I was happily typing away at my newest drawing diary, when I found out that the 5 Fandom Fridays are back! I used to love these, because they offer a different perspective to what I usually write about. So I dropped the drawing diary (you'll get that Monday) for this post about films. I know is not gaming, but who doesn't like movies? Here are five films (and some bonus ones) I'm excited for in 2017.
Episode VIII set (there's no trailer yet) by Adrian Dennis-WPA Pool/Getty IMages. Source.
1) Star Wars: Episode VIII
December 15th - Surprise (okay, not): the upcoming Star Wars movie! The Force Awakens really revitalized my love for Star Wars, even though the story was maybe a bit much like A New Hope. I love the characters, though, and am looking forward to what will happen to them, although the scenes with Carrie Fischer will no doubt be heartbreaking.
2) Guardians of the Galaxy 2
May the 5th - Ever since I took Rakuno's Marvel movie challenge, Guardians of the Galaxy has been my favourite Marvel movie. I can't wait to see Rocket Racoon on the big screen again!
3) Thor: Ragnarok
November 3rd - I never thought I would like Thor (I'm not such a fan of legend adaptations in films in general), but oh man was I wrong. Chris Hemsworth's Thor set loose in the modern world is simply brilliant ("Another one!" /smash mug). I'm also looking forward to Cate Blanchett as goddess of the underworld and the always amazing Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
Blade Runner 2049 trailer. Source.
4) Blade Runner 2049
October 6th - I watched the original Blade Runner for the first time last year, so the movie is still (relatively) fresh in my mind. Blade Runner 2049 supposedly continues the story in the future and it has Harrison Ford <3. Hopefully the sequel will live up to the expectations set by the original.
Beauty and the Beast trailer. Source.
5) Beauty and the Beast
March 17th - Beauty and the Beast was the first movie I ever saw in the cinema as a little girl and it was my favourite Disney movie for a long time. I could really identify with Belle, as my favourite thing was reading books. Emma Watson will be playing Belle in this adaptation by Disney, and I must admit that I have mixed feelings. She seems the perfect cast, but whether I'll love or hate the film will entirely depend on if she'll do the original Belle justice.
Bonus entries
There are more movies that I am, if not excited for, at the least curious about, such as Spiderman: Homecoming (July 7th). I never was a fan of previous Spiderman movies, but I did like the Spiderman of Civil War: he's really this young guy eager to prove himself like he is in the comics, as I'm led to believe by Conrad. Wonder Woman (June 2nd) I don't know much about other than that Conrad thinks the actress needs more muscle. Then there's Ghost in the Shell (July 2nd), a film version of the drawn classic. I saw the original a long time ago, and to be completely honest, I didn't understand much of it. I'll have to rewatch it one of these days and hopefully fare better. While researching upcoming movies in 2017 I bumped into Murder on the Orient Express (November 22nd). Although I'm not a super Agatha Cristie fan or something, I do enjoy whodunnits. I'm looking forward to seeing Derek Jacobi (one of my favourite actors ever since Cadfael) and it's going to be interesting to see Daisy Ridley in anything else than The Force Awakens. Also, apparently there is going to be a Power Rangers (March 24th) movie?!?! Oh my, I used to be such a fan of them in the 90's. /hide No comments on that one.
What movies are you excited for in 2017?
I am looking forward to most of those movies as well! :D
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel better, I usually don't like adaptations of legends in general either. So much that back in the days where I read comic books regularly, Thor was one of those I snubbed because I thought the whole concept was ridiculous. Now I know better and he had some pretty good stories. Then again that pretty much goes for any super-hero, it really depends on who is writing them.
I am surprised you never watched the original Blade Runner before. I watched it back when it was still relatively new, when it showed on TV. Granted I was a kid back then and too young to understand all the themes and all the great things that movie did... But anyway! The point it is one of the classics and it is one of those things one expects everybody to have watched by now. Although I guess that isn't such a guarantee anymore since we have millenials now...
I must admit that I never watched the other Spider-Man movies. Mostly because they came at a time where I was bitter about movie adaptations of comics. Doubly so because Spider-Man was always my favorite super-hero so if I watched I'd probably mostly like be nitpicking *everything*. I will probably give Homecoming a try though. If the trailer is any indication it might be one that gets the essence of Spider-Man: that no matter how bad things are he will try his best to save people and protect them from crazy super-villains.
I don't think I have any movie besides the ones you mentioned that I am looking forward this year. I am not much of a movie guy so I really have no idea what kind of movies are coming out.
Ever since you and Conrad have gotten me into the Marvel cinematic universe, I realized that superheroes are kind of today's heroes from the legends and fairytales. It all boils down to the hypothetical question: what would happen if there was a person who would have the supernatural power to do X? And the stories that emerge when exploring that question. When looking at it like that, it is not that far fetched to include Thor in the superhero universe. There is some beauty in that people, after all these centuries, are still interested in the same kind of stories, even though they are consumed in a different form (comics/movies versus storytelling).
DeleteAs for the Spiderman movies: you didn't miss anything, just move on. I'm convinced the 2017 one will be better than any of them. So far all the Marvel movies have consistently been of high quality, to an extent than even I, a non comic lover, enjoys them.
Are you really that surprised I didn't see Blade Runner, though? I'm hardly a movie addict, and there are so many classics! I think the only way I would see them all is if I'd make a plan for them, but for that it's not important enough for me: there are so many other things to spend time with! *cough* games *cough* Also, I just looked it up and I was -5 years old when Bladerunner was released. So when I reached the age to watch it, it was already pretty old.
Seeing super-heroes as modern-day legends and fairytales is an interesting point of view. I guess that makes sense when there is a pretty tight story arc like in the movies or graphic novels. In more traditional comic books though it is hard to me to see it that way since they are supposed to never end. So there isn't really a proper story arc and things tend to change back and forth, according to the whims of whoever is responsible for the comic at the time.
DeleteI do really hope so the Spider-man: Homecoming movie will be better. To me the hardest part will be to deal with a teenager Peter Parker who is still a newbie in the super-hero business. Granted, that is how Spider-man began in the comics but when I started reading them Spider-man was already an adult, struggling to make ends meet in his secret identity while already a veteran as a super-hero. So that is my point of reference for Spider-man.
Yeah, I guess I was a bit harsh there. Sorry about that. I guess it is one of those things where when you are part of a sub-culture you tend to assume everyone has experience it too. When they don't it kinda feels like the thing you cared about isn't that much of a big deal and with something older, like a piece of history is being forgotten, that you are getting older and there is a whole generation of people with different references of about what made such sub-culture interesting. Maybe I am exagerating a bit again but as I am getting older I am feeling that disconnect more and more. I will probably get over it eventually. On the plus side this also means that annoying fads tend to also be forgotten. Even more quickly. :p
To bring things back to the topic, I do agree with everyone else that part of me wants the new Blade Runner movie to be good. The other part feels very skeptical about it. It is been too long and the original was kinda like a snapshot of the time it was made.
Also, forgot to mention it before. But loved the trailer for Guardians of Galaxy 2 and the new Thor movie you linked in your post. :)
I'll write this response in parts, because it has the potential to end up being a blog post of its own. Part I:
DeleteI understand what you mean by the passing of time thing, and it happens to me as well on occasion. I try to see it from a more positive side, though. When I was young, I always thought my parents knew everything. There were so many things they had seen, heard and experienced. I felt very insignificant and secretly despaired at the prospect of having to catch up with all that. Now I'm growing older, I realize that the people around me of the same age don't know all those things either. And we in our turn know things that older people don't. There's no such thing as "things you must know" or "things you must see" in order to be a valued human being (even though many clickbaity internet posts seem to tell us differently - that's why I hate those :P). Things just simply come to pass and will be forgotten in the end. That can be discomforting, or at the worst alarming, but that's just how it is. It is not possible to know *everything* - I guess for that we'd have to be a computer. So the positive side I was talking about earlier out of all this is that I feel less stupid.
Of course I'm a super hypocrite for saying this, because I spend the majority of my time actually being trained to be a professional who's main job it is to recover those things that are forgotten, or almost forgotten! Which illustrates that there is a part of me that definitely believes this is a shame (for some things more so than others).
Oh, and don't feel like you were being too harsh, no offense was taken at all. It just honestly doesn't feel strange for me to be late to the party for a "must see" movie, because 1) I live under a rock and 2) I tend to get stubborn when the consensus is that you should've seen something. Insensitive to peer pressure and all that.
Obviously I'm also looking forward to the new Star Wars, though I haven't really gotten into the current superhero-mania, so I'm fairly indifferent to those.
ReplyDeleteIt's been ages since I saw the original Blade Runner, and the only thing that really stuck with me was that the music was amazing and in combination with Ridley Scott's directing it made portions of the film feel incredibly trippy, in a pretty way... it's the sort of classic where the thought of Hollywood trying to make a sequel to it now makes me cringe, but one can hope I guess.
The Beauty and the Beast thing just stirs up incredibly mixed feelings in me. My own first cinema experience was The Little Mermaid and I could identify with Ariel way more than I ever did with Belle - I always thought Belle's love for books seemed a little fake, considering she doesn't even flinch when that sheep starts eating her new book in the opening song! ;) Plus, never having been a pretty girl I couldn't relate to her pretty girl problems either...
Anyway, I still liked Beauty and the Beast too, it's just that I find this remake very confusing, as they are sticking so close to the original - the trailer shows multiple shot-for-shot recreations of scenes from the animated version - that I'm not entirely sure of the point...
Love your description of Blade Runner and totally agree with it. It's one of those movies of which you kinda hope there's never going to be a sequel... but then if one is announced I do hope it's going to be a good one! It's just going to be hard to achieve. Basically, out of this list I'm pretty sure 1, 2 and 3 are going to be enjoyable to watch either way, but for 4 and 5 it's going to be hit or miss.
Deletelol @ the sheep eating the book. I can just imagine a little Shintar sitting there and pointing: "this is totally not credible!" I never really noticed that detail. And although I never was a pretty girl either, that part made less of an impression on me than the book part (and that huge library!). I guess I went like "she's just like me but then prettier and more kind and cooler. /gasp".
I think the only point of reshooting Beauty and the Beast is that fans can watch it again for the first time... sortof. It will be different but the same, if you get what I mean. The story is overly romantic, which works for the animated film, but I'm not sure if I can stomach it with real actors. I'm not that much of a romantic soul. We'll see.
I totally missed that Blade Runner 2049 was coming out this year. That looks like it will be worthwhile to take a look-see. And it will certainly be interesting what they do with the next Star Wars film!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I have mixed feelings about Blade Runner 2049, because it will be very hard to live up to the original. Even if it's decent, it will still always be viewed as the inferior sequel. But I will definitely give it a chance nevertheless.
DeleteI'm crossing my fingers for them not to screw up Wonder Woman. I'm excited for Star Wars 8 because I wanna see what happens to Rey. There's this amazing theory online about her being the grand daughter of Palpatine and that would be a great plot. As for Spiderman I think we've had way too many Spiderman movies already, and this new one looks kind of average... I don't feel too interested in in.
ReplyDeleteHaha, there are so many theories about Rey's family going around! By this point I'm actually hoping it's not all about blood lines and 'born into' talent, but that she just is her own little miracle. Perhaps I'm a bit traumatized by the whole episode I-III Anakin drama thing.
DeleteAll of your main list is on my list too. I only go to the theater for genre films, and it looks like a great year for my kind of film and yours!
ReplyDeleteTruth be told, I don't even know if I can count these as "my kind of films". Well, Star Wars definitely is, but the Marvel universe is more Conrad's thing. I do really enjoy them, though, it's nice to fanboy/girl over something together. Cool that you do, too!
DeleteWow, a Cadfael reference. I wasn't expecting that one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I wasn't expecting anyone to actually *know* Cadfael. Nobody ever does. /sob
DeleteI know Cadfael as "that guy" whose mysteries I knew about after I'd watch the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes mysteries on television. Jeremy Brett's work was several years before, but they'd only reach here in the US (on PBS' old Mystery! television show hosted by Vincent Price and then Diana Rigg) a bit later than that.
DeleteMy mom is a big cozy mystery reader (think Lord Peter Whimsy, etc.) so I'm more familiar with that sort of mystery than most people.
Now that I think about it, I can get Cadfael DVDs on loan from our local library branch. I might have to reacquaint myself with those mysteries.
DeleteI'm jealous of you! I haven't watched Cadfael for ages, and there isn't a DVD loan opportunity anywhere nearby. They are so hard to come by. It's very expense to buy the whole series on DVD, but maybe, one day...
DeleteProbably will hit up Guardians of the Galaxy and maybe Thor (have oddly enjoyed him) but also Despicable Me 3. We seem to only go to theater for super hero movies or animated films anymore...
ReplyDeleteIt seems that way, doesn't it? I do really enjoy more artsy and serious films, too, but since they're less popular they don't get on my radar that easily, unless I really make an effort. It's also nice to go to the cinema and just know you're going to have a fun & uplifting time.
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