More superheroes, more Star Wars and more diversity, let’s hope that 2018 proves to have a bumper crop of celluloid…these should be movies to watch out for…
THE SHAPE OF WATER – Guillermo del Toro’s latest monster movie romance has been wowing festival crowds with Sally Hawkins superb as a loner stumbling upon a government experiment at the height of the Cold War. A fantastical fable, its del Toro’s best since Pan’s Labyrinth.
LADY BIRD – Indie muse and all-round great actress Greta Gerwig has her first crack at writing and directing with this coming-of-age tale starring Saoirse Ronan. Funny and incredibly well observed.
BLACK PANTHER – The superheroes keep coming. This, however, is the first black superhero to have a solo Marvel Studios movie and directed by Ryan Coogler, the man behind Creed.
READY PLAYER ONE – Big budget, genre mashing sci-fi extravaganza based on Ernest Cline’s spectacular book under Steven Spielberg’s direction? Yes please. A virtual reality quest that references films and characters from popular culture with aplomb.
TOMB RAIDER – Lara Croft is back in the form of Alicia Vikander with a grittier take on the adventurer following Angelina Jolie’s so-so stab at the character. Hopefully the script will be better too.
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY – A troubled shoot does not bode well for this solo outing for everyone’s favourite Corellian smuggler with Alden Ehrenreich stepping into the big boots of Harrison Ford. Could make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs or might not.
A WRINKLE IN TIME – Adaptation of the ‘60s novel by Madeleine L’Engle as three kids are propelled into space to find their father with spooky results. Selma director Ava DuVernay should ensure some grit.
OCEAN’S 8 – Like Ocean’s 11 but with a gangbusters group of women, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Sarah Paulson amongst them. Expect whip smart dialogue and ice-cool hipness.
JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM – More dinosaurs! More Chris Pratt! More dinosaurs!
THE LITTLE STRANGER – An adaptation of Sarah Waters’ spooky, unsettling period novel with haunted houses and dead children, starring the excellent Ruth Wilson and Domnhall Gleeson and directed by Room’s Lenny Abrahamson.