ‘The
Accountant’ (which I know nothing about except that is has Ben Affleck,
Anna Kendrick and most importantly, J.K Simmons) and one can never forget to
mention the occasion of a new Terrance Malik movie, this time it is ‘Knight of Cups’ some have
questioned whether Malik has become too pretentious by now and early reviews
have been very divisive but I can say without any doubt that it is sure to be
unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.
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