Most Anticipated Movies – Rest of 2016

With the second half of 2016 in full swing, it’s time to look at the movies ahead.  This is the time of the year when the summer blockbusters dwindle down and we get into Oscar season, which is my personal favorite time of the movie year.  A lot of exciting movies coming out this fall, with tons of big named actors and directors.  So many, in fact, that I probably could have made a top twenty or even thirty.  But, I narrowed it to ten, because it had to be done.  So without further ado, here are my most anticipated movies coming out the second half of 2016.

 

 

HONORABLE METION – THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Nate Parker, October 7)

I already saw The Birth of a Nation at Sundance this year, so I felt like it would be cheating to list it here.  I have gushed and gushed about this movie since I saw it.  This is far and away the best movie of 2016 so far and it is going to be hard for any film to beat it.  This has Oscar written all over it, and is the coming out party for the great Nate Parker.  I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding Parker and the movie, but I urge you to look past all that and see this movie.  Check out my full review right here, but I cannot wait to see it again when it comes out.

 

And now for the official Top 10…

 

 

10 – THE FOUNDER (John Lee Hancock, December 16)

The Founder tells the story of Ray Kroc, the man who decided to franchise the fast food empire that is McDonalds.  Michael Keaton plays Kroc and that’s really the ultimate selling point.  Keaton’s career resurgence with Birdman (2014) and Spotlight (2015) has placed the actor as one of the elites.  His performances are great and he’s making the right movies, as he was in the last two Best Picture winners.  Also, Nick Offerman could be a surprise playing one of the brothers who started McDonalds.  The Weinstein’s also moved it from an August release date to an Oscar-friendly December release date, which sounds like they have a lot of faith in Keaton and the film.  This is a movie that could make some noise come Oscar season.

 

9 – BLEED FOR THIS (Ben Younger, November 23)

The trailer for this film just dropped a week or two ago and man, does it look awesome.  Miles Teller stars in this true story about boxing champion Vinny Pazienza who, after a near fatal car accident that almost paralyzes him, makes an incredible comeback back to championship form.  Teller looks incredible, fierce and fit, as does Aaron Eckhart as Pazienza’s trainer.  The movie feels a lot like The Fighter (2010), which is one of my favorite boxing movies ever.  This has the potential to be a knockout.

 

8 – ALL EYEZ ON ME (Benny Boom, November 11)

I originally did not have All Eyez On Me on this list.  It seemed like this movie was just a forced creation off the high of Straight Outta Compton (2015).  But, after seeing two trailers, I can happily say, I was wrong.  All Eyez On Me looks spellbinding.  It is about the complex and fascinating life of rapper Tupac Shakur, played by Demetrius Shipp Jr., who looks and sounds so much like the late rapper, it’s scary.  I’m huge Pac fan and think he is one of the most interesting rappers to ever grace the mic.  He was smart, funny, angry, political, and poetic, and this movie is sure to capture it all.

 

 

 

7 – THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (Tate Taylor, October 7)

Talk about a chilling trailer, The Girl on the Train looks like Gone Girl (2014) 2.0.  Based on the best selling novel, that’s gotten raves from everyone who has read it, it follows a recently divorced alcoholic (Emily Blunt) who’s thrown into the thick of a missing persons case.  Emily Blunt is as good as actresses get today, and this looks like it could lead her to her much overdue first Oscar nomination.  Tate Taylor has done some good work, especially in The Help (2011), though I can’t help but think that David Fincher, Denis Villeneuve, or maybe a newer talent like JC Chandor or Scott Cooper, would have been better suited for it.  Regardless, this looks incredible.

 

 

6 – BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK (Ang Lee, November 11)

Ang Lee took some time off after winning his second Best Director Oscar for Life of Pi (2012). But he’s back now and doing things he’s never done before.  When Billy Lynn (Ben Alwyn) comes home for a victory tour after an epic battle in Iraq, we see through flashbacks what actually happened on his tour and how the horror of war contrasts with America’s perception.  We have an all-star cast, including Vin Diesel, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Steve Martin, and the movie looks like an emotional powerhouse.  And, Lee shot the film at 120 frames per second, which is new to the medium.  Mark this one as an early Oscar favorite.

 

 

5 – ROUGE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (Gareth Edwards, December 16)

I mean, it’s Star Wars, so I’m always going to be excited.  However, this Star Wars is going to be a little different.  This is the first origin story and, from what we heard, will include almost all new characters, minus Darth Vader, who is said to have an appearance.  I like the cast and the director, and the trailer looks super dark, like a legitimate war film.  The one issue I have with it is the re-shoots Disney forced after a test screening.  Re-shoots usually aren’t a good thing, so that has me slightly worried and the sole reason it isn’t higher on the list.

 

 

 

4 – ARRIVAL  (Denis Villeneuve, November 11)

Denis Villeneuve is one of the best directors working today.  With his masterpiece Prisoners (2013) and his cartel thriller Sicario (2015), he has become one of the most exciting directors to watch.  He now takes on the sci-fi genre, as a linguist (Amy Adams) is hired by the government to find out if the recently landed aliens are friendly or enemies.  Along with Adams, the film also stars Jeremy Renner, two actors that I love.  The trailer looks smart, inventive, and chilling, and is sure to shock us all.

 

 

3 – SILENCE (Martin Scorsese, December 23)

Finally, a release date!  After months of wondering if this movie was actually going to come out this year, we got official confirmation that it will be getting a December run.  WOO HOO!!!!  Martin Scorsese is my favorite director of all-time, so any movie he makes will always get me excited.  Dealing with Scorsese’s more religious side, this is about two Jesuit priests who face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to propagate Christianity and find their mentor.  This is a Scorsese passion project, having been trying to make it for years.  The last Scorsese passion project?  That would be 2002’s Gangs of New York, a film that literally changed my life forever.  The cast of Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, and Adam Driver is great and the movie will filled with beautiful Scorsese visuals and his classic raw, brutal violence.  Scorsese hit a new career peak with The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), so let’s see if the master can continue that streak with yet another masterpiece.

 

 

 

2 – FENCES (Denzel Washington, December 16)

Based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play, Fences is about a former African American baseball player (Denzel Washington) who struggles with race relations in the 1950’s while also coming to terms with life.  Washington’s first two directorial efforts, Antwone Fisher (2003) and The Great Debaters (2007), were both very good films and showed Washington was just as good behind the camera as we was in front of it.  Along with directing, Washington stars in the film with the great Viola Davis, both of whom won Tony’s for the same roles.  The trailer looks phenomenal, promising great acting on tough subjects.  This is going to be an acting tour-de-force and one of 2016’s best.

 

 

1 – LA LA LAND (Damien Chazelle, December 16)

Damien Chazelle bursted on to the cinematic scene with his musical war film Whiplash in 2014.  Whiplash is one of my favorite movies of the decade and one of my favorite movies of all-time, so of course I am going to be ecstatic for his follow up.  This is a 1950’s-style musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.  Sold!  I am a sucker for a good musical.  I actually don’t know if I’ve ever seen one that I hated.  It’s a period piece and the pairing of Gosling and Stone is perfect.  These two have spectacular chemistry, as seen in Crazy Stupid Love (2011) and Gangster Squad (2013).  This is going to be a lovely ode to classic cinema and I cannot wait.

 

 

 

What movies are your most anticipated movies of the second half of 2016?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.