Final Oscar Predictions

Best Picture:

Moonlight
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By the Sea
Fences
Arrival
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
Hacksaw Ridge 

Prediction: La La Land      

Best Actor:
Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea
Denzel Washington, Fences
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Vigo Mortenson, Captain Fantastic
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Prediction: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Best Supporting Actor:
Dev Patel, Lion
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

Prediction: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight                                      

Best Actress:
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Isabelle Huppert, Elle Ruth Negga, Loving

Prediction: Emma Stone, La La Land

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Michelle Williams, Manchester By the Sea

Prediction: Viola Davis, Fences

Best Director:
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Prediction: Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Wouldn't be surprised to see La La Land win Best Picture but see Best Director go to Barry Jenkins. This will be a close race.                                     

Best Cinematography:
La La Land
Lion
Arrival 
Moonlight
Silence

Prediction: La La Land

Best Animated Film:
Zootopia
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
The Red Turtle
My Life as a Zucchini

Prediction: Zootopia                                      

Best Visual Effects:
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Jungle Book
Doctor Strange
Kubo and the Two Strings
Deepwater Horizon

Prediction: The Jungle Book                                     

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Fences
Moonlight
Lion
Hidden Figures
Arrival          

Prediction: Moonlight                       

Best Original Screenplay:
Manchester By the Sea
La La Land
Hell or High Water
The Lobster
20th Century Women

Prediction: Manchester by the Sea                                      

Best Costume Design
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Prediction: Jackie                                      

Best Documentary Feature
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th

Prediction: 13th

Best Documentary Short
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe’s Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

Prediction: The White Helmets                                      

Achievement in Film Editing
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Prediction: La La Land                                      

Best Foreign Language Film
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove 
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann
                                  

Prediction: The Salesman

Actually have not seen any of the nominees in this category. Just going by what I've heard and read. Plus, due to the director of The Salesman boycotting the Oscars over Donald Trump many may have voted for it as a show of support. 

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Prediction: Star Trek: Beyond

Best Original Score
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

Prediction: La La Land                                 

Best Original Song
"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from La La Land
"Can’t Stop The Feeling" from Trolls
"City Of Stars" from La La Land
"The Empty Chair" from Jim: The James Foley Story
"How Far I’ll Go" from Moana 

Prediction: City of Stars, La La Land                                     

Achievement in Production Design
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers    

Prediction: La La Land                           

Best Animated Short Film
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Prediction: Piper          

Haven't seen any of the shorts either. Just taking a shot in the dark.                       

Best Live Action Short Film
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

Prediction: Sing                                      

Achievement in Sound Editing
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully    

Prediction: Hacksaw Ridge                           

Achievement in Sound Mixing
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Prediction: Hacksaw Ridge                                  

Why is Viola Davis in the supporting actress category?

With the Oscars only a few short days away, they've been on my mind a lot recently. I've been thinking about who may win while trying to nail down some final predictions but the one thing that crossed my mind that has bothered me so much that I can't stop thinking about it is why the heck is Viola Davis in the supporting actress category and not the lead actress category.

"Category fraud" as it's been called isn't really anything new when it comes to the Academy Awards. There's been many cases of it before even as recent as last year. Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl and Rooney Mara in Carol were two examples last year of this. Both were questionably lead actresses in their movies but both were in the supporting actress category. Vikander ended up winning. After having recently watched Fences, Viola Davis was definitely the female lead and this definitely seems like one of the most egregious cases of category fraud. She actually won the Tony for lead actress in a play for the same role.The decision on what category an actor or actress gets placed in ultimately comes down to the producers and what category they will campaign for for their actors. In this case, Viola Davis was campaigned for supporting actress, most likely to increase her chances of winning. I don't agree with how that works. You shouldn't just be placed in one category or another to increase your chances of winning. It should come down to screen time and other related factors.

When I wrote about my Oscar nomination thoughts last month, I mentioned how I thought this category would be a close race between Davis, Michelle Williams, and Naomie Harris but really, Viola Davis winning in this category is one of the biggest locks of the Oscars this year. I would be incredibly shocked if she didn't win. I actually think she would still have a great shot of winning even if she was in the lead actress category. Best lead actress contenders Emma Stone and Natalie Portman should be relieved she's not competing with them. Plus, I'm sure Davis would much rather win the much more prestigious lead actress Oscar rather than the supporting one. On the flip side of that, I don't think it's fair to Michelle Williams and Naomie Harris who gave great performances in actual supporting roles that they have to compete with Davis.

This isn't the first case of "category fraud" and won't be the last and I wouldn't hold my breath for the Academy to make any changes any time soon. With everything being said, you can count on Viola Davis winning the Oscar for best supporting actress.

What I Learned From Quentin Tarantino's True Romance Commentary

Lately I've started to get into listening to the commentary tracks on movies. They're very insightful and are a great way to see how the movie was made and to also hear interesting stories about the film as well. I watched one of my favorite movies True Romance, directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino, and then immediately watched it again with commentary on by Tarantino. Here are some interesting things I learned from it. This is an idea I can't take credit for though as Film School Rejects is what inspired me to do this with their series on commentaries.

•Quentin starts off by saying True Romance was the first script he ever wrote. He says he started out writing scripts in the 7th grade but could never finish any of them.

•Tarantino mentions that Clarence's (Christian Slater) line in the opening scene about how if he had to have sex with any man it would be Elvis was a line that Tarantino took from his first film, My Best Friend's Birthday, that he financed from his minimum wage job at a video store.

•Clarence's goes to see a Sonny Chiba kung fu triple feature of Streetfighter, Return of the Street Fighter, and Sister Street Fighter. Tarantino mentions that that is a triple feature he's seen and then drops some film knowledge on us by saying it's the first movie to be rated X in the United States for violence.

•Tarantino says True Romance is the most autobiographical film he's made and that the character of Clarence is partly based on him.

•Tarantino mentions that we first began writing the script he had Joan Cusack in mind for the role of Alabama (Patricia Arquette) and Robert Carradine in mind for the role of Clarence.

•In a scene where Alabama is watching TV the movie A Better Tomorrow II is on. Despite Tarantino's love of that movie, it was actually Tony Scott's idea to have that movie on. In the script the movie playing was the kung fu movie Master of the Flying Guillotine.

•Tarantino mentions that exploitation film director William Lustig almost directed the film but Tarantino didn't think he'd be ready to make the jump into more commercial big budget filmmaking.

•Tarantino starts talking about how much he loves Tony Scott's work. He says at the time around the early 90s it wasn't popular to like Tony Scott and his work but he specifically names Days of Thunder and Revenge as movies he likes by him. He got to meet him on the set of The Last Boy Scout and Tarantino let Scott read his script for Reservoir Dogs and Scott wanted to direct that film but Tarantino said no and wanted him to direct True Romance instead.

•Tarantino mentions how Michael Rapaport's character Dick Ritchie, a struggling actor, is also semi- autobiographical of him when he was auditioning trying to become an actor.

•Pulp Fiction was in preproduction around the time of True Romance's release. Tarantino's first viewing of True Romance was at the premier of the film where he brought along the whole cast of Pulp Fiction.

•Tarantino had a chance to direct True Romance after the success of Reservoir Dogs but turned it down wanting to move on and pursue other things. He compared it to an ex-girlfriend you've had good times with but have moved on from.

•Tarantino mentions he was never on the set of the film. He was trusting in Tony Scott and wanted to see his world through another director.

•Tarantino mentions how close the final film was shot to his original script except with the structure. It written as non-linear.

•Tarantino considers the scene between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper to be one of his proudest moments of his entire career. He considers it to be almost too good and that a lot movies can't survive having such a great scene so early in the movie because the rest of the movie can't live up to that scene, but that True Romance survives in this case.

•Tarantino says the Sicilian scene about how the Moors conquered Sicily and reproduced with their women to give Sicilians their look came to him from his mother's friend's brother Big D who told him the story. He based Samuel L. Jackson's character in the movie on him.

•Quentin praises Brad Pitt's performance as Floyd saying he steals the third act of the film. Floyd is Tarantino's imagining of a stereotypical roommate who does nothing outside of getting stoned and laying around watching TV.

•Another change made to Tarantino's original script was the rollercoaster scene. Tarantino originally had it taking place at a zoo but thought it was a good change.

•Tarantino says using Doctor Zhivago as a codename for cocaine is one of the most clever things he's written. He says when you think of Doctor Zhivago, you think of snow.

•Tarantino considers it to be a perfect date movie because it's fun and has action and romance. He says he often gets asked if he'll do a romantic movie and he says he has referring to this movie then they'll say "I mean a real romantic movie."

•Tarantino mentions this is his mom's favorite movie of his.

•Tarantino mentions he's not a fan of the posters hanging in Dick and Floyd's apartment. He says there's $4,000 worth of framing that they wouldn't be able to afford.

•Quentin mentions that footage playing in the movie producer's apartment that supposed to be for a new film of his is actually from Platoon.

•Clarence says "most of these movies that win a lot of Oscars, I can't stand them. They're all safe coffee table, geriatric dog shit. All those assholes make are unwatchable movies from unreadable books. Mad Max that's a movie. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly that's a movie. Rio Bravo that's a movie." Quentin says that was exactly his philosophy at the time being an opinionated movie geek. He goes on to say that movie geeks know more about movies and have stronger opinions than most of the executives and agents in Hollywood. He says having a strong opinion in Hollywood is like a super power.

•Tarantino admits his love of Mexican standoffs leading up to the films climactic shootout. He also wants to clarify that he didn't steal the standoff from John Woo's earlier films such as the Better Tomorrow movies that he had written the script before those movies came out even though True Romance came out after those movies. Reservoir Dogs also ended in a Mexican standoff.

•The original ending that Quentin wrote had Clarence dying and director Tony Scott wanted to change it to let him live and Tarantino pleaded with Scott not to. However, Scott convinced Tarantino to let him live and Tarantino agreed and said that it worked best for Scott's vision of film.

An Updated List of the Movies I've Watched

Started tracking the movies I've watched on bluray.com in 2014. Tracking what you watch is great because you can see exactly what you've watched, when, and how many movies you've watched. It's fun to go back and look at previous years movies you've watched. Don't think I'll ever not track the movies I've watched.

2014 List

2015 List

2016 List

January

1.) 1/1 War Dogs (BD) *
2.) 1/2 Moana (T) *
3.) 1/3 The Wolfpack (N) *
4.) 1/4 The Lobster (I) *
5.) 1/5 Train to Busan (I) *
6.) 1/6 Gleason (A) *
7.) 1/9 La La Land (T) *
8.) 1/10 Anything Else (DVD) *
9.) 1/11 Blue Jasmine (BD) *
10.) 1/12 The Purple Rose of Cairo (BD)
11.) 1/13 Hidden Figures (T) *
12.) 1/16 Midnight in Paris (BD) *
13.) 1/17 Earthquake (BD) *
14.) 1/18 Bad Influence (DVD) *
15.) 1/19 10 Rillington Place (BD) *
16.) 1/20 Sully (R) *
17.) 1/21 Live by Night (T) *
18.) 1/22 Hunt for the Wilderpeople (R) *
19.) 1/23 Moonlight (T) *
20.) 1/24 Captain Fantastic (R) *
21.) 1/24 Carrie (1976) (BD)
22.) 1/25 Raising Cain (BD) *
23.) 1/25 Passion (DVD) *
24.) 1/26 Carlito's Way (BD) *
25.) 1/27 Body Double (BD) *
26.) 1/27 De Palma (I) *
27.) 1/28 Lion (T) *
28.) 1/29 The Conjuring 2 (BD) *
29.) 1/30 Nick of Time (DVD) *
30.) 1/30 Split (T) *
31.) 1/31 Unbreakable (BD)

February
32.) 2/1 Something Wild (BD) *
33.) 2/2 Working Girl (BD) *
34.) 2/3 Phantasm (BD) *
35.) 2/4 Phantasm II (BD) *
36.) 2/5 Black Sunday (1977) (DVD) *
37.) 2/6 Rolling Thunder (BD) *
38.) 2/7 Nerve (BD) *
39.) 2/10 John Wick (BD)
40.) 2/11 John Wick: Chapter 2 (BD) *
41.) 2/12 Sorcerer (BD) *
42.) 2/12 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) *
43.) 2/13 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (BD) *
44.) 2/14 Fences (T) *
45.) 2/15 Revenge (BD)
46.) 2/16 True Romance (BD)
47.) 2/18 Take Me Home Tonight (BD) *
48.) 2/19 The Great Wall (T) *
49.) 2/19 House of Sand and Fog (DVD) *
50.) 2/20 Chariots of Fire (BD) *
51.) 2/21 Kramer vs. Kramer (DVD) *
52.) 2/22 Driving Miss Daisy (BD) *
53.) 2/23 In the Heat of the Night (BD) *
54.) 2/24 Get Out (T) *

BD - Blu ray
T - Theater
N - Netflix
A - Amazon video
I - iTunes rental
R - Redbox

* first time watch                 

---

Oscar Nomination Thoughts

Oscar nominations were announced bright and early this morning. I'm not a morning person but there's something about the Oscar nominations announcement that make me pop right out of bed. Maybe it's seeing the movies that you enjoyed over the year being rewarded or just watching the announcement live seeing the nominations announced at the same time as the people being nominated. When you're a big movie fan two of the best days of the year are the day the nominations are announced and the awards themselves. Here some quick of thoughts of mine on the nominations.

Best Picture

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

La La Land and it's record tying 14 Oscar nominations is a major competitor for Best Picture. Standing in it's way is Moonlight. This will be a very tight race between the two. It really just depends on which way the Academy will lean. They love movies about movies and the way La La Land acted as a modern throwback to classical musicals makes it hard not to fall in love with. However, Moonlight is a very gripping film that explores important themes and the Academy's push for more diversity could give this film the push it needs.

Directing

Arrival - Denis Villeneuve

Hacksaw Ridge - Mel Gibson

La La Land - Damien Chazelle

Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan

Moonlight - Barry Jenkins

Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, Damien Chazelle for La La Land, and Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea were locks for nominations in this category. The last two spots remained open. Mel Gibson's nomination was well deserved, especially for his gritty and realistic depictions of the war scenes from Hacksaw Ridge. A comeback of sorts for Gibson? Villeneuve's nomination for Arrival was also well deserved. He's quickly becoming one of the most talented directors working and continues to add to his impressive filmography. Usually, the winner of this category determines what will win Best Picture but lately the two categories have been split up. However, this year I don't think that will be the case. If Jenkins wins, Moonlight will be Best Picture but if Chazelle wins it will be La La Land.

Actor in a Leading Role

Casey Affleck - Manchester by the Sea

Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge

Ryan Gosling - La La Land

Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic

Denzel Washington - Fences

Casey Affleck has been leading the way in this category so far and I'd be surprised if the Oscars are any different. Casey Affleck has been the shadow of his brother Ben for most of his career but you could make a case for him being more talented, at least in front of the camera. Ben has become quite a talent working behind the camera.

Actress in a Leading Role

Isabelle Huppert - Elle

Ruth Negga - Loving

Natalie Portman - Jackie

Emma Stone - La La Land

Meryl Streep - Florence Foster Jenkins

Meryl Streep is just padding her stats now. She extends her record to now 20 Oscar nominations and counting, a record that may never be broken. However, I'm not so sure it's deserved. Amy Adams not getting a nomination for Arrival is a major snub. I would substitute her in for Streep. This category will likely come down to Portman or Stone. Portman has won before for Black Swan and La La Land will be one of the biggest winners on Oscar night so it will be interesting to see who wins here.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Mahershala Ali - Moonlight

Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges - Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel - Lion

Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals

I think this category belongs to Mehershala Ali. He didn't have as much screen time as I expected in Moonlight but he made every second count. Other actors and actresses have had nominations and even wins with just as much or less screen time. I was glad to see Michael Shannon get a nomination for Nocturnal Animals. He's one of the hardest working yet most underrated actors today.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Viola Davis - Fences

Naomie Harris - Moonlight

Nicole Kidman - Lion

Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams - Manchester by the Sea

This could be one of the most competitive categories this year as Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, and Michelle Williams could all have a shot at winning the statue. When you're constantly hearing and reading about who's the favorite it's nice to have a category like this that isn't as easily predicted. Looking forward to seeing which actress wins here.

Animated Feature

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia

2016 was a great year for animation. Even movies that didn't get nominations such as Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets were two of the top grossing movies of the year. Kubo and the Two Strings is a movie I really loved and not enough people gave it the love it deserved at the box office. This category will most likely go to Zootopia. I think the best animated movies have something for kids and adults and Zootopia had that. I wouldn't rule out Moana though.

Original Song

Audition (The Fools Who Dream) - La La Land

Can't Stop the Feeling - Trolls

City of Stars - La La Land

The Empty Chair - Jim: The James Foley Story

How Far I'll Go - Moana

Disney has a long history of it's catchy tunes winning this category and a win for How Far I'll Go from Moana would net Lin-Manuel Miranda the coveted EGOT. However, City of Stars from La La Land will likely win here. The music from La La Land was great and will likely win for score as well.

I didn't touch on every category. Just the bigger ones. Here are the rest of the nominations.

Best Original Screenplay:

Taylor Sheridan - Hell or High Water
Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthymis Filippou - The Lobster
Kenneth Lonergan - Manchester by the Sea
Mike Mills - 20th Century Women

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Eric Heisserer - Arrival
Luke Davies - Lion
August Wilson - Fences
Allison Schroeder & Theodore Melfi - Hidden Figures
Barry Jenkins & Tarell Alvin McRaney - Moonlight

Best Cinematography:

Bradford Young - Arrival
Linus Sandgren - La La Land
Greig Fraser - Lion
James Laxton - Moonlight
Rodrigo Prieto - Silence

Best Documentary:

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th

Best Documentary Short Subject:

4.1 Miles
Extremist
Joe's Violin
Watani My Homeland
The White Helmets

Best Foreign Language Film:

Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Film Editing:

Joe Walker - Arrival
John Gilbert - Hacksaw Ridge
Jake Roberts - Hell or High Water
Tom Cross - La La Land
Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders - Moonlight

Best Sound Editing:

Arrival
Deepwater Horzion
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Best Sound Mixing:

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Production Design:

Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Best Visual Effects:

Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One

Best Original Score:

Micachu - Jackie
Justin Hurwitz - La La Land
Hauschka & Dustin O'Halloran - Lion
Nicholas Britell - Moonlight
Thomas Newman - Passengers

Best Makeup and Hair:

A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

Best Costume Design:

Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Best Animated Short:

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Most Anticipated Movies of 2017

2016 is behind us so that means it's time to look forward to the movies coming out in 2017. 2017 looks to be another high profile year. Three new movies coming from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, two from DC, a new Blade Runner, and even new films from Christopher Nolan and Edgar Wright. Here's a look at just a hand full of the ones I'm most excited for.

15. John Wick: Chapter 2 (February 10th)

John Wick comes in at 15 on my list. I was super pumped to see that the first movie had the success it did and was able to pull off a sequel.  I thought the first film did an excellent job at building a world and a character the audience would like to see further explored. I was truly surprised with the first John Wick film. I thought it would just be another run-of-the-mill action movie but was a very fresh action movie with well choreographed and filmed fight scenes. Keanu Reeves is somewhat of a legend in the action genre with Point Break, Speed, and the Matrix films so it's nice to see him add another great action movie or two to his name.

14. Alien: Covenant (May 19th)

Alien and Aliens are two of my all time favorite movies, so I'm looking forward to more Xenomorph mayhem here. This is a sequel to Prometheus, which I've actually yet to see. So I'm a little in the dark about that movie and how that leads into this movie. But regardless, the first trailer was a great. Alien was very much a horror movie while sequels delved more into action but this looks like a return to it's horror roots. Ridley Scott is still fresh off The Martian and I think he'll keep the success going with this as well.

13. Wonder Woman (June 2nd)

DC has delivered some good super hero movies but none that have been great. Will Wonder Woman be any different? I think she was a bright spot in Batman vs. Superman. I like the period setting here. I think it will add a lot to film. Everything has been promising so far and I'm desperately pulling for these movies to succeed.

12. Baby Driver (August 11th)

There's not a lot of details out about Baby Driver yet but you can't not get excited about a new film from Edgar Wright, the same guy who brought us such films as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The film stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver and also stars Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, and Lily James.

11. Justice League (November 17th)

Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, The Flash all in the same film? Hard not to be excited for this one. I have it a little low mostly because DC has yet to deliver a truly great movie but nonetheless, there's no way at the minimum it won't be a fun popcorn movie.

10. War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14th)

With Rise and Dawn the new Planet of the Apes franchise has quietly delivered two excellent films. War looks to keep the trend going. Andy Serkis, a veteran of motion capture performing from his time as Gollum on the Lord of the Rings franchise, returns as Caesar. Joining him is a badass Woody Harrelson looking to destroy ape kind. Expect more ape vs human mayhem.

9. Kong: Skull Island (March 10th)

The first Kong trailer has my expectations set super high. It looks action packed and loads fun. Gave me a feel of Apocalypse Now meets a King Kong movie. The cast looks great as well with recent Oscar winner Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, and the always great John Goodman. It's also nice to see a new take on a King Kong story and not the same one we know where he falls off the Empire State building.

8. Thor: Ragnarok (November 3rd)

To be honest, the Thor entries so far in the MCU have been some of my least favorite of the Marvel films. The Thor films haven't been bad but they haven't been amazing either. I'm expecting that to change with this one. Civil War was described as Avengers 2.5. Ragnarok doesn't look to be far behind with Hulk and Doctor Strange making appearances. The new additions to cast look great too with Cate Blanchett in a villain role, Jeff Goldblum, and Karl Urban. I'm also very interested to see what director Taika Waititi does. Check out What We Do in the Shadows if you haven't already.

7. Beauty and the Beast (March 17th)

The recent success of Disney's other live action remakes, Cinderella and The Jungle Book have me super optimistic about this. The hype around Beauty and the Beast is massive. It's a live action remake of one of Disney's most beloved films and it's trailer became the most watched trailer of all time. Like a lot of other people my favorite of all of Disney's films is Beauty and the Beast. Needless, to say I'm very excited for this.

6. Dunkirk (July 21)

Anytime Christopher Nolan has a movie out, my butt will be in a theater seat. He's established himself as one of the best modern filmmakers. We've seen him go to space, take on magic, and tackle a trilogy of Batman films. Now we get to see him take on war film. The first trailer looked great. Had a very real look to it and you can bet this will look great in IMAX.

5. Blade Runner 2049 (October 6th)

It seems like most of the time a sequel comes out so far after the first film, they're rarely good. I'm thinking this one will be different. Blade Runner is a sci-fi masterpiece and this is a movie that could fail in the wrong hands but this one is in the right hands. Denis Villeneuve will be in the director's chair and has recently proven to be one of the best in the business. He's built up quite a filmography over the years that include Prisoners, Sicario, and one of the best films of 2016, Arrival. Not much is known yet but there is a short teaser trailer out. Ryan Gosling will star and Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Deckard. Also, in the cast are Jared Leto, Robin Wright, and Dave Bautista.

4. Logan (March 3rd)

It's gonna be tough seeing Hugh Jackman hang up the claws as Wolverine. He's been so dedicated to the role for so long it's been admirable. However, it looks like he's going to go out with a bang. Logan is taking a page from Deadpool's book and going with an R rating here. It will be better for it. The grittiness and violent nature of the character and the film are fitting. I also love the western vibe the movie puts off. Will Wolverine ride off into the sunset?

3.) Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7th)

I know it seems like there's been a lot of Spider-Man movies lately after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield both took turns as the character but I feel like the character is in good hands here with Marvel where he belongs. The casting of Tom Holland was brilliant. Prior to being cast as Spider-Man he held his own in The Impossible along side an Oscar nominated Naomi Watts, then became one of the best parts in a crowded Civil War. I also like how he looks a high school aged person unlike the last two actors. The movie has been described as being more of a high school centered movie along the lines of a John Hughes film just about a superhero. Another thing I'm really looking forward is seeing another new villain. Here we get Michael Keaton as the vulture. Robert Downey Jr. looks to have a big role as Tony Stark as well. So much to look forward to here.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (May 5th)

The first Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorite movies of all time. That's why this comes in so high for me. There's no reason to suggest this won't be more of the same. The gang is back, even Groot, now Baby Groot. Kurt Russell is in here as we finally learn who Star-Lord's father is. Another great soundtrack is in line. This will be one of the most fun blockbusters of the year.

1. Star Wars: Episode VIII (December 15th)

It's not every year we get a new Star Wars film. Actually, wait, yeah it is. In 2015 we got The Force Awakens and in 2016 we got the first of the Star Wars anthology films, Rogue One. Episode VIII will bring us back to where we left off after the Force Awakens. Well get more of Rey and Kylo Ren and even get more of Luke Skywalker. Adam Driver recently suggested this movie have no trailers and as hard as it would be, I'd be all for that. Imagine going into this film without having seen any footage or anything? This will also be a sad film as it will be the last time we'll get to see the late Carrie Fisher on screen.