Top Ten Most Exciting Under-the-Radar Releases of 2017, Plus Two More
Every January, entertainment websites and magazines compile lists of their most anticipated films of the coming year. Inevitably, their catalog includes all of the next giant budget sequels/prequels/remakes/franchises that will supposedly melt your eyeballs with awesomeness, yet predictably fail to make most end of the year best-of lists. Pretty much everyone is looking forward to movies like Star Wars Episode VIII, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, or the new Christopher Nolan war epic, Dunkirk, so maybe we can just skip to the more interesting stuff. In an effort to avoid redundancy and, hopefully, shine a light on some smaller under-served films, I'm eschewing the typical high-profile list fodder (mostly) for a few titles that, as this article's name suggests, are somewhat off the beaten path. Take a look at the alphabetical list below, and start getting excited.
A Cure for Wellness (February 17)
Just try watching the above trailer without becoming completely unsettled. The starkly beautiful, if cryptic, horror imagery shows a side of director Gore Verbinski we haven't seen since well before big-budget ambition swallowed up his he talent. Despite the unwieldy bloat of his Pirate's movies and The Lone Ranger, Verbinski has unusually great visual instincts, and if nothing else, this psychological thriller starring Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth, and Jason Isaacs will be a wicked feast for the eyes.
Annihilation (Release date TBA)
Alex Garland follows up his stunning directorial debut, Ex Machina, with a sci-fi adaptation that has him directing Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as re-teaming with Oscar Isaacs. The film follows a research expedition into the mysterious "Area X," a place completely cut off from civilization. The catch is that they are actually the twelfth expedition after the previous eleven teams disappeared. Tense philosophical sci-fi weirdness no doubt ensues. This sounds right up Garland's alley, and should fit snuggly within his screenwriting filmography next to 28 Days Later, Never Let Me Go, and Sunshine.
Baby Driver (August 11)
All I need to hear about this movie to get excited is that it is written and directed by Edgar Wright. Ever since Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, Wright has cultivated one of the most uniquely visual voices in cinematic comedy. Baby Driver marks his first feature after a painful public falling out with Marvel, during which he excused himself from directing Ant-Man despite having spent the better part of a decade lobbying to make it. This film is described as an action-packed quasi-musical about a pop song loving boy who just happens to be an amazing getaway driver. That sounds just strange enough to be amazing, and with Wright at the helm, it will undoubtedly be something special.
The Death of Stalin (Release date TBA)
The creator and long-time showrunner of Veep, Armando Iannucci, is making a comedic look at the moments after the controversial communist dictator's death, and I couldn't be more eager to see it. Iannucci excels at the sort of absurd political comedy that feels just real enough to hurt, and I can't wait to see what hilarious bureaucratic nightmare he's cooked up about the power vacuum that formed in Soviet Russia following Stalin's death in 1953.
Get Out (February 24)
Jordan Peele, of Key and Peele, decided his directorial debut should be a non-comedic horror movie about what it's like to be a black man in the United States, which at first glance seems kind of insane. However, even a passing familiarity with Key and Peele reveals a deep love of the horror genre baked into his comedic sensibility. Several of the show's skits hinge on expertly deconstructed horror tropes, and it's that detailed genre knowledge that has me the most pumped for this new film. Honestly, the trailer above isn't completely devoid of humor, but it is without question playing the scares straight, so I'm extremely interested to see how well Peele can side-step his comedy background.
God Particle (October 27)
One of the biggest surprises for me this year was the J.J. Abrams produced thriller, 10 Cloverfield Lane. It was a tight piece of tension filmmaking with some great performances by John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead that seemingly came out of nowhere. And its strange tangential relationship with Cloverfield made it all the more interesting. Reportedly, this film, about space station astronauts who discover something horrible on a docked shuttle, will have that same sideways type of connection. I love the idea of a narrative universe that can house several separate films with unique characters and story-lines. Let's hope this one turns out as cool and thrilling as its predecessors.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (Release date TBA)
Let me just say, Neil Gaiman doesn't get enough respect as a writer. The man's writing overflows with wit and invention, but if you've seen Coraline or Stardust, you'll know that his work is often difficult to adapt. I'm betting John Cameron Mitchell, director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, can crack that particular nut, though. This film is a science-fiction romantic comedy about boys in the 1970s who find out girls aren't exactly how they pictured. I haven't read the short story on which this film is based, but with a description like that, I'm going to find and read it right now.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Release date TBA)
Yorgos Lanthimos, absurdist mastermind behind the oddball dystopian fable The Lobster, is back with Colin Farrell for another undoubtedly enigmatic masterpiece. Not much is known about the plot of this film, about which Wikipedia states, "a surgeon forms a familial bond with a sinister teenage boy, with disastrous results." Um, okay. I'm still processing The Lobster, so I'm not expecting to get this one on the first try. Look out for gorgeous cinematography, pitch-black humor, and achingly human drama.
Logan Lucky (October 13)
I was skeptical when Steven Soderbergh announced his premature retirement from filmmaking back in 2013, but I didn't really expect him to break so soon. Not to mention he directed two seasons of The Knick during that "retirement" before jumping into this film. No matter, I'm just glad one of the best directors and editors around decided he couldn't stay away. Add to that, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Hillary Swank, and Channing Tatum, and I'm foaming at the mouth to catch a glimpse.
Mother (Release date TBA)
Darren Aronofsky is keeping things close to the vest on this one, but just the fact that we're getting a new film from him at all is reason to get excited. His last film, Noah, bowed under the weight of his weird vision, but there were enough flashes of greatness within some of the completely bonkers choices to convince me that he hasn't lost that spark (the creation sequence alone is incredible).
Okja (Release date TBA)
Say what you will about Snowpiercer, but I think that was one of the most underrated movies of 2013. Director Bong Joon-Ho has proven he is one of the greatest auteurs to come out of South Korea's genre filmmaking explosion, and Okja sees him returning to his monster movie roots, albeit in a stylish multi-lingual adventure story. Expect to see more movies like this and The Great Wall that comfortably straddle the line between foreign and domestic films. If they're all this interesting looking, then I'll wholeheartedly welcome that change.
The Shape of Water (Release date TBA)
Guillermo Del Toro left me a bit cold with his last two films, the teenage boy fever dream of Pacific Rim and the showy gothic horror film Crimson Peak, but I'm not ready to count out the passionate director behind Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone just yet. Like those two masterpieces, The Shape of Water is a fantastical story told over the backdrop of real events. This time we'll see the story of a fish man played by Doug Jones, who is captured and tested by the US government (boy, that sounds familiar) during the Cold War in the 1960s. Also, it will be a love story between Doug Jones' fish man and a female janitor played by Sally Hawkins. I love that oddball premise, and if anyone can pull it off with the appropriate level of gravitas and sci-fi wonder, I'd put money on Del Toro.
Well, that does it for my take on the best under-the-radar releases of 2017. I hope everyone could find at least one movie that suddenly popped onto your must see list for this year. If not, there's always The Fate of the Furious (God, I hate that title).
