Hail, Caesar! – Joel and Ethan Coen
With seemingly their most ambitious film to date, The Coen Brothers are taking on the Golden Age of Hollywood and the studio system with virtually every star they’ve ever worked with in tow. When a studio’s marquee actor is captured by a mysterious cult called “The Future”, the whole studio is involved in the mix of figuring the whole mess out. Following the subdued nature of 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail, Caesar! looks to be as bombastic and funny as anything the brothers have done before.
Dr. Strange – Scott Derrickson
Marvel is hitting puberty pretty rapidly, and in order to maintain the intrigue that came with the Avenger’s grand entrance into pop culture, they’re going to have to stay fresh, and Dr. Strange could provide ample opportunity to show off all Marvel has to offer. A smaller character in the traditional Marvel structure, Dr. Strange is a former surgeon turned sorcerer, saving Earth from ancient evil witchcraft and demons (Voldemort?). Benedict Cumberbatch is as intriguing a casting as anything in Marvel right now, and this film has potential to take Marvel out of the blow-up smack-down trope it’s beginning to seep in, and take it into a cosmically different realm.
Midnight Special – Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols is one of my personal favorite representatives of modern southern culture, and now he’s mixing his knack for lush storytelling with science fiction. Midnight Special follows a boy with super powers on the run from government testing and religious extremists. 2013’s Mud drew my attention a way few films have ever before, and I can’t wait to see how he flexes his muscles with material far from his home base.
Everybody Wants Some – Richard Linklater
Dazed and Confused was such a remarkable starting point for so many stars working in Hollywood and still oozes of cool and fun that it’s impossible not to get excited about what director Richard Linklater calls its “spiritual sequel”. Following a freshman college baseball player in the 80’s, Everybody Wants Some should be a proper update on the rambling adventure of that mythical 70’s last day of school. Exploration of growing up and new surroundings is kind of Linklater’s things, and I can’t wait to see how such an experienced director goes back towards the world he made in the beginning of his career.
Paterson – Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch’s latest work is fairly sparse on details, but its simple premise of a conversation between a bus driver and a poet as they drive through the quiet New Jersey town is plenty for the legendary director to work with. Jarmusch could make an afternoon at the DMV entertaining (potentially moving) and using recent Star Wars baddie Adam Driver makes it all the more intriguing. If we’re all lucky, Tilda Swinton will play the hippest vampire this side of Lithuania again.
