10. 20th Century Women (Directed by Mike Mills)
If there is one genre that time and time again proves to be my go to genre, it's the quirky indie family coming of age dramedy. I mean some of my favorite films of the last few years (Other People, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, just to list a few.) easily fit this mold. The latest film from Mike Mills appears to fit in this general mold, at least from the trailer. Plus you throw in one of my favorite actresses Greta Gerwig (My personal Best Supporting Actress winner of 2015 for Mistress America.) and test screenings say the script is phenomenal as well. This has all the makings of a film perfectly made for my taste.
9. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (Directed by Ang Lee)
Billy Lynn would have been much higher on this list a couple weeks ago, but it premiered to really lackluster reviews and so some of my anticipation has worn off. However Ang Lee is a master and has earned my trust. The film supposedly has a satirical bent to it, even though the trailer does not play that way at all. This had a lot of buzz for going The Hobbit route of using a higher frame rate per second, but a lot of reviews have stated the problems mostly lie in the story and script itself. But Ang Lee is worth the ticket price alone, and featuring Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Steve Martin in supporting roles is even more of a cherry on top.
8. Manchester by the Sea (Directed by Kenneth Lonergan)
Honestly I'm not a huge fan of this trailer. (What is that song? WHY?) However after 2011's Margaret which is one of the decade's best films well I have to sign up for Lonergan's next. The reviews out of Sundance were raves, and I'm always down to see a film starring the superior Affleck.
7. Silence (Directed by Martin Scorsese)
Scorsese's passion project is finally being brought to life. This would be higher, but with just about a month to release we still have no trailer, and I've tried to avoid spoilers so I have little to go on. However this will probably be fantastic so I'm excited.
6. Passengers (Directed by Morton Tyldum)
Sometimes we just need a big popcorn movie, and this looks like a fun time at the movies. Lawrence and Pratt seem like a potentially iconic pairing, and it's nice to see a big budget original film that isn't another Star Wars or Superhero film. I hope this is successful so that if we're going to continue to see these huge blockbusters well at least more of them will be original. Plus this was also Lawrence's big paycheck and it will be nice to see her continue to fight for payment equality in Hollywood.
5. Moonlight (Directed by Barry Jenkins)
This is the best reviewed film of the year, and in this new era of divided times it's refreshing to see a tale of a young African-american gay man growing up and trying to find his place in the world. Like I've said before I love coming of age stories, and this one with its divided three act structure of the different periods of his life seems like it might be taking the genre in a different direction. The reviews and buzz around the film is just so big it's impossible to not be excited for it.
4. Nocturnal Animals (Directed by Tom Ford)
A Single Man was fantastic so I have faith in Tom Ford as a director. The material seems off the wall and unhinged and if the music from the trailer is in the film then the score should be fantastic as well. Jake has been in a lot of interesting films lately, he seems to be picking scripts really well. However Amy Adams has taken the top spot from Marisa Tomei as my favorite working actor, so I guess you can say she's the #1 selling point for me. What a trailer!
3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Directed by David Yates)
Y'all have your thousands of Marvel films and Star Wars films, I'll take my thousands of Harry Potter films. It will be good to be back in J.K. Rowling's world.
2. Jackie (Directed by Pablo Larrain)
A Biopic is in my Top 2 most anticipated films of the season? WHAT? Yeah well, it's a genre I normally avoid if possible, but everything about this seems like it has potential to be film of the year. Supposedly this breaks biopic rules and is just a masterful film. Portman has out of this world reviews and this trailer is just killer. Plus the Kennedys are always interesting to learn more about.
1. La La Land (Directed by Damien Chazelle)
This has all the makings of being my film of the year. If there is one type of film I love more than the coming of age story, it is the story of the ~STAR~. In La La Land, Stone plays a woman trying to get her big break as an actress. You throw in Ryan Gosling who has already proven has great chemistry with Stone in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Both are two of my favorite actors working today and seem perfect for this material. It's also interesting to see an original musical, since we barely get those anymore and when we do they seem to kind of float on by without much impact. La La Land however is Chazelle's follow-up to Whiplash and seems to be his ticket to Oscar glory. This will more than likely snag a bunch of awards on Oscar night including Picture, Director and Actress. Plus throw in a slew of tech awards. I really cannot wait for this film.
