Weekend Roundtable: 2017 Movies You’re Looking Forward To

For our first Roundtable of January, let’s try to start the year on an optimistic note. What upcoming movies are you most anticipating in 2017?

If you haven’t paid much attention to the movies coming out this year, this Wikipedia page is a good start.

Shannon Nutt

I’ll get the obvious out of the way and say that, yes, I’m really looking forward to ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’, even despite the fact that I’m one of the few who really didn’t care for ‘Rogue One’.

Other than that, the movie I’m really excited to see is ‘Logan’, thanks to that kick-ass trailer that promises a much darker tone than we’ve seen in any other ‘X-Men’ (or ‘Wolverine’) movie. Of all the superhero movies being released in 2017, it’s by far the one I’m anticipating the most and I think may turn out to be one of the year’s best films (superhero or otherwise).

M. Enois Duarte

In order of those I’m most enthusiastic about, these are the films I’m willing to pay theater price to watch on the big screen in 2017:

‘Blade Runner 2049’
‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’
‘Logan’
‘Wonder Woman’
‘War for the Planet of the Apes’
‘Dunkirk’
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’
‘John Wick: Chapter 2’
‘Ghost in the Shell’
‘Justice League’
‘Beauty and the Beast’
‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’
‘The Dark Tower’
‘The Mummy’
‘Despicable Me 3’
‘The Great Wall’

Luke Hickman

My Most Anticipated Comic Book Movie: ‘Logan’ – Forgetting how bad the first standalone Wolverine movie was, the trailer for ‘Logan’ looks like it just might be the best comic book movie ever made. The director has confirmed that it will be rated R for violence, which points to Fox allowing the filmmakers to give this one an edge. It won’t be obnoxiously profane like ‘Deadpool’, but it also won’t be cheery formulaic family fun like the Marvel Studios movies.

My Most Anticipated Science Fiction Movie: Tie between ‘Alien: Covenant’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’ – Many viewers had major issues with ‘Prometheus’. While I see the flaws in it, I still think its strengths outweigh its weaknesses. Although I wish it was a straightforward sequel to ‘Prometheus’ (who’s to say that it’s not?), I’m very excited to see where the follow-up film takes it. As for ‘Blade Runner’, after seeing Denis Villenueve’s ‘Arrival’ and the teaser for this new sequel, I’m 100% on-board.

My Most Anticipated Blockbuster: ‘The Mummy’ – C’mon. It can’t be any worse than the Brendan Frasier ones, can it? Aside from the bland ‘Jack Reacher’ sequel, Tom Cruise has been on a role for the last several years. Maybe, just maybe, this ‘Mummy’ will be worthwhile.

My Most Anticipated Movie of the Year: ‘Dunkirk’ – I love all Christopher Nolan movies. They walk the balance between crowd-pleasing blockbusters and arthouse cerebral cinema.

Seeing him tackle an amazing World War II story makes me wish it was July already. As I did for ‘Interstellar’, I’ll be road-tripping just to catch this one on a 70 mm IMAX screen.

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk)

As a lifelong comic book geek, I’m particularly excited about ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’. The ‘Thor’ movies haven’t exactly ranked among Marvel’s best, but I’m looking forward to ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ just the same, particularly because of the spectacular ‘Planet Hulk’ storyline being woven into it somehow. Though I prefer four-color fun over the dark and dour, ‘Logan’ very much has my attention, especially given the up-until-the-third-act strength of what James Mangold delivered a few years ago with ‘The Wolverine’.

As far as the Distinguished Competition goes, I’ll give ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League’ a fair shot, although I’m far more optimistic about the former than the latter. On the very different end of the comic spectrum, I’m intrigued by the adaptation of Daniel Clowes’ ‘Wilson’.

I haven’t kept up with ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ all that much, but the gloriously over-the-top havoc wrought in the first movie made it such an immediate favorite that I’m all-in for the sequel regardless. Like pretty much everyone else on this roundtable, I have my eyes on ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and the as-yet-untitled ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’. I never got around to reading any of the books, but I don’t think I’ll be able to say no to the long overdue adaptation of ‘The Dark Tower’. This Edgar Wright fanboy can’t wait for ‘Baby Driver’. I love the cast and premise for ‘Table 19’, about an Island of Misfit Toys-style table at a wedding for guests everyone hoped wouldn’t make it. Alex Garland’s adaptation of ‘Annihilation’ sounds wonderfully daring.

At the risk of this response being unreadably long, I’m also interested in ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, ‘It Comes at Night’, ‘Split’, the live-action spin on ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (which I’ll be seeing with my wife no matter what), ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’, whatever ‘God Particle’ turns out to be, Pixar’s ‘Coco’, and whatever chance ‘Kong: Skull Island’ has of washing the taste of Peter Jackson’s bloated remake out of my mouth.

Josh Zyber

I saw 1 ¼ movies in the theater in 2016. (A misguided attempt to take my kids on their first theatrical outing did not go particularly well.) Realistically, I doubt that I’ll do much better this year. Most of the upcoming movies that interest me, I’ll wind up catching on Blu-ray or Netflix.

If I only pay to see one movie in the theater this year, it will be ‘Blade Runner 2049’. The original is one of my favorite films and, honestly, I was pretty relieved when I heard that Ridley Scott handed the reins of the belated sequel to Denis Villeneuve. I’m eager to see what he cooks up.

If I can squeeze in a date movie, it’ll probably be ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’. Surprisingly, my wife had as much fun with the first one as I did, and I know I can talk her into seeing the next one.

I’m unlikely to make it to a theater for them, but I’m already prepared to blind-buy ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’ and ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ on Blu-ray. The ‘Resident Evil’ franchise is one of my great guilty pleasures and the last couple made fantastic 3D eye candy. I really hope that the new ‘John Wick’ can live up to the first movie and isn’t a ‘Jack Reacher 2’ fiasco.

Tell us what movies you most want to see in 2017.

13 comments

  1. Bolo

    Stuff I am really excited to see and will head out to see in cinemas:
    – Ghost in the Shell
    – Fast & Furious 8: The F8 of the Furious
    – Valerian & The City of a Thousand Planets
    – Blade Runner 2049

    Stuff I will definitely catch at some point:
    – War for the Planet of the Apes
    – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
    – Baywatch
    – John Wick 2

    Stuff I am willing to watch if it’s on an airplane:
    – Kong: Skull Island
    – Power Rangers
    – Guardians of the Galaxy 2
    – The Mummy

    • Bolo

      I’m really baffled as to why they’re remaking ‘The Beguiled’. Not because I have some hard objection to them doing it, more because it’s a relatively obscure movie that doesn’t exactly seem like it would have any commercial appeal today.

  2. Logan is at the tippity top for me. Coming from someone who’s grown up with the X-Men franchise and has always loved High Jackman’s take on the character, it’s going to make for a really bittersweet viewing experience. Still, it looks like a hell of a send off and I can’t wait to see it come March (and probably bring a box tissues to go along with the viewing).

    I’m also really excited for Alien Covenant, Dunkirk, Star Wars Episode VIII and Split. Get Out looks like a nutty blast while I’m also very interested in seeing Guillermo Del Toro’s newest film The Shape of Water. Free Fire looks like fun, even though I was not a fan of Ben Wheatley’s High Rise. A Cure for Wellness and Valerian also look pretty cool.

    And I hope to GOD Wonder Woman turns out decent. It would be such a massive relief if it did, considering how much WB has been rushing/mucking up their own franchise and how great it would be to see a woman director knock it out of the park with a big budget female centered action flick.

  3. EM

    At the moment I most look forward to Studio Ghibli’s The Red Turtle. This is actually a 2016 film, but here in the US it’s a 2017 release. It’s a reportedly dialogueless adventure film about a castaway.

    Unlike a lot of grownups, I really dug Cars. I found Cars 2 visually splendid but otherwise unfortunate. I’m cautiously eyeing Cars 3, which so far looks like it might be going back to basics, putting Lightning back in the driver’s seat (so to speak) and leaving Mater as a sidekick, while turning the tables on Lightning as he becomes the grizzled racing veteran. Fingers crossed.

    I’m curious about Josh’s ¼ experience. If he’s blogged about it, I missed it. Josh, maybe you need to find a drive-in?

  4. Definitely Dunkirk for me. I’m pretty bored with most of the Marvel movies at this point, but I do want to see Guardians 2. I’ll probably catch Logan on bluray. John Wick 2 is maybe highest on my list after Dunkirk and SW8. Blade Runner will be a must-IMAX.
    Definitely not interested in Beauty & The Beast, Ghost In The Shell, Wonder Woman, Fate Of The Furious (or XxX for that matter), Rings, Kong, Alien:Covenant, or Transformers.

  5. Thulsadoom

    To actually see at the cinema…
    Resident Evil – As Josh said, it’s a guilty pleasure. I know they’re not great, but I enjoy the heck out of them. 🙂
    Blade Runner 2049 – Original is one of my favourites, so I definitely want to see it, though I don’t want to get my hopes to high. It really didn’t need a sequel, and I’m not a fan of the bland Gosling.
    Alien: Covenant – As disappointed as I was with Prometheus, Ridley still made it look incredible, so I’m hoping he’s got a good script this time.
    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Like others, I found the first great fun, even if not the best thing ever. So it should make for great eye candy.

    Probables…
    Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets – looks completely absurd but great fun!

    Maybes…
    The Mummy – Forget the scientology thing, I actually like a lot of Tom Cruise’s movies. Edge of Tomorrow and Oblivion were a couple of the better sci-fi movies of recent years. The trailer for this made me a little curious.
    Logan – I’m a bit worn out on seeing the same superhero/comic movie churned out with different costumes, actors and titles. However, I’m vaguely curious about this, after the trailer.
    Wonder Woman – My other half will definitely want to see this, so may end up seeing at the cinema.

    Rental/Blu Ray
    War for the Planet of the Apes – I love the original and enjoy its sequels. So far I’ve reasonably enjoyed the new ones, so I’ll probably get this to add to the collection, but it just looks like a war movie that happens to have apes.
    Dunkirk – I’m actually quite curious about this, even though I tend to find Nolan films vastly overrated.
    Ghost in the Shell – Curious, though I’m not a massive anime fan. I suspect it’ll look pretty and not a lot else.
    Star Wars Episode VIII – It’s no secret that I thought TFA was one of the worst films I’ve seen in a long time (a hard thing to say, as a huge Star Wars fan). So I’ll be awaiting rental on this with trepidation. I said I wouldn’t see Rogue One at the cinema, but capitulated when my other half wanted to see it, and luckily didn’t regret it. But at least Rogue One was a completely different story and characters. This is a sequel to one of the worst blockbusters in years, and my other half thought TFA was awful as well, so I doubt we’ll see it at the cinema….

  6. eric

    I will probably only see SW VIII in the theatre.

    I am looking forward to these making it to my home theatre, and they better all arrive in UHD and with Dolby Atmos.

    ‘Blade Runner 2049’
    ‘Logan’
    ‘Alien:Covenant’
    ‘John Wick: Chapter 2’
    ‘Ghost in the Shell’
    ‘The Dark Tower’
    ‘The Mummy’
    ‘Replicas’
    ‘Wonder Woman’
    ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’
    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’
    ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’
    ‘The Great Wall’

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