Top 15 Upcoming Films of 2018

Fall is almost here, which means awards season! Most of the heavy-hitting films will be released in the next few months, and there are several that excite me. What am I most looking forward to seeing through the end of the year?

Honorable Mentions: Beautiful Boy and Boy Erased

I was initially stoked about both of these films when they were announced. Timothee Chalamet and Lucas Hedges are both talented rising young stars in the industry, and both have finally been given a vehicle to show off their chops. Reception has been lukewarm to both, however, with worrisome terms like “Oscar bait” being thrown around. I’ll likely still see both of them, if only because the acting has been praised in spite of shoddy and sentimental narratives. Chalamet in particular has emerged as a front-runner in the Best Supporting Actor race and outshines even a veteran like Steve Carell in every scene. Only time will tell if they can make an impact with a wider audience.

#15. A Star Is Born

I don’t typically enjoy musicals OR reboots, so there’s only so high this film can climb on my anticipation list, but people who have seen the film thus far have given it high praise. Lady Gaga has already proven that she can act in American Horror Story, and now she gets a chance to shine on the silver screen (and likely earn Academy favor as well). This is also actor Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, often a red flag, but apparently he knows what he’s doing behind the camera as well as in front of it. Be prepared for this movie to make a metric shit-ton of money; it’s like the mainstream version of The Greatest Showman which defied poor reviews with a massive box office haul. Many expect this to be a front-runner for Best Picture and Best Actress as well, and that gives me enough reason to set aside my prejudices and see how Hollywood has reacted to the resurgence of musicals in the mainstream. Thanks a lot, La La Land!

#14. Green Book

This film was not on my radar whatsoever until last weekend, when it won the top prize of People’s Choice Award at TIFF 2018, upsetting what many believed to be the de facto fan favorites (If Beale Street Could Talk, Roma, First Man, and A Star is Born). The prize is seen as a solid prognosticator of a Best Picture nomination (or winner); past winners include Three Billboards, La La Land, 12 Years A Slave and The King’s Speech. The period drama centers around the true story of a white club bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) who escorts an esteemed black musician (Mahershala Ali) through the Jim Crow-era South. It looks to tackle heavy themes of race and identity, though perhaps with a tad bit of oversentimentality, a la 2016’s Hidden Figures. Regardless, I’m intrigued enough to give it a crack when it hits theaters in November. (WARNING: if you want to go into the movie fresh, don’t watch the trailer, as it appears to give away the entire film.)

#13. Bohemian Rhapsody

I’m a big fan of the TV show Mr. Robot, and by extension, of Rami Malek. He’s perfectly suited for the muted, withdrawn hacker of the show, so I was surprised to hear that he’s portraying the bombastic Freddie Mercury on the silver screen. I’ll try to reserve my bitterness that it’s not Sacha Baron Cohen playing the singer (a perfect casting if there ever was one) and hold on to cautious optimism that Malek can pull off the charismatic persona. I’ll be interested to see how the film handles its behind-the-scenes fiascos, including lengthy reshoots and the mounting allegations against director Brian Singer. Hopefully the film can transcend these issues and deliver an engaging story of one of the biggest bands of all time, without sinking into melodrama or avoiding the salacious details that make Mercury’s life so compelling.

#12. The Sisters Brothers

I was not overly-thrilled by the trailers, but the star-studded cast of misfits gave me enough to look forward to. Imagine my relief when the film was well-received at festivals and isn’t the disaster it could have been! It isn’t being heralded as a major awards contender or a genre-defining Western, but it should be a fun romp in the hay nonetheless. I’ve long admired John C. Reilly’s career and his ability to fluctuate between drama and comedy with ease, and I can’t wait to see his chemistry with Joaquin Phoenix, one of the best character actors of our generation. Also of note are Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed, both of whom I’ve adored since 2014’s Nightcrawler and I hope they share many dysfunctional on-screen moments together.

#11. If Beale Street Could Talk

Moonlight was my favorite film of 2016, and Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of a James Baldwin novel is supposedly a worthy follow-up. It follows the struggles of a young black couple as the man is incarcerated for false rape accusation while the woman is pregnant with their first child. While the original novel came out in the 70’s, its themes are still largely relevant today, and it makes sense why Jenkins would be so drawn to the project in today’s heated racial and political climate. Jenkins is a film nerd…and when I say “film”, I mean literal, physical film. His works often experiment with the very medium of film stock, taking inspiration from obscure eastern cinema to produce some beautiful visual effects that I can’t wait to see. The film was a runner-up for the People’s Choice awards at this year’s TIFF, and it’s likely on a fast track to greater acclaim later this year.

#10. The Old Man & the Gun

David Lowery is one of the hottest up-and-coming indie filmmakers at the moment after last year’s critical darling A Ghost Story and old Sundance favorite Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. And speaking of Sundance, it stars festival chairman Robert Redford as Forrest Tucker, a real-life career criminal and escape artist. It is reportedly Redford’s final film before he retires from cinema, and a helluva departure if early reviews are to be believed. He and co-star Sissy Spacek are sure to be in the acting conversation next February, and I’m excited to see how Lowery tackles a more straightforward story while infusing it with his more outlandish arthouse style.

#9. Under the Silver Lake

Andrew Garfield’s latest starring role is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, who also created the sleeper horror flick It Follows (2015). I’m intrigued by the premise and the neo-noir sensibilities as Garfield’s character scours Los Angeles for a missing crush, taking him down a rabbit-hole of symbology and mystery. It bears narrative similiarities to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (2014), which I liked but didn’t love (I’m not a huge Pynchon fan); hopefully this one will have a bit more narrative cohesion. It’s notable that the film’s release date was bumped back to December after an initial summer rollout plan; that could be either good news for the film’s quality or a red flag for its incompletion. I’m excited nonetheless and hope it’s worth the wait.

#8. Bad Times at the El Royale

I’m a fan of mystery-thrillers, I’m a fan of original big-budget stories, and I’m a fan of Drew Goddard’s screenplays. What’s not to love? Not much is understood about the plot of this film besides the basic setup, but it looks like an off-the-wall crime drama in the vein of Tarantino. It’s Goddard’s first time in the directing chair, but he’s proven his writing chops before with films like Cloverfield, Cabin in the Woods, and The Martian…not to mention TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, and Daredevil. Next to Aaron Sorkin, he’s probably the closest thing to a recognizable celebrity as a screenwriter can get. An all-star cast and a (hopefully) unpredictable story should make this a fun experience.

#7. Mid90s

Mid90s is the writing and directing debut of actor Jonah Hill, following an underprivileged teen in (you guessed it) the mid-90’s. Hill’s career has fascinated me thus far; he began as a screwball comedy actor/comic relief character in the Judd Apatow multiverse, but has since fought to break the mold with several Oscar-nominated dramatic acting performances. I have reason to believe he has writing talent as well; he’s spent the past decade and a half around some of the best comedy writers of this generation, and allegedly had a big hand in crafting the story and dialogue of some of his own hit films like 21 Jump Street. While I’m a bit put-off by the generic title and apparent nostalgia overload of the trailer, I’m optimistic that Hill can deliver an engaging experience on his own.

#6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

I’ve recently converted to a Coen Brothers acolyte and binged their entire filmography, as they’ve proven able to deliver hit movie after hit movie. Their career-defining works are among some of my favorite films (The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, Fargo) while even their less-mainstream films (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Serious Man, Hail, Caesar!) remain fun watches in their own rights. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was supposed to be a Netflix anthology series but was re-edited as a single, 2.5-hour film and submitted for awards consideration. Early reviews indicate that it isn’t their best film, but hey, many of their other films were sleeper hits that didn’t initially go over well either! I appreciate that I won’t have to leave my couch to watch this one in its entirety, and I’m looking forward to what they have in store for us this time.

#5. Vice

Of all the films coming out this year, Vice (previously titled Backseat) is by far the most secretive. It has not yet premiered, it has not released a trailer…hell, it hasn’t even released an official promotional image yet! Christian Bale transforms into Dick Cheney in what many are already predicting to be an Oscar-winning performance, and he is surrounded by a phenomenal ensemble cast including Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Carell. It is written and directed by Adam McKay, who won the Oscar for writing The Big Short in 2015, and this could herald a return to the awards conversation for him.

#4. Widows

Steve McQueen is finally making movies again after a long hiatus from 12 Years A Slave, and he’s now in a genre that I can fully get behind: the heist thriller! I was high on American Animals earlier this year, but it may be usurped as the best heist film of the year when the Viola Davis-led film hits theaters in December. I am stoked about nearly every aspect of this film: the genre, the premise, the director, the writer (Gone Girl‘s Gillian Flynn), and the ensemble cast. Critical reviews have been mostly positive but nothing to write home about, but in spite of that, you can bet I’ll be in line on opening day for this one.

#3. The Favourite

I never thought I’d see the day where a period piece makes it so high on my list of most anticipated films, but I also thought I’d never see Yorgos Lanthimos direct a period piece, either. The Greek filmmaker has made some rather odd movies in his career, but two of them (Dogtooth and The Lobster) netted him Oscar nominations for his troubles. The Favourite follows Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone), two real-life royals who vie for the attention of their mutual cousin, the lonely and rather pouty Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). It’s drawn rave reviews so far for the off-the-charts acting and humor, with all three actresses jockeying for position in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress races. As a fan of Lanthimos’s work, I’m excited to see what he brings to the project as a director but not a writer, and as a fan of dark comedies, I’m cautiously optimistic about the film as a whole.

#2. Roma

Much like Steve McQueen, Alfonso Cuaron has more or less disappeared in the last five years. After winning Best Director for the otherworldly Gravity in 2013, he returned to his roots and crafted a contained drama about a Mexican family in the 1970’s. The film has already been lauded by critics as one of the best films of the year and among Cuaron’s all-time best, which is high praise considering his fantastic body of work. Four of the last five Best Director awards have gone to Mexican filmmakers, and Cuaron could continue the “dynasty” with this one. It could also legitimately become the first non-English language film to win Best Picture, which would be a historic feat. And best of all, the film is coming to Netflix, which should hopefully expose the film to an even wider audience than normal!

#1. First Man

I’m an unabashed Damien Chazelle fanboy, if you couldn’t already tell, and I’ll be the first in line to see this one on opening day. Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in this biopic about the first moon landing. While we already know how the film will end (spoiler alert: they succeeded), critics have lauded the film for its tension and visual spectacle. Gosling could earn his first Oscar for the leading role, while Claire Foy could also turn heads as his wife in her highest-profile role to date. It’s also written by Josh Singer, who won his first Oscar for 2015’s Spotlight, so he’s apparently pretty good at the whole adaptation thing. I’m not usually into the whole IMAX/3D/Dolby Atmos fad, but this kind of film might be worthy of shelling out the extra cash for the full immersive experience.

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There you have it! I plan on seeing all of these films as they come out, so check back over the coming months for my reviews. What films are you most looking forward to from the fall/winter lineup?

-Austin Daniel

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