Article by Gabe Zia
So before the Oscar season of 2016 starts and I have no time to finish this - funnily enough, that's exactly what happened last year - so I decided right now would be the best time to talk about the movies in 2017 I'm looking forward to the most as of writing this. Keep in mind this is very early, we still have like months before 2017 arrives so this list may change.
#10
The Lego Batman Movie
As anyone who has read my blog before should know by now, I am a sucker for animated movies. I have enormous respect for the effort and time it takes to bring animation to life, which is part of the reason why I’m amped for a Lego Batman movie. While I’d prefer a Lego Movie 2, and really I don’t see why that isn’t an option, this will certainly tide me over until I see it. The animation looks great from what I’ve seen, and the cast is absolutely outstanding! Probably the best cast I’ve ever seen for an animated movie since... Well, since the first Lego Movie. Needless to say, I'm amped for this one.
Honorable Mentions - Most Anticipated TV Show
FLCL Season 2
Runner-ups - Game of Thrones Season 7, The Defenders, Preacher Season 2
Okay, so in my years I have seen some weird shows, movies, games, just generally if it’s weird, I’ve seen it. And nothing, absolutely nothing I have seen has ever topped the jaw-dropping levels of nonsensical lunacy quite like Gainax’s FLCL, a series that’s so out of its mind that I had to watch it more than twice to actually make sense of it. So, when it was announced that Adult Swim would be helming a second season, yeah needless to say I got pretty hyped. Here's hoping it's just as completely insane and nonsensical as the cult classic that is the first season was 15 years ago.
#9
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Luc Besson is a filmmaker who could probably be best summed up as... Interesting. His films are often weird, whether or not they're incredibly original is usually up to personal taste, but it's hard not to admit the guy has a vision. So his newest movie, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, is really no different. Just from what we've seen so-far, this movie has an 80s-centric style combined with creative sci-fi designs, coming together in a movie tailor-made for us 80s sci-fi geeks to stave us off another year until the Ready Player One movie comes out.
#8
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2
SPEAKING OF 80s SCI FI, Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 comes out this year, and seeing as how the first film was and still is my favorite MCU film, I have high hopes for this one. New cast members, including Kurt Russel and Sylvester Stallone, along with the promise of more James Gunn lunacy, I absolutely can't wait for this one. Sure, Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-man Homecoming also look great, but of the three I had to pick one, and this was that one.
#7
Death Note
Netflix movies just keep getting better and better, and now they've gone so far as to release a legit live action Death Note movie? Okay, count me in. I love Adam Wingards films so-far, I have high hopes for this Octobers Blair Witch, and both The Guest and You're Next have set him up as one of the better unique directors right now. And seeing as how Netflix originals honestly has yet to let me down in a big way, I have little doubt about this one. Also worth noting, I'm a fan of the series (right up until episode 25, everything after that is kinda garbage), so I'm eager to see what a talented director and a talented cast can do with this story.
#6
Wonder Woman
The DCEU so-far has been, less than spectacular. Sure, the first act of Man of Steel is goddamn outstanding and more than makes up for the kinda underwhelming final act, but other than that I have yet for this series to impress me. However, Wonder Woman looks like it has all its chips in place. The action looks good, the humor in the film actually works from what I can tell, Gal Gadot was the best part of BvS so her performance as Wonder Woman is a guarantee, and it looks downright fun. For the first time since Batman Returns it looks like DC movies have produced a genuinely amazing movie (yes for the record I like The Dark Knight even if I think it's a little too overrated for its own good).
#5
Blade Runner 2
Normally, the reboot conveyer belt of Hollywood isn't something I'm a huge fan of. And hell, I wasn't too into the idea of a Blade Runner sequel at first. That's not why it's #5, it's here simply because Denis Villeneuve is one of three up and coming directors who, if they make a movie, it's a guarantee I'll watch it. And the idea of him directing a sci-fi cyberpunk film with an oustanding cast (Barkhad Abdi, Ryan Gosling, Lennie James, Mackenzie Davis, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista) is music to my ears.
#4
John Wick Chapter Two
The first John Wick is by a huge margin my favorite action movie of the 2010's, so needless to say the second John Wick movie has a LOT to live up to. However, with the same directors returning for the sequel, a fantastic all-star cast (Ruby Rose, Peter Stormare, and Laurence Fishburne to name a few). Honestly, this movie doesn't have to do a lot to be good. We don't need to see another dog revenge movie, so as long as we have a new story and no recycled plotlines we will be totally fine.
#3
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Speaking of much awaited sequels, a second Kingsman movie is also something I'm incredibly amped for. And in the same month as John Wick 2, are you kidding me? Much like John Wick 2, this has some fantastic additions to the series (Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, and Julianne Moore as the villain). And again, so long as this film doesn't succumb to sequel-itus, everything will be fine. And personally, I can't wait for more Bond-satire goodness from this film.
#2
Okja
So remember on #5 when I said there is three directors who I'll watch anything by? Their names are Denis Villeneuve, Jeff Nichols, and Joon-Ho Bong. I've already talked about Villeneuves movie, Nichols doesn't have anything coming out in 2017, but Joon-Ho Bong has a new film called Okja. And Okja takes the spot for #2 for a number of reasons. One, it has an amazing lineup (Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Giancarlo Esposito, Lily Collins, Paul Dano, Steven Yuen). Two, as previously mentioned, it's being directed by one of the best directors working today. Three, from the plot synopsis I think it's some kind of social commentary on companies like Seaworld that exploit animals, so that's a concept I'm down for (although I could be completely 100% wrong, that is entirely a guess). And four, it's a Netflix Original, which at this point that's just something I get excited for on principle alone.
Honorable Mentions - Most Anticipated Video Game of 2017
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Runner-ups - Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, For Honor
I am always down for good, original sci-fi games, and Horizon: Zero Dawn looks like exactly that. Originally, I was gonna make this entry Death Stranding, but seeing as how that probably won't come out till 2018 at the earliest, it had to wait. If you don't know what this game is, basically it's set about 1000 years after some kind of apocalyptic event, and now everyone lives in a kind of primal caveman-like society with bows and spears and all that. However, the big threat and gimmick of the game is that the bulk of all wildlife has been replaced with robotic animals, including giant robots that essentially look like robot dinosaurs. So you have to fight robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow, and if that doesn't sound even a little bit exciting, I honestly don't know what else I could say to convince you.
#1 - Most Anticipated Movie of 2017
Star Wars: Episode VIII
So if you were following this channel back a few months ago, when The Force Awakens came out, you might know that that was - and still is - one of my favorite movies of 2015. So, naturally I have a lot to look forward to with Episode 8, coming with it is a lot of speculation and guessing as well as just simple hopes for the future of the series. And unlike Force Awakens, my hype for this movie isn't built solely on the fact that it's a new Star Wars movie. Force Awakens is probably my favorite in the series if I'm being honest, so just a sequel to that film would be more than enough for me. I can't wait to see where these characters go and where this story goes from here.
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