There have been some excellent films that were released in 2017. Robert Zemeckis’ Allied, for instance, is an engaging WWII spy thriller created in Zemeckis’s seamless style and with the flawless Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. In comparison, The Edge of Seventeen and La La Land are more intriguing films. Both are based on sweet routine narratives – a tidal out-of-water teenage drama in The Edge of Seventeen and a sweet romantic musical in La La Land. However, the style of both films conflicts with their narratives and causes a dissonant and productive effect on the viewers.
The Edge of Seventeen – made in Canada. It is full of dark suburban photos taken in a muted palette under dark skies and gray light. The feel-good narrative is frequently in conflict with the mood of the picture. The widespread usage of lenses with wide angles in La La Land – which blur straight lines, creating an illusion of disassociation for the viewer due to their obstructing of traditional perspective – is also a challenge to the simple narrative of nostalgia.
The films with smaller budgets
Let’s begin with the lesser-known films. Moonlight is a coming-of-age film that follows an unassuming black man who lives in a difficult Miami neighborhood and looks like an intense drama, even if it is a bit too “actorly.” It is also a timely film due to the escalating race tensions in the US in the past few years. An Animal’s Purpose, written by Lasse Hallstrom – who is the great producer behind The Cider House Rules (1999), The Shipping News (2001), and Hachi The Hachi: An Dog’s Tale (2009). The film follows the reincarnation of the dog’s spirit through different breeds, which is a genuinely bizarre concept to grab my attention. “The Red Turtle is a similarly low-key movie that is about an animal. It is the story of a shipwrecked person who is reunited with a gigantic red turtle.
The Red Turtle. IMDb
Other low-key films that appear like they could be promising are Detour, the most recent film from British Horror-thriller producer Christopher Smith; Lost in London directed and written by Woody Harrelson starring Willie Nelson and Owen Wilson (and, yes, Woody Harrelson); Get Out, a satiric horror film that focuses on the black-white relationship in the US and Table 19, the newest comedy by the hit as well as miss Duplass brothers, with the most intriguing premise – an event where a table is set to accommodate guests who everyone was hoping to not see; Raw, a French-Belgian horror film about a vegan student at a college who turns into an omnivore; My Cousin Rachel, an adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel that stars Rachel Weisz; and The Snowman is a crime-thriller based on Jo Nesbo’s book featuring Michael Fassbender, who, it seems is as enjoyable as ever.
There are, naturally, many big-budget films coming out, and some of them are quite impressive.
Kong Skull Island, featuring the current hot woman Brie Larson as well as man-of-the-moment Tom Hiddleston – both first-rate actors – appears to be an amazing film that is worth watching at the top of your list like the science-fiction action Ghost in the Shell Live-action version of the cult Japanese anime which caused controversy due to the choice for Scarlett Johannson in an Asian role. Guy Ritchie will probably approach the Round Table story in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword with the same enthusiasm since he’s an expert in (at at the very least visually) captivating cinema.
Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston in Kong: Skull Island. IMDb
The star and director of the razor-sharp action thriller Unknown (2011) The two main actors – Jaume Collett-Sera and Liam Neeson – reunite in The Commuter The Commuter. This different Neeson film follows the story of a “regular” guy who becomes caught up in a realm of violence and mystery. Why not revisit the same plot? The method, which was developed from British writer John Buchan’s Richard Hannay novels, makes the perfect film. I’m also excited about the upcoming movies The Coldest City, which is an action-packed spy thriller set in Berlin, as well as The Free Fire, an Action film by one of the most acclaimed directors of the moment, Ben Wheatley ( Kill List, A Field in England) which features Brie Larson once more.
Two films that are based on Stephen King novels also look great and are worth watching. The Dark Tower, with its western-themed fantasy, is suitable for a huge-scale adaptation. The story is about the infamous monster-clown Pennywise, which is one of his most popular books – it is being developed to be a big-screen film following its success as a television miniseries in the year 1990.
