As I look back, my assessments of the movies of 2017 was pretty much spot-on. I certainly didn't know what to think about some, I still haven't seen others, and I only finished watching Blade Runner 2049 literally last night. But overall my predictions were good. Now, let's look forward to the rest of this year.
2/16: Black Panther - I won't be able to see this in the theater this weekend, but I'm wishing I could. I'm all-in on Marvel movies, and I've heard early buzz that this one is supposed to be pretty good. Plus, it's the immediate lead-up to Infinity War, which is the big enchilada of the Marvel cinematic universe.
2/23: Annihilation - Sounds interesting, but I'm wary that it might not be very good. There's a big ole mystery depicted in the trailer, and I'm very aware that so many times when the mystery is revealed, it turns out to be kind of dumb. Plus, it sounds like the movie might end with no real resolution, leaving us to wait for the sequel to find stuff out.
The real interesting thing about this one is that apparently, the movie will be available on Netflix 17 days after it hits the theaters. This means March 12th? But the article seems to indicate that it might not be available in the U.S. at that time. So messed up.
3/2: Death Wish remake - The Bruce Willis trailer got rammed down my throat in a YouTube ad. Seems like the kind of thing I might put on in the background while painting warmachine miniatures.
3/9: A Wrinkle in Time - I'll likely watch this one with my kids after it's out on video, although I'm not sure my 6-year-old will be able to handle it. This book was assigned reading for me in 6th grade, and my older daughter has read it as well.
3/23: Pacific Rim Uprising - I was a big fan of the original, but I'm wary that this one may do the same thing as the Indepednence Day sequel. I'm hopeful but wary.
3/29: Ready Player One - I'm a huge fan of the book, having read it twice. It's hugely pandering in its adoration of 1980s pop culture, and I've seen a number of complaints about the story and its main character, but sometimes you just need to let all that go, doff the hater-pants, and enjoy the enjoyable parts. I don't know whether the movie will be all special effects and no heart, or whether the lead actor is too much of a body builder to pull off nerdy Wade Watts, but I'm going to check it out.
4/20: Super Troopers 2 - I did see the first one. I didn't love it as much as everyone else. I'll probably check this out eventually.
5/4: Infinity War - My most anticipated movie of the year. I'll be there opening day if I'm able.
5/18: Untitled Deadpool Sequel - This is probably the final name of the actual movie. I probably won't see it in the theater, although I really did like the first one a lot.
5/25: Solo - I'm a lot less excited for this Star Wars spinoff than everyone else seems to be. Donald Glover as Lando seems pretty cool, but overall, color me jaded.
6/15: Incredibles 2 - Sure. The first one was great, and Pixar always puts out good stuff. Maybe we'll bring the kids.
6/22: Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom - The first Jurassic World was surprisingly good, but this one looks just dumb.
6/6: Ant-Man and the Wasp - I'm pretty excited for this one, if only to see what's going on post-Infinity War.
7/27: Mission Impossible 14 or something - Seriously? Another one? Aren't they up to fourteen by now? I mean, I actually do really like Tom Cruise's acting, but this franchise needs to just end.
8/3: The Predator - This is apparently a reboot slash sequel. While the original movie was fantastic, the sequels were all garbage. I'm hopeful that this one will be decent, but who knows?
8/10: Scarface - Another remake. Seriously.
8/24: Slenderman - Generic horror movie with this internet-born meme slapped onto it. You know it will do well in the theater, but I'm not expecting anything actually good.
10/5: Venom - Really odd that they decided to focus the film on Venom rather than Spider-Man. It's unclear whether Spider-Man will have any involvement whatsoever. This film isn't connected in any way to the MCU, which to me is really to its detriment.
10/18: Halloween - Check this out.
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
Another sequel. Wow. John Carpenter is involved. So Jamie Lee Curtis did the original in 1978, a sequel in 1981, the 20-years-later one in 1998, and yet another sequel in 2002. Now we get a 40-years-later one? Sheesh!
11/2: X-Men Dark Phoenix - I'm not sure about this. They did the Phoenix thing in the first incarnation of X-Men, and it was the worst of that trilogy. This would be #4 of this series. First class was meh. Days of Future Past was excellent, largely because of the incorporation of the original cast. The Apocalypse one was pretty bad. I'm not expecting great things from this one.
11/21: Wreck-It Ralph 2 - I liked the original. I'm expecting more of the same. Nothing that will blow me away, but a solid kids' movie.
12/21: Aquaman - Oh, DC. You just keep trying. Well, I wish you luck.
Wait, you didn't like Predator 2? I do not know why, but I always liked that one too. Probably Gary Busey.
I rewatched Jurassic World the other day...not sure it was very good. I went back and read what I wrote, I guess I wasn't impressed then either.
Obviously I am pumped for Infinity War...too bad CT & PA weren't closer, I would suggest seeing it together (I mean, c'mon, you will be the only one to comment on my post about the movie, haha....or maybe we could do a collaborative post about it...just a thought)
I did not end up seeing Annihilation, and I feel bad for that. Not because I think it was going to be great or anything, but because as you said "Another remake." Studios go with remakes/reboots/sequels because it is safer than going for something original (I know that you know that), and it sucks. Because we (the movie goers) constantly feed into it. Alex Garland is trying to make sci-fi films that are not Star Wars or MCU (but it will be a matter of time before Disney hires him to direct something in one of those universes). There are others too, and as good sci-fi fans, we need to see them. Be critical of them, but still go out and see them (again, not a criticism of you, as I said, I didn't go out and see it).
Okay, rant over.