Steve’s top 6 most anticipated films of the year

High-Rise

Tangentially Associated Story Alert: Because I’m an old romantic at heart I first watched Kill List with my girlfriend. After we saw it she turned to me, face twisted in horror, and asked ‘where did you get this movie from?’ The implication seemed to be that I had acquired this movie – this professionally shot, lit, acted, edited, etc movie – via nefarious means, such was its utterly grim subject matter. My explanation – that most illegal movies don’t usually come on Blu-ray screeners from distributors – did nothing to calm the situation, which is probably testament to Ben Wheatley’s power for getting under people’s skin.

Anyway, he’s back this year with High-Rise, an adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s 1975 novel about a doctor (Tom Hiddleston) who moves into the titular building and soon discovers its (now retro) futuristic eden – and the other people who inhabit it – are about to go totally f***ing sideways.

Like Wheately’s other work it looks stylish and atmospheric, thanks in no small part part to Laurie Rose’s cinematography. But concerns remain over whether the substance is the junior partner to that sumptuous style, as happened with parts of Kill List. Either way, it’s an intriguing prospect from an exciting talent.

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

Surprised? Don’t be. I’m looking forward to seeing Angry Men Get Angrier because I know I’ll be seeing it with Miller and he’ll hate it. (Side note: if you get the chance to see films with Miller, take it. We went to see Predators and Simon loudly shouted that Adrien Brody needed to ‘work on his lats’. It went over pretty well with the crowd, even if he was in no way joking about the aforementioned lat-scenario.)

Besides – Miller’s mad rants aside – this looks to be such a mess that I can’t not go and see it. Why does Batman look so fat? Why does he wear a coat? Why has he got an actual, proper, gun? How does Wonder Woman fit into it all? Is Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor as irritating as first appears? How strong is Jeremy Irons’s hair game? (Answer: very.)

It looks terrible, Ben Affleck’s on-point Bruce Wayne – good-looking, middle aged, bored, rich, defensive – aside. But I’ll be there to see how bad it can possibly get.

Hail, Caesar!

The Coen Brothers return with another LA-based mystery, albeit this time one less concerned with bowling and rug-based spats and more with the insular, controlled world of the studio system and Hollywood in its Golden Age. Josh Brolin plays an old-time studio head who is knee deep in the titular, gigantic, potentially hubristic prestige picture when its star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped and held for ransom. Like The Big Lebowski it appears to be a light-hearted mystery/comedy hiding some harder truths, a dreamy ode to a bygone age of bygone stars beautifully shot by longtime collaborator Roger Deakins.

Knight of Cups

Screened in competition at last year’s Berlin film festival and currently floating around the internet (as is the fate of all movies) before it hits theaters, Knight of Cups has received mixed reviews so far. Still, Christian Bale’s befuddled, existentially-agonised LA screenwriter seems a good fit for ol’ Terrence to go Full Malick, and it’ll at least be interesting to see how the veteran director handles the pretty little f*** ups and no-rules atmosphere of la-la-land. Screen it in a double header with Ivans Xtc, I reckon.

Zoolander 2

Listen, shhh. Shhh. Admit it to yourself and others: you love Zoolander. I love Zoolander. Terry Gilliam allegedly loves Zoolander. Jemaine Clement definitely loves Zoolander. And now it has a sequel. The problem for Ben Stiller is the same problem which befell Coppola on the Godfather Part III, Nicholson on The Two Jakes, and Neveldine/Taylor on Crank 2: how do you follow up a stone-cold classic without totally f***ing it?

Well, we’ll see how Stiller does with the follow up when it opens on February 12th. The trailers so far have been fairly funny (even Justin Bieber is good in them), although Benedict Cumberbatch’s character so far looks like an excuse for the sort of cheap trans jokes which could end up being embarrassing ten seconds after you’ve seen it, let alone ten years. Still, we live in hope, although personally I would have loved to see Paramount go the whole hog and hire Bret Easton Ellis to write it. Like he did before.

Untitled Fifth Bourne Movie

Forget The Bourne Legacy: it was rubbish and Ed Norton had frosted tips in it, which was just weird. Anyway, Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon are back, along with Julia Stiles, as well as franchise newcomers Alicia Vikander and Tommy Lee Jones. Considering that the Damon-starring Bourne trilogy is one of the very few where the third movie is the best, and that JB’s story seemed to have been resolved, I’m apprehensive about what this has to offer. But, like a true idiot, I’ll be there day one.

(Photo credit: Coming Soon.net/WENN.COM)